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Archive for March, 2009

i Take The Lead’s Newest Special Guest Speaker

March 30th, 2009 Becky No comments

Hope you have the opportunity to hear one of our newest Special Guest Speakers: Charles Montgomery http://www.nwesource.com/. Charles (whose son is pictured at the right) was born in Sarasota, FL but “never experienced the sunshine in any quantity to require it. By the age of six, after also living in New Mexico, Montana, and Wyoming, Oregon became home. In a semi-nomadic lifestyle his family continued to move around and he attended sixteen different elementary and junior high schools before settling with his parents at a Hillsboro address ad graduating from Glencoe High. Already containing a dynamic personality, this movement cemented the ability to socialize quickly in new environments and also provided the ability to jump ahead academically at several key locations. Through college placement classes, Charles had the talents of many college graduates and after attending a short stint at PCC decided to forgo university for a place in the workforce.”
Similar to life prior, he quickly jumped from position to position, soaking up the knowledge and experience each one provided. Luck, talent and skill landed him a job in tech support with Gateway Computers, where they taught him the ins and outs of customer service and troubleshooting PC’s from motherboard replacement to operating system maintenance. His next position was physically building computers, then software tech support. From there he worked at Intel in logistics support for the processor division followed by a support position in Web Information Systems, which was then only bettered by a network and test engineer position at IBM in Beaverton.

IBM provided significant employee training and his ability to see and understand corporate process have gone a long way towards building an understanding of efficiency in process improvement, especially in regards to technology, which has been a driving factor in our country’s business economic growth. Now he brings that same analytical ability to small businesses, and consults with them on what they need to utilize technology for process improvement themselves, particularly in the realm of communications, marketing and sales. Always the aspiring entrepreneur, Charles is living his dream, helping small businesses grow – while growing his small business. His ability to soak up pertinent information, organize it and re-convey it to I Take The Lead http://www.itakethelead.com/ members has proven invaluable in the last year, and we greatly look forward to his continued participation and contribution in our growing network of incredible professionals.

Categories: Networking 101 Tags:

Rule #1 for Networking

March 22nd, 2009 Becky No comments

lynn 688As one of the Corporate Officers for i Take The Lead, a referral group organization based out of Portland OR, http://www.itakethelead.com/ (with 2 franchises in Seattle WA and 3 franchises in Denver CO) our members, and more frequently guests, try to sell me their ‘goods or services.’ If only they understood the true value of networking!

We have a member in our Portland B2B groups, who’s been around for several years. He’s been part of the i Take The Lead communifty for at least 5 years now, as a Merchant Service provider. Lynn’s never once tried to sell us his services; however, he’s been the recipient of several of our referrals. We know he’s dependable, will be fair with his pricing and will take care of the people we send his way, and most of all, we know he will treat these people with respect and will not push his services on them. Rather than try to ’sell’ them, Lynn is a consultant. The fact is: by not trying to sell us his services, this member has become the recipient of many more referrals than our one business would have represented.

Rule #1 for Networking:

1. Do NOT sell. Never enter into any networking situation with the intention of selling. Networking is not sales; it’s relationship building.

Categories: Networking 101 Tags: , , , , ,

Are you experiencing significant growth in your revenue?

March 15th, 2009 Becky 1 comment

We are pleased to announce that on May 19th i Take The Lead- Portland http://www.itakethelead.com/ (Go to our Events page, Portland, then May 19th Quarterly Event for more information) is going to host an event with Jeff Schneider http://www.schneider.sandler.com/ as our Keynote Speaker. Selling in a down economy is not easy. But many sellers and business owners are experiencing significant growth in their revenue and income even during these tough times. Want to learn their secrets?? Those fortunate to be there will learn how to:

· Get the prospect to make a Yes or No decision (rather than “think-it-over”)
· Quickly qualify a prospect so you don’t waste time
· Get in control of the selling process and stay in control
· Establish meaningful bonding and rapport quickly
· Use powerful questioning techniques to uncover the prospect’s “pain”

· Gain agreement as to how much money the prospect is willing to invest to fix their “pain”
· Trade in your desperation and gain real confidence.

This presentation is a MUST for every business owner, president, sales manager or highly motivated seller that is serious about improving their performance in a down economy.

Jeff Schneider is President of Schneider Training Solutions, an authorized agent for Sandler Sales Institute. Sandler is the leader for innovative training solutions for sellers and managers nationwide. Jeff has trained groups of people up and down the West Coast, on topics relating to sales, sales management and personal development.
Prior to starting this company, Jeff spent 18 years in sales and sales management, with most of his experience in media and advertising. Specifically, Jeff managed sales operations for television and radio stations in Spokane, Sacramento, Bend and Portland. He trained and mentored dozens of successful advertising sellers, and earned a reputation as a manager that knew how to take a seller to the next level of their selling career.
Jeff can speak to a wide range of groups, offering an array of topics, Jeff’s clear and concise teaching style results in audiences walking away with a great deal of practical ideas and techniques that they can use right away. His weekly sales training class, The President’s Club, is transforming an ever-increasing number of sales professionals and business owners into highly-effective winners that are achieving the goals they have long dreamed of.

Categories: Jeff Schneider, Quarterly Event, Sandler Sales Tags:

What is networking?

March 9th, 2009 Becky 1 comment

The name of my blog is “Networking is Not selling.” What specifically does that mean? If it’s not selling, are you wasting your time going to these networking events, meetings, and mixers?

According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, Networking is the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions; specifically: the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business. But I think my good friend, Ronnie Noize, the Marketing Coach (http://www.veronikanoize.com/) says it best: “Networking is about connecting and serving.”

Yes, connecting and serving. “What can I do for you?” Not, “What can I sell you?”

Recently, I was at a networking function here in the Portland metro area. As a matter of fact, I was attending one of my own I Take The Lead networking meetings. To my right sat a young financial advisor, representing a company I’d heard of but really knew very little about. This young man – I’ll call him “Sam” for the sake of anonymity – had an arrogant manner about him, which was a little surprising since he didn’t look like he was much older than 20. I made the mistake of mentioning the fact that I have grandchildren. The meeting ended, and we all began to disperse. “Sam” nearly broke both his legs from jumping across two chairs in an effort to catch up to me and follow me out to my car at the end of the meeting. Astonished, I turned to see what he needed from me. To my amazement, he went right into sales mode. “Sam” had the only product available that was going to help my grandchildren get a college education, but I needed to get signed up today! For a mere $50 per month, apiece, I could set up an account for each child, and they would forever be grateful to me…blah….blah…blah…blah…blah.

Did he get my business? Heck no! What do you think the chances are that he’ll ever get a referral from me? You’re right. He was not there to connect and serve but, in my opinion, he only wanted to make that next sale. Networking is Not Selling. Many thanks go out to my friend, Ronnie Noize and my other good friend, Dr Sean Harry, who both teach our members how to Connect and Serve.

Categories: Networking, Ronnie Noize, Sean Harry, Veronika Noize Tags: