As a small business owner I do a lot of networking. Our business model is 100% referrals, and we love it.
I joined BNI (Business Networking International) a bit over 3 years ago, and in 2008 that group accounted for 25% of our sales. 25%. From one group. We have done work for folks in that group, their friends, their parents, their kids, their coworkers and so on. It’s a very powerful organization and I would urge anyone who has not experienced it to find a local chapter and go visit.
Recently I was invited by a business acquaintance to attend a local ABWA meeting. ABWA is the American Business Women’s Association.
I pointed out the fact that I was, in fact, a man and that well, this was an association for Women; my acquaintance just chuckled and urged me to attend.
I attended my 1st meeting last month and joined that night. Absolutely amazing group. Amazing. Group.
Now here’s the meat of my little story and what prompted this post…
Yesterday I was meeting with a potential client and during our conversation she mentioned that she was interested in locating a patent attorney to ask some very general questions.
When I got back to the office I fired off an email to a few of the ABWA members asking if any of them knew of a patent attorney I could refer to my client.
Next thing I know an email has gone out to our entire group and my inbox begins flooding with personal referrals for patent attorneys.
Within a matter of hours I had a list of 15 patent attorneys and their contact information to pass on to my client. These are not just random names pulled from Google – these are personal referrals from folks who had done business with them.
That, ladies and gentlemen, rocks.
Daniel Scurlock
Scurlock Systems and Associates LLC
www.scurlocksystems.com