Right now, who would you like to meet?

At our BRN meeting this past week on networking, we shared with each other who it was we'd like to meet right now that could help them and their business grow. It could be a specific person, a position within a company, a business name, or a person/people with a certain need or want.

This is an abbreviated list. If you were at the meeting and would like to list more, please post those needs. I didn’t list what it is that these people do. If you attend BRN, you already know. If you don’t, please attend so that you do get to know these people and you’ll have a better understanding of why they would like to meet those people on their lists. Have a prosperous week.

• Dale Christ would like to meet Mickey Mauer , local businessman and philanthropist as well as Jeff Smulyan from Emmis Communication.
  
• Charles Shinaver would like to meet racecar driver Alex Tagliani and any broadcasting personalities.
  
• Loree Everette would like to meet someone from Brightpoint and bank contractors.
  
• Darlene Graham would like to meet HR/Training Managers for mid- to large corporations and someone involved in setting up the new chain of Microsoft retail stores.
  
• DuJuanna London would like to meet someone involved in setting up the new chain of Microsoft retail stores.
  
• John Wollenburg would like to managers of local real estate offices and mortgage offices.
  
• Brian Koning would like to meet business owners who would like to entertain clients or employees at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May.
  
• Greg Phelps would like to meet Steve Koch from Carrier Corporation and brand managers from Eli Lilly and Brightpoint.
  
• Chris Swisher would like to meet someone from Mitchell & Associates, law firms and owners of small trucking companies.
  
• Javid Rastigar would like to meet Mr. Duke of Duke Realty to learn more about commercial offices/ real estate.
  
• Joe Wallace would like to meet high wage earners such as doctors and attorneys who might want to remodel their homes.
  
• Julie Knapp would like to meet companies who outsource their IT.
  
• Mike Corbett wants to meet Hamilton County businesses who would like to meet Hamilton County business owners and people who manage marketing for banks.
  
• Mark Platt would like to meet IT people or facility managers at medium to large businesses that have a need for external IT services.
  
• David Luse wants to meet people who need help with managing processes or need to solve business problems.

If you didn’t attend but can help people make connections, please respond or make contact at a meeting or via phone/email.

Exhibiting At Tradeshows and Expos - Meeting Re-Cap

After receiving feedback from BRN members who either attended or exhibited at the Chocolate, Blues and Business networking event recently in Indianapolis, our meeting this week (April 7th & 8th) focused on exhibiting at tradeshows and events.

We shared our observations about the Chocolate, Blues & Business event as well as other trade shows and events where we have an opportunity to either participate as an attendee or exhibitor.

We looked at the key reasons for participating as an exhibitor which include

• Generating sales leads


• Generating actual sales at the show


• Enhancing your image and visibility


• Reaching a specific audience


• Establishing a presence in the marketplace


• Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your marketing efforts


• Personally meet your customers, competitors and suppliers


• Prospecting for new customers


• Introducing new products and services


• Demonstrating your product in ways not possible using other marketing channels


• Recruiting distributors, dealers, employees


• Educating your target audience

Feeling Constrained? Know the Target Audience
Members who participate as exhibitors often feel restricted when events primarily draw other businesses who are trying to sell products and services. At an event such as Chocolate, Blues & Business or a Chamber of Commerce event where it's primarily members only, there's not a real opportunity for most businesses to generate sales. In this type of setting, it's mostly businesses all trying to sell to each other. Does it make sense to spend money to exhibit at these types of events? If your goal is to actually generate sales...probably not. And if your goal is to get other businesses to learn more about your business so they can refer you to their personal network, it might not be such a great idea to exhibit either. Why? Because if everyone is stuck behind a table, how are they going to be able to network with other businesses who are...stuck behind a table. There needs to be a networking element where people can freely mingle. Or, you need someone else to occupy your table or booth while you roam around.

Is Public Invited?
Our consensus as a group is that you need to have the public involved. Consumers need to attend these types of events, not just other businesses. If you are a B2B business, then it may be worth it to exhibit. But why not just participate as an attendee and talk to other businesses who choose to exhibit -- and network with other attendees. If you are B2C, then you may have a little better chance of generating leads since everyone who is attending and exhibiting is a consumer. Besides, it's a lot less costly and certainly not as time consuming.

Qualifying Sales Leads
Another issue we discussed was how to generate qualified leads. One way is to use a questionnaire style entry form instead of a business card drawing. Have people fill out a form and indicate which products or services they'd be interested in learning more about. There are other things you can do with this form to be effective at grading and qualifying your leads. To learn more, join BRN and we'd be happy to share those tips.

Ask for Audited Attendance Data
If a show touts attendance of 3,000 people -- ask them for proof. Any legitimate organization that puts on trade shows should have attendance and registration records. Ask if attendance includes exhibitors and attendees. If you participate, ask the organization for a list of attendees and a head count on registration from the most recent shows going back 2-3 years if available. And if you pay to exhibit, ask for a complete list of attendees with contact information.

Discounted Space
When you participate in a tradeshow or expo, you should be rewarded by registering early and referring others to participate. Most shows will offer early registration specials. Costs will usually increase closer to the show date. If an organization starts discounting or giving away exhibition space close to the show, it's usually because they are scrambling to fill space. If you find out that they are heavily discounting space or giving it away...ask for the same discount. And if you aren't satisfied with the attendance, ask for a refund - especially if you exhibited because the organization advertised an attendance number.

Ongoing Trade Show Dialogue
We all agreed to do due diligence on upcoming opportunities to exhibit our businesses and participate as a group if there is a perceived benefit. Part of our goal in BRN is to educated and assist other members in making wise business decisions.

Your Input
If you have trade show exhibiting experience, tell us about it. Give us your success stories and well as horror stories. If you have tips and tricks for being a successful exhibitor, let us know.

Do you have good networking FORM?

We've all done it. We spot someone across the room or overhear someone we're standing with in line at the grocery store. We just know that if we could make a connection, they could become a client or strategic business partner. We rehearse our intro, reach for the business cards and then...chicken out.

At this week's BRN meeting on networking, we talked about FORM. Our FORM is what we say that helps lead into a deeper conversation. FORM is Family, Occupation, Recreation, and Message. These are all great conversation starters that we can work into a conversation with a complete stranger. You don't have to use all of these, but it's something you should think about when the opportunity presents itself.

Family
Take "Family" for instance. You are at your kids soccer game and you sit next to other parents. You might ask, "Oh, do you have a child that's playing?" This leads to you sharing about your kids. As the conversation progresses, you might ask where they are from and eventually what business they are in. Then you exchange cards.

Occupation
"Occupation" is easy to bring up, especially at a networking event. "Tell me about your business" is a great conversation starter.

Recreation
I often use "Recreation" as a conversation starter - especially if I'm waiting to tee off at the golf course. "What's your handicap?" or "Isn't it nice to get away from the office on such a nice day?" Those always start a conversation where I can then ask, "What business are you in?"

Message - not so easy
But the biggest stumbling block is "Message". Many of us are okay with the F-O-R but we don't take the conversation far enough. The message is where, after we exchange business cards, we schedule a follow-up. "I'd like to learn more about your business and what you do. What days are best for you to grab a cup of coffee in the mornings?"

The Exercise
There are several questions you can come up with for each of these lead-ins. Come up with a few on your own and then practice them. It may feel uncomfortable at first, but you'll get better with time. The exercise is to use F-O-R-M and then tell us about it by commenting below.

You, Mom and the Elavator

If you were taking a two-minute ride up an elevator with your mom, what would you tell her about your business? Could she then turn around and give that same basic sales pitch to her friends to tell them what you do. It's an interesting concept, especially when most people take their two minutes to hawk their products and services rather than explain what they do.

To Pitch or Not to Pitch
Some healthy debate came when a couple of BRN members said they preferred not to give elevator pitches because they either sound canned or it didn't fit their personality. A guest brought up the point that they were told that their elevator pitch should be no more than 30 seconds. Another person weighed in that we should all have 10-12 elevator pitches that we can pull out depending on the audience and situation. Those are all valid points.

But what happens when you find yourself in a networking meeting where you are given the opportunity or asked, "take a couple of minutes to tell us about your business"? Do you stop at the 30-second mark? Do you only offer a 10-second tag line and yield the rest of your time? Should you offer an elevator pitch that is not well-rehearsed and sounds canned?

Practice Makes Perfect
We took time in our meeting to address six questions that an elevator pitch must address:

1. What is your product or service?
2. Who is your market?
3. What is your revenue model?
4. Who is behind the company?“
5. Who is your competition?
6. What is your competitive advantage?

Once we answered those questions, we offered up the draft of our pitch to the group for critique. Knowing that the pitches were going to be rough, we were all able to offer candid and constructive feedback. Some had too much. Some were too little. Others didn't spend enough time focusing on our competitive advantages or narrowing in on our products an services. But, we all got off to a good start in thinking about how we tell others what it is that we do.

Homework
The homework this week is to refine our elevator pitches and post them here for others to review and critique. Even if you didn't attend the meeting, please feel free to participate in this exercise.

Happy pitching!

Humility, Listening & Leadership, a Rare Combination?

When many people think about leadership they think about the ‘big dog’ or the ‘alpha male.’ So what role does humility and listening play in leadership?

According to Jim Collins, the author of Good to Great (2001), humility plays a huge role in the MOST EFFECTIVE EXECUTIVES. He describes Level 5 leadership as the style which takes companies from being merely good to being great.

This is a rare phenomena. Such leaders are rare as well. Indeed, these qualities are very similar to servant leadership.

According to Collins, Level 5 leaders: “Build enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.” (p. 20)

Interestingly, Collins was shocked to find that Level 5 leaders did not have “high profile personalities were not celebrities, they were self-effacing, quiet, reserved, and even shy.”

Why does this matter? Because it will only be the great companies that will survive this depression, if you can call it that.

Without going through today’s headlines there is no lack of hubris among the stories of corporate indulgence and selfishness. This is why our topic this week was Humility, Listening and Leadership.

What did we learn from our discussion?

This economy is humbling to us all. We all have stories of loss of business, loss of jobs, loss of status, loss of money, even loss of houses.

We all have something to learn from this and we are learning.

Yet the question is what can you learn from being humbled?

Craig, a guest, made a powerful point: “When you are humbled you move out of your head and get back to your heart. When you operate from your heart it is where the servant in you comes through.” He elaborated that he thinks of his customers as hoping to finance their dreams and his job is to help them to express their dream of owning their own business.

Mark, a regular member, noted pithily: “Show up and listen.” That is the new sales strategy, discussed at a recent Ball State University conference on sales, instead of the old paradigm of “Show up and throw up” where the sales man simply tells everything he knows about the product and hopes to score a sale. Now it is about the relationship you form with people. That requires listening. Listening requires humility.

Joe a long time member and business owner pointed out that his goal is to have his company succeed him and his sons are in that company. He said he has always operated from a humble approach to people and he felt the same was true of his sons. This further reinforces that approach.

Matt, another regular, noted that he wasn’t raised to show humility or to ask for help for that matter: “Never let em’ see you sweat.” He has more recently been embracing humility and realizing he needs help from other people to borrow from their strengths. Yet admitting that you need help is hard.

Kathy had a story of how in college she learned to ask for help by working in a group. Again, it is hard and she was raised like Matt - don’t ask for help. Yet, we all need help today.

Doug pointed out that in humility are lessons about ethics, spirituality and morals. He had experienced enough of that to warrant an Ivy League Education! He also noted that the leader of the organization sets the tone for behavior in the organization: humility or bashing and blaming others, which do you choose?

Brian noted that he once had the distinct displeasure of being privy to a conference call in which he was lambasted. Yet, he took it as constructive criticism and learned from it. It stoked his fire to get better and he did.

As usual in BRN meetings, the conversation was rich and deep. It further clarified what is true leadership for us. Humility is absolutely essential. Maybe it is our Indiana values of humility over arrogance, but it truly seems deeper than that as Jim Collins study suggested.

My story involved a mentor of mine, Jim Miller, ACSW. He has been in central Indiana mentoring and shepherding social work and other agencies through transitions with great humility and perseverance. One of his most essential qualities and a companion to humility is that he truly listens. He listened to me as a 20 year old. My confidence burgeoned. He had a continuing impact upon me. Now, I as a 44 year old try to emulate the master and listen to hear what others have to share: clients, kids, customers, friends, my wife, my family whomever. I hope to grasp what I might be missing because we all need to find a new way to make our path through these treacherous times. The candor and humility people in our group showed in these discussions is a light in the darkness. We will make it through together, by listening and with humility.

Charles Shinaver, Ph.D. co-founder Business Roundtable Network (www.brncommunity.com)

Oh Lord It's Hard to Be Humble

Reminds me of a song...

Mac Davis, a country singer and songwriter, used to sing "Oh Lord it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way..." But, it's in those humbling moments that we find out just how imperfect we really are. I related an experience about joining in on a conference call just as my colleagues (who had no idea I was on the call) began a 10 minute assault on me. I could have gotten off of the call, but I chose to listen in. As painful as it was, I listened to their criticism and took the necessary steps to "readjust" my approach and heal some key relationships. It was like attending my own funeral. But I got another chance. That was a GREAT lesson in humility.

We heard from others today that have lost jobs, missed opportunities, taken steps back financially, made poor business decisions and struggled to find their "professional selves".


Listen Closely

We also talked about listening and being better tuned into our clients/customers and our industry. We hear so much in the news about the economy and businesses that are struggling, but what is it our customers and peers are telling us? Do we ask? Do we really listen? Do we react? What adjustments can we make to our businesses by being better listeners.

Lessons to Practice

We left with these 5 Lessons In Humility

1. “My customers know things that I don’t – so I will ask them what they want.”
   
2. “My employees know more about the implementation of their jobs than I do – so I will elicit their input and be receptive to their ideas.”
   
3. “Neither my employees nor I can be creative all the time – so we’ll solicit ideas from everyone we know including customers, vendors, friends, family and consultants.”
   
4. “What I knew yesterday is not enough for today – so I will be receptive to suggestions about introducing new products and services, implementing new concepts and embracing new ways of doing business.”
   
5. “I need to demonstrate that I am listening and paying attention to customers’ needs – so I will respond to phone calls, emails and other inquiries in a timely manner.”

Practicing these five degrees of humility will make you a better business professional and a better person. In the words of the 19th-century philosopher and art critic John Ruskin: "The first test of a truly great man is his humility."

This Week's Exercise

Everyone is asked to focus on humility and listening. When something happens in either of those areas this week, tell us 1) what the situation was 2) how you felt and 3) what you did and 4) what the other person(s) reaction was. Post your experience(s) below.

Another Strong Networking Meeting

"Wow, I really liked this format." and "This kind of group is right up my alley." Those were comments from two new visitors to BRN today at Majestic Plaza. Today's networking meeting was about...networking. We networked by discussing the history of networking and how we overcome the challenges of both online social networking and "live" networking.

Dr. Shinaver introduced a diagram he put together on online social networking. This information map helped to illustrate how the various social networking tools like Twitter, Facebook, Ning, LinkedIn, Stumbleupon and others can intertwine to help propagate information throughout the various network and elevate a company in organic online searches.

The first discussion question focused on how we currently use online networking in our businesses and what challenges we face implementing social networking. The experience ranged from not at all to moderate use. But many people admitted that they were reluctant due to lack of understanding how to properly use it, as well as time constraints. Some people initially thought it might not be beneficial to their business. But, further discussions led to examples of how any business could use social networking as a tool to tell their personal contacts about what they do and direct them to information about their business. And we talked about using Facebook to tell those who already know you about your business, but cautioned against bringing business associates and clients into a relaxed, online environment where your friends/family may reveal more about you than you'd like.

I focused on live networking and asked who was familiar with William Dawes. Only one member was able to tell about the role Dawes played in American history. Paul Revere and William Dawes were both sent to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams that the British army were coming. Both men were from a similar economic and social background, yet it is Revere who raised the militia and later had a poem written about him. A Harvard Business Review article suggests the reason behind Revere being remembered and Dawes being largely forgotten is due to the type of social network each man had developed. We talked about the importance of building a trusting network.

The questions on this topic led to discussions about the amount of time we invest each week in networking events and maximizing that networking experience. We also talked about how hard it is to get to the people we'd like to meet. This led to a discussion about narrowing our focus and telling others exactly who we'd like to meet or, at least, specific job titles within a specific company. Often times, we are so general that it's hard for others to run through their mental lists to point us in the right direction.

As always, we ended the meeting with a commitment to meet with one other member and help them. This week we'll connect to here exactly who they'd like to meet and determine how we can help them make that connection through our own networks.