Lisbeth Calandrino::

As a business consultant, I often talk with business owners and salespeople about the importance of networking: basically getting out and meeting people. Unfortunately many people aren't too positive about the whole idea. They tell me it's a lot of work, that they don’t know what to say and they won’t know anyone at the event. I would agree with a couple of them—it does take work and you might not know anyone. But as Woody Allen once said, "90 percent of success is showing up."  

I guess to win the game you’ve got to be willing to play.

It’s more than just showing up, though. I would say it’s showing up with a purpose. Sometimes things "just happen," like forgetting your umbrella and getting drenched, but maybe that’s not even a "just happen" type of thing. As Dr. Ivan Misner, the Founder & Chairman of BNI, the world's largest business networking organization, put it, "Networking isn’t about netsit or neteat. It’s about network."  

Many of you know or belong to BNI but might not know that last year alone it generated 5.6 million referrals resulting in $2.3 billion dollars worth of business for its members.

Last week, Internet Marketing Inc., located on 1115 Broadway in NYC, with additional offices in Las Vegas, San Diego, and Miami, hosted a networking party at their offices.

Who is Internet Marketing Inc. and what do they do? As they say, "They build, market and manage your online presence. They don’t create proposals and reports, they create and experience and build relations." 

I would call them a company with expertise in the future. I haven’t met everyone, but if the rest of the offices are like the New York one, they do it with excitement, enthusiasm and good will. I recently met Todd Soiefer, President of the Northeast Region, when I was speaking at an event in Princeton, NJ. Speaking about networking, I offered a business consultation as a door prize and guess who won it? Now you know how I wound up speaking at the Internet Marketing event.  What did I speak on? What else: Growing Your Business through Social Networking. 

I consider Todd Soiefer and Nicole Stillings, Senior Marketing Consultant, as masters of networking.  Throughout the night over 60 people stopped in to meet, enjoy some food and spirits as well as each other’s company. 

The event was held at their offices, in Select Office Suites, on the 12th floor and all the businesses in the building were invited as well as clients and friends. Nicole Stillings was in charge of seeing that everyone got to the event and felt welcome. Nicole had mobilized her interns, had them on the phone calling people and seeing that the arriving guests were comfortable while she went off and managed the caterers. It was obvious that Nicole is comfortable making things happen as well as hosting large events.  

"It’s most important for people to feel welcome and comfortable," Nicole says. "We appreciate them coming to join us in making the event successful so we want them to take away what they need. Not everyone is comfortable speaking to strangers so it’s our job to make sure that the event works for everyone." 

After speaking, I took the opportunity to eat some good food and speak with a couple of the guests to see what would bring them out on a rainy, New York night. They came out to meet people and hopefully do business, since this was a serious crowd.  

Drew Franklin, Senior Marketing Manager for ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP (the largest ENT Doctor group), headquartered in Tarrytown, NY, talked about building relationships.



"In order to be pioneers in our business, we have to know what we can do to attract customers," Drew said. "We might be experts in our own field but we have to learn from the experience of leaders in other businesses if we are going to grow."
Drew seemed to enjoy the event and meeting new people. 

Jim Bond, Managing Partner of The Private Travel Group, a company providing customized private jet travel also located in New York City, was of the same opinion. 

"The only way people will want to do business with us is if I can identify and fill their needs," he said. "It takes time to build relationships and the only way it will happen is if I spend time meeting and getting to know other people." 

People were laughing, exchanging cards and really getting acquainted. Interestingly enough there were musicians as well as agents, bankers, investment brokers, teachers, public relations firms and people looking for employment. 

One of the things that was most noticeable was the atmosphere of good will. Even though they say the economy is "challenged" this was definitely a positive place to be. I asked Todd what makes an event like this work and why do it. 

"Everyone is so isolated and over worked that we that we need to have events where people can do business and have fun," Todd says. "Since we talk networking we should walk the walk." 

Todd’s suggestions for a successful event: 

• Make it simple — not too much to drink or eat, since the purpose is networking. Keep the party moving. The party doesn’t have to be long or elaborate, just inviting and friendly. 
• When inviting people, consider who would benefit from the event. We like to invite our customers so they can make new contacts and hopefully do business from the event.  
• Vary the age group and the experience level of the guests, this way people get to meet people they wouldn’t ordinarily meet. 
• Hosting a face-to-face networking party is part of building your online presence. It’s important to take pictures and/or videos and then connect them to your social networking sites. Put out a tweet or two so people will know what you’re doing. 

"The most important thing for us," Todd adds, "is to keep the buzz going. We are an internet marketing company; we need to show our customers how traditional networking events paired with social online marketing can help grow their business. They need to be comfortable with the social networking tools that we provide for them. This is a good way to show them we know how to talk-the talk and walk –the-walk." 

Exactly!

Check out the recap of the event on Internet Marketing Inc.'s blog, which includes the below video they shot of my presentation.

Enjoy!

They Could Be

According to a study conducted by two professors from Vanderbilt University, up to 40% of satisfied customers do not return to those businesses who gave them the satisfactory service.

This means that almost half their customers wind up missing in action.

How would they know if they’re missing?

They probably wouldn’t, because most businesses don’t track lost customers or try to find out where these customers went.

If this is true, most businesses don’t even know if their customers are satisfied or not. In fact, a non-complaining customer may be interpreted as a satisfied customer. This may simply not be the case.

Check out these statistics.

• The average “wronged customer” will tell 8-l6 people about it. Over 20% will tell more than 20. Source: Lee Resource Inc
• It takes 12 positive service incidents to make up for one negative incident. Source: “Understanding Customers” by Ruby Newell-Legner
• For every customer who bothers to complain, 26 other customers remain silent. Source: Lee Resource Inc.

Customer service used to mean following through on your commitments to your customer and doing what you said you would do.  In other words: delivering on the promise. Here’s my new definition on what customer service means to me:

I believe that delivering the promise is no longer customer service. Delivering the promise is the price of admission a company pays to be in business. The new customer service is what you deliver beyond the promise. It’s what you do to delight, excite and build relationships with your customers that make their experience memorable.

If you accept this definition it means expanding your thinking about customer service. This means knowing that every aspect of your business has an impact on customer service, not just face-to-face encounters but everything that happens in your business. To make it work, every employee needs to be committed to learning what your customers want and then developing action plans to make it happen.

How will this happen? By determining what will astound your customers and then exceeding their expectation.

The bottom line? Satisfied isn’t good enough.

This summer I decided to take in the GreenBuildingNY show at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. I consider myself up on 'green' but I realized if I wanted to learn anything new, it was probably in New York City. I expected exhibits on anything connected with the building industry; what I hadn’t expected was chocolate companies exhibiting their energy efficient milk chocolate pieces and the cockroach-sniffing dog! It opened my eyes to the vastness of green.

This is also where I met Jennifer McGee, CEO of UPworld — a site with approximately 15,000 members worldwide. In addition, Jennifer is president of UP-Market[ing] — a design and branding consultancy that works with retailers and business owners to create new and dynamic retail environments that increase sales and build customer loyalty.

I liked Jennifer and her UPworld concept. It’s a LinkedIn on steroids. The more information she gave me the more questions I wanted to ask. Jennifer is multitalented and everything just fits together. What makes Jennifer outstanding is her background in both architecture and marketing. She was also named one of Real-Estate New York’s Woman of Influence for 2008. An architect by trade, Jennifer has her own ideas about retail and buildings. 

As Jennifer so succinctly puts it, "A retail building must be more than a building. It should be a space molded around the people to enhance their retail shopping experience." 

Here's an interview I conducted with Jennifer on her ideas, and what she sees happening in the industry in the future.

LC: Jennifer I see that your background is varied, with a Bachelor and Masters of Science in Architecture as well as a Masters of Real Estate development, but somehow it seems to fit together. Exactly what do you do?

JM: My interest has always been in how the customer experience and the design of a space function together, not just in the creation of a building. My work is varied to include clients such as JP Morgan Chase, W Hotel, Searle, Saks Off Fifth, and more. Each of these businesses are interested in building a brand experience for their customers. Different environments should help support the experience of the customer and how the customers interact with the building. In architecture school we are taught how to build different types of buildings. What we don’t study is how the people interact in a space and does the building enhance the brand image of the business. 

I consider myself a retail consultant who can design both the building and the customer's experience.

LC: Were you always interested in building the brand experience?

JM: I started in high-end residential design, designing penthouses in New York City and then branched out into women's fashions. As I examined the businesses, I quickly realized that some designs supported the consumers connection to the brand. Other designs didn't support the buying experience – in fact they detracted. The key is to build an environment that makes the customer want to stay and buy.

LC: Can you give us an example of what you mean?

JM: I do a lot of work with furniture stores and you’ve probably noticed how stores have changed over the years. Furniture stores have been basically boxes with rows and rows of couches and chairs. Then along came Ikea, Crate and Barrel and all of a sudden it changed. We are an experience economy, customers want to be engaged, amused and above all, get ideas for their living spaces.  The box concept suggests lower value as well as prices. It doesn’t give you an exciting experience. If you think about it, a kids birthday party used to consist of a cake and ice cream, now it means a trip to Chucky Cheese product with lots of friends. If you want to build your brand, product alone won’t do it.

LC: What should retailers be thinking when they are designing their spaces?

JM: Many retailers or business owners go into business because the product is their interest or hobby, they just love it. Their interest sparks the building of the business rather than hard, cold research as to whether the concept is viable. They need to determine who their customer is and what will drive traffic to their store and what is the value proposition for their business. Liking coffee is not the best reason to open a coffee shop.

How the space is designed is determined by the type of customer. Dunkin Donuts' value proposition is get the customer in the store and get them out. The traffic flow is in and out. On the other hand, Starbucks has comfortable couches and chairs and invites you to stay. As the space is designed, the specific customer and your brand proposition should determine the traffic flow. 

Oftentimes the building is beautiful but doesn’t direct the experience.

LC: What about the buying experience?

JM: As the building is designed, the customer should be tracked through the buying process. Do you want them to stay or go? If you want them to stay, where will you put them? If you are not consumer driven and aren’t aware of your customer’s habits, you may be driving them from your store. The key is to understand how your space will drive traffic and help you build your brand. Are you promotion-minded or is yours a specialty store? How do you keep your product fresh and interesting for your customer. This encompasses both the design and marketing of the space and the business.

LC: Your business Upworld seems to connect to your business and would probably help your customers.

JM: Upworld was established to help industry professionals market themselves. We are an "invitation only" network and screen all of our applicants. These are high powered professionals that benefit from each other’s expertise and are capable of doing business all over the world. One of the reasons for its inception was to provide connections for my projects. I needed highly specialized sources and products so I started my own networking group. I saw it as a way to build my business as well as helping other professionals with their business. Upworld has been in business for two years and has over 15,000 members from the construction, design, real estate and trades industries. 

LC: How important is social networking and networking in general to someone’s business?

JM: The adage of "it’s not what you know it’s who you know," is still very true.  These days with social networking, a business needs a combination of traditional and online marketing. They have to decide the value of their web site: is it designed to promote and drive traffic or just provide information to the customer.  

Upworld recently co-hosted an event with YREPNY (Young Real Estate Professionals from New York)  and had over 300 people attending. We actually posted on Upworld the member’s names that showed and a little about each one of them. We try to give them ways to network and build their own businesses.

My friend Kevin Gamble, Partner of 332 Flooring, attended the YREPNY and had the following to say about the event:

"As a partner in a luxury vinyl flooring distribution company I am always looking for new ways to network.  The Web site was filled with architects builders and realtors, exactly the people I wanted to meet and the  event was more than I could have imagined."

LC: What advice should you give an entrepreneur just getting started?

JM: Hire someone who can help you determine your brand and what you are trying to build.

Be willing to step back and examine your motive for going into business. Ask the hard questions: do I really know what I’m doing. If I don’t know what I’m doing, am I willing to learn?

Remember that the customer experience and the design of the space go together; don’t do one without the other.

Resources

• Jennifer’s profile can be viewed here.
• Visit UPworld here.