Venture Capital in Australia: Launch of BusinessBuilders Group - exciting times

Venture Capital in Australia: Launch of BusinessBuilders Group - exciting times: We're really excited to announce a new partnership with the  Business Builders Group  (BBG) to help you grow your business via a tribe of advocates that you know like and trust

The business dating game

• 27 Mar 2016

Stand still in business and you’re missing out on opportunity. Keep moving and sometimes each opportunity is not given enough time to develop. I’m sure you’ve heard that before. 

Getting the balance right is crucial in effective marketing and sales, especially when networking.

This month’s article is on “The Business Dating Game” and I’ll share common mistakes and occasions where businesses need to do better. In Know My Business we listen to our client’s business proposition and then help with developing a more effective position and approach. This refinement can be quite significant in understanding how others view them and the value they can communicate.

So lets start by saying businesses often miss out on understanding where their prospects congregate. They fail to understand they maybe part of an association, socialise in a common setting, read magazines, social media posts or influenced by something else. Going to where the action occurs is first priority in knowing the types of messages needed. Once a business knows, it’s then onto positioning.

 Just like personal relationships, business networking is about trying ways to improve your chances of being noticed. The elevator pitch is often seen as your first and final chance to make a lasting impression. But few businesses I meet add intrigue, humour or timing to that pitch. The result? Each pitch becomes blah blah blah de-blah blah. Have confidence is in your product and your message. Dare to be different in an ocean of other businesses.

Having said that, often businesses try way too hard to fit a perceived need. Sure a prospect could be your best type of business client, but is the timing right? I’ve seen poor approaches as a result of desperation. Small business needs to act like mid-sized business by being a little harder to attain their product or service. It doesn’t hurt to check if a client really does need you and there is a fit. They will respect you more, if for example, you think their business direction has changed.

Communication is the key and commitment is the longevity of a great relationship. Find ways to impress and find your true value, to then communicate it consistently and with passion. I once worked with a small company that was presenting an image of being a highly successful and growing operation. Unfortunately and without the CEO realising, it gave off too many connotations of being costly and process driven. They were failing to understand that their business prospects and clients were actually looking for better service working with a ‘boutique’ company. By revising their positioning and telling their target business that their growth was contained, to deliver better service, immediately communicated ‘value’.

Use of social media in business is patchy and sometimes the investment of time into the messaging channel is not clearly understood. Each message is a way of reaching your target audience. These messages are not just about trying to convert, but along the way, telling others where you’re going, where you are and where you’ve been. It’s not direct showboating, but sending positive and subtle messages creates interest. Some businesses do this very well by putting a corporate spin on the messages for an event (rather than in the first person), then follow up with putting hash tags and their own staff into social media conversations. It remains today a very effective and often neglected channel.

Last point for a networking event; be prepared and investigate who will be present. Having a clear understanding by using social media, intelligence from others, marketing material and other sources prepares your approach and reduces your risks of not having a clear understanding of what to say. I’ve found many organisations targeted by our clients feel uncertain in how they should make contact. To them we always suggest a plan is better than no plan. Poor conversation can affect their brand reputation.

Form a bond with people, not just the hope of a transaction. The business dating game is littered by short conversations that start and end too quickly. Make conversation to lead to the next conversation. Identify common viewpoints, events and people. Yes it is a courtship, and how act in the business community is always on display – and can referenced.

Next month Know My Business is sponsoring a roundtable on the theme of “The Business Dating Game” with business leaders. This event will cover the areas above in more detail and get viewpoints from leaders from other companies. The conversation will be insightful to open up numerous viewpoints on networking best practic

Written by

Hardeep GirnManaging Director and CEO, Know My Group

You are invited to the BBG Launch Breakfast Briefing

Referron and linked in are tools that have helped build many
business's grow!! 

What is BBG?

Business Builders Group (BBG) is designed to help you grow your
business via a powerful close knit referral marketing community.

The group is about helping each other grow each others business
through referrals!

The BBG Process is specifically designed to overcome the key
challenges that business owners and executives face when attracting
referrals ... through their Community, unique BBG Structure,
Professional Mentoring and Best of Breed Tools.

The power of warm referrals work!

CLICK TO JOIN US FOR BREAKFAST

When registering for breakfast , be sure to enter in the promotional
 code "referron007" for your complimentary tickets

How to create relationships with people that will refer you to your ideal clients

Developing referral relationships with people isn’t new, it isn’t fancy, but it works and is the cheapest way to grow your business with warm relevant leads.

 However there are some simple rules to follow to ensure you have success.

"From Day One I asked myself “who else can add value to my clients ” and “how can I add value to them? "

1. Find the right sort of people to partner with... Those that you know like and trust.

Not everyone thinks the same way as you and are happy to collaborate and refer.

 Make a list of 30+ people that you could partner with. 

People that you respect, are willing to learn about your business, and that you can build a relationship with. 

People that have communities, clients and networks. 

People you can trust 

2. Speak to these people

Message them via email, social media message, etc to see if they are interested in creating some sort of collaboration. 

Add them to your linked in and invite them to your Referron network ( send them a Referron vCard (10 seconds!)

This message is just about setting up a meeting, phone call or chat to talk over a few  ideas and thoughts. To see where synergy exists and if it is a person you actually want to partner with. 

Track and measure those that answer you! 

3. Invite them to your BBG chapter

If, after step two, you feel there is some good synergy invite them to join you in your #BBG chapter.

So there you go: in three simple steps you will have identified who to partner with, spoken to them about such an opportunity and put a plan in place with the right people. Imagine if you did this with five people, ten people, twenty people? How quickly would you find new customers and make new sales.

The best part about the above? It can all be achieved within just a few days.

At Virgin Group we recognise that togetherness is a hugely importantaspect of life and we refer to each other as a family

It's interesting, that Virgin recognise the power of the klt factor and the power of referrals.

What is the klt factor you ask? 

Know , like and trust!

Do you want to be part of such a "business family"?

Consider joining a  business builders group! (BBG)

Www.bbg.business

Image from Virgin.com

Families know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and can work together to help each other shine. Bonds of love and friendship can encourage collaboration, and help to create productive working environments that are fun and energetic. Family values are the cornerstone Virgin’s culture, where we have turned a family business into a business family.

Who do you consider part of your extended family?

Keynote at BBG launch - using Referron

 Using Referron  with regular systemised face to face meetings and coaching - 

 BBG will be creating that "virtual village" - that group of people that you will know, like and trust - creating an enviable intelligence network.... For the benefit of  BBG members.

Over the past 3 years, based on researching 10x , interviewing 100s of accounting firms and professional services firms  and working with countless coaches and SMEs - 

We identified What SMEs most want are leads - and of course a methodology to close them....  And what we found is that the best leads come from referrals - from people that know like and trust you - 

So I figure , if we give people what they want - we will get what we want ....

So BBG is simply about generating you warm leads - and we have a kpi of a minimum of 100 leads per annum - and 3600 referrals for each BBG group of 30.

Using Referron 

• Members will be able to know who is referrable - who are the guys that are recieving the most leads - what is there X factor.

• Who are the mavens - the people who love to refer - those are the ones that people will warm to.... You will have that data... And have the opportunity to get them to know like and trust you. 

• As the BBG network grows - we will list the top referrers and the top people being referred. 

• By members referring on a regular basis - the strength of the group will grow - as will the expansion of the BBG influence, directly benefitting you, our members, who will have access to that data . 

So - 

Update your profiles and pictures - so that you become more referrable - so that when someone refers a person to you - the potential client will know who you are! 

Be sure to use Referron to refer someone to a person you know like and trust within 3 taps of the phone - the law of reciprocation works! And they will refer to you! 

That is what Referron and BBG can do for you,

I will be holding a webinar  - giving a detailed rundown of Referron features and how to use the app and system.

We have a number of new features that will soon be released - such as card scanning - if you are interested - we would be delighted if you would be interested to be one of our testers - if you are interested - let me know and I will refer you to our developer Keith Hutchison .

For more information - go to www.bbg.business

Become a founding member of our business builders group

If you'd like to attract a lot more referrals in your business, here's something that may be just the ticket.

Maybe you have been to networking events or referral groups before and found them to be less than effective for attracting leads and customers..

BBG, co-founded by Geoff Hirsh, is completely different. 

The BBG Process is specifically designed to overcome the key challenges that small business owners face when attracting referrals ... through their community, unique BBG Structure, Professional Mentoring and Best of Breed Tools.

We are hosting a briefing, with drinks and nibbles,  where you will find out how BBG can help you achieve your growth objectives

When:- on Thursday 18 February 4:30am - 6pm 

Where:-  at the BBG Meeting Venue, Level 7, 14 Martin Place, Sydney, 2000

and I would be delighted if you could join us to learn how you can be a founding member of this community. 

This briefing is limited to 40 guests so make sure you click here to register your interest today.

We look forward to seeing you there.

About Geoff Hirsh 

Geoff is one of Australia's top marketing consultants, with 8 years corporate marketing experience with Cadbury Schweppes and Duracell and 25 years running his own Marketing Agency – AdMail

Over that 25 years he has worked with literally hundreds of businesses from Top 100 Companies all the way down to owner-operated SME's, helping his clients win awards for new product launches, loyalty programs, website design, promotions and event management, and others achieve successful share market floats and trade sales.

In the 25 years he has run his own business Geoff estimates that over 80% of his new business has come through referrals.Geoff is currently a member of BNI and The Network Collective and is a past member of The Executive Connection. In putting the Business Builders Group together, Geoff has applied his considerable knowledge and expertise in Referral Marketing to building a model that – I have no doubt – is simply the best available in Australia today.