Coverage

My Pinnacle Network recently announced a full slate of business-to-business networking meetings for December. My Pinnacle Network meetings are as follows:

My Pinnacle Network – Westborough, Tuesday, December 3, from 8 a.m. – 9:30 a.m at Digital Federal Credit Union, 18 Lyman Street, Westborough, MA 01581.

My Pinnacle Network – Mansfield, Wednesday, December 4, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., Mansfield BioIncubator, 241 Francis Avenue, Mansfield, MA 02048.

My Pinnacle Network – Pembroke, Thursday, December 5, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., ACTSmart Training Center, 70 Corporate Park Drive, Suite 1225, Pembroke, MA 02359.

My Pinnacle Network – Needham, Thursday, December 12, 7:30 a.m. – 9 a.m. at Bullfinch Group, 160 Gould Street, Needham, MA 02494.

My Pinnacle Network – Braintree Third Thursday, Thursday, December 19, from 7:30 a.m. – 9 a.m. at 100 Grandview Road, 3rd Floor Conference Room, Braintree, MA 02184.

Only one B2B professional will be selected for each category. Those categories can be found at bottom of http://www.mypinnaclenetwork.com. Prospective members are encouraged to attend a My Pinnacle Network meeting before committing to join.

If you are interested in attending a meeting in your area, please contact Steven V. Dubin at SDubin@MyPinnacleNetwork.com or 781-582-1061 to RSVP. There is no charge to visit a My Pinnacle Network meeting.

It’s not an unusual problem to have. Even though remembering names can be a great advantage in networking. So, what do you? You may want to try this technique.

First, introduce yourself to the person at the networking event. Instead of asking what they do or another mundane conversation starter, ask them to name something they like that’s starts with the first letter of their first name.

That’s right. Ask them to name something they like that starts with the first letter of their first name. Explain that it’s a technique you’re trying out to better remember people’s names. Then demonstrate with example:

“My name is Joe D’Eramo and I’m a joker.”

It’s even better if you can tie your reminder in with your business.

Two things can now happen. The person can play along and come up with something. Or, they might decline and move on. Actually, a third thing might be that you come up with a name for them and they either approve or suggest an alternative.

This exercise accomplishes a few things. First, it does give you a reminder of the person’s name. The person I learned this from, someone who leads guided kayak tours, claims she’s been able to remember every person’s name from the past five years.

Second, you just made yourself very memorable to the person you just met. He/she will know you as the one who had that crazy idea about remembering names.

Ideally, both happen. Yet the real goal is that taking part in this exercise makes the other person smile and leads to a conversation that evolves into what each of you do, who you are looking to meet, etc.

Give it a try at your next meeting or event.

It does happen. People get sick. Cars break down. Kids miss buses. The people close to us, for any number of reasons, need us. Yet how you act after a missing a meeting can make just as big of an impression on your fellow members.

Huh?

That’s right. Even a missed meeting can be an opportunity. Here’s a couple of ways.

Double or triple up on your one-on-ones for that month.
If you think about it, missing a meeting is like missing 12-20 mini one-on-ones where you have the chance to learn more about people in your networking group. Doing two or three one-on-ones before the next meeting is a great way to catch up. Additionally, your fellow members will appreciate the initiative and may follow suit if they should miss a meeting.

Offer to follow up with guests:
This one needs a little explaining. The gist is offer to the group leader to follow up with guests who attended the meeting you missed and see what they liked about the meeting and if they would either like to return or join. This may seem a little unorthodox on the surface. Yet it does make a statement to the guest about the group and the kind of people in it that somebody who wasn’t at the meeting would go to that effort.

For the person who did miss the meeting, it does allow them to make up a little of what they missed. It’s also a great help to the group leader.

The danger of missing meetings, particularly in a monthly group, is that you run the risk of not seeing people for two months. Much can happen in business during that time:

• Maybe somebody in your group recently met somebody who could be a possible source of business for you. Seeing you each month is a reminder. If they don’t see you at the meeting, it may not be front of mind for the next time they see you in two months.
• Perhaps there was a guest at the meeting who might also have been a good referral source or even source of business. If they don’t join, you will never know.

Nobody likes to miss a meeting. What you may not realize is how much you and every person in the group brings to the meeting. So when you are not there, the group does miss something. So do you. These suggestions are a couple of ways to help you fill in some of what you missed.

Scheduled for April 11, 11:45 AM – 1 PM

• Features of the different versions of QuickBooks, both desktop and online
• Common add-ons and utilities
• Various usage tips
• Various industry-specific techniques

Fo full details – See –

https://www.facebook.com/events/1613090472137801/

Ed Jaworski, SMB Partners, LLC, (508) 553-9141 office, (508) 641-1277 mobile

Take a look at the calendar. One week from Wednesday begins Movember, an international fundraiser for men’s health issues. Team My Pinnacle Network will once again be looking to raise funds and awareness for men’s health issues such as prostate and testicular cancer, mental health and suicide. Right now, that team consists of yours truly, Joe D’Eramo. But like Italian dinner tables and donuts, there’s always room for more.

What’s involved? Simply go to this link and register. Part of the registration is to select a team. Ours is “My Pinnacle Network”. Once registered, it’s a matter of raising funds and growing a mustache. The latter begins on November 1. Shave your entire face and then commit to growing some kind of mustache during the month.

The fundraising can start as soon as you join. Movember has all sorts of tools to reach out to your network. My Pinnacle Network will help with that effort as well. We will provide updates on your progress via our social media pages and this enewsletter.

Who can join the team? Any My Pinnacle Network member, male or female. That’s right. Ladies can and do participate in Movember efforts. Mo Sistas get involved by:

• Registering online and raising money
• Organizing events
• Making a donation
• Supporting and showing love for the Mo
• Purchasing Movember merchandise

So, if you would like to jump into this very worthwhile cause and be part of My Pinnacle Network Movember team, register here.

Whether you can grow a halfway decent mustache or not (I certainly can’t), it’s an extremely worthwhile cause and a great way to celebrate what’s come to be known as gratitude month. We hope you will join the My Pinnacle Network Movember team.

To clarify, let’s say you’re at a networking event. You meet somebody. After you both tell each other a little about what it is you do, you then find yourself in the spin cycle of them telling you why you need their product or service.

So, do you like being sold?

Another example. It’s a day after the networking meeting you get a call from a guest you spoke to for a minute or two after the session. They want to set up an appointment to discuss your (fill in the blank) needs. Whether it’s a product you may or may not need, how do you feel on the call?

Again, do you like being sold?

For most, the answer is “probably not”. For the rest of us, the answer is “hell no!”

Networking works based on the principle that you prefer to do business with people you know beyond a cordial “hello”. Why? When you know somebody, you tend to share information about your business. Things like how your computers are running, whether you’re looking to hire or looking to relocate your business. And if you’re comfortable enough with a business acquaintance to share that information, then you are probably open to hearing the following response:

“I know somebody who does (fill in the blank), would you be open to meeting/talking to them.”

Then, it’s your choice about taking the next step and that’s a huge differentiator than the example at the beginning. Chances are, you will take that next step because you need that product or service and, most importantly, the person was referred by somebody you know and (within reason), trust.

That’s essentially why networking has a much higher percentage of translating to business than cold calling and trying to sell people you just met.

One of the things we emphasize at the beginning of a My Pinnacle Network meeting is that fellow members are not potential customers but your sales force. Your job as a member is to educate them about your business and your offerings. Essentially, you are preparing them for when one of their contacts says one of those key phrases-e.g. I wish I had a better (fill in the blank)-that they are ready to offer an introduction to you.

That’s not to say that My Pinnacle Network members don’t employ the services of other members. They do. But it’s almost always because that member has heard the elevator pitch, has done a one-on-one and thought, “that’s something I can use for my business”.

That’s not to say there’s no place for sales in networking. Far from it. But in a networking group, you really have to be sold on the member every bit as much as their product or service. And that’s the very distinct difference between selling and networking.

We typically use this e-newsletter to offer networking tips. My Pinnacle Network is but one small group compared to an even larger group—American residents. A good number of those folks in that network—specifically those in Florida and Texas—have been or are in the process of being pummeled by a hurricane. It’s difficult to discuss networking advice when you know so many people in our greater network are hurting.

You can help by donating to causes that offer relief in the form of food, clothing and supplies. Often, the best way to help those folks is to send cash. Accuweather’s website site offers a number of organization supplying aid to victims of both Harvey and Irma. Please be careful to vet any organization you donate to. You can utilize CharityNavigator.org to get information on the charity you select.

Thank you, in advance, for your help.

It varies from business to business. You don’t want to embarrass your client by asking and potentially burn a bridge. After all, there could be a very reasonable explanation as to why you haven’t been paid

At the same time, there might not be. You’ve done the work, provided a service and now time has gone by and still no payment. And they have stopped returning calls and e-mails.

What now?

Carmella Beroth of Debt Management, Inc. will be speaking at the next My Pinnacle Network-Bourne meeting on Thursday, August 17 at 8am at Murray & MacDonald Insurance, 550 MacArthur Blvd, Bourne. She will be addressing this scenario and other collection issues. Guests are welcome to attend this meeting to learn more about this topic.

My Pinnacle Network is a monthly networking group for B2B professionals. Please contact Joe D’Eramo at jderamo@mypinnaclenetwork.com if you are interested in attending.

My Pinnacle Network – Westborough, Tuesday, August 1, from 8 a.m. – 9:30 a.m at Digital Federal Credit Union, 18 Lyman Street, Westborough, MA 01581.

My Pinnacle Network – Mansfield, Wednesday, August 2, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., 20 Cabot Blvd., Suite 300, Mansfield, MA 02048.

My Pinnacle Network – Marshfield, Thursday, August 3, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., 165 Enterprise Drive, Marshfield, MA 02050

My Pinnacle Network – Needham/Newton, Thursday, August 10, 7:30 a.m. – 9 a.m. at Bullfinch Group, 160 Gould Street, Needham, MA 02494.

My Pinnacle Network – Plymouth (Real Estate), Thursday, August 10, from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., Keller Williams training room, 91 Carver Road, Plymouth, MA 02360 (Ocean State Job Lot Plaza)

My Pinnacle Network – Braintree Third Thursday, Thursday, August 17, from 7:30 a.m. – 9 a.m. at 100 Grandview Road, 3rd Floor Conference Room, Braintree, MA 02184.

My Pinnacle Network – Bourne, Thursday, August 17, from 8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m., 550 MacArthur Blvd. (Route 28), Bourne, MA 02532.

As previously announced, the Networking Ninja Awards will be given out on Tuesday, March 21 at a networking event at the Cask & Flagon at 804 Plain Street in Marshfield. The event, which will be part of the South Shore Networking Professionals Group’s monthly networking event, will run from 5:30 to 7:30. Admission is $10 and you can register online or at the door.

Awards will be given out for:

• Best Connector (helping bring people together);
• Most Ubiquitous (appears to be at every networking event);
• Most Altruistic (does most for others);
• Brightest Beacon (adds energy to networking events).

Winners will receive a trophy and recognition in My Pinnacle Network marketing and PR activities.

In addition to awards, attendees should bring plenty of business cards. The South Shore Networking Professionals Group third Tuesday networking event typically draws around 100 or more.

To register, click here.