Two Word Poet

A little over a week ago I provided training for BNI in Findlay. Jeff Reichardt, president of Back Pain Solutions of NW Ohio, was in the class that day. He is from the New Vision BNI Chapter in Lima, Ohio.

During the break Jeff told me that he could write a poem for anyone with just a couple words supplied by that person. So I took him up on the offer and gave him "Networking guru."

I wasn't disappointed. At the end of the class, Jeff came to the whiteboard and within a few short minutes had written the poem below.

Networking Guru

I spent some time at MSP (Membership Success Program)
To learn about how to connect
I thought I knew a thing or two
About showing courtesy and respect
But what I learned in 3 short hours
Was more than I ever knew
Thank you, Debby, I learned to much
From my networking guru.

I don't know about you but I think Jeff is pretty talented.

Picky Eating and Bonding

OK, so here's the deal. I am on the Thin and Healthy Solutions Weight loss Plan and it is really, really working well and it's easy. So I am a little compulsive about what I am putting into my mouth. I had an appointment scheduled today with a fairly new contact, Luigina Boes. In the past we had been at some of the same networking meetings, but always had missed connecting with each other.

Now you have to get the picture.

I was standing at the counter at
Flying Joe Coffee Shop in Perrysburg, OH trying to figure out what to order. I'm supposed to have decaf, which I'm stomaching, but not loving. Additionally, I had just done a quick workout, so I was hot and thirsty. I was asking the barista all kinds of questions about what she thought I could have that was cold, low-fat, no sugar, low calorie and yet tasted good. (I don't want much!) Luigina, basically was doing the same. Right away, we bonded! It was just too funny. She's an exercise nut, and while I can't call myself that yet, I am headed in that direction.

Without even beginning our official chat, we had found our level of commonality. And it was interesting to see how much more we shared with each other in the next hour. We were comfortable with each other.

Finding a common point of interest (or as Scott Ginsberg puts it, CPI) makes for a strong relationship that begs to be developed even further.

Thanks, Luigina, for not thinking I was crazy with all my food questions!

Hope or Fear?

I was having a conversation with my friend, Don Kardux, about the reasons prospects might choose him to help them be more successful. Don owns Business Navigators, a long time, very successful, business consulting company. Don is not your usual stuffy type of consultant, in fact, he couldn't be any farther away from the word stuffy. He also uses a system he developed called Reverse Flow, where business owners listen to what their employees think are the best ways to "makes things better."

Don told me that he thinks business owners choose him because he represents hope. Now, I do think that might be part of the reason, but I do think underlying the hope is a big dose of FEAR!

Don is an expert in the Heating, Cooling and Ventilation industry segment and many of those businesses are family-owned. So here's my theory.

If the first generation is still at the helm, he's afraid that the business won't survive for the next generation.

If the second generation is now in charge, he's (or she's) afraid that he or she will take the business down and then what will everyone think???

Yes, Don does provide hope with his system, but really, fear is what fuels the decision to work with Business Navigators. At least that's my theory and I'm stickin' to it.

Part of a functioning word-of-mouth marketing plan is knowing what it is that makes your prospects choose you. Do you know what it is?

Are you sure?

Getting Jumped

Somewhere in my reading in the past couple weeks, I read a wonderful comment by Ivan Misner, Founder and Chairman of BNI. He was at a large networking event and he asked everyone in the audience to raise their hand if they were planning to sell something that evening. Many people did. His next question was telling. He again asked for a show of hands for those who were planning to buy something. I'm sure you get the picture. No one raised their hand.

Hence the conundrum.

Networking vs. selling.

I had this life puzzle happen to me at a recent networking event. The group was large and I wanted to introduce myself to a couple people and reconnect with a couple others.

One person introduced herself to me as if she did not know me. She was one of the networkers that I wanted to reconnect with. OK, maybe I need to let go of my ego and realize that I'm not so memorable to everyone! I did nicely say that I remembered her from a certain event where we had met. Oh by the way, I was the keynote speaker at that event.

So if we measure the relationship here, I wasn't even on her radar screen. There was NO relationship.

But without even the blink of an eye, she looked at me and then asked me to buy from her.

J-u-s-t l-i-k-e t-h-a-t. I was so dumbfounded that I almost couldn't speak.

Since this was networking event, my plan at the beginning of the evening was not to buy but to connect. Also, I do business with people I KNOW, like and trust.

H-m-m-m! I guess her plan was different.

What would you have done in my place?

Why I do What I do

Tom Fishburne, has hit the nail on the head again. His newest blog post is about company mission statements and it cracks me up. Tom bills himself as a marketoonist and his marketoons are great and yet they are even better because of his commentary.



In the Connext Nation, Referral Pursuit course, we help our students to get to the real why of what they do. Knowing that will help them each to have a REAL mission statement as opposed to one loaded with marshmallow fluff.

Read what Tom has to say about this whole mission statement thing here. The fourth paragraph of his post really rang true for me.

What about you?

When Will They Learn?????

OK, I have to vent tonight.

Today I received a phone call from someone I have met briefly twice and each meeting was several years apart. The most recent time was in December when I spoke to a group and this person was in the audience.

You probably know where this is going. This person wanted to invite me to "an event."

When I asked what type of event it was, you guessed it, you smarty pants! It was a direct sales opportunity that he was sure I would be very interested in.

Now I don't know how he would think so, because both times we met the conversation stayed very much on him. He didn't ask me a lot of questions, so at this juncture, he certainly wouldn't have an idea of my wants or needs.

I don't like to malign direct sales companies, because there are some good ones out there, but I do want to pick a bone with the ones who suck people in and tell them that 1) they don't have to sell and 2) they just have to invite "friends" to partake of this wonderful opportunity. I also want to chew the same bone with companies that teach people to recruit using these relationship-less tactics.

There, I feel better.

Was it a Good Lunch?

Recently a friend of mine, Tim Saddoris, asked me about a certain networking venue, Connect4Lunch. He wanted to know what I thought of it.

I told that I could not give him an opinion because I had never taken advantage of them. He said he was going to try it out and get back to me.

Several other people that I know had attended these monthly lunches, where four people are organized to one table in advance. I think each of the four knows who the other three are. I think it is up to the participants to replaces themselves if they can not attend. A couple people who had attended had given a thumbs down review because of boorish, overbearing behavior of another table mate.

But--drum roll, please.

Tim reports great success. He says that he met three other interesting people and he has an appointment with one and is connecting one to another organization. He said, "Overall, it was worth the $10.

If you have attended a Connect4Lunch event in your area, what has been you experience?