February 24, 2009
I definitely have to admit I have fallen into this trap many times! It does happen, you go to a Chamber Mixer or a Rotary meeting every week and feel like you know everyone and everyone knows you… While this may or may not be true you still must where a name badge!
The bottom line is while everyone may know or recognize you, it is very possible they do not remember your name. For this 
reason alone people may avoid you rather than face the embarrassment of not knowing your name. Of course most groups have a flow of visitors consistently attending to check out the group. As a member of any group you want these visitors to feel welcomed! Name badges make it easy for visitors to interact with members. Name badges help create a great experience for the visitor. A visitor who has a great experience visiting a new group is more likely to join when you follow up with them!
My last thoughts on name badges are where to put them. I mean does it really matter where you place your name badge or is it good enough just to have one? While thinking about this I am remembering all the people I have met with name badges placed on a shirt which is great except they were wearing a jacket which completely covered the badge. I have no great study which proves one area is better than another. I do know when I go to shake a hand of a friend or someone I have just met I reach out with my right hand. Because of this I always wear my name badge on the right side of my shirt so when I reach out to the other person they can clearly see my name badge. This allows the person to easily use my name in conversation and actually makes them more comfortable around me.
If you really want to meet more people consider wearing your name badge everywhere you go! Realtors and Mortgage brokers seem to do this a lot. What about you? Can you be the guy who wears a name tag everywhere?
I know this is pretty simple information and to some of you maybe too obvious. The bottom line is wearing a name badge to every event is great business networking habit which we all must have to insure our business networking success!
Posted in Business Resources, Follow Up, Increase Referrals, Networking 
8 Comments »
February 18, 2009
Being on time is a very simple thing to do and yet it is very simple not to do. Over the years I have been in many different types of networking groups for a variety of companies and projects. There is something about the message being sent out by the members that are consistently arriving late or leaving early. Business networking is very similar to dating in that first impressions make big difference. If you are consistently late at a networking event it leads people to believe you may be late to all of your meetings.
Does being late really make a difference in your business networking success? I know for me when I see this in a networking group like BNI, LeTip, or a weekly chamber of commerce group I am less likely to give the habitual late person a referral. The reason is each referral is really an extension of me and my reputation. If I refer my best client or referral source to a member who in turn is late meeting with my contact this reflects negatively on me. My personal network is far more important to me than just giving someone a referral!
If you are habitually late and want to know simple ways to change your pattern read this great article, 5 ways to stop being late by Penelope Trunk.
So the next time you are getting ready for your business networking event or BNI meeting, maybe you should skip responding to that email which just showed up in your inbox and instead arrive 10 minutes early to your meeting (on time).
Posted in Business Resources, Follow Up, Networking, Referral Marketing 4 Comments »
February 16, 2009
Over the next few weeks I will be discussing networking basics to insure your success! Some of these may 
seem very simple or obvious and that is because they are! It’s funny but I find the simple and obvious things, the steps we know we should do, are the very things we neglect to do!
Why is this? Are we just looking for ways to sabotage our success? Do we do this consciously or unconsciously? What is it that prevents us from doing the things and steps we know will insure our possibly guarantee our success?
Recently a friend asked me, “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?”. Thinking about this question brings another question to my mind… How many, projects, careers, or dreams are you playing in right now? In your career are you playing at 10%, do you have a dream you are working towards, yet only putting a 20% effort into it? What would happen if you played at 100%? What would happen if you knew you could not fail? Would you play at 100%? Would you take the small steps everyday to guarantee your success?
For some reason I am reminded about a post on Seth Godin’s blog, How to be Remarkable. It’s a top 10 list on how to be remarkable to your clients and a must read. You will find being remarkable is just like having success! It’s not hard, there is no magic to it, it’s just a few simple steps done repeatedly over time!
Keep a look out this week for the Networking Basics! Each time you read one think about how you are playing in networking, think about how you might improve or add one of these basic steps to have the success you are looking for! If one of these basic steps comes to mind now, take a moment and leave a comment so I can add it as one of the steps for everyone!
Posted in Networking 1 Comment »
February 9, 2009
A referral and follow up system… You may be asking yourself what do I need that for? I was reminded about 
a pretty well know fact after reading yesterdays post on Duct Tape Marketing by John Jantsch titled My Most Excellently Flawed Referral Survey. The survey questions had to do with the percentage of your business coming from referrals or word of mouth. Here is what John found:
69.3% felt over 50% of their business came by way of referral and yet, 79% further admitted they had no well-defined system to promote referral generation. The conclusion is we know how important referrals are yet we don’t take the time to create a system to attract them!
John also asked if you are not getting a consistent flow of referrals why not? 20% of the participants of the survey just skipped this question! Maybe after realizing so much business comes from referrals and acknowledging they have no system that thinking about why was just too much must for those in the survey to handle?
For years I have heard and seen similar numbers like this. Business owners and top sales professionals say things like the live for referrals yet if I ask the simple question of what do you do when you receive a referral I more often than not get a blank stare.
Receiving more referrals is pretty simple and there are many ways to do this.
- Simply asking your customers for referrals or people they know who can also use your product or service is a great place to start.
- Making sure you acknowledge and reward the referral senders will naturally grow the amount of referrals you receive. People will enjoy helping you and when you acknowledge and appreciate them and will in turn help you more.
- Staying top of mind with your customers, prospects, and referral sources will generate more business and referrals for you. You can do this by calling, emailing, sending greeting cards, and newsletters. Staying top of mind is customers and prospects is about creating a relationship.
The best referral and follow up system I have seen and used for years is SendOutCards. When used correctly you can create an explosion of referrals with very little effort. The reason for this is SendOutCards is a great system and once set up can go on autopilot. You can learn more about SendOutCards and how it might work for you by visiting this site. Fill out the contact information and I will call and talk to you about it personally.
Whether you use index cards, Excel, Outlook, SendOutCards, Act!, Goldmine, Saleceforce.com, or any of the many other CRM tools on the market the important thing is you use one. Commit to a system, spend the time to get it set up to work for your business, and then use it no matter what! The benefits of using your referral and follow up system will outweigh any time or pain you might feel getting it started!
So tell me, what system do you have? What are you doing to increase your referrals and follow up with your clients and prospects?
Posted in Business Resources, Client Retention, Follow Up, Follow Up Ideas, Referral Marketing, Relationship Marketing No Comments »
February 8, 2009
I last talked about how creating a strong WHY is an important step in your follow up and sales success. The why is a fantastic motivator to push you to make one more call, mail one more thank you card, or follow up with one more prospect.
Last week the importance of a powerful why kept coming up as I had many discussions regarding this concept with colleagues, clients, and prospects. Over and over again this was part of my conversation in my meetings, from private conversations, conference calls, and even when I was conducting a training for a group of entrepreneurs. Today I decided to share a small part of my why which is what really keeps me going at a pace that seems to baffle some of my closest friends.
My main WHY, goal, purpose of my life, reason why I do what I do be stated in one sentence, one I Am statement, one vision:
I am positively effecting the lives of millions of people through humanitarian projects I personally create, fund, or participate in.
This is the main reason why I do what I do, the reason I make a few extra calls when I want to stop working for the day, the reason why I keep going, pushing, and working towards all the other goals I have. My why makes all the day to day things seem small, it makes any negatives neutral, it makes disappointments last moments instead of days, weeks, or months. It is what keeps me on my path.
As I am writing I am thinking about how my why is already becoming a reality. It
has been happening for years and it seems every year I am getting closer and closer to achieving my why. From building homes in Mexico, supporting micro banking and water projects through Rotary and Kiva, or working on my newest cause the Global Hug Tour, MY WHY is happening! This year alone being a part of the Global Hug Tour team will allow me to touch the lives of over 100,000 people in a positive way. The local projects funded by the Global Hug Tour can easily impact 10, 20, or 50 thousand additional lives.
I hope you understand why I decided to share this with you today. My hope is by sharing my why you will think about yours and by really identifying yours you will have all the success you desire!
Please take a moment and tell us about your why or how this post has inspired you to take action in creating a powerful why by leaving a comment.
To learn more about the Global Hug Tour please take a look at the website and if you are on Facebook please support the tour by becoming a fan!
Posted in Business Resources, Follow Up 2 Comments »
reason alone people may avoid you rather than face the embarrassment of not knowing your name. Of course most groups have a flow of visitors consistently attending to check out the group. As a member of any group you want these visitors to feel welcomed! Name badges make it easy for visitors to interact with members. Name badges help create a great experience for the visitor. A visitor who has a great experience visiting a new group is more likely to join when you follow up with them!
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