By Marc Takacs
Small business owners can relate to the title of this article; the best are masters of networking and building relationships that feed their business for years. Many businesses recognize the power of referral marketing and the benefits it can bring to the bottom line. We network everywhere, and there are literally hundreds of books and classes on how to do it better. Many don’t realize there is a professional networking group, affiliated with PowerCore, meeting at 7:00am every Wednesday, at Six Feet Under on Memorial Drive in Grant Park.
The Grant Park PowerCore group is mainly composed of local business owners and outside sales people. The primary goal is to increase the number of leads and new clients that need the group’s products or services. It is designed to generate revenue, but a really important side benefit is knowledge about how to become a better networker. The skills you learn can easily be applied in other scenarios to take advantage of networking opportunities. The classic example is the “elevator speech,” where you only get a few moments to relay important details about what you do to someone in an elevator; or in line at the grocery, pumping gas, etc.
One thing that sets this group (and any networking group, really) apart is that there is only one seat at the table for each business line. So there is one Realtor, one mortgage lender, one financial planner, and so on. By getting to know a variety of professionals and building credibility with them, they are happy to refer their best clients to you because they trust you and have a far greater understanding of your business and how you work. They also know that you’re showing up at 7:00am every week, so you’re serious about your business and its success.
This group is really good for new or growing businesses that are in highly competitive fields but I’ve also found that some unique businesses find a lot of benefit in membership because most people don’t understand the benefits of what they do. Think of it as having a 10 or 15-member sales team attached to your business, essentially for no cost.
There are other Powercore groups around town and each team definitely has its own personality. For more information or to schedule a visit, contact Rick Hudson at Xanadu Development Consortium at 404-234-2853 or rick@xanaduconsortium.com. For more information on the team, its members and the power of referral marketing, take a look at www.powercore.net/team-profile/grant-park.
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