SoKy Local Business or "SoKybiz"

Many of you already know how I feel about BNI and that I have been less that enthusiastic about the organization in the past. I have always felt it was too regimented for me and feel there are other ways to network with small business people. I hold true to that opinion however I must admit that I had a nice (albeit long) experience yesterday morning.

I was asked to attend this meeting by client and friend, Tanya Griffeth of Master Clean. (www.mastercleanfloors.com) Actually, she asked me to attend a number of weeks ago. I've been able to put it off for a wide variety of reasons ranging from unpreparedness to spacing it out. She called me the night before and "shamed" me into being there this morning using all kinds of tactical offensives on my integrity, loyalty and manhood. (grin)

It was as expected at first, a small group of young enthusiastic frontline sales people and entrepreneurs doing their duty to make more money. Big smiles, firm hand shakes and the compulsatory, "so what do you do?" small talk. They were friendly and very welcoming, perhaps more so than other meetings with other groups that I have attended before. (No food though... what's up with that?) LOL

If you don't know how it works, I'll list some contacts below so you can find out for yourself, but briefly it goes something like this. The president opens the meetings and a few key officers make their comments and reports. The opening by the education person (Rick Bruce) was very motivational and well done. Each person is then allowed their 60 second pitch, (every single week). I do have to admit that by practicing this 60 second pitch over and over again, it should make it easy to stand in front of a customer or group and answer the "so what do you do?" question. Then the visitor (that's me) is allowed to speak.

When I stood up the time keeper (yes, there's a person with a stop watch keeping time) said that I had 5 minutes. I didn't know he was joking and was trying to figure out how to fill 5 minutes on the fly. I introduced myself and was just getting in the zone when the beeper went off and my time was up. ?HUH?  Looking at the time keeper he says to me, "Oh I was just kidding, you only get 1 minute." It was all in fun I but it did kind of make me feel awkward. No big deal, I observed them go through the rest of their meeting.

Every week at a typical BNI meeting, two people get 10 minutes to teach about their company, products and services. This week it was Tracy Oliver of NCSS Security Services and Curt Gammons, of State Farm Insurance.

Tracy did a great job of communicating the specialties, products, services and uniqueness of her company in a lively and quite innovative way. She had brought a door prize of Halloween candy and used the candy as a prop. Asking people to pick from a verity of candies, she used the brand name of each candy to make a point about what made her business special. Well done Tracy!!!

Curt Gammons took the floor and even had handouts, examples and brochures. He knows his stuff that's for sure. He was able to highlight some things about insurance that I had not considered for my home, auto and business insurance. Using sample quotes, he convinced me why I need and good and trustworthy insurance agent and inspired me to submit a quote request.

These feature presentations are more useful than I originally thought. Think about it, I was a visitor and left with a better knowledge of the networking partner's product and service plus I was convinced that they knew what they were doing and could refer them confidently. The people in their "network" also become more knowledgeable about their partner's product making it easier to share the strengths of their partner and prequalifying the referral. Their mission to network with other professionals and create an environment that motivated referrals is working in my opinion.

They also have a period where they share referrals, testimonials and other ways BNI has been working for them. The Rainmaker group was a lively bunch to say the least. Lots of laughs, lots of fun and yes, lots of business.

I was asked to share what I liked best about the meeting. I tried to be brief (just in case that timer went off again (grin)), but Gammons kept pressing. I said that I liked the testimonial best when Dr. Owsley shared that he has had more results from the Rainmakers than any other professional organization including the Chamber and the Young Professionals Association. I told the group that I thought this spoke volumes to the strength and quality of the group. I expanded my review to include the fact that I have never been a real "fan" of BNI, having attended a number of other groups, but this group had quality people, a good energy and seemed to get the job done.

I remain skeptical of BNI in general and have no intent to join for a few reasons. Mostly because I refuse to commit to meeting once a week and generate reports... I'm in business for myself because I hate reports. Also because I use many of their techniques on my own and frankly, I have enough business right now. That said, I do think this is something a small business should review for themselves because I've heard many positive testimonies of how BNI has help increase sales.

If you would like to find out more, there is plenty of information out there. But in the spirit of networking, maybe you should contact Tanya since she is my direct contact to the group. Her contact information, as well as everyone else's is below.

They offer a welcome kit with the business cards of everyone in the group. A glaring omission is the Banker's business card, and I can't remember his first name, "Thomason" is his last name and he is from US Bank across from Buckhead. The pest control company was also not in the packet... sorry man. I loved your hook... "We kill more bugs than penicillin." I scanned the cards, click on the small version to see the info more clearly. I am not publishing their email addresses for spam control.

• Master Clean, Tanya Griffeth
  
• State Farm, Curt Gammons
  
• North Central Security Services, Tracy Oliver
  
• Rick Bruce Contracting, Rick Bruce
  
• Coldwell Banker, Doris Carver
  
• Ericsen Chiropractic, Dr. Kyle M. Owsley
  
• Edward Jones, Jonathan Ross
  
• PC Gurus, Jason Cook
  
• Capital Mortgage Partners, Wade Browning
  
• Southern Delight, Bart Anderson
  

This was posted by SoKy : 9:26 AM  0 comments links to this post

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This was posted by SoKy : 10:32 AM  0 comments links to this post

Last week I wrote about the importance of a good and thorough plan. I've been working on it ever since! Looking at every aspect of my business operations, how tasks are accomplished, documenting the process and then looking for ways to improve. I want to drill down even deeper but the fact is there is no time.

There is no Time

That's a typical response to the needs of small business. There is no time can be blamed on a number of things that should be done that are not. Financial planning and book keeping strategies, business planning and operational innovation, even shopping around for products and services is often short changed in the name of time saving. If forces me to consider, how much more time would I have later if I made more time for the details now?

Making Time

This is something that just cannot be done. You can't "make time." The number of hours in the day is predetermined by the rotation of the earth and the traditions of business. Making time in the literal sense is impossible, making best use of the time available is what I mean by making more time. To be clear, I'm not perfect and I fail to manage my time just like the next guy, but I have used some of the techniques to improve my time management.

Managing Time

Managing time is much more than buying a PDA or daily planner. Managing time is much more than an appointment book, to-do list or calendar. Managing time effectively is taking the time to step back from those organizational tools and deciding what is most important on (and off) the endless list of things that must be done. Managing time in many cases involves looking at what you're doing and first deciding if it's the best use of your time, then finding ways to do it. In many cases, delegation to subordinates or employees is a possible solution, hiring specialists is another and contracting it out could be a possible solution as well.

My biggest hurdle is trust and confidence that the items on my list can be done "right" or as well as I would have done it myself. I guess in a way, this goes back to my post on pride because I'm overly confident in my own abilities and too prideful to admit that others could do it as well, or dare I say... better. Even as I write this out (well past my self imposed deadline by the way), I've thought of a number of items on my list that can be delegated to members of my team.

It's your time, not theirs

Avoid the time stealers! Phones can be turned off, doors to offices closed, and computers (or software) turned off so people have limited access and limited ability to steal your time. They don't do it intentionally, they just do what they do, but in the end they are taking one of the most precious things you possess... time. It's yours not theirs so guard it when you have to.

Efficiency

Doing more in less time means you have more time to do more. HUH? Well it's true. If you organize your schedule and your daily task in such a way that you are more efficient, you will get more done in less time. If you are spending less time doing what took all day, then you have more time.. see? Now you've suddenly been gifted with more time to do other things that are important to your small business or better, for yourself.

It's all about managing resources. Time is likely one of the most precious. Consider it like one ounce gold coins clinking down each second and you will come to appreciate that time. Time is the resource that cannot be fabricated, duplicated or created, but it can be managed and should be.

Some Time

For the past week and the remainder of October, I will be sequestered in my office working on a huge project. I've talked this through with my family, made arrangements with my clients and even told friends that I will be unavailable this month. Some accuse me of working too hard or warn me that I am going to burn out working so hard. I try to explain that this is a planned burn. I've considered the investment carefully and am managing each moment to squeeze out every ounce of productivity. I can get two months work done in one month if I focus, stay the course and manage my time. No, I could not keep up this pace for long, but right now it is necessary, planned for and with a goal in mind. Fact is, I'm convinced this "planned burn" will result in a long term return on investment that will payoff in years of freedom.

If you are curious what I am working on... come back in November, I will place an announcement here about a brand new business as well as updates on Soky.net community portal and Carried Away Vacations.

I posted a quote from Calvin Coolidge earlier this morning. I received it in my Marketing Association email newsletter and it reminded me of some old lessons, old friends and a resolve to be persistent. This next month will be a test of that resolve and only through diligence and time management will I be able to accomplish the plan. All the lessons are culminating into a good business model and potential for success that I had been afraid to consider because it's just too great.

Thanks for reading and good luck in your small business efforts.

This was posted by SoKy : 8:36 AM  0 comments links to this post

This was on a framed lithograph behind the desk of the owner of the first company I worked for as a salesman. Terry Folmar, owner of Specialty Products in Birmingham AL hired me to sell adhesives, coatings and sealants to the aerospace and defense industries in the southeast. I did very well in my new career as a salesman and in no small part due to his mentoring.

I remember sitting in his office and he turned to this quote, read it out loud and then expounded on the importance of persistence and diligence. I took it to heart! When on the road, I averaged 10 or more sales calls a day because of the call for diligence and persistence. Yes, I did very for Mr. Folmar and myself because of this lesson.

Thanks Terry, I hope you are well.

This was posted by SoKy : 7:56 AM  0 comments links to this post