You Have Naming Rights

Last Wednesday at Virginia Highlands I saw Chip Ivie‘s email address under his picture. Makes it easy to send FeedForward.

Friday at Midtown Ed Torrence had his classification listed beside his name. When I shared Chip’s technique Bruce immediately recognized the benefit.

Without name badges, or cards in the box, I’m wondering if what we put under our picture is a way to differentiate and make ourselves memorable.

Good job, guys.

How John McColl Keeps the Time

Check this out – during InfoMinutes and 7-Minutes at the East Cobb Team John uses his phone to keep time.

Knowing we can’t hear the timer when someone else is speaking, he holds it to the screen, so it’s easy to see the time passed.

Great best practices: visual timer, count up.

Thanks, John.

Newnan Team - in person!

Thanks to a wide swath of activity by Members, effective preparation from the LeadershipCore, and communication with Members, the Newnan Team welcomed a Visitor (who said he’d be back next week, and asked about attending Information Monday!) for the accounting seat a this week’s meeting – their fourth at the new location.   Their focus workshop was The Care and Feeding of GateOpeners, and thanks to Danny, Cassi came up with a great customer service option for her marketing filing cabinet.  A profitable way to start the day.

What Was vs What Is

Have you entered the desktop zone yet?

We’ve been smacked with a reminder to never say never.
PowerCore Teams are reporting unanimously that an online meeting is superior to not meeting.

TCOs and other Officers have been getting updates and sharing tools.
Visitors and New Members are common — and Erik got his blue ribbon removed today!
It’s not life as usual, but it’s not life alone.
Go make money!

The Prospect Pipeline Timeline

The We Did Business slip asks how long it took from introduction to bank deposit — less than six weeks? more than a year? This is how we know referrals from past Members, that take more than a year to close, are marked Grand Slam 85% of the time. Worth following through with past Members. Worth staying in touch when they refer someone.
_____________A new Member’s pipeline timeline is four weeks.
_____________They call in and receive an invitation to visit two Teams.
_____________The next week they visit one;
_____________The following week they visit the other;
_____________The fourth week they get welcomed at the Team they chose.
A few are shorter, many are much longer — there is a whole set of Members who first reached out 3 years before they were able to visit the first time.
Today’s InfoMinute happens three months before the prospect enters your pipeline. Share how long clients are in your pipeline in comments.

Different + The Same

Many things are different right now –
I get to sleep in 30 minutes longer and still be at the meeting on time.
Instead of printing handouts I send a .pdf to Members the day before the meeting to print their own.
I’ve seen some sleepy toddlers in their daddy’s laps (I love this!) and some friendly pets participating (how fun is that).

Some things are the same –
I do have to arrive on time, and keep my InfoMinute and 7-Minute on time – the meeting still has to end at 8:30.
I do have to arrive by 6:30 (well, 6:40?) if I want to have those profitable pre-meeting catch-up conversations.
I do have to dress the way a new client would expect to see me at a first meeting – at least from the waist up (yes, I’ve been wearing jeans).

Click  the title to share in the comments what is different and the same in your business.

Timing = for the money

The difference between homeless and wealthy is time – a homeless person doesn’t know if they will eat tonight. A wealthy person is confident they can feed their family for generations.

Referrals require a wealthy mindset. When people talk about today — today’s news — it sounds like “in these uncertain times … if you know anyone … I can help … tell them to call me…”

These words flush referral opportunities.

Make your InfoMinute next week about the referrals you want to get in July.
For the money.

Referrals Shape Business

Every 10 months all PowerCore Teams refresh and refocus with new Officers and 2nds.

Officer Training began Thursday, the 6th, and continues through Tuesday, the 11th.

Check out the Team’s page https://powercore.net/powerresources/team-directory/ to see who has attended, and volunteer to be on their committee.

Kriston Sellier Earns10 Year Pin

The very first 10 year Member on the Whitlock Avenue Team is… Kriston Sellier! Ten years, when you joined, where was your business? I was in my basement. Where is your business compared to 10 years ago? We’re in Marietta Square. We have a beautiful space, we’re doing work for clients that are in revenues of 500 million or more. And I’ve got nine employees and 17 contractors. When you think about the piece the people at this table play in your success story, what, from a business standpoint, have you gotten here, that you haven’t gotten from other places?

Meaningful relationships where I can truly give a referral and I can truly receive referrals that can last for a long time. In a word, it’s real. There’s a lot of big networking, handing out business cards,  and they never call. These are real relationships, all of us very much wanting to help each other. It’s not fake email. We really do want to help each other. So it’s very different.
On behalf of the Team, congratulations. {wild cheering}

Jim Hilber Qualifies Gold Star

Gold Star is the icon given to Members who have invited 5 people who joined. Jim, what do you see that makes you think, “I think I’ll invite them.”

When I’m out in the field, just doing what we do every day, I’m looking for people who are ready to share their capabilities and get involved. You can tell. I think we each have our own view on it, but a good example — I picked Martin last November. I invited him to be here and while I was on vacation he went all in with his own capabilities and opportunities. I’m looking for people who want to put out the initiative. They sort of just get it right away.

So you don’t invite just anybody. You pick and choose who you would like? Absolutely.  On behalf of the people who made your cut, and the people who got referrals from them – congratulations Jim!

Scott Levine Adds 5 Year Pin

In my mind, when you joined, Scott, you were at the very beginning stages of your own business.  That’s correct. When you first came to the table, what was your fear? I couldn’t produce enough referrals. What was your hope? That I’d build a run a successful business, and help other people on the way. What has happened that was better than you would have expected? Not only did I do enough to grow my business, but I have a Rolodex that I can use for A, to support my own business and B, to support my clients.

If you were to speak with someone who was brand new as you were, just starting their business, and giving them advice from the picture of five years later, I know you would have advice for them as the CPA, but what advice would you have for them from the standing point of  referral marketing? Focus on your reputation because you can’t lose that. If you have credibility on the Team people refer to you, if not, they don’t. Good advice. Thank you.  Congratulations.

Amy Terry Has A 5 year Pin

Amy, you weren’t really a Member during CoreGroup, but you attended a lot of those meetings because you were subbing for someone from your office. The minute you got a chance, you joined this Team, so it feels like you’re one of the original Members. You have options, right? You could have said, “No, I’ll let this thing go” Why did joining a newly forming Team five years ago seem like a good idea to you?

“They made me feel so welcome. As soon as Jason decided that he didn’t want to continue the Team was communicating ‘Amy, you get to join!’ It made me feel extremely welcome. And because I learned things subbing for him, I already saw some of the benefits. I was already getting some referrals that were amazing, so I was in! And I’m glad!”