Focus on forming relationships
I'm going to tell you a litte story two members recently shared with me.
Nerice Kaufman, exective director of Hospice of the North Coast started to chat with Marti Kapocious of Workplace Services/Kuske Interior at the Business Resource Committee meeting.
Kaufman explains, "When Marti learned about HNC's innovative new, six-bedroom, in-patient Pacifica House hospice residence opening in Carlsbad, she offered her design expertise on a complimentary basis, plus her company's products, including carpeting and furnishings for the main areas, at a very good price."
Both women agree that the result is a beautiful marriage of form and function.
"I wanted to help Nerice and her staff create a warm, homey feel throughout the residence while remaining cognizant that Pacifica serves as a healthcare facility with specific standards of use to uphold," Kapocious said.
We have many similar interactions between members at the Chamber. I think this story illustrates very well what networking is all about. It's not about trying to hand out your business cards to anyone who will take them at a Chamber event. It's not about setting out to sell your products or services to Chamber members, expecting that your Chamber membership can be a directory for leads. Instead, your Chamber membership is about forging relationships first, of being part of the Chamber community. Attend our events to get to know other members. Discuss what you're doing, seek or offer advice for business-related issues.
Through your interactions, establish yourself as a go-to source. When someone you've interacted with needs your service or product, or finds about someone else who does, they might pass the referral on to you. If you need a service or product, or encounter a similar need, you do the same for the other business.
It's a more organic relationship building, creating a network of contacts into relationship-building business.
It's the concept at the heart of "The Go-Giver: A Little Story About A Powerful Business Idea" by Bob Burg and John David Mann. Many of you have already read it, since the Chamber and its members have been recommending it and applying its "Five Laws of Stratospheric Success" in your approach to business. But for those of you who haven't read it, I recommend you pick it up.
This book, which is definitely a quick read, illustrates the concept of creating meaningful relationships that help others, and that these could ultimately lead to unexpected rewards.
Pick it up, learn from it and instead of being a "go-getter," set out to become a "go giver."
I'm going to tell you a litte story two members recently shared with me.
Nerice Kaufman, exective director of Hospice of the North Coast started to chat with Marti Kapocious of Workplace Services/Kuske Interior at the Business Resource Committee meeting.
Kaufman explains, "When Marti learned about HNC's innovative new, six-bedroom, in-patient Pacifica House hospice residence opening in Carlsbad, she offered her design expertise on a complimentary basis, plus her company's products, including carpeting and furnishings for the main areas, at a very good price."
Both women agree that the result is a beautiful marriage of form and function.
"I wanted to help Nerice and her staff create a warm, homey feel throughout the residence while remaining cognizant that Pacifica serves as a healthcare facility with specific standards of use to uphold," Kapocious said.
We have many similar interactions between members at the Chamber. I think this story illustrates very well what networking is all about. It's not about trying to hand out your business cards to anyone who will take them at a Chamber event. It's not about setting out to sell your products or services to Chamber members, expecting that your Chamber membership can be a directory for leads. Instead, your Chamber membership is about forging relationships first, of being part of the Chamber community. Attend our events to get to know other members. Discuss what you're doing, seek or offer advice for business-related issues.
Through your interactions, establish yourself as a go-to source. When someone you've interacted with needs your service or product, or finds about someone else who does, they might pass the referral on to you. If you need a service or product, or encounter a similar need, you do the same for the other business.
It's a more organic relationship building, creating a network of contacts into relationship-building business.
It's the concept at the heart of "The Go-Giver: A Little Story About A Powerful Business Idea" by Bob Burg and John David Mann. Many of you have already read it, since the Chamber and its members have been recommending it and applying its "Five Laws of Stratospheric Success" in your approach to business. But for those of you who haven't read it, I recommend you pick it up.
This book, which is definitely a quick read, illustrates the concept of creating meaningful relationships that help others, and that these could ultimately lead to unexpected rewards.
Pick it up, learn from it and instead of being a "go-getter," set out to become a "go giver."