June 3, 2025 • 40 mins
BNI The Perfect 100 Podcast with Tammy Zurak
Real Relationships vs Transactional Relationships - Pierce Cannon Director of Bartlett Chamber
In this episode, Tammy Zurak interviews Pierce Cannon from the Bartlett Chamber of Commerce, discussing his experiences as a BNI member and the importance of networking, referrals, and building relationships in business. They explore the concept of 'The Power of One', the significance of personal strengths, and how confidence and belief play a role in successful networking. Pierce shares insights on mistakes made in networking, the value of the Bartlett Chamber, and advice for those looking to build their networks. The conversation emphasizes the philosophy of 'givers gain' and the impact of community involvement on business success.
CliftonStrengths Pierce Cannon: Belief | Woo | Connectedness | Communication | Responsibility
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🎙 GUEST: Pierce Cannon - Director of Membership & Community Development
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Contact: pcannon@bartlettchamber.org
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Pierce Cannon and BNI
03:05 The Power of One and Member Engagement
05:53 Referrals and Networking Strategies
09:00 Impact of BNI on Business Relationships
11:03 Learning from Networking Mistakes
13:16 Understanding CliftonStrengths and Personal Values
17:01 Understanding Transactional Relationships
18:47 The Role of Belief in Personal and Professional Life
20:33 Connectedness and Its Impact on Networking
25:42 Building a Network: Practical Advice
32:40 What Sets Bartlett Chamber Apart
39:43 Reflections on Strengths and Personal Growth
Show Sponsors:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:31):
Hello and welcome back to the Perfect 100.
I'm so excited to bring you my friend Pierce Cannon today with the Bartlett Chamber ofCommerce.
So we're gonna dive right in.
Pierce, tell us a little bit about you as a BNI member.
How long have you been a BNI member?
What chapter are you in and what seat do you hold in that chapter?
(00:53):
Yeah, so I joined BNI Bartlett uh back in December, so I'm about six months in and theseat I hold is the nonprofit seat.
Awesome.
All right.
So we're going to roll into your 45 second.
So I'm going to get my timer up on here so you can give us your best 45 seconds.
(01:16):
I'll hold this up so you can see it.
And when it ends, you end.
All right.
You ready?
Here we go.
Let's do it.
All right, so my name is Pierce Cana and I'm with the Bartlett Area Chamber
of Commerce.
If you are ready to grow, let Pierce know, that's my tagline.
ah At the Chamber, our job is to both connect businesses to each other, helping each otherthrive while also getting those businesses connected with the community and potential
(01:45):
customers.
So we're connectors.
With over 500 businesses in the Bartlett and Greater Memphis community area, we helpfacilitate long lasting beneficial relationships.
So our job is to not only help people get more transactions, but to focus on fosteringrelationships.
(02:05):
And with that focus, it's gonna inevitably lead to more transactions.
Boom, right on time.
(Laughing)
Awesome.
Yeah, as the bell ringer in my own chapter, I always appreciate that everybody finishesbefore they have to get dinged.
So, is my first guest that is not in my chapter, but I am the chapter success coach forhis chapter.
(02:28):
So I do have some knowledge of his experience in BNI and I am also a Bartlett Chambermember and ambassador.
we have some...
So an ambassador is a volunteer who shows up to ribbon cuttings and supports otherbusinesses and all that.
So we're greatly, greatly appreciative of what you do as an ambassador and a member too.
(02:53):
So you're welcome.
Yeah.
right.
So, you know, this is the power of, well, we're going to talk about the Power of One.
This is the Perfect 100.
So I'm going to, Leslie will bring up on the screen your, what your Power One scores are.
And you're only, you're only, let's see, how many weeks?
(03:14):
18 weeks in.
So you don't have six months worth yet, but that's
the good news is what's
What's exciting about this is a lot of new members come in and they, how do I put this?
They don't get the full experience maybe because they don't dive in and do all the thingsbecause there's a learning curve, right?
(03:38):
uh Oftentimes people don't understand how do I maximize this?
But I feel like you're a natural, know, even though I'm a maximizer is in my top fiveClefton strengths.
You maximize without having that in your top strengths because you have some other oneswhich we'll talk about later.
But I do want to ask because your score and you were at 100.
(03:58):
So you were an elite member of the Perfect 100 last month.
You're at 95 now, which is amazing anyway for someone who's new.
So just reading across so that people who are not watching and only listening can hear.
So you have a total score of 95 in the green.
You have 20 points in the time.
(04:18):
20 points in attendance, 20 points in referrals, 15 points in visitors, so yellow, andthen 20 points in one-to-ones and 20 points in CEUs.
So looking at all of those things, what do you think, which one of those comes mostnaturally to you?
So I love one-to-ones.
(04:40):
I love getting to know somebody, getting to know their business, getting to know the typesof referrals that they need.
And so one-to-ones, feel like come most naturally, probably, just the one-to-oneexperience.
Awesome.
you're green practically across the board.
any of them or have you found, even when you first started, have you found any of thosechallenging?
(05:04):
Yeah, mean, visitors, obviously that's in the yellow visitors is probably something that Iwant to improve on.
uh I came out pretty strong at the gate with CEUs.
I dove in really quick and then just the nature of my business is so um it's just go go goall the time.
So the visitors is probably an area I want to improve in for sure, because, ah you know,we have
(05:29):
quite a few seats that we haven't filled and I have access to a lot of different people.
And so I think bringing those people to, I did have a visitor a couple of weeks ago, we'relooking for a pest control person.
And so I kind of dug into our membership directory at the chamber and I found someone thatmight be a good fit.
But I think visitors is probably the one that I probably need to focus on.
(05:52):
Cause I want that to be green, no more yellow.
I want that to be green.
So.
I like it.
All right.
And let's go to the palms Leslie.
So the your personal palms as a read across.
So uh this is all of the weeks each of the weeks independently listed so you can kind ofsee across the time you've spent so far kind of what happens where so no absences you've
(06:15):
either had a you've only had one sub so you've been at present all of the times except foryou how to sub which is great.
um Referrals given inside
36 referrals given outside 12, which both of those are amazing.
Referrals received inside five, referrals received outside four, visitors four, one toones.
(06:37):
I might need my glasses on.
think that says 92.
In 18, well actually that's how many weeks do we have there?
It's a little bit more than 18, because I just basically did from December.
.
is far more than the weeks that you the one that you're required one per week.
(06:59):
Thank you for close business 2633 and CEU is 47.
So you had some big weeks in terms of referrals given there's a couple of bigger blipslike January you had 15.
referrals given and then again in March you had 12.
Tell me about those.
Is that how are you that big bulk at one time?
(07:22):
What does that look like?
Yeah, I just, you know, I so excited to meet everybody.
so I think initially it was just kind of a blitz of
one-on-ones and then pulling up our membership directory, finding out who good referralsfor them are.
And, you know, not just saying, hey, here's a person you can contact, but either settingup a meeting with the person that they want to get to know or sending an email.
(07:48):
that just introduced that person to the person they want to get in contact with.
So I feel like right out of the gate, you know, it was easy to do because I was trying toget to know everybody.
And so that's probably why the bulk of those happened so quickly.
And I think you're in
a unique spot.
I don't know that everyone recognizes that a chamber of commerce is a nonprofit.
(08:12):
So you have a unique opportunity that I don't, again, I don't even know if people knowthat there is a, the first year for members for a nonprofit, assuming there's not someone
else using that seat already is.
right now is comped so you can maximize your opportunity by having a chamber of commerceperson in your chapter if you don't have one.
(08:35):
And even if you do have a nonprofit in your chapter, oftentimes the mission of the chamberof commerce versus the mission of a lot of other nonprofits are different.
So you're not getting a competing kind of circumstance and that's the same in yourchapter, right?
You have another nonprofit.
So.
Yeah, we do.
(08:55):
being, know, it's, it's an, value add if you will, to the chapter to have somebody.
And what I think is unique about having a chamber is you have a Rolodex, right?
And everybody in BNI wants to have a bigger amount of contacts that they can connect to.
And I think that's a unique thing is every chamber of commerce has a roll of tax ofbusinesses.
(09:20):
That's what you're all about, right?
Your mission is to help help support businesses and economic growth in your city.
So
It's an amazing opportunity for everybody, you and us, because we can bring you peoplethat you haven't met yet and you're obviously bringing us the same.
So that's amazing.
All right.
So you may not have enough time yet in, but if you think about from the time you startedin BNI till now, what has impacted your business, you know, how you do business in it?
(09:49):
Has there been anything notable that has changed since you've been in BNI?
Yeah, for sure.
think so.
I've been in sales for 15 years.
There's a difference in transactional relationships and actually focusing on therelationship.
And so I
think that focusing on seeing others thrive and do well first is really important becauseit shows people that you're serious and you're in it for the long haul.
(10:17):
So I would say focusing on seeing others do well.
I mean,
in my business as the chamber director and membership, my goal is to help these people getconnected and to help their businesses thrive.
And so it was just an easy plug with BNI to do the same thing.
(10:37):
So I would say focusing on relationships, not the transactions, even though we all knowthe transactions will come if you focus on the relationship.
Yeah, and that's gonna speak to your strengths here in a minute when we get to that.
There's a piece of what you said that is strongly related to one of your personalstrengths.
So we'll come back to that.
But also thinking about just networking in general, have you ever made a mistake, youknow, looking back in your, you've been networking for a long time, if you're in the
(11:06):
chamber, have you ever made any mistakes that you learned something from?
Yeah, I would say, you know, confidence in your product is really crucial, right?
So people can pick up on your confidence and people can pick up on your sincerity.
So desperation is not an attractive quality, right?
(11:26):
And uh I know now, you know, that the chamber brings a lot of value to the table.
And so in the past and other industries, maybe that I've been in, you know, I couldn't saythe same thing.
So my confidence wasn't as strong.
But I would say I've learned that, hey, be confident and people are gonna be attracted tothat.
(11:49):
And so confidence, I would say.
Yeah, you it's funny.
um used to, I worked in a large photography group as a mentor, a worldwide photographygroup under an educator.
she, one of the things that she called it, she didn't come from a sales background.
She was a lifelong photographer, but you you and I both come from, we've had theconversations, we come from a long sales background and she calls it being stinky, um
(12:17):
which I think is.
That is a really good way to put it because it's true when you're selling a product thateither you're desperate to sell or you don't believe in you can become stinky and what
that means it's kind of I always Relate it from when I was managing salespeople.
It's like if you've ever walked up to you I've always had dogs and we had a GermanShepherd Collie mix when I was growing up and
(12:44):
Kids would come up to me, I would take him everywhere, take him on to walks and go to theplaygrounds and whatever.
And kids would always come up to me and want to pet him.
And my question to them was, are you afraid of dogs?
And if they said yes, then the answer was no, you cannot pet my dog because he would senseit and he would start growling.
And that is what sales is like for people who are either desperate or don't believe inwhat they're selling is you get a stench.
(13:08):
m
dogs pick up on it and it's not the smell I don't think but they smell they smell the fearso to speak is what people say with dogs and and so do humans.
We know when you're insincere or you're desperate for a sale so if you if you're in eitherof those situations it can be challenging so that's always a great tip is you know working
(13:32):
around that is if you're not someplace where you believe in the product then you don'tneed to probably be there because it's not going to help you you know in the long run.
All right, we're gonna roll over.
We talked about your, we hinted to your CliftonStrengths, but let's look at what you have.
So, Leslie, if you could zoom in for me on the first three.
So I will read those off to the people who are not listening.
So your number one strength is belief.
(13:54):
um So belief, you have certain core values that are unchanging.
Out of these values emerge a defined purpose for your life.
Number two is woo.
You love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over.
You derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with someone.
Sounds familiar to some things you've already said.
(14:16):
uh Connectedness is number three.
You have faith in the links among all things.
You believe there are few coincidences and almost everything has meaning.
Number four is communication.
you generally find it easy to put your thoughts into words.
You are a good conversationalist and presenter and last but not least number five,responsibility.
(14:39):
You take psychological ownership of what you say you will do.
You're committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.
So when you took this and you got your results back, you've never taken it before,
(15:07):
what was your first reaction?
I called my wife.
I called my wife and I said, my gosh, I just took this.
Let me read this to you.
And she was like, wow, that is to a T.
That is you.
So yeah, so that was my initial reaction was like, man, I got to call Stephanie and tellher like, you're not going to believe this.
(15:30):
What do you think?
And then she confirmed.
She was like, yeah, for sure.
That's that's you.
So yeah.
knowing you, when I looked at it, I was not surprised either that you have these things.
And something you said earlier, transactional relationships, you mentioned that word.
It was interesting because I was just watching uh Gallup is a lot of people have takenCliftonStrengths over, know, there's millions of people that have taken it.
(15:59):
And Arianna Huffington was being interviewed by the CEO of Gallup who runs all of theCliftonStrengths.
one of hers was, Strengths was connectedness in her top five.
And she used those exact words.
She said that she learned early from her mom actually that transactional relationships arenot fruitful relationships.
(16:26):
As a connected person and you also have
communication and woo and belief and responsibility, which all kind of when you each ofthose things work together.
So you're unique.
We've had previous guests on the podcast that have actually had all of the ones that youhave, but in different orders and different with other strengths, but they all strengthen,
(16:46):
you know, they play off the top five playoff of each other.
seeing, building those relationships is something that comes naturally to you.
and recognizing that there's more to it, right, as we're all connected em and that youhave a, because you have strong belief, and I wanted to ask you about that.
(17:06):
know what you're, because again, we've had these conversations off the, off of thepodcast, I know you have strong belief in, in faith and things.
How do you, because people that have belief generally live by a set of core values.
So what are, what is the,
how do you exemplify the mission in your work?
Yeah, I think foundationally, I think you have to kind of look at what your greatestmotivator is.
(17:31):
And for me, my greatest motivator is my family and my faith, which you kind of alluded toa second ago.
uh Obviously, when I took the strength test, first thing I did was I called my wife.
And then, uh yeah, I'm my faith is really important to me, too.
It's kind of the compass that I follow.
Right.
And so uh the test really highlighted and showed me that.
(17:53):
it really has positive effects on other areas of the test.
And so I was, you know, just a little bit, I guess I was a little surprised yet notsurprised, but I, I get more out of somebody telling me like, Hey, this is a strength of
yours than just kind of uh making assumptions and that kind of thing.
(18:16):
uh but, you know, I think having a
I think having a goal, think having a motivator, something that grounds you is really,really important and it connects everything together.
So I think foundation is really
important.
Okay, do you feel like any of those gives you an edge in what you're doing?
Yeah, I would say connectedness.
(18:39):
ah You know, every person I believe that comes into my life, whether it's professional orpersonal, I believe they have a purpose, right?
And, you you don't always know what that purpose is, but I try to treat everybody to thebest of my abilities with the same care and attention.
And so the test probably showed me that that's one of the reasons why I may be successfulattracting business partners and clients is because
(19:05):
I
believe in giving everybody the same amount of attention and care.
And are any of them, do you think, underused at this point?
Yeah, know, uh belief is what was my number one.
ah But I didn't realize how much of an impact it had.
And so it kind of made me introspectively looked at like, man, like what is it aboutbelief that makes it so strong?
(19:31):
And what I realized is that one, if you don't have enough belief, you might shy away fromdoing things, you know, that BNI encourage you to do like inviting people to BNI.
right, like visitors,
one-to-one sharing.
ah And so I think even though belief is my number one, I also feel like it's one that is alittle underutilized for me ah because I think that when you can open up to people and
(20:01):
sometimes whenever I have one-to-ones and we talk business, the idea is like, hey, let melearn about your business.
And then I'll tell you a little bit about mine.
ah
People just open up, they open up and you talk about really cool stuff.
And so it's not always uh a business meeting.
Sometimes it just turns into a growth meeting.
You're both growing personally, so.
(20:24):
Well, yeah, and we have, you know, obviously we have core values in BNI and one of thoseis givers.
The big one is givers gain, right?
So I think that we all can, I think we understand and kind of accept that if we buy intothat concept that we will, right?
Is if we continue to give to others that eventually it comes back to us.
(20:46):
And I've certainly, you know, been in BNI for 10 years and I've seen that and lived that.
So.
It sometimes takes a little faith to wait for it to happen for you.
But if you're doing the work, so to speak, then, you and you are, came in guns a blazing,uh that it will work out for you.
(21:07):
And looks like you've already received some opportunities for your own, what you're tryingto accomplish with what you're doing at the chamber.
So hopefully that's been a good thing for you.
Yeah, it has.
It's been awesome.
So
something that I do for BNI members is we actually offer a one year 20 % discount on yourfirst year membership because I just, you know, everybody in that room and our group is so
(21:31):
motivated and um it's just something that we decided to do uh that, you know, we wanted toget people connected.
And so that's something that we do special for BNI and uh
you know, it's just a way to give, you know, like I said, and you just mentioned thatgivers gain, like, what are you willing to give?
Well, we're willing to give, you know, because we believe in our product and we believethat we can help people.
(21:57):
And so that's something special that we do for the people in the
BNI group.
Yeah, and I think that connectedness also kind of comes into play.
uh People who have connectedness often like to tell stories and getting you mentionedgetting to know you a little bit and there's a if you're if you're not using the one to
(22:19):
one forms, the we call them.
There's a lot of different ways that they're called the GAINS profiles, that kind ofthing.
You may be missing the boat and the very first section of the
one-to-one form essentially is getting to know somebody, right?
As I had a one-to-one with somebody new in our chapter recently where all we did is get toknow each other.
(22:39):
We literally spent half an hour because we had so many things in common that we went downthe rabbit hole and we were having lunch and by the time lunch was over, we were like, we
didn't even get to the business stuff.
So
the next one is, yeah, but that's where.
That's where it comes from, right?
And I think yours and I, when we did one that was similar is you kind of can go down thatrabbit hole of getting to know someone, but that's probably more, I don't want say it's
(23:05):
more important, but it's as important to know who people are.
Part of that know, like, and trust is if I don't know who you are and I only know what youdo, that's a big piece of the chunk of information that I need to refer my good clients to
you.
So that comes naturally to you.
So I'm going to ask you kind of along those same veins, what is one piece of advice youwould give someone trying to build a network?
(23:31):
You a big network.
Obviously, that's kind of what you do for work is at the chamber, you're building a bignetwork and that's what you're always, you know, constantly building that and you're doing
the same through BNI, which is an extension of that.
What piece of advice would you give to people who are not natural networkers to do that?
Yeah.
So when somebody joins the chamber, I typically tell them, look, if you're not going toget involved and do events and meet people, there's really not a good value there and it's
(24:03):
not worth your time and it's not worth the investment to join.
So this is kind of cliche, but my advice would be just do it.
Put yourself out there, be bold, build relationships and watch what happens.
because magic happens, you um you got to do it.
And, you know, it may be, and I've seen, you know, BNI members come in who maybe they're alittle shy, but a little piece of advice that I like to give whenever I'm doing, um you
(24:33):
know, if I'm talking to someone about joining the chambers, I say, hey, look, when youcome to our events, try to have at least three intentional
(24:57):
conversations.
You know, like when we do events, sometimes there's 20 people there, sometimes there's 80to 90 people there.
And so it can be a little overwhelming and it's a little daunting.
um What I like to do is do like a strategy meeting before we do an event with the personwho's maybe just joining and saying, hey, who do you want to meet?
(25:19):
And then um if they're there making that introduction.
But I always say,
have at least three intentional conversations with people and just get the ball rolling.
That way it's not daunting, it's not a huge task.
You don't wanna be the business card guy, right?
You don't wanna hand out, here, here, here, here, because people, yeah, you're like, whatare you gonna do with that business card?
(25:44):
I have no idea who this person is.
Who is this business card I just met, right?
But if you have three intentional conversations with people,
ah It's a lot more fruitful and then you just grow from there, right?
You have those conversations then you build on that you schedule a one-to-one and thenmaybe there's a Transaction that occurs and then you do that with someone else and you
(26:05):
just keep doing it So just do it, you know, just put yourself out there get uncomfortableand then once you're uncomfortable ah You know, it's gonna eventually become comfortable,
you know the more you do it for sure
Right.
I love that.
Yeah.
My being married to somebody who started a business last fall and is not a naturalnetworker, you know, I'm kind of the polar opposite.
(26:28):
I don't have a challenge.
You know, even though your strengths are not the same as mine, I am not afraid to work aroom.
And that's one of the things that you have is connectedness and communication.
You work a room, you know, you're the challenge for people with high communication andconnectedness sometimes is that they don't spend enough time.
talking or here listening more so it's more talking and less listening can be the theblind side of those things.
(26:55):
So sometimes it's harder and I have high relator and my husband does too.
Relator is we don't.
We want to get to know somebody deeply, right?
We want to really dive in and get to know somebody and that can be challenging in a roomwhere you've got 80 people.
So I give him, I drag him along, he joined the chamber and I drag him along to events andI give him that same goal that you said is I want you to get, would like to see, it's an
(27:21):
assignment, I would like to see three business cards and I would like to know a little bitabout those businesses.
And his challenge is pulling him away from that one conversation, because he wants to godeeper, deeper, deeper, where there's 80 other people in the room we need to connect you
to.
And little over time, things have changed.
And now he's starting to recognize that when he goes to events that people know him.
(27:43):
And he makes it a point, we went to one yesterday, and I said, who are you talking to thatyou don't know?
And he immediately went and started to talk to somebody else.
So.
You know, it gets easier over time.
And my favorite question, and this applies to BNI too, is when someone comes into theroom, they may feel that way, right?
If we've got 30, 40 people in a chapter and you're new and you're introverted and you'renot naturally an open communicator, that's overwhelming.
(28:13):
so if we can, in my chapter, what we try to do is seat you with like people.
So meaning,
We put you in your power team.
So if you're a trades person, we seat you with other trades people so that you feel akinship with the people around you.
So as they're all speaking, you're hearing, okay, here's somebody I can do business withand here's somebody else.
(28:35):
And they're right next to me versus across the room.
We've all probably been in that circumstance where we heard somebody say, I do this andyou're like, ooh.
that's somebody I need to meet.
But they're clear across the room and then they're gone.
When the thing ends, they're out the door.
You never got a chance to meet them.
But if they're sitting right next to you or two seats down, you can slide them a card andsay, I want to talk to you after.
(28:58):
And it doesn't feel as awkward.
So the question I always ask people, though, is who'd you come here to meet?
um
question.
And they look at me like, I'm like, what, what do mean?
And I'm like, you came here with the intention of hoping to build your business.
So who is going to help you do that?
Who would you like to meet?
And because I know so many people, even if they're not in the room, I know other peoplethat they could meet.
(29:20):
Right.
So, but in our chapters, we immediately know, we can kind of, we know in advance becauseon the app, tells us who's coming to visit.
We can look and see what profession they are.
And we actually put a visitor's tent card in between
the rest of the people that would be on their power team and seat them thereintentionally, but we will take them and introduce them in that open networking section so
(29:43):
that they don't feel awkward and they do get to meet somebody that they're like, oh, Ishould be a part of this, right?
So it's a very cool thing when you, everybody I ever ask that question to looks at mefunny like, ooh, that's a really good question.
I hadn't thought of that, but then they think about it and they're like, yeah, and it'snot about.
gotta have intention.
(30:04):
Yeah, and it's not about me, because when you go, and that goes back to your business cardperson, where we've all been to the open networking thing or the whatever event, where
somebody's just walking up going, hi, I'm so and so and here's my card.
And you're like, okay, it's like, don't know you from a hole.
And they don't tell you anything, they just walk off and give somebody else some cards,and you're like, that was not a good example of how to network.
(30:27):
And you don't do anything with it because it's me, me, me.
Here's my card, here's all about me.
But if I ask you, who did you come here to meet?
It's about you.
And if I connect you, now that giver's game starts to come into play.
Wow, this person really took a minute to listen to what I was here for and made aconnection.
uh So that's one of my favorite things to do.
(30:47):
All right, so when you look at yourself as a chamber director versus other chambers,there's lots of chambers, even in our area here.
And people can be listening to this anywhere, but.
there are, I don't know, five or six of them that you could become a part of.
What sets you apart from what you guys are doing there?
(31:09):
That's a great question.
uh know, Bartlett is a really special town.
uh It's the 11th largest city in Tennessee.
There's a lot of economic development that's happening.
We have one of the highest ranked school systems in the state that's won multiple awards.
there's just a lot going on.
Bartlett, so we have a great mayor and uh he came up with uh a tagline called HometownProud.
(31:37):
And it's very catchy, but it really describes, mean, like I've lived here 37 years, I'velived here my whole life, so it's all I've known.
So I love Bartlett front to back.
As far as comparing it to other chambers, I think every chamber has their own strengths,right?
Everybody has their own brand.
I think for us, we've just got a little special touch.
(31:59):
ah We really care about seeing the community do well and that.
that business community, we want to see them thrive.
We want to give them special attention.
We want to get them connected to other businesses, you know, that could be a greatreferral sources.
And we want to get them in front of their clients.
(32:19):
want people, you know, some of these people just need people to walk through their door.
And so if we can promote them and if we can have an event where, you know, people may noteven know they're here.
You know, that's a big, you know, I talk about that a lot in these, you know, if I'mhaving a conversation with either a new business or a business has been here for a while,
(32:44):
I would say, hey, how do you feel like your footprints do?
And then I'll pull up Google reviews and I'll say, hey, do you have a Facebook page?
You know, and sometimes the answer is no, and sometimes the answer is yes.
And, you know, so you find out different things, but.
I would say, you know, and I was a consultant for a little bit and used to work withcompanies as a consultant and would just help them in different areas, whether it was
(33:09):
marketing or sales, you know, I love sales.
So a lot of times it was focused on that.
like everybody needs help with sales.
Everybody wants to do more.
Everybody wants to grow and everybody wants to see, you know, I think this town, everybodywants to see everybody do well.
And so.
ah I think that's what makes Bartlett different is we all care about each other.
(33:32):
ah And, you know, it may be true for other communities too.
I don't know.
you know, having been a resident for 37 years, I'd say it's a special place.
And the chamber really does care about everybody thriving and doing well.
Yeah, and as a business owner in Bartlett, I can say that having not been a part of thechamber until I met you, it does make a difference.
(33:55):
I've been going to, because I became an ambassador, I've been going to all the things,which is not a challenge for me, because I naturally can throw myself into an
uncomfortable space where I don't know anybody and make friends.
But I think that...
that connectedness that you have and create uh helps.
That's a unique talent that you have and why you're different is you.
(34:18):
It just goes back to brand, right?
I teach branding and part of what makes a chamber good is the people running it.
So if you're not connected and you're not connecting us, then there's no reason to be apart of it.
uh And I've recognized that there's a lot, I've lived in this city for almost 16 years.
I think it actually is 16 years now.
I've never been as much dialed into what's happening here and what people are thinkingthan I have been since I've been in the chamber.
(34:44):
And, you know, one of the other phone calls you made after you got your results back fromyour assessment was to me.
uh And your first reaction was you and I have been talking about wouldn't the city bebetter if the people running it knew what their strengths were.
And I was listening to another uh
podcast from Gallup yesterday after you called me about that, it just happened to fitsynonymously into what we were talking about, they were talking about what if the
(35:15):
politicians ran on what was good about them versus what's bad about everybody else?
What if elected officials had their top five strengths and said,
this is why you should elect me because these are my main things.
And this falls into business too is why would you work with me because I am, this is myset of strengths.
(35:38):
This is what I bring to you and I serve as a politician, I serve the public.
why I would, instead of going kind of the negative route that a lot of politicians like togo, what if that was the case?
And then next level is what if they all work together on what they were good at and say,what if city government,
operated on everybody maximizing their strengths.
(35:59):
And imagine what that would do for the community, the businesses, all the things.
So, you know, my brain just sort of goes down that track of like, that would be reallycool.
I just thought it was fun that you had mentioned that to me, because we were talking aboutthe various politicians and um how that could make a difference.
Yeah, and you know, we are so fortunate here in Bartlett.
(36:21):
We have a great police department.
We have a great fire department.
have all these things that make Bartlett a great place to live.
And I would say that Bartlett is for the most part really, really good at recognizingwhere we're strong.
mean, right now, you know, the police department is working closely with the city ofMemphis.
Because, you know, whenever you think of Memphis, you don't think about good things,right?
(36:44):
You think about crime and you think about all this other stuff.
so Bartlett sometimes gets lumped into that.
But there are a lot of things that are going well.
And so that's why we are working with, you know, I say we because I'm a resident, but Iwould I'm just saying people want to know what makes Bartlett special and why is our crime
(37:05):
down and
how was our response time so fast and all these things.
And it just starts with the conversation like you just said, like, and so I do thinkstrengths do come into play and people want to know why we are so strong.
And so I do think that they do a good job of doing that.
And then also wanting to give to the greater MSA, the greater Memphis community and helpthem perform better in areas that they need better performance in.
(37:34):
Well, and I think you can say we because the Chamber of Commerce certainly drives whatmakes the city that you're in great, right?
If you're not, if businesses aren't thriving, then there's a lot of things going wrong.
So you can definitely own the we.
So my last question for you is what has been the most impactful thing from ourconversation today for you that you will bring into what you're doing with your life?
(38:01):
Well, at first, I just want to say thank you for having me on the podcast for offering thetest to me because I want to know where I can improve.
You know, I want to know also what my strengths are.
Right.
I mean, that's what it's all about is like, how do you capitalize on your strengths?
And so for me, it really was a blessing.
(38:24):
And I mean that is a blessing to take the test and see the results.
It was truly um
an eye-opening experience.
so, uh you know, I'm going to take the test very seriously.
And you can count on me to sing your praises because I think what's going to happen nextis we're going to see an explosion of more growth because we know what we're good at.
(38:47):
We know what our brand is.
you know, Pierce knows a little bit more about himself and how he can help theorganization he works for.
And he also knows areas he can improve in.
So I would just say, today has been uh just, it's been fun.
I've had a lot of fun discussing this stuff.
(39:09):
My degree was actually in psychology from the University of Memphis.
And so there was a point in time where I thought I wanted to get into industrialpsychology, where you perform the tests.
for industrial companies and Fortune 500 companies and doing all that stuff, but I'd nevertaken the CliftonStrengths test.
And so I just want to say thank you for inviting me to take it and learning more aboutmyself and then how I can improve and so that I can be a better servant in my position
(39:40):
with the chain.
Well, I appreciate that.
Thank you so much.
And we'll leave it there for today.
But if you enjoy listening to the stories of BNI members and you want to hear more, besure to subscribe, whether you're on the Perfect 100 website or you're listening to us on
(40:01):
YouTube.
Be sure to subscribe.
And if you're on YouTube, leave us a comment.
And that's all we have for today.
So thank you.
And we'll see you next time on the Perfect 100.
Hello and welcome back to the Perfect 100.
I'm so excited to bring you my friend Pierce Cannon today with the Bartlett Chamber ofCommerce.
So we're gonna dive right in.
Pierce, tell us a little bit about you as a BNI member.
How long have you been a BNI member?
What chapter are you in and what seat do you hold in that chapter?
(00:53):
Yeah, so I joined BNI Bartlett uh back in December, so I'm about six months in and theseat I hold is the nonprofit seat.
Awesome.
All right.
So we're going to roll into your 45 second.
So I'm going to get my timer up on here so you can give us your best 45 seconds.
(01:16):
I'll hold this up so you can see it.
And when it ends, you end.
All right.
You ready?
Here we go.
Let's do it.
All right, so my name is Pierce Cana and I'm with the Bartlett Area Chamber
of Commerce.
If you are ready to grow, let Pierce know, that's my tagline.
ah At the Chamber, our job is to both connect businesses to each other, helping each otherthrive while also getting those businesses connected with the community and potential
(01:45):
customers.
So we're connectors.
With over 500 businesses in the Bartlett and Greater Memphis community area, we helpfacilitate long lasting beneficial relationships.
So our job is to not only help people get more transactions, but to focus on fosteringrelationships.
(02:05):
And with that focus, it's gonna inevitably lead to more transactions.
Boom, right on time.
(Laughing)
Awesome.
Yeah, as the bell ringer in my own chapter, I always appreciate that everybody finishesbefore they have to get dinged.
So, is my first guest that is not in my chapter, but I am the chapter success coach forhis chapter.
(02:28):
So I do have some knowledge of his experience in BNI and I am also a Bartlett Chambermember and ambassador.
we have some...
So an ambassador is a volunteer who shows up to ribbon cuttings and supports otherbusinesses and all that.
So we're greatly, greatly appreciative of what you do as an ambassador and a member too.
(02:53):
So you're welcome.
Yeah.
right.
So, you know, this is the power of, well, we're going to talk about the Power of One.
This is the Perfect 100.
So I'm going to, Leslie will bring up on the screen your, what your Power One scores are.
And you're only, you're only, let's see, how many weeks?
(03:14):
18 weeks in.
So you don't have six months worth yet, but that's
the good news is what's
What's exciting about this is a lot of new members come in and they, how do I put this?
They don't get the full experience maybe because they don't dive in and do all the thingsbecause there's a learning curve, right?
(03:38):
uh Oftentimes people don't understand how do I maximize this?
But I feel like you're a natural, know, even though I'm a maximizer is in my top fiveClefton strengths.
You maximize without having that in your top strengths because you have some other oneswhich we'll talk about later.
But I do want to ask because your score and you were at 100.
(03:58):
So you were an elite member of the Perfect 100 last month.
You're at 95 now, which is amazing anyway for someone who's new.
So just reading across so that people who are not watching and only listening can hear.
So you have a total score of 95 in the green.
You have 20 points in the time.
(04:18):
20 points in attendance, 20 points in referrals, 15 points in visitors, so yellow, andthen 20 points in one-to-ones and 20 points in CEUs.
So looking at all of those things, what do you think, which one of those comes mostnaturally to you?
So I love one-to-ones.
(04:40):
I love getting to know somebody, getting to know their business, getting to know the typesof referrals that they need.
And so one-to-ones, feel like come most naturally, probably, just the one-to-oneexperience.
Awesome.
you're green practically across the board.
any of them or have you found, even when you first started, have you found any of thosechallenging?
(05:04):
Yeah, mean, visitors, obviously that's in the yellow visitors is probably something that Iwant to improve on.
uh I came out pretty strong at the gate with CEUs.
I dove in really quick and then just the nature of my business is so um it's just go go goall the time.
So the visitors is probably an area I want to improve in for sure, because, ah you know,we have
(05:29):
quite a few seats that we haven't filled and I have access to a lot of different people.
And so I think bringing those people to, I did have a visitor a couple of weeks ago, we'relooking for a pest control person.
And so I kind of dug into our membership directory at the chamber and I found someone thatmight be a good fit.
But I think visitors is probably the one that I probably need to focus on.
(05:52):
Cause I want that to be green, no more yellow.
I want that to be green.
So.
I like it.
All right.
And let's go to the palms Leslie.
So the your personal palms as a read across.
So uh this is all of the weeks each of the weeks independently listed so you can kind ofsee across the time you've spent so far kind of what happens where so no absences you've
(06:15):
either had a you've only had one sub so you've been at present all of the times except foryou how to sub which is great.
um Referrals given inside
36 referrals given outside 12, which both of those are amazing.
Referrals received inside five, referrals received outside four, visitors four, one toones.
(06:37):
I might need my glasses on.
think that says 92.
In 18, well actually that's how many weeks do we have there?
It's a little bit more than 18, because I just basically did from December.
.
is far more than the weeks that you the one that you're required one per week.
(06:59):
Thank you for close business 2633 and CEU is 47.
So you had some big weeks in terms of referrals given there's a couple of bigger blipslike January you had 15.
referrals given and then again in March you had 12.
Tell me about those.
Is that how are you that big bulk at one time?
(07:22):
What does that look like?
Yeah, I just, you know, I so excited to meet everybody.
so I think initially it was just kind of a blitz of
one-on-ones and then pulling up our membership directory, finding out who good referralsfor them are.
And, you know, not just saying, hey, here's a person you can contact, but either settingup a meeting with the person that they want to get to know or sending an email.
(07:48):
that just introduced that person to the person they want to get in contact with.
So I feel like right out of the gate, you know, it was easy to do because I was trying toget to know everybody.
And so that's probably why the bulk of those happened so quickly.
And I think you're in
a unique spot.
I don't know that everyone recognizes that a chamber of commerce is a nonprofit.
(08:12):
So you have a unique opportunity that I don't, again, I don't even know if people knowthat there is a, the first year for members for a nonprofit, assuming there's not someone
else using that seat already is.
right now is comped so you can maximize your opportunity by having a chamber of commerceperson in your chapter if you don't have one.
(08:35):
And even if you do have a nonprofit in your chapter, oftentimes the mission of the chamberof commerce versus the mission of a lot of other nonprofits are different.
So you're not getting a competing kind of circumstance and that's the same in yourchapter, right?
You have another nonprofit.
So.
Yeah, we do.
(08:55):
being, know, it's, it's an, value add if you will, to the chapter to have somebody.
And what I think is unique about having a chamber is you have a Rolodex, right?
And everybody in BNI wants to have a bigger amount of contacts that they can connect to.
And I think that's a unique thing is every chamber of commerce has a roll of tax ofbusinesses.
(09:20):
That's what you're all about, right?
Your mission is to help help support businesses and economic growth in your city.
So
It's an amazing opportunity for everybody, you and us, because we can bring you peoplethat you haven't met yet and you're obviously bringing us the same.
So that's amazing.
All right.
So you may not have enough time yet in, but if you think about from the time you startedin BNI till now, what has impacted your business, you know, how you do business in it?
(09:49):
Has there been anything notable that has changed since you've been in BNI?
Yeah, for sure.
think so.
I've been in sales for 15 years.
There's a difference in transactional relationships and actually focusing on therelationship.
And so I
think that focusing on seeing others thrive and do well first is really important becauseit shows people that you're serious and you're in it for the long haul.
(10:17):
So I would say focusing on seeing others do well.
I mean,
in my business as the chamber director and membership, my goal is to help these people getconnected and to help their businesses thrive.
And so it was just an easy plug with BNI to do the same thing.
(10:37):
So I would say focusing on relationships, not the transactions, even though we all knowthe transactions will come if you focus on the relationship.
Yeah, and that's gonna speak to your strengths here in a minute when we get to that.
There's a piece of what you said that is strongly related to one of your personalstrengths.
So we'll come back to that.
But also thinking about just networking in general, have you ever made a mistake, youknow, looking back in your, you've been networking for a long time, if you're in the
(11:06):
chamber, have you ever made any mistakes that you learned something from?
Yeah, I would say, you know, confidence in your product is really crucial, right?
So people can pick up on your confidence and people can pick up on your sincerity.
So desperation is not an attractive quality, right?
(11:26):
And uh I know now, you know, that the chamber brings a lot of value to the table.
And so in the past and other industries, maybe that I've been in, you know, I couldn't saythe same thing.
So my confidence wasn't as strong.
But I would say I've learned that, hey, be confident and people are gonna be attracted tothat.
(11:49):
And so confidence, I would say.
Yeah, you it's funny.
um used to, I worked in a large photography group as a mentor, a worldwide photographygroup under an educator.
she, one of the things that she called it, she didn't come from a sales background.
She was a lifelong photographer, but you you and I both come from, we've had theconversations, we come from a long sales background and she calls it being stinky, um
(12:17):
which I think is.
That is a really good way to put it because it's true when you're selling a product thateither you're desperate to sell or you don't believe in you can become stinky and what
that means it's kind of I always Relate it from when I was managing salespeople.
It's like if you've ever walked up to you I've always had dogs and we had a GermanShepherd Collie mix when I was growing up and
(12:44):
Kids would come up to me, I would take him everywhere, take him on to walks and go to theplaygrounds and whatever.
And kids would always come up to me and want to pet him.
And my question to them was, are you afraid of dogs?
And if they said yes, then the answer was no, you cannot pet my dog because he would senseit and he would start growling.
And that is what sales is like for people who are either desperate or don't believe inwhat they're selling is you get a stench.
(13:08):
m
dogs pick up on it and it's not the smell I don't think but they smell they smell the fearso to speak is what people say with dogs and and so do humans.
We know when you're insincere or you're desperate for a sale so if you if you're in eitherof those situations it can be challenging so that's always a great tip is you know working
(13:32):
around that is if you're not someplace where you believe in the product then you don'tneed to probably be there because it's not going to help you you know in the long run.
All right, we're gonna roll over.
We talked about your, we hinted to your CliftonStrengths, but let's look at what you have.
So, Leslie, if you could zoom in for me on the first three.
So I will read those off to the people who are not listening.
So your number one strength is belief.
(13:54):
um So belief, you have certain core values that are unchanging.
Out of these values emerge a defined purpose for your life.
Number two is woo.
You love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over.
You derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with someone.
Sounds familiar to some things you've already said.
(14:16):
uh Connectedness is number three.
You have faith in the links among all things.
You believe there are few coincidences and almost everything has meaning.
Number four is communication.
you generally find it easy to put your thoughts into words.
You are a good conversationalist and presenter and last but not least number five,responsibility.
(14:39):
You take psychological ownership of what you say you will do.
You're committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.
So when you took this and you got your results back, you've never taken it before,
(15:07):
what was your first reaction?
I called my wife.
I called my wife and I said, my gosh, I just took this.
Let me read this to you.
And she was like, wow, that is to a T.
That is you.
So yeah, so that was my initial reaction was like, man, I got to call Stephanie and tellher like, you're not going to believe this.
(15:30):
What do you think?
And then she confirmed.
She was like, yeah, for sure.
That's that's you.
So yeah.
knowing you, when I looked at it, I was not surprised either that you have these things.
And something you said earlier, transactional relationships, you mentioned that word.
It was interesting because I was just watching uh Gallup is a lot of people have takenCliftonStrengths over, know, there's millions of people that have taken it.
(15:59):
And Arianna Huffington was being interviewed by the CEO of Gallup who runs all of theCliftonStrengths.
one of hers was, Strengths was connectedness in her top five.
And she used those exact words.
She said that she learned early from her mom actually that transactional relationships arenot fruitful relationships.
(16:26):
As a connected person and you also have
communication and woo and belief and responsibility, which all kind of when you each ofthose things work together.
So you're unique.
We've had previous guests on the podcast that have actually had all of the ones that youhave, but in different orders and different with other strengths, but they all strengthen,
(16:46):
you know, they play off the top five playoff of each other.
seeing, building those relationships is something that comes naturally to you.
and recognizing that there's more to it, right, as we're all connected em and that youhave a, because you have strong belief, and I wanted to ask you about that.
(17:06):
know what you're, because again, we've had these conversations off the, off of thepodcast, I know you have strong belief in, in faith and things.
How do you, because people that have belief generally live by a set of core values.
So what are, what is the,
how do you exemplify the mission in your work?
Yeah, I think foundationally, I think you have to kind of look at what your greatestmotivator is.
(17:31):
And for me, my greatest motivator is my family and my faith, which you kind of alluded toa second ago.
uh Obviously, when I took the strength test, first thing I did was I called my wife.
And then, uh yeah, I'm my faith is really important to me, too.
It's kind of the compass that I follow.
Right.
And so uh the test really highlighted and showed me that.
(17:53):
it really has positive effects on other areas of the test.
And so I was, you know, just a little bit, I guess I was a little surprised yet notsurprised, but I, I get more out of somebody telling me like, Hey, this is a strength of
yours than just kind of uh making assumptions and that kind of thing.
(18:16):
uh but, you know, I think having a
I think having a goal, think having a motivator, something that grounds you is really,really important and it connects everything together.
So I think foundation is really
important.
Okay, do you feel like any of those gives you an edge in what you're doing?
Yeah, I would say connectedness.
(18:39):
ah You know, every person I believe that comes into my life, whether it's professional orpersonal, I believe they have a purpose, right?
And, you you don't always know what that purpose is, but I try to treat everybody to thebest of my abilities with the same care and attention.
And so the test probably showed me that that's one of the reasons why I may be successfulattracting business partners and clients is because
(19:05):
I
believe in giving everybody the same amount of attention and care.
And are any of them, do you think, underused at this point?
Yeah, know, uh belief is what was my number one.
ah But I didn't realize how much of an impact it had.
And so it kind of made me introspectively looked at like, man, like what is it aboutbelief that makes it so strong?
(19:31):
And what I realized is that one, if you don't have enough belief, you might shy away fromdoing things, you know, that BNI encourage you to do like inviting people to BNI.
right, like visitors,
one-to-one sharing.
ah And so I think even though belief is my number one, I also feel like it's one that is alittle underutilized for me ah because I think that when you can open up to people and
(20:01):
sometimes whenever I have one-to-ones and we talk business, the idea is like, hey, let melearn about your business.
And then I'll tell you a little bit about mine.
ah
People just open up, they open up and you talk about really cool stuff.
And so it's not always uh a business meeting.
Sometimes it just turns into a growth meeting.
You're both growing personally, so.
(20:24):
Well, yeah, and we have, you know, obviously we have core values in BNI and one of thoseis givers.
The big one is givers gain, right?
So I think that we all can, I think we understand and kind of accept that if we buy intothat concept that we will, right?
Is if we continue to give to others that eventually it comes back to us.
(20:46):
And I've certainly, you know, been in BNI for 10 years and I've seen that and lived that.
So.
It sometimes takes a little faith to wait for it to happen for you.
But if you're doing the work, so to speak, then, you and you are, came in guns a blazing,uh that it will work out for you.
(21:07):
And looks like you've already received some opportunities for your own, what you're tryingto accomplish with what you're doing at the chamber.
So hopefully that's been a good thing for you.
Yeah, it has.
It's been awesome.
So
something that I do for BNI members is we actually offer a one year 20 % discount on yourfirst year membership because I just, you know, everybody in that room and our group is so
(21:31):
motivated and um it's just something that we decided to do uh that, you know, we wanted toget people connected.
And so that's something that we do special for BNI and uh
you know, it's just a way to give, you know, like I said, and you just mentioned thatgivers gain, like, what are you willing to give?
Well, we're willing to give, you know, because we believe in our product and we believethat we can help people.
(21:57):
And so that's something special that we do for the people in the
BNI group.
Yeah, and I think that connectedness also kind of comes into play.
uh People who have connectedness often like to tell stories and getting you mentionedgetting to know you a little bit and there's a if you're if you're not using the one to
(22:19):
one forms, the we call them.
There's a lot of different ways that they're called the GAINS profiles, that kind ofthing.
You may be missing the boat and the very first section of the
one-to-one form essentially is getting to know somebody, right?
As I had a one-to-one with somebody new in our chapter recently where all we did is get toknow each other.
(22:39):
We literally spent half an hour because we had so many things in common that we went downthe rabbit hole and we were having lunch and by the time lunch was over, we were like, we
didn't even get to the business stuff.
So
the next one is, yeah, but that's where.
That's where it comes from, right?
And I think yours and I, when we did one that was similar is you kind of can go down thatrabbit hole of getting to know someone, but that's probably more, I don't want say it's
(23:05):
more important, but it's as important to know who people are.
Part of that know, like, and trust is if I don't know who you are and I only know what youdo, that's a big piece of the chunk of information that I need to refer my good clients to
you.
So that comes naturally to you.
So I'm going to ask you kind of along those same veins, what is one piece of advice youwould give someone trying to build a network?
(23:31):
You a big network.
Obviously, that's kind of what you do for work is at the chamber, you're building a bignetwork and that's what you're always, you know, constantly building that and you're doing
the same through BNI, which is an extension of that.
What piece of advice would you give to people who are not natural networkers to do that?
Yeah.
So when somebody joins the chamber, I typically tell them, look, if you're not going toget involved and do events and meet people, there's really not a good value there and it's
(24:03):
not worth your time and it's not worth the investment to join.
So this is kind of cliche, but my advice would be just do it.
Put yourself out there, be bold, build relationships and watch what happens.
because magic happens, you um you got to do it.
And, you know, it may be, and I've seen, you know, BNI members come in who maybe they're alittle shy, but a little piece of advice that I like to give whenever I'm doing, um you
(24:33):
know, if I'm talking to someone about joining the chambers, I say, hey, look, when youcome to our events, try to have at least three intentional
(24:57):
conversations.
You know, like when we do events, sometimes there's 20 people there, sometimes there's 80to 90 people there.
And so it can be a little overwhelming and it's a little daunting.
um What I like to do is do like a strategy meeting before we do an event with the personwho's maybe just joining and saying, hey, who do you want to meet?
(25:19):
And then um if they're there making that introduction.
But I always say,
have at least three intentional conversations with people and just get the ball rolling.
That way it's not daunting, it's not a huge task.
You don't wanna be the business card guy, right?
You don't wanna hand out, here, here, here, here, because people, yeah, you're like, whatare you gonna do with that business card?
(25:44):
I have no idea who this person is.
Who is this business card I just met, right?
But if you have three intentional conversations with people,
ah It's a lot more fruitful and then you just grow from there, right?
You have those conversations then you build on that you schedule a one-to-one and thenmaybe there's a Transaction that occurs and then you do that with someone else and you
(26:05):
just keep doing it So just do it, you know, just put yourself out there get uncomfortableand then once you're uncomfortable ah You know, it's gonna eventually become comfortable,
you know the more you do it for sure
Right.
I love that.
Yeah.
My being married to somebody who started a business last fall and is not a naturalnetworker, you know, I'm kind of the polar opposite.
(26:28):
I don't have a challenge.
You know, even though your strengths are not the same as mine, I am not afraid to work aroom.
And that's one of the things that you have is connectedness and communication.
You work a room, you know, you're the challenge for people with high communication andconnectedness sometimes is that they don't spend enough time.
talking or here listening more so it's more talking and less listening can be the theblind side of those things.
(26:55):
So sometimes it's harder and I have high relator and my husband does too.
Relator is we don't.
We want to get to know somebody deeply, right?
We want to really dive in and get to know somebody and that can be challenging in a roomwhere you've got 80 people.
So I give him, I drag him along, he joined the chamber and I drag him along to events andI give him that same goal that you said is I want you to get, would like to see, it's an
(27:21):
assignment, I would like to see three business cards and I would like to know a little bitabout those businesses.
And his challenge is pulling him away from that one conversation, because he wants to godeeper, deeper, deeper, where there's 80 other people in the room we need to connect you
to.
And little over time, things have changed.
And now he's starting to recognize that when he goes to events that people know him.
(27:43):
And he makes it a point, we went to one yesterday, and I said, who are you talking to thatyou don't know?
And he immediately went and started to talk to somebody else.
So.
You know, it gets easier over time.
And my favorite question, and this applies to BNI too, is when someone comes into theroom, they may feel that way, right?
If we've got 30, 40 people in a chapter and you're new and you're introverted and you'renot naturally an open communicator, that's overwhelming.
(28:13):
so if we can, in my chapter, what we try to do is seat you with like people.
So meaning,
We put you in your power team.
So if you're a trades person, we seat you with other trades people so that you feel akinship with the people around you.
So as they're all speaking, you're hearing, okay, here's somebody I can do business withand here's somebody else.
(28:35):
And they're right next to me versus across the room.
We've all probably been in that circumstance where we heard somebody say, I do this andyou're like, ooh.
that's somebody I need to meet.
But they're clear across the room and then they're gone.
When the thing ends, they're out the door.
You never got a chance to meet them.
But if they're sitting right next to you or two seats down, you can slide them a card andsay, I want to talk to you after.
(28:58):
And it doesn't feel as awkward.
So the question I always ask people, though, is who'd you come here to meet?
um
question.
And they look at me like, I'm like, what, what do mean?
And I'm like, you came here with the intention of hoping to build your business.
So who is going to help you do that?
Who would you like to meet?
And because I know so many people, even if they're not in the room, I know other peoplethat they could meet.
(29:20):
Right.
So, but in our chapters, we immediately know, we can kind of, we know in advance becauseon the app, tells us who's coming to visit.
We can look and see what profession they are.
And we actually put a visitor's tent card in between
the rest of the people that would be on their power team and seat them thereintentionally, but we will take them and introduce them in that open networking section so
(29:43):
that they don't feel awkward and they do get to meet somebody that they're like, oh, Ishould be a part of this, right?
So it's a very cool thing when you, everybody I ever ask that question to looks at mefunny like, ooh, that's a really good question.
I hadn't thought of that, but then they think about it and they're like, yeah, and it'snot about.
gotta have intention.
(30:04):
Yeah, and it's not about me, because when you go, and that goes back to your business cardperson, where we've all been to the open networking thing or the whatever event, where
somebody's just walking up going, hi, I'm so and so and here's my card.
And you're like, okay, it's like, don't know you from a hole.
And they don't tell you anything, they just walk off and give somebody else some cards,and you're like, that was not a good example of how to network.
(30:27):
And you don't do anything with it because it's me, me, me.
Here's my card, here's all about me.
But if I ask you, who did you come here to meet?
It's about you.
And if I connect you, now that giver's game starts to come into play.
Wow, this person really took a minute to listen to what I was here for and made aconnection.
uh So that's one of my favorite things to do.
(30:47):
All right, so when you look at yourself as a chamber director versus other chambers,there's lots of chambers, even in our area here.
And people can be listening to this anywhere, but.
there are, I don't know, five or six of them that you could become a part of.
What sets you apart from what you guys are doing there?
(31:09):
That's a great question.
uh know, Bartlett is a really special town.
uh It's the 11th largest city in Tennessee.
There's a lot of economic development that's happening.
We have one of the highest ranked school systems in the state that's won multiple awards.
there's just a lot going on.
Bartlett, so we have a great mayor and uh he came up with uh a tagline called HometownProud.
(31:37):
And it's very catchy, but it really describes, mean, like I've lived here 37 years, I'velived here my whole life, so it's all I've known.
So I love Bartlett front to back.
As far as comparing it to other chambers, I think every chamber has their own strengths,right?
Everybody has their own brand.
I think for us, we've just got a little special touch.
(31:59):
ah We really care about seeing the community do well and that.
that business community, we want to see them thrive.
We want to give them special attention.
We want to get them connected to other businesses, you know, that could be a greatreferral sources.
And we want to get them in front of their clients.
(32:19):
want people, you know, some of these people just need people to walk through their door.
And so if we can promote them and if we can have an event where, you know, people may noteven know they're here.
You know, that's a big, you know, I talk about that a lot in these, you know, if I'mhaving a conversation with either a new business or a business has been here for a while,
(32:44):
I would say, hey, how do you feel like your footprints do?
And then I'll pull up Google reviews and I'll say, hey, do you have a Facebook page?
You know, and sometimes the answer is no, and sometimes the answer is yes.
And, you know, so you find out different things, but.
I would say, you know, and I was a consultant for a little bit and used to work withcompanies as a consultant and would just help them in different areas, whether it was
(33:09):
marketing or sales, you know, I love sales.
So a lot of times it was focused on that.
like everybody needs help with sales.
Everybody wants to do more.
Everybody wants to grow and everybody wants to see, you know, I think this town, everybodywants to see everybody do well.
And so.
ah I think that's what makes Bartlett different is we all care about each other.
(33:32):
ah And, you know, it may be true for other communities too.
I don't know.
you know, having been a resident for 37 years, I'd say it's a special place.
And the chamber really does care about everybody thriving and doing well.
Yeah, and as a business owner in Bartlett, I can say that having not been a part of thechamber until I met you, it does make a difference.
(33:55):
I've been going to, because I became an ambassador, I've been going to all the things,which is not a challenge for me, because I naturally can throw myself into an
uncomfortable space where I don't know anybody and make friends.
But I think that...
that connectedness that you have and create uh helps.
That's a unique talent that you have and why you're different is you.
(34:18):
It just goes back to brand, right?
I teach branding and part of what makes a chamber good is the people running it.
So if you're not connected and you're not connecting us, then there's no reason to be apart of it.
uh And I've recognized that there's a lot, I've lived in this city for almost 16 years.
I think it actually is 16 years now.
I've never been as much dialed into what's happening here and what people are thinkingthan I have been since I've been in the chamber.
(34:44):
And, you know, one of the other phone calls you made after you got your results back fromyour assessment was to me.
uh And your first reaction was you and I have been talking about wouldn't the city bebetter if the people running it knew what their strengths were.
And I was listening to another uh
podcast from Gallup yesterday after you called me about that, it just happened to fitsynonymously into what we were talking about, they were talking about what if the
(35:15):
politicians ran on what was good about them versus what's bad about everybody else?
What if elected officials had their top five strengths and said,
this is why you should elect me because these are my main things.
And this falls into business too is why would you work with me because I am, this is myset of strengths.
(35:38):
This is what I bring to you and I serve as a politician, I serve the public.
why I would, instead of going kind of the negative route that a lot of politicians like togo, what if that was the case?
And then next level is what if they all work together on what they were good at and say,what if city government,
operated on everybody maximizing their strengths.
(35:59):
And imagine what that would do for the community, the businesses, all the things.
So, you know, my brain just sort of goes down that track of like, that would be reallycool.
I just thought it was fun that you had mentioned that to me, because we were talking aboutthe various politicians and um how that could make a difference.
Yeah, and you know, we are so fortunate here in Bartlett.
(36:21):
We have a great police department.
We have a great fire department.
have all these things that make Bartlett a great place to live.
And I would say that Bartlett is for the most part really, really good at recognizingwhere we're strong.
mean, right now, you know, the police department is working closely with the city ofMemphis.
Because, you know, whenever you think of Memphis, you don't think about good things,right?
(36:44):
You think about crime and you think about all this other stuff.
so Bartlett sometimes gets lumped into that.
But there are a lot of things that are going well.
And so that's why we are working with, you know, I say we because I'm a resident, but Iwould I'm just saying people want to know what makes Bartlett special and why is our crime
(37:05):
down and
how was our response time so fast and all these things.
And it just starts with the conversation like you just said, like, and so I do thinkstrengths do come into play and people want to know why we are so strong.
And so I do think that they do a good job of doing that.
And then also wanting to give to the greater MSA, the greater Memphis community and helpthem perform better in areas that they need better performance in.
(37:34):
Well, and I think you can say we because the Chamber of Commerce certainly drives whatmakes the city that you're in great, right?
If you're not, if businesses aren't thriving, then there's a lot of things going wrong.
So you can definitely own the we.
So my last question for you is what has been the most impactful thing from ourconversation today for you that you will bring into what you're doing with your life?
(38:01):
Well, at first, I just want to say thank you for having me on the podcast for offering thetest to me because I want to know where I can improve.
You know, I want to know also what my strengths are.
Right.
I mean, that's what it's all about is like, how do you capitalize on your strengths?
And so for me, it really was a blessing.
(38:24):
And I mean that is a blessing to take the test and see the results.
It was truly um
an eye-opening experience.
so, uh you know, I'm going to take the test very seriously.
And you can count on me to sing your praises because I think what's going to happen nextis we're going to see an explosion of more growth because we know what we're good at.
(38:47):
We know what our brand is.
you know, Pierce knows a little bit more about himself and how he can help theorganization he works for.
And he also knows areas he can improve in.
So I would just say, today has been uh just, it's been fun.
I've had a lot of fun discussing this stuff.
(39:09):
My degree was actually in psychology from the University of Memphis.
And so there was a point in time where I thought I wanted to get into industrialpsychology, where you perform the tests.
for industrial companies and Fortune 500 companies and doing all that stuff, but I'd nevertaken the CliftonStrengths test.
And so I just want to say thank you for inviting me to take it and learning more aboutmyself and then how I can improve and so that I can be a better servant in my position
(39:40):
with the chain.
Well, I appreciate that.
Thank you so much.
And we'll leave it there for today.
But if you enjoy listening to the stories of BNI members and you want to hear more, besure to subscribe, whether you're on the Perfect 100 website or you're listening to us on
(40:01):
YouTube.
Be sure to subscribe.
And if you're on YouTube, leave us a comment.
And that's all we have for today.
So thank you.
And we'll see you next time on the Perfect 100.
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