Effortless Networking

My sister-in-law in India is starting a business. Last week she asked me if I could help her find some books with some technical information.

I replied saying that I had a client (based in the US) who is an expert consultant on the topic. Would she be interested in talking with him instead?

Well, here’s the email reply I got:

“Thanks Didi….YOU ROCK!!

I’ve written to Tom, asking him how much he would charge for a consultation on this project. Am now waiting for him to get back to me.

Hopefully I can get this ball rolling soon. Am very excited. Hope he can help!”

And you know, this email made my day! (I know, simple things make me happy.)

So why am I sharing this story with YOU?

To make two points:

1. First, this is an example of business networking in real life — outside business mixers and networking groups.

   You have no control over when such opportunities will show you. But when they show up, and you can act on it, it really makes a difference to all the people involved.

   My sister-in-law is clearly excited, my client Tom will be happy to get new business I’m sure, and as I already mentioned, it made my day to connect these 2 people.

   Also, even though I didn’t gain anything tangible in this interaction, I gained something very important (besides personal satisfaction): goodwill — with 2 people.

2. Second, I was able to refer my sister-in-law to Tom because I have a good understanding of exactly what he does.

   I know it sounds obvious — but think of how many times someone has told you what they do, and you have no idea what it means.

   For instance, many years ago at a business mixer, a gentleman told me that he runs a “full service print shop”. When I heard this I wondered, what does “full” include, and does that mean there “partial” service places? And why would a business offer partial services?

   My impression is that most people in such situations don’t ask for clarification (although if you did, that would be an great way to start a worthwhile networking conversation).

   My point is, if you’re not clear about what a person really does, how can you recognize an opportunity to refer business to him or her?

So I’m curious to know: what has been your experience in this area?

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Jeremy’s success story — how he generates new business primarily through word-of-mouth referrals.

This week, let me share Sandy’s success story.

Sandy Dellinger is my hair stylist. One of her other clients referred Sandy to me.

And the main reason I asked this person who her hair stylist was, was because she had such a nice haircut!

Sandy and Jeremy have 3 things in common:

1. Neither of them “network”, yet both generate new business primarily through referrals.
2. Both let their work speak for themselves.
3. Both have very happy clients that refer new people to them.

Here’s Sandy’s perspective about why she is successful:

Most of my clients are referred to me by my very loyal clientèle.

I offer a referral discount to my clients who send me a new person.

Word of mouth is the most effective advertisement. Very satisfied customers are very attractive people, and every unique hair style is my advertisement of my skill.

Here’s Sandy’s real secret:

I go back to Sandy because she not only gives me a good haircut, she also makes me feel special.

For instance, recently Sandy watched a TV show just to examine a haircut from various angles — because she thought that style would look good on me!

If you’re in the Lancaster, PA area and want Sandy to style your hair, you can contact her at 717-299-1313.

And my closing question for you is this:
What do you do to make your clients or customers feel special?

I found out about VersaScapes Inc. from one of their past clients. We hired them to make our front yard presentable — which they did.

And when I found out that Jeremy Poague, owner of VersaScapes, gets most of his clients through referrals, I had to interview him! Here’s what Jeremy has to say.

(By the way, if you’re in the Lancaster, PA area and want any hardscaping services, call Jeremy at 717-799-4314 or email him. He’s great!)

How do you find new clients?

Among other things, I truly believe in doing quality work and having good customer relationships. The better value I can provide, the better chances I have for referrals.

I am always looking for ways to improve the uniqueness of my work and to improve efficiency of my work.

With that being said, word of mouth has gotten me where I am today. While I was in high School, many saw that I did good work for an affordable price and the word passed quickly.

I rarely use fliers and stick mostly to business cards and more recently yard signs.

How would you describe your business?

VersaScapes Inc. was officially created at the beginning of 2006 with the intent to provide a wide variety of services, including the seasonal maintenance of a property, adding new garden additions and new looks, fencing, decks, water features, and most importantly emphasizing on hardscaping.

Many people do not understand the term hardscaping.

I often refer to this as outdoor living since hardscaping can really add to the life of a property and enhance the appeal of an environment for people to enjoy. Hardscaping comes in the form of patios, walkways, retaining or garden walls, rock formations, fire pits, and much, much more.

I haven’t personally had the opportunity to do this, but I once saw a doghouse built out of wall blocks, which was very neat and pretty detailed. The options with hardscaping are almost unlimited. With a little bit of creativity, it can be viewed as a form of art.

What separates me from competition is the need for perfection, or close to it for that matter. I really want the customer to believe they are getting great value from my service. Many others will claims this as well, but if I were to take pictures of some of my competitors work and compare it to mine people would see a big difference.

One of the differences in hardscaping is that I expect my work to look the same as when I installed it, many years down the road.

Most people are deterred from having a paver patio or walkway installed because they have seen what they look like in 2-3 years. The type of clients I prefer to deal with are those who are serious and truly care about there property, someone who I can prove to that they will be making a good investment and are truly going to receive good value.

I often get a lot of people who are looking for the cheapest guy on the block. I believe that you get what you pay for. I am not saying that I am the get rich quick type. I believe you must work hard to reach your goals. I have low overhead, which helps keep the price desirable, but at the same time I have done research on what the competition charges, so I make sure I give more for less. That doesn’t mean I am the lowest priced. I would prefer to say that I am middle priced, but provide above average value.

What do you do to encourage referrals?

Each season poses different obstacles. Each season has a time where business slows. I naturally push for referrals during those periods.

Once a client gets to know me, they will discover that when they give me referrals there can be great benefits.

Each and every referral must be treated independently since some jobs pay better than others. In some cases I send gift cards and other times I discount a clients next bill in order to show appreciation.

How did you get started with your business?

When I was about 5 years old my father started a business in the nursery, landscaping, and lawn maintenance business. He had many large contracts with industrial parks, commercial plazas, apartment complexes, and some residential. We had a large variety of services that we provided.

I grew up learning much about many aspects of the business. I was no older than 6 when he turned me loose on a decent sized John Deere riding mower. [When I was older] I answered the phones and took orders on a regular basis.

When I was only in the 11th grade, a friend and I decided to do something similar to what my dad was doing. (My dad’s health had taken a toll on him and had decided to take a break from it all. Once this happened [his business] ceased to exist.)

By the use of fliers, made on the home computer with poor resolution printing, we managed to get a few jobs. My short term partner soon realized this isn’t his niche. I was on my own before graduation.

A bit about Jeremy

Jeremy and family

I am 25 now and it has only been 7.5 years since I started landscaping as my own boss. However, only 2 of the most recent years have I been full-time. I have a hardworking wife of 3 years (who had to endure me being in Iraq for approximately 7 months), 2 dogs, and 2 cats. My wife and I had been together pretty much since the 7th grade, nearly 12 years. Currently we have no kids but one day hope to have 2.

From the time I was 15, I worked as a reptile rep at That Fish Place, I have been a cook and a server at Ruby Tuesdays, a United States Marine (Veteran of OIF II and still currently in the reserves), a business admin student at HACC, and a steel worker at G/S/M Industrial Inc. I am just a few credits away from having an Associates Degree.

I have many talents and hobbies in many other areas, not just landscaping. As a kid played many team sports, including soccer, track and field, and some baseball and football. I haven’t played team sports in awhile but currently am a volunteer coach for the Under-14 Girls soccer team in Lititz.

I recently relocated (yes, I move around a lot — which means I have to build my local network from scratch on a regular basis! Why do you think I write about networking?).

Well, as I was chatting with my new neighbor, Anne Kirby, I discovered that she was up to some really cool stuff, where business networking is concerned.

Anne Kirby is the owner of HunterKirby Design and also one of the founders of The Creative House of Lancaster (CHL).

HunterKirby Design is a small design firm in Lancaster, PA. They offer web design, branding, photography and other desktop publishing services — and they primarily cater to small business.

Now, due to their involvement with The Creative House of Lancaster (CHL) — an innovative approach to business and social networking — they now have a pool of young, fresh talent to pull from that allows them to take on larger projects.

As Anne said:

“The CHL challenges us to be better designers and businesspeople. Together these creative individuals generate an energy that is hard to find in large, expensive design firms.”

Well, I convinced Anne to an immediate interview! Here are my questions and her responses:

What made you start the Creative House of Lancaster? Why did you not to join an existing networking group?

In the Spring of 2007 after attending some of traditional networking groups in the area a few of us noticed that so much potential was being lost by how exclusive the groups where, and the cost being something that a lot of start up businesses cannot afford.

Also, my colleagues and I didn’t like the fact that most people in these groups didn’t care to get to know each other on a personal level. If I refer someone to a client or fellow business establishment I wanted to feel comfortable referring someone who has the same business standards as our own and that’s sometimes hard to do if you’re only an acquaintance.

We also wanted to have fun networking while getting to know people not only on a professional level but a personal level as well.

How is the Creative House of Lancaster different from other forms of networking?

We are a social network group and there are no fee’s as long as members actively participate and are willing to take on more responsibility then other groups. We focus on bringing creative individuals together in a relaxed atmosphere with a strong emphases on having fun while building bridges, relationships and having a sense of community.

We feel that a true social network group does more then just meet and pass information along. We feel it’s our duty to give back to the community and get involved. In that way we differ greatly to your typical network group.

How did you get started with this group? What’s your vision for group?

My business partner Christina Martin and I happened to be at a local networking function and meet up with some other designs that followed similar business practices to us and we thought it would be nice to meet up with others like them so we could collaborate, network, inspire each other and pull resources together.

After long discussions we realized that a group like this didn’t exist in Lancaster so we decided to start our own.

We envision the CHL being a place where creative individuals can gather, collaborate, refer, inspire, mentor, challenge and push each other to do our very best, personally and professionally. We believe it should not cost anything to network, collaborate or just build friendships on a local level. We want the CHL to push past the typical network group by getting involved in the community and promoting our members.

Our motto is “Harvesting Renewable Talent” and we welcome all members with open doors and open minds.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

To give you a better sense of what The Creative House of Lancaster is all about, here’s our mission statement:

The Creative House of Lancaster (CHL) advocates the success of Lancaster County Small Businesses and individuals interested in art, music and design by committing its members to supporting each other in their business, personal and professional development and growth. We believe in taking creative and innovative leaps that redefine the local business community by harvesting local talent, promoting collaboration, fair-trade, teamwork, networking, mentoring, social communication, and nurturing a sense of community.

The purpose of CHL is to provide a forum for its members to build and maintain business and personal relationships, and to grow and develop professionally.

We’re doing this by providing opportunities for members to network with each other not just at networking meetings, but also by working together on special projects.

To you give you an idea on how we get involved in the community we are currently working with the East King Improvement District downtown to help revitalize the area.

These special projects help showcase the talents of the members and increase public awareness of the organization, which in turn attract and keep committed members.

These projects also provide an environment that challenges, inspires and promotes creative thinking among the participants.

We really thought this group would grow quickly but it has far exceeded our expectations and we are only 3 months old.

[For instance] 32 people attended the 2nd CHL meeting! After a few speeches and updates we opened the floor up for questions and socializing and let me say that the energy in the room that night could have lit the building. I’m not sure Lancaster has seen this kind of diverse talent gather in one place, and we’re so happy to see it evolve and unfold in such a short time.

Like I said [at our last meeting] we all can do great things if we pull our resources together!

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Well, I couldn’t attend their last meeting — it was my birthday and I was celebrating it with my family. But I tell you, I’m looking forward to attending the next one. I don’t know about you, but to me this group sounds fascinating!

By the way, if you’re doing something new and different when it comes to business networking, and you’d like to share your story on this website, let me know.