Blog with TD Gift Solutions

I belong to a small business networking group call Bountiful Networking & Referrals. Our group meets the first and third Tuesday of each month so we can network amongst business colleagues. Each week a different business from out group get to spotlight their business and share more in depth information with us on what their business is all about. We also have one of our business members share with us a business networking tip. A great tid-bit we can all use to help us improve upon our face to face networking skills.

One statement made by my fellow BNR member Shane was the following: "It's easier to promote the business of your colleagues than it is to promote your own." That statement really made me think, ya, he's right. If you network not just in the "It's about me 24 hours a day phase", you freely tell friends, family and clients about the businesses of your colleagues. It comes natural to those who love sharing good news. His way of networking will work full circle in his favor. Most people like positive, trustworthy people who will treat them right when they are in need of your service.

Shane mentioned how he has started using his Facebook not to just jibber-jabber about what he does but to also share about the business of his networking colleagues. I love that idea and his way of viewing networking. Business networking is 100% about getting back what you put into it or paying it forward.

Tim also gave us some great pointers at our meeting today:

How to get more referrals.

1. Be Trustworthy!
if you're not getting the number of referrals you want maybe people
don't trust you enough to refer you. Look at yourself first!
2. Ask for them!
be proactive, remind people you love referrals. Be specific about what
is a good referral for you.
3. Follow up!
not only with the referred lead but also with the person that referred
them to you. Keep them in the loop.
4. Treat referrals like gold!
go above and beyond
5. Treat referrers like kings!
if they referred once they will do it again.
6. Give referrals!
you have to give to get. teach them how to give a referral by example

How to give a referral

1. Validate! Validate! Validate!
sell the lead on why they should use that business partner. Give a
testimonial.
2. Ask permission to have them contacted!
67% of leads who receive only a business card never contact that
business person.
3. Call the referred party immediately!
give them the lead's contact information and put them in touch with that
lead right away. Don't let the lead lose interest. Strike while the
iron is hot.
4. Follow up!
check in with referred lead and referred business partner. Show
diligence and your concern in their business well being to both parties.
(while you're on the phone w/ biz partner ask for a referral for
yourself)

Tim sites his sources as:
Referral of a lifetime - Tim Templeton
Get more referrals now - Bill Cates
Business by referral - Ivan Mesner

To Your Success!
Tina D.

If you are a small business owner and are looking to network with a dynamic group of people come join us for lunch.

Today was quite a busy day for us here at TD Gift Solutions, LLC. After meeting with a couple of clients I attended the business expo put on by our local Salt Lake City chamber. The food was great and I made some great new contacts I had not even considered.

There was the one... the one business owner whos rude behavior still has me chuckling and thinking, how in the world does he ever get contacts beyond those just in front of his face???

We introduce our selves with a hand shake, he starts telling me about his business and what it does. He asks me about my business and I kid you not, I was in mid-sentence about my gift consulting services, had given him my card when another business owner walked up. The business owner with whom I had been talking with ( A research marketing company) turned away from me as if I had suddenly vanished and started talking to the other business owner. The mannerisms of the owner of the marketing research company made it very clear to me that he did not feel I could be of any use to his company. Now by this time I had already picked up his business card and at the time it just did not occur to me when he said "Thanks" as if he was dismissing me to just put his card back on his table and walk away.

I don't get business owners who are networking snobs. My purpose for going to networking events is to build my circle of contacts and increase the exposure of my company to the friends and colleagues of those I meet. If I were a networking snob I would get very little referral business.

You think I should send him a book on the real reasons to network???,lol.

To your success
TD Gift Solutions, LLC
Tina D.

Our local networking group Bountiful Networking & Referrals believes in helping to support our local Utah economy. One a month we hold a drawing so that we can purchase and donate a standard food share from the Utah Food co-op to a local family or person. The names in the drawing are submitted to us either by fellow BNR members or those in the community. For the month of October our donation will go to a Single mom and her three children.

BNR Angels giving back to the community

Along with the ways to enter a family or person on the site you can contact us directly through our business networking site contact us form: Contact BNR

To your success
Tina D.
TD Gift Solutions, LLC

Sometimes it’s about who knows the guy sitting right next to you

You’ve probably heard it for many years in the work world, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know that can help you get ahead. Well, in the small business world that statement is very far from the truth. With a small business you have to network in a manner where you are not excluding possible contacts. Every person that you meet and talk with every day has their own circle of influence outside of knowing you and anyone in their circle has the potential to be your next client.

Here’s a good example. I over herd a conversation not too long ago between two business associates. They both run business with common products most of us use every day, so many people consider them as common referral contacts when talking to other small business owners. My two business associates were discussing how they had no need for Avon services and how the Avon Rep could not possibly be of any use to their own personal businesses. The reality of it is they actually don’t know who the Avon lady knows and if you narrow your circle of contacts to only those with who you think you need services from or those who can be of use to you, then you are short changing yourself and your business. What if the Avon lady has a friend, neighbor, client who needs your services? What if your Avon lady knows the governor, the mayor, has connections with the exact type of people you would like to have as clients? You won’t ever know about her contacts because you have already written the Avon lady off.

With small business networking you have to network and get to know new business contacts with your eyes open, no business contact is too small or worthless. When you pre-judge another business owners worth by only looking at whats in it for you, others are not likely to refer you to their clients/contacts, nor are they likely to trust you. So I challenge you at your next networking event, meeting or even every day gatherings to network in a manner that does not automatically exclude those who you think:

1)They don’t sell anything I need
2)They can’t possibly know anyone I need to know because they don’t sell anything I need and I don’t think anyone else needs their product.

If you are local to Utah and are a small business be sure to check out our group Bountiful Networking & Referrals

To your success
Tina D.

A networking lunch at a funeral home is not something I would have thought of. Our lunch meeting today was very enjoyable. Our hosts were Lynda and Josh at Family Care Funeral Home. They were a very friendly and knowledgeable host and hostess.

Our lunch invitation stated : What a great opportunity to learn about this without being emotionally involved. While enjoying lunch Lynda and Josh shared with us how one can plan ahead for yourself or even a loved one and make the experience much less frazzled. We were provided with great brochures with questionnaires that ask key questions your loved one might forget to ask you about your wishes as well as key list of to do items that can save your family from having to scramble and find those items during their time of grief.

It was very interesting to find out that there are actually funeral homes, like the one we visited who are part of a network that allows you to pre-plan, pay in installments and take it all with you to another state if you move away... just a quick FYI.

I did mention to Lynda that I am planning to work on doing a collaboration with one of our local assisted living facilities offering gifts/quick shopping for their elderly clients. She mentioned that if I provide her with a brochure she would be sure to include it in the packets they take when they visit other assisted living facilities and retirement homes, collaborations can seem to pop up in the most unusual places.

To your networking success
Tina D.

P.S.

Quick tidbit, MJ's coffin/casket ran around 28,000 and was made with a brass covering that has to be polished 100 times to get it to shine the way it did.