Brent Phillips on Networking, Trust, and Referral Growth

Transcript

0:02 All right, we have another episode of Tailwind. Today we're joined by Brent Phillips. Brent, tell us a little bit more about yourself.

0:09 Well, thanks Austin. I appreciate the invite today. Um, you know, as we spoke about before, my professional background really has been in the corporate world.

0:16 I've worked for pretty pretty large global corporations, uh, running, you know, global sales teams from North and

0:24 South America, um, even across the globe. um you know global key account management roles. I've run a variety of

0:31 of business units that have all been you know globally focused and so forth. So I had a super rewarding corporate career

0:38 for about 30 years and then I got an itch. It was time for me to do something different and I went out on a limb and a

0:46 couple years ago I started my own small business. Um it's sales acceleration. uh

0:53 is then my LLC is called BWP Consulting Group and I focus on working with small and midsize businesses to help them grow

1:02 a path for more sales. So essentially what these companies do is they hire me as a fractional sales executive. So they

1:10 hire somebody with my experience and background as an expert to come in and work with them on a part-time basis to build out their sales organization

1:18 processes and team to really set them up to scale their business effectively.

1:23 It's been incredibly rewarding. I've worked with just a vast array of different industries um you know and

1:31 different business owners and it's been a really rewarding career.

1:36 Nice. Um, I know we talked about, you know, we're going to do networking as the conversation for the day and I'm really looking forward to it, but out of curiosity, is there a certain moment

1:44 that that itch hit like something that happened in your career? You just woke up one day ready to start your own business. Kind of what led to that?

1:52 Yeah. You know, it's corporate, right?

1:54 And I worked for a great company for a long time that it grew a lot and it it it grew to the point where,

2:02 you know, inevitably there's more processes and procedures that get put in place. And I always was pretty entrepreneurial and I had the unique

2:10 opportunity to to really run kind of an entrepreneurial types of businesses um and so forth. So as that

2:18 entrepreneurialism as the company grew began to shrink a bit, it was time for me to move on and do something uh fresh

2:25 and new uh and start over. So that was really kind of one of the key drivers that that you know led me to where I am today.

2:34 Yeah. Nice. I'm always curious what causes other people to get that bug and uh want to make sense. You t you know of course there's corporate

2:42 restructuring and and all that that was involved. um you know the company was consolidating and um moving its headquarters from North Carolina to

2:50 Michigan at the time. There's a lot of restructuring going on and new management that was in place and so forth. So it it was time. I had um 25

2:58 year career with one company for example and uh great experience but uh but it was time.

3:06 Yeah. Yeah. And so you mentioned that, you know, one of the things that you do a sales acceleration is you help grow the path to more revenue and we've

3:13 talked about how networking is incredibly important for that. Uh tell us a little bit more why about why that's the case.

3:20 Yeah, you know, it's interesting because networking is my business development activity.

3:26 Um number one, companies need to be at a unique point in their in their in their growth and trajectory. They they need to

3:33 have an issue with sales and recognize that issue. often it's due to scalability. They they've grown the company to the point where, you know,

3:41 the owner has so passionate about the business. Most owners, you know, don't necessarily have a professional sales background like myself, but they're

3:50 passionate and they're committed and that comes through so strongly for their customers. But it gets to the point is they scale their business where they

3:58 can't do everything anymore. They've got to let others um you know take over lead lead roles with expertise. So that's

4:05 often when I step in and with what I do, it's a matter, you know, it's all based on trust. They've

4:13 got to trust me that I'm going to come in and, you know, be a force multiplier for their business m, you know, strongly

4:20 maintain their culture and those types of things. So how do you do that? How do you transfer that trust and how do you find those unique opportunities with

4:30 those select clients? And I found that uh by networking with other professionals, it's been eye openening

4:36 to me. There's a whole ecosystem of small business professionals like myself that focus on supporting on a fractional

4:45 basis uh different aspects of small and mid-size businesses. Things like fractional CFOs, fractional HR people,

4:54 um you know, a wide variety in ecosystem. And often, you know, when they're in working with clients, they become aware that, hey, there's a sales

5:01 issue here or the the owner has set certain signals um that they, you know, they need some support um or maybe

5:09 they're getting ready to hire the first sales person and oh man, how do you do that? What's their comp plan look like?

5:16 How does that whole thing work? Um, so through building a network over time and having that trust and understanding with

5:24 other referral partners, they understand what I do intimately. I understand what they do intimately. Then we become a

5:32 force multiplier. Um, and they're able to introduce me to the business owner.

5:37 And by doing so, I mean, they're transferring the trust they've built to me in that case. That's a big deal. And that doesn't happen through one

5:45 conversation. that happens through a consistent effort over time. But when you get a referral to a client like

5:52 that, you know, 70 80% chance that that opportunity is going to ultimately close.

5:59 Uh versus direct outreach, you know, is more difficult even with the the vast

6:05 array of AI tools that human touch and that trust still is really relevant. So my business development activities are

6:13 focused around that networking and it's uh it's proven to to work quite well.

6:19 And so how is that different than uh the corporate setting because you were mentioning that that would be uh is also an important place to be using your network in.

6:27 Yes, that's a great question and you know networking I think is very valuable in a corporate setting and it's one I

6:34 didn't do enough of and looking back on my career I regret it. there were some lost opportunities there that I wish I

6:42 would have taken advantage of. Um, you know, often you're not most most companies are you're kind of in that daily grind and you know, the to-do list

6:50 is much longer than the hours in the day. Um, most cultures and larger companies don't necessarily encourage

6:58 it, which I think is a mistake now that I look back. Um, so let's talk a little bit about that. Why is it relevant for

7:06 you know corporate manager to network for example? Number one um it keeps them fresh. If they get out and

7:15 they network with with peers and and and peers and maybe in similar jobs in totally different industries for example you learn some best practices, you learn some tools.

7:25 um you learn, you know, a a different perspective. You know, you that tunnel vision that often happens internally is

7:32 kind of broken and you have a broader view and you're able to bring those ideas back. Um every company is always

7:39 looking for new ideas to be better and by going to your peers out there and other industries, for example, you're able to kind of bring those fresh ideas

7:47 in. Um it's also motivational and it breaks that kind of daily grind. It leads to less burnout. um keeps things

7:55 fresh and that keeps you more motivated and really good folks in the business

8:02 world know how much they don't know and right and uh by getting out there

8:09 and and and and talking with others in the industry um you know it it it really drives that whole continuous learning

8:17 initiative um which has always been a motivator for me you know it's one thing I've loved about having my own business.

8:25 I've worked in such a vast array of businesses. I mean, my background is manufacturing, but I've worked in, you know, insurance clients,

8:34 construction clients, engineered service clients, you name it. Um, and so that that's pretty motivational. So, I think that's relevant from that perspective.

8:42 And it's also it's a lowcost uh almost no cost really uh continuous learning initiative that companies can embrace.

8:49 And there's a lot of organizations out there like in the case of CEOs, Vistage is one. It's a peer-to-peer group. Um

8:57 I'm a part of it as a trusted advisor and it provides a sounding board, a safe sounding board for new ideas and

9:05 challenges that that you don't necessarily have. Use that power out there of others who have been through similar situations to to help. Um, so

9:15 those are some examples I think from a corporate manager perspective and really good managers want to develop their people and I would encourage you know

9:23 managers to be out there and also encourage their team if they want to.

9:26 Don't force them to do it, but if they want to get out there and network a bit, whether it be industry events, for

9:34 example, or networking events. There's a lot of of networking events that people can sign up and go to um that are out there.

9:43 Um you know, things like chambers of commerce or, you know, I live in the Detroit area. Detroit Detroit um you

9:50 know economic club is a fantastic opportunity to network with some movers and shakers that are out there and those those types of things. So it's it's it's

9:59 an overlooked thing and as I mentioned before I didn't do enough of it when I was in the corporate world and looking back I wish I would. I think it would

10:06 have um really made me you know even more successful in those roles that I had in corporate.

10:13 Yeah. I mean, so if you're an individual that's look here listening in like, okay, you kind of you kind of got my attention with this or like you're the

10:22 manager thinking about their team, you know, you know, you know, the continuous learning aspect of it like that whole part. I'm just thinking of myself being

10:30 in a corporate role when I would when I'd be told like, "Hey, go to a networking event." I'd be like, "No way.

10:36 I'm not going to go talk to strangers. I don't know what it's what's in it for me. I'm doing my job really well. I work hard." like it doesn't really add value

10:45 I don't think for anybody which is wrong. I'm I look back and I go I agree with you. Um what's your advice practical advice for managers that are

10:53 looking at their team and going how do I get them out there? How do I get everyone in my organization kind of on this train and willing to do this networking?

11:01 Great question and I think number one it's not for everybody inevitably simply not. Um, but

11:08 it is for many people and for those that are willing to put themselves out there and challenge themselves and put

11:17 themselves in a little bit more of an uncomfortable situation, you learn a lot about yourself and the manager learns a lot about the employee

11:25 that they're willing to take some risk and chances out there. um that they're they're willing to put it out there and their professional growth is important

11:33 to them to some degree, even if it puts them in a situation where it's not a natural fit. You know, I mean, in my case, I hope, you know, I've been

11:42 involved in sales roles since I graduated from college a few years ago.

11:46 I'm not a natural networker. It's not a natural state for me.

11:51 You know, I had to learn to do it. And um and it didn't come naturally and I kind of just had to put it out there.

11:57 the more I did it and I saw the benefit in it on the other hand then it became quite motivational for me in that case.

12:05 So my suggestion for corporate managers is make it an option. You'll be surprised who may step up and do it. Um

12:14 and and and networking starts small. One or two events, one or two connections on LinkedIn. Uh keep it simple, keep it

12:21 small. Um and just get out there and make it happen. And I'm not talking just sales roles here by any stretch. I mean

12:29 any division or um in in a company, any uh part of the organization really can

12:36 benefit from this. Um and so that's interesting too because you learn about folks that maybe are willing to put it

12:44 out there that wouldn't have necessarily you wouldn't have thought about that.

12:47 You learn something about them. They learn something about themselves and ultimately they bring new ideas back that are fresh. Um, and I think it's

12:55 really important to it's a it's a continuous learning tool. It's inexpensive and it's motivational for the right

13:03 employees. But there's some coaching that's involved. There's some best practices. We can talk about that maybe a little later in the podcast um on how

13:11 to even get started with something like that. Um, but I think at least creating the option, creating the um the the

13:19 openness and the opportunity for folks to get out there and expand their professional skill set. That means a

13:27 lot. You know, it's more than just what they're doing on the day-to-day job, but you care about them developing professionally and personally as well.

13:35 Yeah. I think, you know, from my perception, for at least myself and for other folks that I've seem to be hesitant around it, it's what do I do

13:42 once I get there? So when you mentioned like you know talking about best practices or how to approach going to these events and getting something out of them and right

13:49 feeling comfortable with it you know I'd be curious uh what you have for us on that front.

13:54 Yeah again you just kind of need to get need to get started small and you're going to it's going to be in a little bit of an uncomfortable situation at first because it's not necessarily you

14:02 know a natural state. Um, oh, one other benefit too is you learn how to represent yourself, but also represent your company.

14:10 And it's going to really hone your communication skills, which is only going to benefit

14:18 um, you know, you as an individual or, you career. That was I think another key point of why it matters. But how do you

14:25 do it is your question. And um you know for example there's a lot of networking events like there's there's a group

14:33 called the Excel networking group that was started by you know a group of of folks that are professionals like myself

14:39 that are out there um and it it started during COVID as I understand it where you know networking just changed

14:48 and they're like okay let's build a group together um and of professionals and get together and then it grew and

14:56 they have one kind of person per discipline on their board and then they have uh events that are public events

15:03 and these events you go to are like 250 people. Wow.

15:08 It's amazing. It's like a who's who of there's business owners that are there.

15:13 There's tons of other professionals that are there. And it's funny, you start to network and you meet a couple people and you quickly get introduced to a couple

15:21 more people and then a couple more people and it inevitably grows in and of itself. And then from that, you know, a

15:30 lot of these people do a lot of time networking and they say, "Hey, you're in, you know, industry logistics, for example. You know, have you have you

15:39 joined the local transportation club of America, for example?" They have their own network and that's an industry specific opportunity. and you know and

15:47 and maybe one of the board members happens to be there. Oh, hey, guess who's here. Why don't I introduce you to you know so and so who happens to be a

15:54 board member for this organization and then boom, suddenly you've gotten introduced to um a very industry

16:01 specific with with potential customers there um other organizations, different service providers, vendor relationships

16:08 can can grow from there and that kind of thing. So it it you start small and then inevitably it will organically grow.

16:18 Austin, does that specifically answer your question enough?

16:21 It does. I was curious too though, like do you have recommendation on like certain networking event, you know, like

16:28 Vistage for instance, one networking company or networking organization. Uh Excel, another one. Are there any ones that like if somebody's listening in,

16:36 they're all right, all right, I'm going to bite the bullet. this one's like one for newbies or like this one's where like it's really friendly and structured so you don't have to sit there and be

16:44 like all right I gotta work up the courage to go talk to five people I don't know and like have it compound yeah oh boy there's there's a ton that

16:52 are out there um there's uh you know chamber of commerces are a good place to start you go to an event and and they have a

16:59 lot of events that are network focused and that are designed to to build networks um you know they there they

17:07 structure the lunchon around networks That's a lowcost way and typically you don't have to be a member you can just join you know so that's one there's um

17:15 there's also uh national organizations that are online called like say alignable for example and um they

17:23 connect folks you know that are that are in various disciplines and you can put a profile in there and then you know what types of

17:31 folks would you like to be contacted with um and within alignable there's often um different chairs like you know

17:40 the county I live in for example has like four or five different chairs depending on where you live through a line of so you know inevitably you you

17:48 you learn who that chair is or maybe they'll even reach out to you and they'll invite you to a a networking event um for example and so you you know

17:56 you go and you meet a few folks and have a few conversations and break that ice um and it's interesting you know what leads from there so that would be

18:04 another organization one of the best practices that I did is I actually started my own referral

18:11 partner group of other professionals that are out there and that's been incredibly rewarding. Um, as I got out there and

18:20 began to network and you can also network just over Zoom like like what we're doing now. Um, you know, connect

18:28 on LinkedIn. I mean, look at your LinkedIn contacts and and so and so you haven't been in touch with in in two or three years. Uh, reach out to them and

18:36 say, "Hey, how's it going?" and uh you know, I'd be interested to learn more about your business. Um you know, can we set up 30 minutes for a call? Um and

18:45 then when you're on the call, you know, inevitably who, you know, who else can you introduce them to that would be relevant? Who can they introduce you to?

18:54 That's another way to do it. Um and then if it's somebody you really click with, then maybe you set up coffee with them as a as a follow-up step, for example.

19:02 And then through through that that's you know I did a lot of that initially and and sort of people you click with people who are in complimentary service

19:10 providers who have a similar in my case and similar ideal client profile which is small businesses revenue up to about

19:17 you know from a million to say $50 million.

19:23 Um and then you start to I started to invite them in into my own group and we meet every few weeks. Um, a lot

19:32 of it is just is just networking and I try I have one person per seat at the table, one discipline per per seat and

19:41 we talk about, okay, what are challenges that that we're facing? What are opportunities that are out there? What are some wins that are out there? Uh,

19:48 and we learn intimately what each other does in terms of their business offering. And that makes it more relevant. It's not just can they refer

19:57 me to a client, but maybe even more importantly, can I refer them to a client? If I'm in working with a client, they have a need. They have a major

20:05 cyber security gap. Um, you know, I've got a cyber security specialist that's in there and that's all they do and they

20:12 manage cyber security for small businesses. You know, I learned a a fun fact which isn't so fun, that insurance companies, you know, companies think, I have cyber security insurance, I'm good.

20:23 Yeah. those companies only pay out less than 20% of the claims. Why? Because compliance didn't happen. There's a

20:30 whole list of things that need to happen in order to qualify for the insurance.

20:35 Um and so what my referral partner does is they um they ensure the compliance is

20:42 there and then if there is a claim and it's shocking how often it happens there's I mean the amount of cyber

20:51 security threats that are out there are huge then his company will step in and represent uh them to the insurance company and say here's all your

20:58 documentation here's all the you know training that was done here is how we sent out emails to you know to to test

21:05 if people were, you know, responding to the email properly and reporting it as fishing and and that kind of thing and then their their claim rate is basically

21:14 100%. As an example, so those are some of the advantages and we all get brought to the table. U so and I've gotten

21:22 clients from it. I've been able to refer others who have gained clients from it.

21:26 That's ultimately, you know, where it goes. But then you've got a whole network of other peers out there. You know, best practices. I've got a

21:33 challenge in a certain industry, you know, I reach out to a couple of my my peers out there and say, "Hey, have you done something similar to this?" I've

21:41 done joint engagements um with some of my peers in that group where you know I had a a client that was looking to grow

21:50 um into the North American market for example and it was a combination of of

21:56 both um you know setting up sales and marketing and a go to market strategy but it was also a logistics play. I

22:04 mean, how are they going to get the product effectively here and cut those lead times from elsewhere in the world where they were? And so, I brought in a supply chain specialist and he and I

22:14 were a force multiplier in terms of adding value to a client. So, that's like a best practice that I found specifically to to having my own small business.

22:23 Yeah. And you touched on this a little bit as you're going through those. It was super helpful. But, uh, out of curiosity, you have a recommendation on,

22:31 hey, what are the agendas to set every time for, you know, doing a Zoom call verse having like a group verse, you

22:40 know, walking up to somebody at an event and introducing yourself just to say hi.

22:44 Yeah, let's the approach is a little different for each one. Let's talk about, you know, Zoom call for example.

22:49 So, I've been introduced, let's just hypothetically here, I've been introduced to another fractional person who's an HR

22:57 um person, for example. The one thing that I I really strive to do is, you know, it's a 30-minute call. I strive to have at least 20 minutes where I'm

23:05 learning about their business um and and and how their business is is relevant and and

23:14 what niches they have and who their client base is and so forth. Um, and inevitably I offered to help.

23:23 You know, having that help first mentality is really key in terms of um that

23:31 approach. So, how can I help them? Who can I introduce them to?

23:37 Number one, I sincerely want to help folks. I mean, I I I drive satisfaction from that. And number two, that resonates with folks. too. You help

23:46 them, they inevitably feel, you know, and want to reciprocate that help to a

23:53 great deg so that that builds trust. So, usually for a first call, I I spend the majority of my time learning sincerely

24:01 about their business. What you know, what's their unique go to market strategy? Who are their ideal clients? How long have they been in business?

24:07 What are some of their big business challenges? How do they do business development?

24:11 um you know what are some of the best networking groups and networking opportunities that they've been involved with and you learn that way and then

24:19 ultimately say okay who in my network can I introduce you to how can I help your business grow um and then usually in the last five minutes you're like oh

24:26 we haven't even talked about you okay well then then hopefully that leads to a second conversation maybe over coffee for example um or you know you set up

24:35 another Zoom meeting and and having that contact um over time in that consistency of contact. That's really important to have

24:44 that consistency of contact because you know one great call out of sight out of mind and you need to complement with other business development activities.

24:51 You know I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn. I try post two you know a couple times a week relevant content to stay to stay relevant. Um you know keep in touch in a variety of different ways.

25:02 I and reposting um the content or reposting recognition for my referral partners out there

25:09 is another thing. Number one, I want to celebrate their success. Um and number two, anything to do to keep top of mind.

25:16 That that's relevant. So the example I gave you there is really heavily related to my own. you're not necessarily going to do that fully in a as a corporate

25:26 management person, but as a small business owner and someone who focuses on um on that business development and

25:34 networking and and for most small businesses, and I'm not talking just in the consulting space. I'm talking construction, um insurance, other things. I mean,

25:43 networking is how business development is done and that's how you get business and that's how you get clients.

25:51 And so what about in person and group?

25:55 Yeah. So I think in person uh there are some similarities of course. Obviously you got to be comfortable enough just to hey you know. Yeah. Right.

26:02 Nice to meet you. You know I'm Brent Phillips and uh you know uh you know you know tell me a little bit about yourself

26:11 um kind of thing and and and what your specialty is and what motivates you. Um, I try and stay away from the what do you

26:18 do question. I try and reframe it a little bit differently, but inevitably it's the same thing. But again, you want to sincerely uh learn about their

26:26 business. Um, you know, what they what they do. Um, you know, if it's a if it's a um

26:34 sometimes it's been interesting because I've had business opportunities come up thinking it's a referral partner.

26:40 as they learn about what I do, then they're like, they call me back and say, "Hey, I need some help to scale my business, you know." So, I've had

26:49 referral partners turn into clients also in that regard. Um, but you need to be concise. The key and number one thing is

26:57 what's your elevator pitch? And that's true of um and it should be practiced.

27:02 AI is helpful to put it together as well and try different pitches. um what's

27:09 relevant um from that perspective. You know, your pitch should include, you know, essentially a very concise

27:17 message. I mean, my shortest pitch, for example, is know, hi, I'm I'm Brent Phillips and I work with small and

27:24 midsize businesses to help them grow a path for more sales.

27:29 That's a short longer one. That's a you know, how do I then then how do I do that? Um, but that requires some some

27:36 practice. And I think getting your arms around your elevator pitch really is one of the one of the most important things.

27:44 And it don't make it too complex. Don't make it too long. Um, something that can resonate. And as I mentioned, practice

27:51 it on your your spouse, um, on your significant other, on co-workers or other referral partners that you trust.

28:00 Um, and and and support them to to refine that. So, I think that's that's then you also have more confidence in

28:09 going into a setting like that when they ask you what you do and how you're relevant. Um, and then I

28:18 would recommend that folks ask open-ended, sincere, probing questions. Mhm.

28:26 You know, have that curiosity and that continuous learning mindset. Um, you

28:34 know, people who are curious uh tend to do far better in life than people who are not. Again, you know, I mentioned it

28:43 earlier. I had a professor in college um great professor in college and as I had

28:49 a my last semester senior year and a comment he made resonated with to our to our class resonated with me. He said if

28:57 you've learned anything while you've been in college when you walk out these doors you appreciate how much you don't know how much you know.

29:07 And that has that has been sort of a core of of how I've um taken an approach

29:15 to my business career and how it's developed and I I felt it always kept me humble and it always kept me grounded.

29:23 Um and I got a lot of benefit out of just being curious.

29:27 Yeah. I think another thing in my experience as well with uh networking in person is everyone's there for the same

29:34 thing. So like if you show up and you say, "Hey, you know, my name's Austin." Like it's like, "Yeah, we're all here to talk." It's not like you're intruding on

29:42 some sort of space that you weren't invited to. It's like we're all there to network. So network.

29:47 Exactly. You know, it's a good point actually because uh I recall the first networking event that that I went to um

29:56 and and it was like a little bit I never want to interfere with somebody's conversation, right? you know. Yeah. And so network, you kind of need to and

30:04 that's okay because they're there to network. And so I finally had somebody else who was also getting started with her career. Um, and

30:13 she's like, "Go ahead, join our conversation. No problem." You know, and and from that, she and I have developed a strong referral

30:21 partner, you know, network. And in fact, she just won a a great award. I was happy to help her celebrate uh you know

30:29 and repost on on LinkedIn recently and uh yeah and and people are there to help and it's it's not all on you. That's a

30:38 good point. It's not all on you by any stretch and people are there to network and there's people who are professional networkers. They're amazing at it. And

30:47 inevitably, you're going to get introduced to some of these master networkers and then boom, you know, they introduce you to key

30:55 people. Um, and it's it's really uh it's really cool. It's really cool.

31:01 All right, I I know we're coming up on time, but I got two more questions because I don't I don't want to miss out on these ones. So the last one is, you know, we got the best practices for

31:09 Zoom, best practices in person, and then if you're going to join a group or be part of a group or sorry, or create your own group, you have any recommendations

31:17 on that or is it pretty similar to the other two?

31:20 I'm sorry. Can you rephrase the question, Austin?

31:23 Uh like how you'd structure a meeting if you're doing like, hey, let's start a networking group. I want to there's not one locally here that's really fitting

31:31 the need or whatever. So, I want to put together a meeting agenda and bring people in and run those kind of those groups. Any recommendations?

31:40 Yep. Um, I try and keep it simple and not pack too much in the agenda, but what's relevant in the agenda? Uh, I

31:47 plan for two hours. Okay. And the first uh first half hour is just networking.

31:54 Give everybody and usually it it's longer. Um, so give everybody kind of an opportunity to to, you know, introduce

32:03 what they do. Um, and talk a little bit about about um their

32:11 their their own focus, their own practice, what they do, and and and who their ideal clients are, for example.

32:18 That's really key. and try and liven it up a little bit like you know what what's what's one big success you've had you know in the last three months you

32:27 want to talk about or what's one of your biggest struggles you want to talk about that leads to some pretty interesting discussions because inevitably says oh I've had that same issue

32:36 um at the beginning of of a calendar year it's like okay or the end of of a calendar year one of the topics I always

32:43 like to have what are your goals for the upcoming year you know and how can this group help you achieve those goals,

32:52 you know, what can we do to to have you be more successful? You know, that that becomes a pretty pretty meaty

32:59 conversation. Um sometimes then as well, we'll have um one of the members of the group will also then do either a

33:08 workshop or a presentation on their their business. um what do a really deep dive so people have an

33:16 intimate understanding of it and how do they work with business owners when they come in maybe how do they conduct workshops with business owners and so

33:23 forth. Um my next referral partner meeting um we've had an executive coach uh in our group and Chris and I were

33:32 talking and I said, "Hey Chris, why don't you come in and do a leadership workshop for us conducted as if we're a client."

33:40 um and he was all over doing that. And so what's the benefit for the whole group? I mean the whole group comes in because we're learning, you know, new uh

33:50 meeting best practices, how to conduct these workshops. Um it'll be he'll tailor the topics that are relevant for

33:58 our group. Um and then inevitably we're going to walk out of there better armed with opportunities because we all do

34:04 workshops with our clients. um some maybe leading edge stuff, you know, so that that kind of breaks things up a

34:11 little bit, you know, as well. Um and then we really, you know, I really strongly encourage for particularly for

34:19 new members that that are just coming in after that meeting, schedule one-on- ones with everybody.

34:26 You know, have a one-on-one Zoom meeting afterwards to to be able to do a deeper dive in that regard. Um, and a lot of

34:36 thought goes into the disciplines and the people that are invited. And that's a key key thing that I need to do is is kind of pre-screen folks and what

34:45 they do. Um, but you invite somebody new into the group who who brings a unique

34:53 focus and a discipline and they're like, "Oh, you know, the business opportunities come out out of it immediately."

35:00 Um, it's it's it's really cool. Um, and it takes a little while and it takes some discipline uh in order to to make

35:08 that happen. Um, but you know, I I rent a conference room at the um, you know,

35:16 at the civic center locally, cost me 50 bucks for two hours, so it's not a big financial lift. And then inevitably, I ask somebody to, you know, pick up a box

35:24 of Starbucks coffee and we're good to go. Yeah, that's all I need.

35:28 And the feedback consistently is really positive. So, the agenda is simple.

35:35 Networking, give people an opportunity to talk, um, highlight a business, and then encourage follow-up one-on- ones afterwards.

35:44 That's great. So, that's it.

35:46 Well, Brent, this was a very thorough overview of networking and practical application in there. I think for me, you know, if you can maintain curiosity

35:55 and generosity throughout the process, the rest will start to fall into place.

35:59 But make sure you listen to the whole thing cuz there was a bunch of good advice in there as well. Um, before I let you go, if somebody's listening in,

36:06 like what's the one big takeaway that you'd want them to walk away with if they could only take one. Just get out there and do it.

36:15 Just do it.

36:16 Just get out there and do it. And as uncomfortable as it may seem, the rewards are enormous. And I'm not talking just about small business owners

36:23 like myself. I'm talking about, you know, people in the corporate space. you will grow personally and professionally

36:32 in ways that you can't imagine. Um, so that's it. There we have it.

36:39 Brent, I appreciate you. Thank you so much for sharing some of the wisdom with us.

36:42 Austin, thanks for the invite. I appreciate being part of of Tailwinds and keep up the good work and the good podcast and uh look forward to staying in touch. Push it.