Tag: BENG

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Your Elevator Pitch, Part Two

Two weeks ago, I wrote about my preparations for our October monthly Members meeting and my plan for a contest to recognize the best elevator pitch. My objective was two-fold; to support our main speaker and put a spotlight on one of my pet peeves.  I wanted to ensure that it was fun, interesting, and productive for our members.  If they fail to see value in the meeting, attendance will suffer, and our Mission will be compromised. I was also interested in providing an effective introduction to support our speaker, Leslie Kuban, whose presentation was about selling to entrepreneurs.

 

I am pleased to report that the meeting was a great success! The contest for the best elevator pitch was well received and executed. Creating score sheets and ballots prior to the meeting saved time and improved the outcome of the contest.

 

The winner of the contest was Leslie Kuban, the guest speaker.  The attendees noted that her pitch was focused and interesting.  The discussion that followed was energetic, as the room was completely focused on the issue.  They understood the value of her message.  Winning the contest gave Leslie instant credibility in advance of her presentation.

 

At least one member suggested that every meeting should include a contest for the best elevator pitch. That is something to consider. I am pleased that I’m getting through to the folks, but I don’t know that a contest every meeting would have the desired effect. Possibly once a quarter would be a better compromise.

 

Leslie was energized when she began her presentation. Later that afternoon she called me to debrief. I told her I thought she had done an excellent job.  The presentation was well received, and the meeting was one of our best. She was pleased with my assessment and volunteered to participate further with our BENG Chapter.  Also, she indicated an interest in an affiliation with ITB Partners.  A twofer!

 

In the days following our meeting, I received an email from a member who was unable to attend the meeting. She is interested in crafting an effective elevator pitch, sending me a draft for my review and feedback. Frankly, she made an excellent start. The following day I provided her with my thoughts and suggested that we schedule a face-to-face meeting to work on a final product. We agreed to meet for coffee on Halloween.

 

In my earlier post, I discussed the difference between a positioning statement for a resume, and for an elevator pitch. The positioning statement on a resume, or a business plan, should be written in jargon relevant to the reader.   However, jargon for a target audience, may not be relevant for one-on-one personal discourse, especially for someone unfamiliar with your line of work.  An elevator pitch must be easily understood by anyone.

 

An effective elevator pitch goes together with networking activities. It helps recruit evangelists for one’s business, capturing their imagination so that they will spread the word.  As I mentioned in the prior post, a good elevator pitch is memorable, believable, and interesting.  It must make a lasting impression, which means it must make an emotional connection. It is a conversation starter, not the result.

 

As I consider adding value to our meetings, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the subject matter and the type of presentation that will be best received. In pursuit of this goal, I’ve been spending a lot of time on YouTube, listening to speakers talk about the value of storytelling for more effective presentations. This seems to be the preferred style, for brand building, as well as speeches and business presentations. I like the concept, as stories tend to be more effective especially when they make an emotional connection with the audience.

 

In December I have a speaker scheduled for the Atlanta Chapter of BENG about developing more effective speeches. I am confident that we are on the same wavelength with respect to story-telling, but I plan to have a conversation with him to ensure that we are in sync.

 

Thank you for visiting our blog.

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, Managing Partner

ITB PARTNERS

Jim.Weber@itbpartners.com

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Effective Networking Requires a Strategy!

Apple gave me a nice gift this week. Yes, I updated my iPhone and iPad to iOS 12 which I think is really cool, but that is only half the gift.  The upgrade helped me finalize the topic for my weekly blog post. Very nice of them I must say. To be honest, Apple gave me the “angle,” or focus on my topic. It’s still good. A good post needs to be a story with an interesting perspective.  The iOS 12 upgrade provided that perspective.
My last two posts spoke about innovative networking ideas so I needed a transition that would add value to that theme.  I had just completed my monthly update for ITB Partners and thought about recapping the productivity apps I had uncovered during the past few months. An article summarizing five productivity applications might be very interesting, I thought. Seriously though, who needs to take that tact when the iOS 12 update provided so many productivity-enhancing features. It did cause me to think about networking strategies, however.
Why talk about networking and productivity, one might ask? Good question! At a fundamental level, our most precious resource is time.  The way we allocate our time, our priorities, determines our ability to achieve our goals and improve our lives. Any tool or process which helps us become more productive is worth consideration.
Whether one is between jobs, actively looking for that next opportunity, or gainfully employed and building a career, nurturing relationships is important.  Networking factors prominently in either situation, albeit, networking strategies may be different. It’s about time. If you are gainfully employed you may limit yourself to a few regular group meetings each month.  They may be industry-specific, and/or occupation-specific, such as professional associations. You might also include a more personal interest group centered around hobbies, sports, or alumni chapters. In the course of regular day-to-day activities, you will meet people who can help you achieve your job goals and broader career interests. Even with these limited options, one must set priorities and budget their time.
If you’re out of work, looking for a job, networking is your job. You must meet people who can connect you to jobs, directly or indirectly. You may be interested in attending group meetings to develop and refine your job search skills. Professional development may take a backseat for a while even though industry organizations and professional associations can offer opportunities. The agenda for the meeting will be your guide to make those decisions.
Effective networking requires a strategy.  That strategy is derived from an overall job search plan. A good job search plan begins with a list of suitable employers to actively solicit.  It follows that an appropriate networking strategy would be to identify employees of those companies, who can connect you with hiring managers.
Internet-based tools should not be considered networking by themselves. LinkedIn and other social media is a great way to connect with people who may be helpful, but it is just a starting point. Your objective is to schedule face-to-face meetings where you can build a relationship by establishing your credibility.  Credibility leads to trust which gives your network confidence to connect you with other helpful people.
I am not a big fan of participating in networking groups specifically oriented to the unemployed. Unless those groups are providing useful job search skills training, networking with other job-seekers can devolve into a pity party. This is not good for one’s psyche. On the other hand, one should seek out groups that include the gainfully employed, who know of job opportunities, and those looking to hire someone with your credentials.
Use your time wisely.  Develop a networking strategy that supports your job search plan.  For one-on-one networking, seek out people connected to companies of interest to you. Remember networking is a two-way street. A ‘pay it forward’ mentality is required.   Finally, remember to thank your networking contact with a follow-up note.  It is a big thing!  If the contact is a coffee drinker, enclose a pre-paid gift card.  It is a little thing that goes a long, long way!

Thank you for visiting our blog.

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, Managing Partner

ITB PARTNERS

Jim.Weber@itbpartners.com

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Lunch With Four Interesting People

I enjoyed “the most interesting man in the world” advertising campaign for Dos Equis beer.  It was a big hit that inspired many Internet memes and skits on Saturday Night Live.  Everyone could identify with that theme.  From what I understand, it was successful as the brand saw year-over-year sales increases in the face of overall declining US beer consumption. Of course, that was when actor Jonathan Goldsmith played the debonair gentleman with a lifetime of memorable experiences and beautiful women at his side. His replacement, French actor Augustin Legrand, not so much. Ultimately that campaign was scrubbed in 2018.

I cannot claim to be the most interesting man in the world, however, for two hours on Thursday I was one of four interesting people. It was during that time then I stumbled on a novel if not completely new networking technique.  The title of the event is “lunch with four interesting people.”  Our host, let’s call him John, is a wealth management executive with one of the larger banks in the area.  He has been conducting this luncheon once a month for the past 18 months.  His lunches are by invitation only, referrals from prior guests. The idea is to become acquainted with one another on a personal level. Unlike most networking events, it isn’t overtly business-related, even though we all spoke to some extent about our occupations.

I arrived at noon, and John’s administrative assistant escorted me to a private room where I met John and the other guests.  When everyone was seated, the administrative assistant thanked us all for attending the luncheon and then made her exit.  At that time, John thanked us again for accepting his invitation and provided background on the concept.  As opposed to more traditional business networking events the overall point of this luncheon is designed to resemble a cocktail party. The structure is spontaneous, allowing each of the participants to ask questions of one another to keep the conversation moving.  To minimize wasted time ordering from the menu, we chose our meal days before the event.  The only decision we had to make was choosing our beverage and dessert.

John explained that due to a very severe encounter with cancer he had come to realize the value of nurturing personal relationships. The concept of lunch was a result of his epiphany.  He began with his story which was very compelling.  As it turns out, we have a few things in common.  We are about the same age, sporting full heads of silver hair.  We are transplants to Atlanta whereas the other guests grew up in the area.  Additionally, we are military brats; his father having served in the Navy while mine served in the Air Force.

When John was finished providing his background, he went around the table clockwise, asking a question of each guest, to begin the presentation of their personal story. Each guest received a different inquiry, so there was no way to prepare an initial response.  The other guests were encouraged to ask questions of the presenter to keep the conversation going.  It was like a cocktail party, much less structured and improvisational.  Two of the other guests, one a female, were probably in their early to mid-40s, and the other was closer to my age.  The lady at the table is a television producer, whereas the two gentlemen are attorneys.

I was the last to reveal my background.  John asked me, “if you were to send a letter to your younger self, what would it say?”  Although I didn’t expect that question, I was prepared to answer as I had pondered that thought many times over the years.  I said that I would encourage my younger self to come to Atlanta early in my career and to avoid corporate moves of questionable value.  That led to questions of where I grew up, my favorite place to live, and advice on interacting with grown children.

At the end of the meeting, one of the servers took a group photo, and John encouraged us to refer someone for the October luncheon.

I spend a great deal of my time networking, but I found this meeting to be most refreshing, as it was about making new friends.  If it leads to business opportunities, then that would be an added benefit.  For anyone looking for a different twist on building a network, I recommend that you consider this concept.

Thank you for visiting our blog.

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, Managing Partner

ITB PARTNERS

Jim.Weber@itbpartners.com

 

 

 

 

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On Coaching Independent Consultants

I don’t mind an early morning drive to Canton Georgia to meet with one of my coaching clients. Actually, I’m happy to make the trek. So, I made my obligatory visit to have breakfast with Tom on Friday morning. Of all the consultants I coach, Tom seems to struggle the most. This is the sixth time I’ve met with him in the past year and I must say that I am frustrated too.

 

Prior to our meeting, I gave considerable thought to my strategy for this coaching session. I have known Tom for almost 15 years, and I consider him a friend.  I needed to find the proper mix of listening and inquiry to understand his problem and offer suggestions for possible solutions. I knew that active listening would occupy the bulk of our meeting.

 

Tom arrived and got right to get to the point. We hadn’t even ordered our breakfast when he told me that he needed to find a small group to ensure his success.  Although I didn’t react to his comment, I recognized the irony as he is part of a small group.  I pushed that thought into the back my mind for further consideration.

 

Naturally, given his opening salvo, I asked him for more clarification to better understand his thinking.  Having had a lot of coaching experience, I know that the initial problem statement is seldom ever the real issue. It is usually a conversation starter, otherwise, he would’ve been a position to solve his own issues.  To be fair, Tom’s opening statement was really one of the symptoms of the problem to be addressed.  I knew it would take me a while to get to the actual problem.

 

He went on to say that through his work with his primary client he met a commercial real estate developer who engaged him in a conversation about doing business development work on their behalf.   He also mentioned that he had received an inquiry about writing a training program for a restaurant company based in New York. That opportunity was as a referral from a friend.  He then mentioned the need to have other contacts who could take on some of his workload so that he could become more productive and solicit other projects.  It was at this point that Tom told me that his real strength and interest is project execution.  The significance of that revelation was better understood later in our conversation.

 

When Tom finished his opening statement, I asked him for an update on his primary contract. He said that his client is having a banner year, on track to generate three times the revenue of 2017. Their recovery is creating stress, however as they are having difficulty finding reliable subcontractors to perform their work. Some of what he spoke about relates to the principal’s lack of executive skills, which we had previously discussed. This is a recurring theme in our discussions as there is a clear opportunity to expand his engagement into more strategic issues. Naturally, I inquired about his ability to expand the conversation in that direction.

 

I learned that Tom’s role with this client is a lot more tactical than strategic. I thought he was a project manager, with multiple projects under his supervision. I was surprised to learn that he is a site manager, one of many, reporting to a project manager.  Reflecting on his earlier point about his strength in project execution, I began to gain clarity about the fundamental problem.  Finally, we were closing in on the real issue. Tom is stuck in a situation where he has little influence and is underpaid compared to his potential.  In some ways, this came as a surprise to me, but overall, not so much.  His frustration is understandable.

 

Tom’s consulting project has turned into a low-level supervisory job.  This is a bad place to be for an independent consultant.  The question is how to recover? Clearly, the client doesn’t have enough confidence in Tom to work with him at a strategic level.  We need to find a way to re-introduce Tom to the owners.

 

One possible solution is an indirect approach whereby he encourages the principal to engage in one of our networking groups.  This would give him an opportunity to meet other professionals, gain exposure for his business, and identify ways to develop his professional skills.  This might be a useful solution to help Tom develop greater strategic awareness as well.

Thank you for visiting our blog.

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, Managing Partner

ITB PARTNERS

Jim.Weber@itbpartners.com

 

 

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Covergence

Do you ever wonder why a series of related events seem to converge at about the same time?  It is funny how life can unfold.  I experienced one of those convergences this week.

I can’t remember the exact date when I last saw Tom. I know it’s been at least three years, maybe more. I remember that it was a networking event over scotch and cigars at Prohibition, a popular watering hole in Buckhead.  As I’ve said before, my favorite way to conduct business is in a relaxed atmosphere, with a fine cigar and a cocktail.  Indeed, Tom and I have that in common.

I first came to know Tom someplace around 2005. We were both members of the Marietta Chamber of Commerce and the Georgian Club. He owned a business that supported network systems and all things IT related.  He’s always been an active net-worker, facilitating multiple groups, and participating in others.

Fortunately, I have remained on Tom‘s mailing list, following his activities even if I haven’t been able to participate.  We are connected on LinkedIn, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when he reached out to me this week. I was delighted to hear from him as he was on my call list too.   We agreed to meet on Thursday evening at Cigar City Club in Sandy Springs.

Cigar City is another of my favorite places because of its location and ambiance. Even though I visit Cigar City just a few times each year, I am never disappointed.  On the other hand, Tom is a regular.  In fact, he has his own perch. He knows everyone at the club and they know him.  That comes as no surprise as Tom knows everyone in Atlanta. At least it seems that he does.  He’s just that kinda guy, smart, affable, and very engaging.

We arrived at the same time, chose our cigars, ordered drinks, and planted ourselves in Tom‘s favorite spot on the patio. As one could imagine we had a lot of catching up to do, beginning with an update on our businesses. Tom said that business was good but could always be better. I said, “I can relate to that.” He went on to say that he’s concerned that he may lose his largest account due to its acquisition. That would be a big blow to his business. He told me about some personal issues which required him to dial back his networking activities and that his groups had run their course.  Now he is motivated to re-engage.  Well, I knew had the solution to his situation.

I thanked Tom for reaching out to me, as I had a lot of news for him as well.  I began with the expansion of my business to support freelance consultants and that I was facilitating the Atlanta Chapter of the Business Executives Networking Group (BENG). It was about that time that Tom‘s girlfriend arrived, adding a whole new dynamic to the discussion.

She is also in the IT field, doing project management work for a large global manufacturer with offices in Atlanta.  After she made her introduction, Tom told her that she needed to hear about ITB Partners.  That led to a very productive and interesting exchange, so much so that it even peaked Tom‘s interest.

When the business updates were behind us, the evening turned to talk about personal interests and opportunities.  Before I knew it, it was past 8 o’clock, time to make my exit. If I had any less discipline I could easily have fired up another cigar and ordered my third cocktail.  If I had done so, I probably would have needed an Uber driver to take me home, resulting in a wasted Friday.  As I had a 9:00 a.m. coffee meeting, which was rescheduled from the original meeting last week, self-control was required.

Thanks to my timely departure I was able to make Friday’s coffee meeting.  My appointment was with a gentleman I met at the August BENG meeting.  A Scrum Master with impeccable credentials, he has been in job search since the beginning of the year.  As we talked about his career interests and how I might be helpful, I reflected on the prior evening with Tom and his girlfriend.  Everything came together.  They would be excellent contacts!  Convergence.

The older I become, the less I believe in coincidences.

Thank you for visiting our blog.

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.

 

Jim Weber, Managing Partner

ITB PARTNERS

Jim.Weber@itbpartners.com

 

Current Assignments

  1. COO- Northeast-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – Completed
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