This past week was a good one. Well, suffering through the remnants of the prior week’s Cold wasn’t fun, nevertheless, it was a busy week with many accomplishments. My time was devoted to coaching and mentoring my clients, recruiting new consultants, and a lot of networking. It was a good mix of productive activity that makes my work interesting and enjoyable.
My recruiting discussions included people interested in opening new offices for ITB Partners across the country and signing new members for our Atlanta team. One of those discussions was with a trusted colleague I have known for many years. It was a good opportunity to compare notes on the business environment and to catch up on each other’s progress. I even made an indirect pitch to sell her on the idea of joining our network. I am confident that my discussions will lead to follow-on contacts, creating more business opportunities.
I also learned how to create a survey in constant contact, and how to conduct a ZOOM video conference. I have a keen interest in learning, especially about leadership and the use of technology to improve my productivity. The value of ZOOM is to make our routine meetings more productive, eliminating drive-time for face-to-face meetings. The Constant Contact Survey Function will support the work to complete our 2019 Strategic Review. As we are using Constant Contact for our email marketing outreach it seemed to be unnecessary to pay for another service like Survey Monkey.
The highlight of my week was a luncheon meeting with a friend and one of my colleagues. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce my colleague to my friend, whose company could benefit from his expertise. After making the introductions, throughout most of the luncheon, I listened to their conversation, taking notes for follow-up introductions and networking. During that discussion we learned that her company’s updated business strategy is focused on acquiring an operating company. This gave my colleague an opportunity to talk about his strength in helping companies navigate significant changes, such as a change in ownership.
As she described their acquisition criteria, I made notes listing people she should meet. Naturally, I thought of people who could be helpful; two investment bankers, and a colleague who just helped her client with an acquisition. In this case, my colleague ran the due-diligence process for the acquiring company as a consultant. When the transaction was completed, she become their CFO. Having had recent M&A experience, especially with a CFO’s perspective, I know she can be very helpful to my friend and her company. Later that afternoon, I made those connections for my friend via LinkedIn. As I write this post, they are in the process of scheduling introductory phone calls.
I even thought of another client, who is prepping their business for sale, that may fit their criteria. This client is owned by a Private Equity Group (PEG) that is interested in realizing the increased equity they have created during their holding period. I mentioned that company in general terms, telling her that I will get back to her with more information. That led to a phone call with the target company’s CFO who promised to connect me with their advisory firm. We also talked about scheduling a dinner meeting to discuss future opportunities.
Overall, last week was a very productive week indeed, especially from a networking perspective. My orientation is that effective networking meetings begin with an objective and a good strategy. One must have a win-win mindset with a primary focus on helping the other party in the discussion. Good net-workers understand that reciprocity is the unspoken rule. By helping my friend find a viable acquisition target, I am confident that my colleagues and I will benefit from contracts with her company. Knowing her as I do, I am equally confident that she will provide us with outstanding references leading to additional business. I would call that a win-win proposition.
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Jim Weber, Managing Partner
ITB PARTNERS
