May 27, 2025 • 46 mins
BNI The Perfect 100 Podcast with Tammy Zurak
In this episode of the Perfect 100, Tammy Zurak interviews Jeff Cowens, a long-time BNI member, discussing his experiences and insights gained from being part of the organization. They explore the importance of commitment, the value of one-to-ones, and how to effectively measure success within BNI. Jeff shares his journey in networking, the impact of BNI on his business, and the lessons learned from past mistakes. The conversation also delves into the significance of understanding one's strengths and how they can be leveraged for business growth, along with practical advice for building a referral-based business.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to BNI and Jeff's Journey
03:32 The Importance of Commitment in BNI
06:29 Jeff's Weekly Presentation and Power of One
09:12 Referrals and Networking Strategies
12:16 Impact of BNI on Jeff's Business
15:20 Lessons Learned from Networking Mistakes
18:29 Big Wins and Future Opportunities
23:43 Building Meaningful Relationships
24:49 Understanding CliftonStrengths
28:38 The Role of "Includers" in Networking
33:44 Strategic Thinking and Business Growth
35:04 Advice for Building Referral Networks
39:11 Future Growth and Business Presence
Show Sponsors:
Tammy Zurak Coaching (https://www.tammyzurak.com)
Wisdom Integrators (https://www.wisdomintegrators.com)
BNI The Perfect 100 Podcast (https://bnitheperfect100.com/)
Podcast Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Audible.
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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 excited to talk to Jeff Cowens today and he is going to fill us in on all the goodthings that he's doing with BNI.
So I'm going to start right in.
Jeff, us how long have you been a BNI member and what chapter and seat do you hold in thatchapter?
So as far as BNI goes, I've actually been a member probably for on and off over 20 yearsthrough different chapters starting in Northern Kentucky and then all the way down here to
(01:01):
Memphis.
ah But most recently, I'm in the East Memphis chapter and I hold the education coordinatorseat.
Okay, all right, and tell us, well, I'm gonna have you give your best 45 seconds here injust a second, but give me a little bit more on the, so Jeff is in my chapter, if you've
(01:21):
been listening, you know that East Memphis is the chapter that I'm in.
So you've been in for, looks like about, since February, the beginning of February, so notall too long.
how long has it been since you've been in?
It has been before this one.
2023 was the last time I was in BNI.
(01:43):
So basically took all 24 off.
Yep.
Okay.
And you were in for how many years ish before that?
so on the, was at the Bartlett chapter and I was in that one for just about a year, alittle over a year.
Um, again, another, a big break from BNI.
probably three or four years in between that one and my previous one.
(02:05):
Um, and that was down in DeSoto.
And then I was in that one for about a year and a half.
And prior to that, probably another seven to eight years before I was in,
another BNI up in Kentucky.
Okay, so obviously see the benefit of being in a BNI chapter in between all the things.
(02:26):
But I love that you have, I think that being, you know, I've been in three differentchapters myself and I don't think I've talked about that before, but I, the original
chapter that I started in 10 years ago was on the smaller side and I, how do I put this?
I wasn't.
I was seeing the writing on the wall, so I ended up leaving.
(02:48):
I ended up leaving and going through a different chapter, which was, I was in a longstretch for that one.
That was a really good one in terms of bringing value for a membership.
And the first one ended up folding after I left, like, wasn't because I left, it justhappens that way.
I know, right?
I think there were a bunch of us that left and that was one of the reasons why.
(03:11):
And actually, you know, it speaks to culture a little bit, which we haven't, I haven'ttalked about that here on the podcast, but the culture, it was a well established, there
were a lot of veterans in that chapter and they kind of had their own way of doing thingsand they weren't necessarily the BNI way of doing things and they weren't.
(03:33):
really embracing the new people.
so it was kind of two factions for lack of a better way of putting it.
We had the old guard and the new people.
And so the new people kind of worked together.
And the old people really didn't, we didn't intermix, which was clearly a problem.
um So it speaks to the, BNI works if you work at the way it's supposed to.
(03:54):
um And you know.
if you want to stay in a good environment um to maybe lean in that direction.
All right.
So did you have a thought?
Well, yeah, so I mean, almost similar, just to give you, you know, everyone a quickbackground.
You know, when I was in the northern Kentucky when I was in my late 20s and.
(04:14):
I didn't really resonate with a lot of the people in there.
There was there was a big age gap in the group I happen to be in.
was a 730 a.m.
that met at a restaurant for breakfast and.
But that was my first exposure into BNI.
I honestly don't think I got anything out of it.
I don't think an order or anything ever came from it, but it was a good experience.
(04:35):
And obviously it was good enough that when I moved down here to Memphis many years later,I saw the value.
And so, you know, I joined that one and as many people in our chapter know, I got kickedout because I missed too many meetings.
But that's just also a testament to BNI.
You know, it is, it isn't just a fly by night.
(04:56):
organization.
is there's rules and uh and they're there for a reason.
so Bartlett, actually left because I knew that I wasn't going to have the time todedicate.
And then when I joined this East Memphis one, just because of how my jobs have lined up, Ifinally afforded the time to actually put into BNI.
(05:19):
And I tell everyone this on my one to one to ones I've
I've done more one-to-ones with this chapter than in all of my BNI combined.
ah Yeah, so it's, I'm, you know, much more involved in this one and just having the timeallows you to really get into it and take the benefit from what the meetings provide.
(05:42):
Yeah, that's awesome.
Well, and it kind of speaks a little bit to, I don't know what the right word is.
It's not a vetting, but it could be a vetting thing when we're interviewing new people iswe want to make sure that they have that time, right?
Is you're not going to be as successful for yourself or anyone else really, if you can'tput in the time it takes, which can be, it's as significant as you want it to be, you
(06:06):
know, a minimum.
There has to be a minimum amount, but the more I, I'm a
Big believer in the more you put into it the more you get out of it So, you know havingthe right set of circumstances sometimes we're just not catching people at a time that
makes sense for them in their business so we we oftentimes I think want to go to let'sjust fill the seat because there's a new body but
(06:29):
It's detrimental if in your own company you wouldn't hire somebody who couldn't give thetime to whatever the role is you're hiring them for, know, so why would we bring them into
BNI?
Because it's really the same thing.
So cool.
All right.
So we're going to roll into you giving us your best 45 second weekly presentation.
So I am going to hold the timer up so you can see it and go ahead and start as I'm goingto go ahead and click it and then you can go ahead and start.
(06:56):
All right.
Hi, everyone.
I'm Jeff Cowans with Tooth American Digital.
We are Memphis largest and oldest commercial print shop in business for over 160 years.
We specialize in helping businesses make a bold impression from business cards to backlitchannel letters, direct mail to wide format signage.
Our team prints, produces and installs everything in-house with fast turnarounds and weship nationwide.
(07:20):
Obviously, having FedEx in our backyard is a positive for us.
We have until midnight to get something on a plane.
and still have it delivered the next day for all those last minute requests.
Our clients include national brands like Extra Space Storage, Anheuser-Busch and Netflix,but we love helping local businesses look just as polished.
Again, this is Jeff Cowans with Tooth American Digital.
(07:41):
Look forward to working with you.
Awesome, right on time, I love it.
And that's the bell ringer in our chapter, it's always appreciated.
My people fell right in on the 45.
I hate having to ding people, but you we gotta keep that meeting moving, so.
All right, go ahead.
Yes, yeah, because a lot of us can get uh winded, windy, I don't know, we have a lot tosay.
(08:07):
Well, and some people I know in particular have a particular set of...
strengths that like to talk.
So we're going to get to that later.
But yeah, so some of us can get into that communication kind of thing later.
This is the perfect 100.
So we're going to get for those of us, those of you listening that are not watching, Iwill read this for you.
(08:27):
So
Jeff has a total of 13 weeks on his Power of One.
His total score as of the most recent report is 65, which is five points away from green.
So he's in the yellow.
And then across the board attendance, he's got 20 points in the green.
Referrals per week, he's got 15 points in the yellow.
(08:50):
Visitors per week, he's got 10 points in the red.
One to ones, he's got the full 20 points in the green.
And then CEUs, oh at the zero.
And again, these are an average over six months.
So it's not that there's none, there's just not enough to kind of kick that average uppast that gray mark.
(09:13):
So let's talk a little bit about that.
Which of these things comes most naturally for you that gets measured?
Um, you know,
attendance is one thing, but I would say definitely the, um, the one-to-ones, uh, uh,certainly in this chapter, um, just being able to sit with people and learn, you know, not
(09:35):
only about their business, but also just their personal lives, you know, as deep as theywant to get with me anyways.
And, uh, I've had some deep conversations with a couple of people in this chapter.
So, um, it's been really good because you can really start to.
I don't know, once you break through that first barrier, you really start to understandwhat somebody is looking for in a referral partner.
(09:56):
And, you know, obviously as it goes deeper on my side too, they start to understand moreof what I'm looking for in that, in that perfect partner too.
So one to ones for sure.
Yeah, and I'm not surprised by that based on your CliftonStrengths results.
That would be your answer, because that makes complete sense for who you are based on whatthe results were, which we'll talk about later.
(10:21):
But how about what is most challenging for you of the things that get measured?
So, mean, obviously the CEUs and I don't really know why.
I think it's just one of those things of I could easily, you know, just on the treadmillin the morning or whatever, be listening to a podcast.
I had one of my one-to-ones last week with somebody in our chapter, I was talking aboutthe CEUs and they brought up like they make Wednesday their BNI day.
(10:47):
So on the way to work in the morning, they're listening to podcasts.
On the way to the meeting, they're listening to podcasts.
and they can kind of guarantee themselves, you know, one to two CEUs every week just bydoing that.
So ah that's kind of the path I need to get on is just dedicating a little bit of time.
I've got a decent drive to work to and from that I could certainly knock out.
(11:09):
I just, I ended up doing other things, getting on a phone call or whatever, but you know,that's, that's definitely where I could, I can pick it up.
Yeah, and I think that's a challenge for a lot of people.
And I think oftentimes it's just because we forget about it, right?
You have to be very intentional.
And whoever you were talking to that said that's their BNI day, um that's a good way tothink of it sometimes.
(11:31):
It depends on your personality.
CEs used to be challenging for me, but I just say, and I kind of do the same thing.
Wednesday is BNI day.
I'm a chapter success coach for two other chapters that meet.
before ours does, we're a lunch meeting on Wednesday mornings.
So I alternate between them and I try to do one-to-ones and Mondays and Wednesdays really,kind of both days I have kind of earmarked for BNI things.
(11:58):
Monday mornings through lunch and then same for Wednesdays.
I can do stuff in the afternoon that's not, but I knock out all my BNI stuff as much aspossible on those two days, which just.
gets my brain trained towards making sure I hit all the things.
And I'm very driven to keep the perfect 100 for many reasons, which are probably veryobvious because this is what the podcast is, right?
(12:21):
So getting those four hours in, it feels like a lot.
But if you're driving, you know, I just listen to it on the way to Vienna because I haveabout a 20 minute drive and back and in the shower, you know, whatever works.
So all right.
And then let's look at your Palms report as well.
So going across, so absences you have none.
(12:42):
Referrals given inside five, referrals given outside eight.
Referrals received inside 12, referrals received outside 13.
And then two visitors, and this is from, so this isn't a full, even though the personalpalms defaults to six months, Jeff hasn't been in the chapter for six months.
(13:02):
So this is just since February 5th.
So that's.
pretty good.
sounds like you're both giving and receiving, which is amazing.
then visitors to one to one is 21 and that is a 13 week measurement.
you're, you know, almost doubled up, which is amazing.
And thank you for close business that you've given is 2,500 and CEUs is three.
(13:43):
So
Talk to me about referrals.
Looks like you're both giving and receiving.
So how have you made those connections already in such a short amount of time?
So, I mean, I guess I kind of have a bonus, you know, I've known some of the people in thechapter for like, you know, years prior to this.
(14:04):
um
So we kind of have, some of us have a working relationship, but uh it just kind ofdefaults.
It's nice, you know, a lot of people in the chapter with their own businesses have, uhmaybe haven't even done signage or any kind of, you know, main print.
or they've been going to a FedEx, Kinko's or something like that where for us, know, Ican, I can turn quicker than a FedEx, Kinko's and I can probably be 50 % of the price.
(14:36):
Um, you know, because we are, it's what we do all day, every day versus it's, they have acouple of machines in a, in a store where their main focus is shipping and logistics.
So correct.
Um, so I think that's, that's been
probably an easy thing, you know, just trying to get some of the small stuff from people.
um And as I continue again through the one to ones and through my my 45 seconds everyweek, really trying to dive down and get a little bit deeper in those so that people
(15:06):
understand like who I'm looking for and then why I'm looking for them, not just a I wantthis guy because I saw him on LinkedIn or because he does this.
It's this guy because he works for this company.
But
I can also use any other company that's like them, for example, blah, blah, blah.
So just something to get them, know, obviously, I think, you know, this, we've talkedabout it, the, the more specific you can get, the more they're going to listen.
(15:37):
And that's why even I've started now, as of last week, my 45 second, I'm actually startingwith just a fun fact, because at least it triggers somebody to
listen and hear what I'm saying and hopefully they continue, you know, listening after Igive that little fun fact.
Yeah, yeah, and again, that's gonna play to your strengths, which we'll talk about in asecond, the, but I think that you, and again, I have sort of inside knowledge, because I
(16:05):
get to hear you every week, but you switch it up, you're not asking for the same thing.
We've both been in other chapters, so I'm sure, and people listening have probably heardpeople say the same thing over and over again and add no specifics.
And it's much easier to tune out when somebody doesn't say anything.
different or unique and it's easier to light up an opportunity for somebody when they askfor something, whether it's a specific company or a specific person even, because someone
(16:35):
in that chapter's connected, know, that Kevin Bacon game, the six degrees of separation,somebody's connected.
So if we don't ask for it, we can't receive it, it's weird.
Yeah, so that's amazing.
Okay.
So when you look back at your BNI membership because you've been in and out for thevariety of different ones, how has it being in BNI impacted your business?
(17:01):
so initially I would say when I was in the DeSoto one, when I first moved down here toMemphis, um, it definitely helped.
Um, because I was able to, while that was a chapter similar to what you were describingbefore, was a lot of, uh, veteran people in there that had been together for a long time.
And, um, I was coming in replacing a printer.
(17:23):
And so, you know, there's, um, I forget somebody called it, but like a ghost, a ghostreferral partner.
Right.
So people were still kind of using that other printer and luckily I could do a lot ofthings that they couldn't do.
So there were things that I could pull out but um here locally for those that know thebusinesses I was able that's where I was able to get most burritos their local franchise
(17:48):
and gateway and gateway tire and I've held on to them for the past you know it's beenalmost eight years now and
Again, I lost Gateway at one point, but it was because I left another print shop and theystayed with that print shop.
And just staying in contact with them though, two weeks ago, just picked them back up.
(18:13):
I helped them out of a bind and they said, okay, well, we're done with that other company.
Now we'll be using you from here on out.
And then that all came from a BNI relationship.
Okay.
Yeah, that's interesting.
So because I'm sure lots of us and me included have had that scenario where we come inbehind somebody else.
And in my case, I went into a chapter where someone switched seats, so they were still inthe chapter and they were doing the thing that I was coming in to do.
(18:42):
I was in my first go round as portrait photographer, you know, they were, and Ispecialized in personal branding.
They were doing
the same, they were still doing headshots, but they switched over to do websites and uhmarketing.
you know, they're referring to that person directly, you know, and the thing I do and Isee it pop up on social media.
(19:06):
Okay, so I guess I have some work to do, right?
So, you know, eventually, as chapters grow, people don't have those relationships, right?
They, you're never going to get in.
That's the challenge we have in every chapter.
It is you
you come into a chapter, have relationships with other people outside the chapter.
you're immediately, you know, it's not like I'm dropping my relationship with that personfor someone I don't know.
(19:30):
You know, we have to build over time to do I trust the know, like and trust this personbefore I give them my good client or whatever relationship I, you know, I'm going to move
forward to.
So it's on us to some degree to establish those relationships.
So maybe we can talk more about that when we get to your strengths.
em
And this is not necessarily a BNI question, but what is one mistake that you've made innetworking or marketing your business that you've learned the most from?
(19:59):
Um,
I think it early on was, um, pretending I was bigger than I was.
So, you know, there's one thing to, you know, project, like I can do all of this and, andlike, I'm good.
You, give me, give me something.
I will say yes.
And I'll figure out how to get it done.
I do think that's completely acceptable in the matter of what size you are.
(20:22):
Um, but it's, you know, almost getting caught in a lie of, yeah, I'll have, you know,we've
We have this huge, this huge team behind us, blah, blah, blah.
And, and, and not having that.
And then, and getting into a situation where, okay.
You just passed me to someone else on the team.
Well, there is nobody else.
(20:42):
It's me and one other person.
So, um, I learned very early on that, you know, yes, you can project bigger than you are.
Um, but to be completely honest, you know, I am, I am a team of two, but I have a.
I have a plethora of vendors and partners that I rely on that can, you know, I havecontracts with them so I get special pricing, et cetera.
(21:05):
And that's the way that I've learned now to kind of
communicate my business.
Okay, so sort of a transparency that if you, there's the fake it till you make it kind ofmentality.
I am all things, but when it comes to your partners and whether it's BNI or not, thinkthat most people can see through or they will find out if they do work with you and you
(21:33):
can't make those things happen and that's worse for you because.
that bad news spreads faster than the good news does usually.
So I love that.
Thank you for sharing that.
uh How about your biggest win through BNI?
Uh, well, hopefully it's coming up soon, like this week.
Uh, but you know, I'm here again.
(21:53):
I've been in printing in Memphis for nine years now and I have, well, actually really, Iguess close to 11.
I have always wanted to get inside of Hollywood feed and, um, I've had a meeting with theowner probably 10 years ago.
Um, didn't really go anywhere and
(22:14):
I've always felt like I've had like a there's one touch connection possible, but just havenot been able to break that wall.
through someone in our group, I got connected with their CFO and had a fantastic meetingtwo weeks ago and we're following up this week to see what we can do.
(22:37):
But it looks like we're gonna be able to come in and really be a kind of a one-stop shopfor them, get rid of, you
I look at it as two ways.
One, it's great for them because they can make one phone call and get whatever they need,whether it be uh a new sign on the outside of their building or circulars for their
stores.
(22:58):
And they also have one call, one throat to choke if there's a problem.
it's good for both of them really, because there's not a blame game that's going tohappen.
It's going to be my problem no matter what it is.
uh
a sense of um ease maybe that comes with that as well.
(23:20):
So I love that, you know, I like to think of certain connections as I have thisconversation with my husband and other people since I'm a year into coaching.
I mean, I've been coaching since 2015, but the seat that I hold in the chapter is a yearinto coaching.
And I like to think of it as, you know, you have your big whale, so to speak.
(23:43):
You know, all of us in business have
the day to day keeps the lights on, bills paid kind of business, but we all have that onerelationship that we'd love to have that makes us, I don't know what the right word is, uh
stable for lack of a better way of putting it.
(24:03):
If we maintain that relationship with whoever that is, then we have a nice springboardinto doing things.
with more ease.
So and that I know because again, I'm in your chapter is that you asked specifically forthat connection.
And someone in the chapter, I think on that six degrees of separation had that connection,right?
(24:27):
So being specific was the wind comes from you doing the right things on the front end andmaking those relationships to where they felt comfortable connecting you.
So that's amazing.
I love that.
Yep, that's
good.
let's take a turn.
We're gonna go into your
CliftonStrengths.
so starting from the top, number one is communication, and I'll read you the little blurb.
(24:49):
You generally find it easy to put your thoughts into words.
You're a good conversationalist and presenter.
Number two is woo, which is winning others over in case you don't know what that is.
You love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over.
You derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with somebody.
(25:14):
Number three is responsibility.
You take
is a psychological ownership of what you say you will do.
You're committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.
Number four, positivity.
You have contagious enthusiasm.
You are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.
(25:36):
And last but not least, Includer.
you this is a new one because we haven't had an Includer on so far.
So Includer, you accept others.
You show awareness of those who feel left out and make an effort to include them.
So What surprised you the most?
I have to say I'm not like overly surprised about anything on here.
(26:00):
There's, I can think of things for each one of these, you know, positively people say Ialways have a smile on my face, always smiling.
And, you know, if anything, it would be responsibility, but it's but the descriptionthat's on here does make sense when I when I see that.
So I don't know.
(26:20):
I don't think it's really, you know,
I was a DJ for 18 years, so the communication and the woo definitely make sense that theywere one and two because that was my job was to make sure people were having fun and I had
to meet new people all the time.
Right,
(26:52):
yeah, and so, and you have your, you have two relationship building themes, twoinfluencing themes, and one executing theme in your top five.
Now, if you had the rest of them showing, I'm sure there would be some strategic ones, butuh your, you know, your main things tend to be building relationships and influencing
(27:13):
people.
So, uh you know, it's,
I find that we need all different kinds of people to do all different kinds of things.
speaking to that, I pulled a, and you're not going to be able to see this, and if you'relistening, clearly you're not going to able to see it.
And I didn't print it or have it to show on this slide, but I was doing this this morning.
So this is a team grid.
(27:34):
em So this is our chapter, because so many of the folks in my chapter have embracedunderstanding what their strengths are.
They have taken the assessment.
We have uh several people, and people that have already been on the podcast, so you havesome friends in communication and Wu, both, that have already been on the podcast.
(27:54):
So we have three people that have been on the podcast that have Wu.
uh So no better thing than in a BNI chapter to have people that want to win others over.
I mean, right, it's kind of the right thing.
And communication.
also a good thing, I think, for making those relationships happen.
then you also have, uh relationship building.
(28:17):
You've got several of those.
And Includer's a new one for the folks that have listened to the ones previously.
I love Includer's because they...
Let me ask you this question.
Are you a big party?
Do you like to throw parties?
I mean, you just said you're DJ, but do you enjoy throwing parties?
(28:40):
yes, I don't, can say that I don't throw a lot of parties, but I, you know, I do.
I do like having people get together and come.
Yes.
And when you think about getting people together, it, who's driving that?
I know you have a family, so is it you kind of saying, you know, we should get togetherwith these people, or what does that look like at your house?
(29:02):
Um, I would say my wife actually probably makes most of the plans.
Um, so she's kind of deciding who we're going to hang out with.
Um, but just quick story.
We just went to a bat mitzvah on Saturday night and, um, all the kind of kids left at nineo'clock and there were some adults just leftover and we had a DJ for an hour.
(29:24):
And so obviously they were playing our music and, uh, we were having a great time.
And at the end of the night, we're like, we need to do this.
and just get like a bunch of couples together.
And it doesn't matter if, you know, I may not be friends with this couple or that couple,but just get a bunch of people together and hire a DJ, get some food and some drinks and
run out of place and just have a great time.
(29:44):
and so, you know, it's something like that.
It'd be fun.
Yeah, so usually Includers are people that see people sort of on the fringe and bring themin, right?
They recognize that they don't want to leave anybody out.
So if there's somebody not having a good time or if you're going to get people together,maybe you're adding to the list.
(30:05):
And I don't know if that holds true for you in your life.
But um where it plays out well, I think, for BNI is
when you have a room full of people, this is the grid and I know the people listening andprobably the people watching can't see it, but there is a nice blend of different, we have
people with different talents across the different regions, of uh themes that we wantbecause you need a well-rounded group of people in order to appeal to everyone, right?
(30:39):
And you have a particular set of talents that
generally lend themselves well to, you know, maybe being in ELT.
um Somebody who, you know, is gonna be engaging when they're standing in front of theroom, or you said your education coordinator, you know, we want to, we enjoy listening to
somebody who thinks about what they're, how they're gonna hit all the points and not beboring and have a positive outlook and include everybody.
(31:07):
em Or maybe you look at when people are visiting, um
What happens when some new person walks
in the room for you that's visiting?
Um, it's, you know, it's, it's always good, important for me to go and see that person,but I try to give them their space to, know, I've been that new person out of BNI group
and it can almost be a little overwhelming having everyone kind of just come up to you andintroduce themselves.
(31:34):
So I may let them get through the first few people.
And when I see that, you know, they've been with somebody for an extended period of time,it's 15 minutes, but, um, you know, then I'll go up and just introduce myself and.
And maybe not even get into a full conversation, but at least say, hey, nice to meet you.
I'm Jeff.
I'm glad you came to the meeting.
And then that'll be done.
(31:55):
So, it's, you know, and even to this, I think it's a lot of my past, my work history,everything feeds directly into these top five.
know, in school at one point, I was a middle school education teacher.
So I did like two and a half years or a year and a half or so of.
(32:15):
education, I was a student teacher and all that.
So m I've always wanted to just bring in everybody.
I've never had an issue of, I really never want to leave anyone on the outside.
So the Includer is, I guess that would be my surprising thing is that that actually isn'thigher on the list.
yeah.
(32:36):
Well, and you may be in a different season too, right?
Is your, if you're standing, if your audience is a group of what age were they that youwere teaching?
It was middle school, you know, 5th grade, 6th grade.
Okay, so fifth or sixth graders, probably have to make more of an effort to make sure,because there's gonna be more fringe people than adults, although maybe not, because I
(33:00):
feel like there are a lot of fringe people in the adult, and I have a hard time sometimesbecause I am leading the way, that's my personality.
I have to stop myself sometimes and go back and ask, are we, or if I see somebody nottalking, and I have to be intentional, because it may not be my first,
because it's not necessarily my top strength.
(33:22):
So I have to think about, look around and make sure everybody is getting what they need.
um Or I have somebody who has that natural talent and I just put them on that and say, canyou make sure that this, that's your thing, right?
So, and that's the benefit of having a nice big team.
It would make sense that I'm in our growth category at the chapter, right?
(33:43):
So.
Right, yes, for sure.
So if you had to lean into one of those more to grow your business or oh be better in BNIwhat do think you might want to lean more into?
Um, if I was going to, I mean, go into one of these, it's, um, probably the responsibilityand just make sure that that, that I can maintain, you know, what I am promising people
(34:08):
when I'm, when I'm meeting with them and, and, you know, when I'm, what I'm puttingforward as yes, we can do that, making sure that we can do it and I stick to it.
Um, but I would even say, you know, having some strategic thinking, I mean, my wife againis like the strategic thinker in our family.
That's for sure.
Um, she is.
very detail oriented and that has always been a weakness of mine.
(34:31):
So again, understandable why that is more so not in my top five, but for sure.
probably not that uncommon that a partner has something that you don't have, because wetend to balance each other out.
Oftentimes we look for partners that can kind of give us, if we were exactly the same, itwould be crazy.
(34:53):
We wouldn't get anything done depending on what your skills are or what your strengths arerather.
uh You'd be missing out on some things.
I feel like we always...
tend to find someone that has some unique things that we don't have.
All right, so what one piece of advice would you give to somebody who wants to build astronger referral-based business, whether it's in BNI or not?
(35:20):
Um, it's, it's really practicing on those relationships.
Um, and, you know, again, I, I, I've had so many jobs I can pull from so much.
Um, you know, even going back to when I worked at best buy and I specifically remember oneof their, one of their trainings, bringing on new employees was how to engage people in
(35:42):
conversation.
So I remember the video that they showed us and everything, the guy standing at the stereowall for car stereos.
and he had a sweatshirt on that had a school on it.
And so when the salesperson came up to them, they were like, oh, you're a fan of them.
I'm a fan of the bills too.
And you you start that conversation and just instantly make them comfortable when you'renot talking about actual sales and which one are you interested in and just letting them
(36:10):
talk about themselves.
Right.
Yeah, that's amazing.
Coming from a long background in sales, that comes, I feel like that's the icebreakers arethe part that a lot of people miss, because they wanted to sell the thing, but you've got
to make a connection with somebody before you can sell the thing.
um How about from a referral partner standpoint, what advice would you give somebody whowants to build a stronger referral network?
(36:39):
ah I would say again, just in BNI in general is using BNI.
You're a member in your group and that's great, but there are probably 10 plus other BNIgroups in your city that you could go to that may or may not have what your position is or
what your role is.
(37:00):
um utilizing that, if you have the time to go and visit more chapters.
It'll come back.
I I've even gotten one.
I've gotten a referral from somebody in Pittsburgh because they happened to find they werelooking for someone who was coming to Memphis and needed a printer.
And I was the one that happened to show up for them and from my gains report and all that.
(37:22):
Yeah, well, and that's a big thing too, right?
Is we have a worldwide network.
You know, there are more than 300,000 people in BNI.
So if you can do business like you and I both can do outside of just our local area, youcan make those connections anywhere.
But that comes sometimes to you without you knowing it's coming because they look you upin the BNI system.
(37:49):
And then they decide to, they might do some more investigating, Is what is your, they haveaccess, they might have access to look at your Power of One, they might have access to
look at what you've posted in various places.
So if you want to, I teach branding and if you want to have uh the most opportunity, youhave to kind of think about your brand holistically, whether it's.
(38:17):
just in BNI or outside of BNI is people, it's really easy to figure out what people are upto today.
Easier than it's ever been.
You know, they might go look you up on LinkedIn or whatever to see what are y'all about.
so having the ability, but the cool thing about BNI, I think is we can easily, we'vebridged the gap of the cold referral.
(38:41):
Right is we can do business with anybody anywhere.
We have the opportunity.
are weekly calls on um I'm trying to lost what it's called that where we can connect withpeople in other areas and the network speed networking and uh so you can go and meet other
people so you can widen the net as far as you like if you can do business or want to.
(39:03):
But people will kind of find you to do business with you locally to with there's tons ofstories about that.
So that's very cool.
All right.
So
What do you want to grow next?
Whether it's personally, professionally, how you want to show up in the businesscommunity, what are you trying to grow?
What's new for you?
Um
(39:24):
uh That's a tough one.
um
I guess really just like just locally, just trying to grow the presence of of tooth whereI am now.
Like I said earlier, we are we're the oldest commercial print shop in Memphis and mostpeople don't even know who we are.
(39:45):
And that's it's a lack of marketing, but it's also just a it's complacency as well ofhaving the same people in the same position for year after year after year.
They're comfortable with the salespeople, know, some of them are comfortable in whatthey've built and don't need to go out and get more.
And ah I'm hungry.
(40:05):
So I'm going out and I'm kind of preaching the good word of what tooth is and trying tobring as many people into the fold as possible.
It's like you said earlier that you've got your nut that you need to get, you you makesure that you have that, that'll pay your bills.
And I'm working on getting this gravy is what I really trying to do.
So.
Right.
(40:25):
Yeah, that's awesome.
And I know when in the chapter when Jeff says, tooth, it's like, what?
What did he say?
It's T-O-O-F for if you're trying to make out what that word is.
And we'll have links in the info everywhere.
So you can connect with Jeff if you want to and figure out what the name of his businessis.
Tooth like your teeth, but not your tooth.
(40:45):
Yeah, something like that.
All right.
is actually a toothbrush company, which is crazy.
So
Well, I know that like I watch a lot of dog stuff because I'm a dog crazy lady and theyoften refer to your teeth, you know, the dogs, the dogs have their teeth.
So yeah, there's teeths.
(41:07):
don't know, whatever.
All right.
So what is the most impactful thing that you for you that we talked about today that youthink you'll take into things you want to do with either be an eye or in your business
later?
Um, you know, I think probably looking at the Clifton strengths and, and, seeing that I, Ilack the strategic thinking, um, I know it's there and it may just not come out in, that
(41:32):
kind of report.
Um, but yeah, I even started it this morning and it wasn't because of that, but it's okay.
you know, my, my fiscal calendar technically for personally starts over in August on thesales side.
so.
When I look at what I've done so far in the last 10 months, I started, you know, I waslooking at all my sales and who I brought on, who I expect to grow and who I expect to
(41:56):
continue on the way they are.
Um, and I guess in, at least in my, my mind, that is strategic thinking, cause I'm tryingto look at where do I need to focus going into my next year?
Um, as far as my numbers go and who I'm, who I'm talking to.
So.
But that's the biggest thing.
(42:16):
think the strategic thinking and being able to ah put a little bit more data behind myfeelings is always good.
Your feelings.
right.
Well, and I will say to you that you see you only have your top five and there are 34strengths and you may find that right behind the five that you see are a whole bunch of
(42:39):
strategic ones.
So you can unlock the rest and get what those are.
And that's what I do in coaching is, you know, people want to focus when I do a coachingsession, they want to focus on the top ones.
and the bottom ones.
And the bottom ones are, they want to hyper-focus on what they feel like they're not goodat, which is what you just said, right?
(43:01):
I think I'm strategic, but I'm not seeing that, so I must not be good at that.
Overall, you didn't say it exactly like that, but that's a thought, right?
Somebody's gonna have that thought.
And when you rank order sort of from top to bottom, it's not that your bottom ones, thingsyou can't do, it's just that's not your go-to.
So, you you tend to be, you don't even think about communication.
(43:25):
It just happens.
You don't think about influencing others, you know, woo, all those things.
It's just part of who you are.
You know, you don't think about, need to make sure everybody, I wrap my arms aroundeveryone because you're already doing it.
It's just natural for you.
It's the other stuff, you know, we, looking at the chapter, we don't have anybody thathas.
(43:48):
Context in so far that's taken this in the top 10 I've only sorted it by some of you someof the folks have only taken the top five Context is looking back.
We have a number of people that are futuristic and I'm trying to find the number here Iknow there's at least two or three of us that have futuristic that's looking forward and
(44:10):
So what happens when you don't look backward?
Sometimes what do you think?
you gotta repeat the same mistakes and never move forward.
Yep.
to repeat the past if you don't understand what has already happened.
So you need somebody that has, it's a nice blend when you have futuristic and contextbecause you've got somebody going, already did that and here was the result.
(44:35):
um Or this somebody else did that or here's, let me go look and see what's happened.
Because without that context, you might not be going forward in the right direction.
They can give you a balance of things that you didn't consider.
And, you know, I have high ideation and I'm so I'm just popping off ideas and they'relike, nope, did that.
(44:59):
Nope, did that.
Right.
And they don't have to say it like that, but, we it's nice to have that, you know, whoeveryou may not be great at.
I might I'm definitely not context is not one of my high ones, but knowing having somebodyon my team that is is helpful.
So, you know, don't look at it in when you unlock the rest.
think you'll be surprised if you go that direction.
(45:21):
And as a coach, then all that planning that you were talking about, that's what I do forpeople is help them look at, okay, what are we trying to do next?
And how can we maximize that with what you already do well?
So, so there's that.
Well, thank you Jeff for joining us today.
It was great having you here.
All right.
And.
Thank you for all the listeners for being here with us on the Perfect 100 and we lookforward to seeing you or hearing, guess you're hearing us and seeing us next time.
(45:49):
All right, have a good rest of your week if you're listening and keep that networkgrowing.
Hello and welcome back to the Perfect 100.
I'm excited to talk to Jeff Cowens today and he is going to fill us in on all the goodthings that he's doing with BNI.
So I'm going to start right in.
Jeff, us how long have you been a BNI member and what chapter and seat do you hold in thatchapter?
So as far as BNI goes, I've actually been a member probably for on and off over 20 yearsthrough different chapters starting in Northern Kentucky and then all the way down here to
(01:01):
Memphis.
ah But most recently, I'm in the East Memphis chapter and I hold the education coordinatorseat.
Okay, all right, and tell us, well, I'm gonna have you give your best 45 seconds here injust a second, but give me a little bit more on the, so Jeff is in my chapter, if you've
(01:21):
been listening, you know that East Memphis is the chapter that I'm in.
So you've been in for, looks like about, since February, the beginning of February, so notall too long.
how long has it been since you've been in?
It has been before this one.
2023 was the last time I was in BNI.
(01:43):
So basically took all 24 off.
Yep.
Okay.
And you were in for how many years ish before that?
so on the, was at the Bartlett chapter and I was in that one for just about a year, alittle over a year.
Um, again, another, a big break from BNI.
probably three or four years in between that one and my previous one.
(02:05):
Um, and that was down in DeSoto.
And then I was in that one for about a year and a half.
And prior to that, probably another seven to eight years before I was in,
another BNI up in Kentucky.
Okay, so obviously see the benefit of being in a BNI chapter in between all the things.
(02:26):
But I love that you have, I think that being, you know, I've been in three differentchapters myself and I don't think I've talked about that before, but I, the original
chapter that I started in 10 years ago was on the smaller side and I, how do I put this?
I wasn't.
I was seeing the writing on the wall, so I ended up leaving.
(02:48):
I ended up leaving and going through a different chapter, which was, I was in a longstretch for that one.
That was a really good one in terms of bringing value for a membership.
And the first one ended up folding after I left, like, wasn't because I left, it justhappens that way.
I know, right?
I think there were a bunch of us that left and that was one of the reasons why.
(03:11):
And actually, you know, it speaks to culture a little bit, which we haven't, I haven'ttalked about that here on the podcast, but the culture, it was a well established, there
were a lot of veterans in that chapter and they kind of had their own way of doing thingsand they weren't necessarily the BNI way of doing things and they weren't.
(03:33):
really embracing the new people.
so it was kind of two factions for lack of a better way of putting it.
We had the old guard and the new people.
And so the new people kind of worked together.
And the old people really didn't, we didn't intermix, which was clearly a problem.
um So it speaks to the, BNI works if you work at the way it's supposed to.
(03:54):
um And you know.
if you want to stay in a good environment um to maybe lean in that direction.
All right.
So did you have a thought?
Well, yeah, so I mean, almost similar, just to give you, you know, everyone a quickbackground.
You know, when I was in the northern Kentucky when I was in my late 20s and.
(04:14):
I didn't really resonate with a lot of the people in there.
There was there was a big age gap in the group I happen to be in.
was a 730 a.m.
that met at a restaurant for breakfast and.
But that was my first exposure into BNI.
I honestly don't think I got anything out of it.
I don't think an order or anything ever came from it, but it was a good experience.
(04:35):
And obviously it was good enough that when I moved down here to Memphis many years later,I saw the value.
And so, you know, I joined that one and as many people in our chapter know, I got kickedout because I missed too many meetings.
But that's just also a testament to BNI.
You know, it is, it isn't just a fly by night.
(04:56):
organization.
is there's rules and uh and they're there for a reason.
so Bartlett, actually left because I knew that I wasn't going to have the time todedicate.
And then when I joined this East Memphis one, just because of how my jobs have lined up, Ifinally afforded the time to actually put into BNI.
(05:19):
And I tell everyone this on my one to one to ones I've
I've done more one-to-ones with this chapter than in all of my BNI combined.
ah Yeah, so it's, I'm, you know, much more involved in this one and just having the timeallows you to really get into it and take the benefit from what the meetings provide.
(05:42):
Yeah, that's awesome.
Well, and it kind of speaks a little bit to, I don't know what the right word is.
It's not a vetting, but it could be a vetting thing when we're interviewing new people iswe want to make sure that they have that time, right?
Is you're not going to be as successful for yourself or anyone else really, if you can'tput in the time it takes, which can be, it's as significant as you want it to be, you
(06:06):
know, a minimum.
There has to be a minimum amount, but the more I, I'm a
Big believer in the more you put into it the more you get out of it So, you know havingthe right set of circumstances sometimes we're just not catching people at a time that
makes sense for them in their business so we we oftentimes I think want to go to let'sjust fill the seat because there's a new body but
(06:29):
It's detrimental if in your own company you wouldn't hire somebody who couldn't give thetime to whatever the role is you're hiring them for, know, so why would we bring them into
BNI?
Because it's really the same thing.
So cool.
All right.
So we're going to roll into you giving us your best 45 second weekly presentation.
So I am going to hold the timer up so you can see it and go ahead and start as I'm goingto go ahead and click it and then you can go ahead and start.
(06:56):
All right.
Hi, everyone.
I'm Jeff Cowans with Tooth American Digital.
We are Memphis largest and oldest commercial print shop in business for over 160 years.
We specialize in helping businesses make a bold impression from business cards to backlitchannel letters, direct mail to wide format signage.
Our team prints, produces and installs everything in-house with fast turnarounds and weship nationwide.
(07:20):
Obviously, having FedEx in our backyard is a positive for us.
We have until midnight to get something on a plane.
and still have it delivered the next day for all those last minute requests.
Our clients include national brands like Extra Space Storage, Anheuser-Busch and Netflix,but we love helping local businesses look just as polished.
Again, this is Jeff Cowans with Tooth American Digital.
(07:41):
Look forward to working with you.
Awesome, right on time, I love it.
And that's the bell ringer in our chapter, it's always appreciated.
My people fell right in on the 45.
I hate having to ding people, but you we gotta keep that meeting moving, so.
All right, go ahead.
Yes, yeah, because a lot of us can get uh winded, windy, I don't know, we have a lot tosay.
(08:07):
Well, and some people I know in particular have a particular set of...
strengths that like to talk.
So we're going to get to that later.
But yeah, so some of us can get into that communication kind of thing later.
This is the perfect 100.
So we're going to get for those of us, those of you listening that are not watching, Iwill read this for you.
(08:27):
So
Jeff has a total of 13 weeks on his Power of One.
His total score as of the most recent report is 65, which is five points away from green.
So he's in the yellow.
And then across the board attendance, he's got 20 points in the green.
Referrals per week, he's got 15 points in the yellow.
(08:50):
Visitors per week, he's got 10 points in the red.
One to ones, he's got the full 20 points in the green.
And then CEUs, oh at the zero.
And again, these are an average over six months.
So it's not that there's none, there's just not enough to kind of kick that average uppast that gray mark.
(09:13):
So let's talk a little bit about that.
Which of these things comes most naturally for you that gets measured?
Um, you know,
attendance is one thing, but I would say definitely the, um, the one-to-ones, uh, uh,certainly in this chapter, um, just being able to sit with people and learn, you know, not
(09:35):
only about their business, but also just their personal lives, you know, as deep as theywant to get with me anyways.
And, uh, I've had some deep conversations with a couple of people in this chapter.
So, um, it's been really good because you can really start to.
I don't know, once you break through that first barrier, you really start to understandwhat somebody is looking for in a referral partner.
(09:56):
And, you know, obviously as it goes deeper on my side too, they start to understand moreof what I'm looking for in that, in that perfect partner too.
So one to ones for sure.
Yeah, and I'm not surprised by that based on your CliftonStrengths results.
That would be your answer, because that makes complete sense for who you are based on whatthe results were, which we'll talk about later.
(10:21):
But how about what is most challenging for you of the things that get measured?
So, mean, obviously the CEUs and I don't really know why.
I think it's just one of those things of I could easily, you know, just on the treadmillin the morning or whatever, be listening to a podcast.
I had one of my one-to-ones last week with somebody in our chapter, I was talking aboutthe CEUs and they brought up like they make Wednesday their BNI day.
(10:47):
So on the way to work in the morning, they're listening to podcasts.
On the way to the meeting, they're listening to podcasts.
and they can kind of guarantee themselves, you know, one to two CEUs every week just bydoing that.
So ah that's kind of the path I need to get on is just dedicating a little bit of time.
I've got a decent drive to work to and from that I could certainly knock out.
(11:09):
I just, I ended up doing other things, getting on a phone call or whatever, but you know,that's, that's definitely where I could, I can pick it up.
Yeah, and I think that's a challenge for a lot of people.
And I think oftentimes it's just because we forget about it, right?
You have to be very intentional.
And whoever you were talking to that said that's their BNI day, um that's a good way tothink of it sometimes.
(11:31):
It depends on your personality.
CEs used to be challenging for me, but I just say, and I kind of do the same thing.
Wednesday is BNI day.
I'm a chapter success coach for two other chapters that meet.
before ours does, we're a lunch meeting on Wednesday mornings.
So I alternate between them and I try to do one-to-ones and Mondays and Wednesdays really,kind of both days I have kind of earmarked for BNI things.
(11:58):
Monday mornings through lunch and then same for Wednesdays.
I can do stuff in the afternoon that's not, but I knock out all my BNI stuff as much aspossible on those two days, which just.
gets my brain trained towards making sure I hit all the things.
And I'm very driven to keep the perfect 100 for many reasons, which are probably veryobvious because this is what the podcast is, right?
(12:21):
So getting those four hours in, it feels like a lot.
But if you're driving, you know, I just listen to it on the way to Vienna because I haveabout a 20 minute drive and back and in the shower, you know, whatever works.
So all right.
And then let's look at your Palms report as well.
So going across, so absences you have none.
(12:42):
Referrals given inside five, referrals given outside eight.
Referrals received inside 12, referrals received outside 13.
And then two visitors, and this is from, so this isn't a full, even though the personalpalms defaults to six months, Jeff hasn't been in the chapter for six months.
(13:02):
So this is just since February 5th.
So that's.
pretty good.
sounds like you're both giving and receiving, which is amazing.
then visitors to one to one is 21 and that is a 13 week measurement.
you're, you know, almost doubled up, which is amazing.
And thank you for close business that you've given is 2,500 and CEUs is three.
(13:43):
So
Talk to me about referrals.
Looks like you're both giving and receiving.
So how have you made those connections already in such a short amount of time?
So, I mean, I guess I kind of have a bonus, you know, I've known some of the people in thechapter for like, you know, years prior to this.
(14:04):
um
So we kind of have, some of us have a working relationship, but uh it just kind ofdefaults.
It's nice, you know, a lot of people in the chapter with their own businesses have, uhmaybe haven't even done signage or any kind of, you know, main print.
or they've been going to a FedEx, Kinko's or something like that where for us, know, Ican, I can turn quicker than a FedEx, Kinko's and I can probably be 50 % of the price.
(14:36):
Um, you know, because we are, it's what we do all day, every day versus it's, they have acouple of machines in a, in a store where their main focus is shipping and logistics.
So correct.
Um, so I think that's, that's been
probably an easy thing, you know, just trying to get some of the small stuff from people.
um And as I continue again through the one to ones and through my my 45 seconds everyweek, really trying to dive down and get a little bit deeper in those so that people
(15:06):
understand like who I'm looking for and then why I'm looking for them, not just a I wantthis guy because I saw him on LinkedIn or because he does this.
It's this guy because he works for this company.
But
I can also use any other company that's like them, for example, blah, blah, blah.
So just something to get them, know, obviously, I think, you know, this, we've talkedabout it, the, the more specific you can get, the more they're going to listen.
(15:37):
And that's why even I've started now, as of last week, my 45 second, I'm actually startingwith just a fun fact, because at least it triggers somebody to
listen and hear what I'm saying and hopefully they continue, you know, listening after Igive that little fun fact.
Yeah, yeah, and again, that's gonna play to your strengths, which we'll talk about in asecond, the, but I think that you, and again, I have sort of inside knowledge, because I
(16:05):
get to hear you every week, but you switch it up, you're not asking for the same thing.
We've both been in other chapters, so I'm sure, and people listening have probably heardpeople say the same thing over and over again and add no specifics.
And it's much easier to tune out when somebody doesn't say anything.
different or unique and it's easier to light up an opportunity for somebody when they askfor something, whether it's a specific company or a specific person even, because someone
(16:35):
in that chapter's connected, know, that Kevin Bacon game, the six degrees of separation,somebody's connected.
So if we don't ask for it, we can't receive it, it's weird.
Yeah, so that's amazing.
Okay.
So when you look back at your BNI membership because you've been in and out for thevariety of different ones, how has it being in BNI impacted your business?
(17:01):
so initially I would say when I was in the DeSoto one, when I first moved down here toMemphis, um, it definitely helped.
Um, because I was able to, while that was a chapter similar to what you were describingbefore, was a lot of, uh, veteran people in there that had been together for a long time.
And, um, I was coming in replacing a printer.
(17:23):
And so, you know, there's, um, I forget somebody called it, but like a ghost, a ghostreferral partner.
Right.
So people were still kind of using that other printer and luckily I could do a lot ofthings that they couldn't do.
So there were things that I could pull out but um here locally for those that know thebusinesses I was able that's where I was able to get most burritos their local franchise
(17:48):
and gateway and gateway tire and I've held on to them for the past you know it's beenalmost eight years now and
Again, I lost Gateway at one point, but it was because I left another print shop and theystayed with that print shop.
And just staying in contact with them though, two weeks ago, just picked them back up.
(18:13):
I helped them out of a bind and they said, okay, well, we're done with that other company.
Now we'll be using you from here on out.
And then that all came from a BNI relationship.
Okay.
Yeah, that's interesting.
So because I'm sure lots of us and me included have had that scenario where we come inbehind somebody else.
And in my case, I went into a chapter where someone switched seats, so they were still inthe chapter and they were doing the thing that I was coming in to do.
(18:42):
I was in my first go round as portrait photographer, you know, they were, and Ispecialized in personal branding.
They were doing
the same, they were still doing headshots, but they switched over to do websites and uhmarketing.
you know, they're referring to that person directly, you know, and the thing I do and Isee it pop up on social media.
(19:06):
Okay, so I guess I have some work to do, right?
So, you know, eventually, as chapters grow, people don't have those relationships, right?
They, you're never going to get in.
That's the challenge we have in every chapter.
It is you
you come into a chapter, have relationships with other people outside the chapter.
you're immediately, you know, it's not like I'm dropping my relationship with that personfor someone I don't know.
(19:30):
You know, we have to build over time to do I trust the know, like and trust this personbefore I give them my good client or whatever relationship I, you know, I'm going to move
forward to.
So it's on us to some degree to establish those relationships.
So maybe we can talk more about that when we get to your strengths.
em
And this is not necessarily a BNI question, but what is one mistake that you've made innetworking or marketing your business that you've learned the most from?
(19:59):
Um,
I think it early on was, um, pretending I was bigger than I was.
So, you know, there's one thing to, you know, project, like I can do all of this and, andlike, I'm good.
You, give me, give me something.
I will say yes.
And I'll figure out how to get it done.
I do think that's completely acceptable in the matter of what size you are.
(20:22):
Um, but it's, you know, almost getting caught in a lie of, yeah, I'll have, you know,we've
We have this huge, this huge team behind us, blah, blah, blah.
And, and, and not having that.
And then, and getting into a situation where, okay.
You just passed me to someone else on the team.
Well, there is nobody else.
(20:42):
It's me and one other person.
So, um, I learned very early on that, you know, yes, you can project bigger than you are.
Um, but to be completely honest, you know, I am, I am a team of two, but I have a.
I have a plethora of vendors and partners that I rely on that can, you know, I havecontracts with them so I get special pricing, et cetera.
(21:05):
And that's the way that I've learned now to kind of
communicate my business.
Okay, so sort of a transparency that if you, there's the fake it till you make it kind ofmentality.
I am all things, but when it comes to your partners and whether it's BNI or not, thinkthat most people can see through or they will find out if they do work with you and you
(21:33):
can't make those things happen and that's worse for you because.
that bad news spreads faster than the good news does usually.
So I love that.
Thank you for sharing that.
uh How about your biggest win through BNI?
Uh, well, hopefully it's coming up soon, like this week.
Uh, but you know, I'm here again.
(21:53):
I've been in printing in Memphis for nine years now and I have, well, actually really, Iguess close to 11.
I have always wanted to get inside of Hollywood feed and, um, I've had a meeting with theowner probably 10 years ago.
Um, didn't really go anywhere and
(22:14):
I've always felt like I've had like a there's one touch connection possible, but just havenot been able to break that wall.
through someone in our group, I got connected with their CFO and had a fantastic meetingtwo weeks ago and we're following up this week to see what we can do.
(22:37):
But it looks like we're gonna be able to come in and really be a kind of a one-stop shopfor them, get rid of, you
I look at it as two ways.
One, it's great for them because they can make one phone call and get whatever they need,whether it be uh a new sign on the outside of their building or circulars for their
stores.
(22:58):
And they also have one call, one throat to choke if there's a problem.
it's good for both of them really, because there's not a blame game that's going tohappen.
It's going to be my problem no matter what it is.
uh
a sense of um ease maybe that comes with that as well.
(23:20):
So I love that, you know, I like to think of certain connections as I have thisconversation with my husband and other people since I'm a year into coaching.
I mean, I've been coaching since 2015, but the seat that I hold in the chapter is a yearinto coaching.
And I like to think of it as, you know, you have your big whale, so to speak.
(23:43):
You know, all of us in business have
the day to day keeps the lights on, bills paid kind of business, but we all have that onerelationship that we'd love to have that makes us, I don't know what the right word is, uh
stable for lack of a better way of putting it.
(24:03):
If we maintain that relationship with whoever that is, then we have a nice springboardinto doing things.
with more ease.
So and that I know because again, I'm in your chapter is that you asked specifically forthat connection.
And someone in the chapter, I think on that six degrees of separation had that connection,right?
(24:27):
So being specific was the wind comes from you doing the right things on the front end andmaking those relationships to where they felt comfortable connecting you.
So that's amazing.
I love that.
Yep, that's
good.
let's take a turn.
We're gonna go into your
CliftonStrengths.
so starting from the top, number one is communication, and I'll read you the little blurb.
(24:49):
You generally find it easy to put your thoughts into words.
You're a good conversationalist and presenter.
Number two is woo, which is winning others over in case you don't know what that is.
You love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over.
You derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with somebody.
(25:14):
Number three is responsibility.
You take
is a psychological ownership of what you say you will do.
You're committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.
Number four, positivity.
You have contagious enthusiasm.
You are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.
(25:36):
And last but not least, Includer.
you this is a new one because we haven't had an Includer on so far.
So Includer, you accept others.
You show awareness of those who feel left out and make an effort to include them.
So What surprised you the most?
I have to say I'm not like overly surprised about anything on here.
(26:00):
There's, I can think of things for each one of these, you know, positively people say Ialways have a smile on my face, always smiling.
And, you know, if anything, it would be responsibility, but it's but the descriptionthat's on here does make sense when I when I see that.
So I don't know.
(26:20):
I don't think it's really, you know,
I was a DJ for 18 years, so the communication and the woo definitely make sense that theywere one and two because that was my job was to make sure people were having fun and I had
to meet new people all the time.
Right,
(26:52):
yeah, and so, and you have your, you have two relationship building themes, twoinfluencing themes, and one executing theme in your top five.
Now, if you had the rest of them showing, I'm sure there would be some strategic ones, butuh your, you know, your main things tend to be building relationships and influencing
(27:13):
people.
So, uh you know, it's,
I find that we need all different kinds of people to do all different kinds of things.
speaking to that, I pulled a, and you're not going to be able to see this, and if you'relistening, clearly you're not going to able to see it.
And I didn't print it or have it to show on this slide, but I was doing this this morning.
So this is a team grid.
(27:34):
em So this is our chapter, because so many of the folks in my chapter have embracedunderstanding what their strengths are.
They have taken the assessment.
We have uh several people, and people that have already been on the podcast, so you havesome friends in communication and Wu, both, that have already been on the podcast.
(27:54):
So we have three people that have been on the podcast that have Wu.
uh So no better thing than in a BNI chapter to have people that want to win others over.
I mean, right, it's kind of the right thing.
And communication.
also a good thing, I think, for making those relationships happen.
then you also have, uh relationship building.
(28:17):
You've got several of those.
And Includer's a new one for the folks that have listened to the ones previously.
I love Includer's because they...
Let me ask you this question.
Are you a big party?
Do you like to throw parties?
I mean, you just said you're DJ, but do you enjoy throwing parties?
(28:40):
yes, I don't, can say that I don't throw a lot of parties, but I, you know, I do.
I do like having people get together and come.
Yes.
And when you think about getting people together, it, who's driving that?
I know you have a family, so is it you kind of saying, you know, we should get togetherwith these people, or what does that look like at your house?
(29:02):
Um, I would say my wife actually probably makes most of the plans.
Um, so she's kind of deciding who we're going to hang out with.
Um, but just quick story.
We just went to a bat mitzvah on Saturday night and, um, all the kind of kids left at nineo'clock and there were some adults just leftover and we had a DJ for an hour.
(29:24):
And so obviously they were playing our music and, uh, we were having a great time.
And at the end of the night, we're like, we need to do this.
and just get like a bunch of couples together.
And it doesn't matter if, you know, I may not be friends with this couple or that couple,but just get a bunch of people together and hire a DJ, get some food and some drinks and
run out of place and just have a great time.
(29:44):
and so, you know, it's something like that.
It'd be fun.
Yeah, so usually Includers are people that see people sort of on the fringe and bring themin, right?
They recognize that they don't want to leave anybody out.
So if there's somebody not having a good time or if you're going to get people together,maybe you're adding to the list.
(30:05):
And I don't know if that holds true for you in your life.
But um where it plays out well, I think, for BNI is
when you have a room full of people, this is the grid and I know the people listening andprobably the people watching can't see it, but there is a nice blend of different, we have
people with different talents across the different regions, of uh themes that we wantbecause you need a well-rounded group of people in order to appeal to everyone, right?
(30:39):
And you have a particular set of talents that
generally lend themselves well to, you know, maybe being in ELT.
um Somebody who, you know, is gonna be engaging when they're standing in front of theroom, or you said your education coordinator, you know, we want to, we enjoy listening to
somebody who thinks about what they're, how they're gonna hit all the points and not beboring and have a positive outlook and include everybody.
(31:07):
em Or maybe you look at when people are visiting, um
What happens when some new person walks
in the room for you that's visiting?
Um, it's, you know, it's, it's always good, important for me to go and see that person,but I try to give them their space to, know, I've been that new person out of BNI group
and it can almost be a little overwhelming having everyone kind of just come up to you andintroduce themselves.
(31:34):
So I may let them get through the first few people.
And when I see that, you know, they've been with somebody for an extended period of time,it's 15 minutes, but, um, you know, then I'll go up and just introduce myself and.
And maybe not even get into a full conversation, but at least say, hey, nice to meet you.
I'm Jeff.
I'm glad you came to the meeting.
And then that'll be done.
(31:55):
So, it's, you know, and even to this, I think it's a lot of my past, my work history,everything feeds directly into these top five.
know, in school at one point, I was a middle school education teacher.
So I did like two and a half years or a year and a half or so of.
(32:15):
education, I was a student teacher and all that.
So m I've always wanted to just bring in everybody.
I've never had an issue of, I really never want to leave anyone on the outside.
So the Includer is, I guess that would be my surprising thing is that that actually isn'thigher on the list.
yeah.
(32:36):
Well, and you may be in a different season too, right?
Is your, if you're standing, if your audience is a group of what age were they that youwere teaching?
It was middle school, you know, 5th grade, 6th grade.
Okay, so fifth or sixth graders, probably have to make more of an effort to make sure,because there's gonna be more fringe people than adults, although maybe not, because I
(33:00):
feel like there are a lot of fringe people in the adult, and I have a hard time sometimesbecause I am leading the way, that's my personality.
I have to stop myself sometimes and go back and ask, are we, or if I see somebody nottalking, and I have to be intentional, because it may not be my first,
because it's not necessarily my top strength.
(33:22):
So I have to think about, look around and make sure everybody is getting what they need.
um Or I have somebody who has that natural talent and I just put them on that and say, canyou make sure that this, that's your thing, right?
So, and that's the benefit of having a nice big team.
It would make sense that I'm in our growth category at the chapter, right?
(33:43):
So.
Right, yes, for sure.
So if you had to lean into one of those more to grow your business or oh be better in BNIwhat do think you might want to lean more into?
Um, if I was going to, I mean, go into one of these, it's, um, probably the responsibilityand just make sure that that, that I can maintain, you know, what I am promising people
(34:08):
when I'm, when I'm meeting with them and, and, you know, when I'm, what I'm puttingforward as yes, we can do that, making sure that we can do it and I stick to it.
Um, but I would even say, you know, having some strategic thinking, I mean, my wife againis like the strategic thinker in our family.
That's for sure.
Um, she is.
very detail oriented and that has always been a weakness of mine.
(34:31):
So again, understandable why that is more so not in my top five, but for sure.
probably not that uncommon that a partner has something that you don't have, because wetend to balance each other out.
Oftentimes we look for partners that can kind of give us, if we were exactly the same, itwould be crazy.
(34:53):
We wouldn't get anything done depending on what your skills are or what your strengths arerather.
uh You'd be missing out on some things.
I feel like we always...
tend to find someone that has some unique things that we don't have.
All right, so what one piece of advice would you give to somebody who wants to build astronger referral-based business, whether it's in BNI or not?
(35:20):
Um, it's, it's really practicing on those relationships.
Um, and, you know, again, I, I, I've had so many jobs I can pull from so much.
Um, you know, even going back to when I worked at best buy and I specifically remember oneof their, one of their trainings, bringing on new employees was how to engage people in
(35:42):
conversation.
So I remember the video that they showed us and everything, the guy standing at the stereowall for car stereos.
and he had a sweatshirt on that had a school on it.
And so when the salesperson came up to them, they were like, oh, you're a fan of them.
I'm a fan of the bills too.
And you you start that conversation and just instantly make them comfortable when you'renot talking about actual sales and which one are you interested in and just letting them
(36:10):
talk about themselves.
Right.
Yeah, that's amazing.
Coming from a long background in sales, that comes, I feel like that's the icebreakers arethe part that a lot of people miss, because they wanted to sell the thing, but you've got
to make a connection with somebody before you can sell the thing.
um How about from a referral partner standpoint, what advice would you give somebody whowants to build a stronger referral network?
(36:39):
ah I would say again, just in BNI in general is using BNI.
You're a member in your group and that's great, but there are probably 10 plus other BNIgroups in your city that you could go to that may or may not have what your position is or
what your role is.
(37:00):
um utilizing that, if you have the time to go and visit more chapters.
It'll come back.
I I've even gotten one.
I've gotten a referral from somebody in Pittsburgh because they happened to find they werelooking for someone who was coming to Memphis and needed a printer.
And I was the one that happened to show up for them and from my gains report and all that.
(37:22):
Yeah, well, and that's a big thing too, right?
Is we have a worldwide network.
You know, there are more than 300,000 people in BNI.
So if you can do business like you and I both can do outside of just our local area, youcan make those connections anywhere.
But that comes sometimes to you without you knowing it's coming because they look you upin the BNI system.
(37:49):
And then they decide to, they might do some more investigating, Is what is your, they haveaccess, they might have access to look at your Power of One, they might have access to
look at what you've posted in various places.
So if you want to, I teach branding and if you want to have uh the most opportunity, youhave to kind of think about your brand holistically, whether it's.
(38:17):
just in BNI or outside of BNI is people, it's really easy to figure out what people are upto today.
Easier than it's ever been.
You know, they might go look you up on LinkedIn or whatever to see what are y'all about.
so having the ability, but the cool thing about BNI, I think is we can easily, we'vebridged the gap of the cold referral.
(38:41):
Right is we can do business with anybody anywhere.
We have the opportunity.
are weekly calls on um I'm trying to lost what it's called that where we can connect withpeople in other areas and the network speed networking and uh so you can go and meet other
people so you can widen the net as far as you like if you can do business or want to.
(39:03):
But people will kind of find you to do business with you locally to with there's tons ofstories about that.
So that's very cool.
All right.
So
What do you want to grow next?
Whether it's personally, professionally, how you want to show up in the businesscommunity, what are you trying to grow?
What's new for you?
Um
(39:24):
uh That's a tough one.
um
I guess really just like just locally, just trying to grow the presence of of tooth whereI am now.
Like I said earlier, we are we're the oldest commercial print shop in Memphis and mostpeople don't even know who we are.
(39:45):
And that's it's a lack of marketing, but it's also just a it's complacency as well ofhaving the same people in the same position for year after year after year.
They're comfortable with the salespeople, know, some of them are comfortable in whatthey've built and don't need to go out and get more.
And ah I'm hungry.
(40:05):
So I'm going out and I'm kind of preaching the good word of what tooth is and trying tobring as many people into the fold as possible.
It's like you said earlier that you've got your nut that you need to get, you you makesure that you have that, that'll pay your bills.
And I'm working on getting this gravy is what I really trying to do.
So.
Right.
(40:25):
Yeah, that's awesome.
And I know when in the chapter when Jeff says, tooth, it's like, what?
What did he say?
It's T-O-O-F for if you're trying to make out what that word is.
And we'll have links in the info everywhere.
So you can connect with Jeff if you want to and figure out what the name of his businessis.
Tooth like your teeth, but not your tooth.
(40:45):
Yeah, something like that.
All right.
is actually a toothbrush company, which is crazy.
So
Well, I know that like I watch a lot of dog stuff because I'm a dog crazy lady and theyoften refer to your teeth, you know, the dogs, the dogs have their teeth.
So yeah, there's teeths.
(41:07):
don't know, whatever.
All right.
So what is the most impactful thing that you for you that we talked about today that youthink you'll take into things you want to do with either be an eye or in your business
later?
Um, you know, I think probably looking at the Clifton strengths and, and, seeing that I, Ilack the strategic thinking, um, I know it's there and it may just not come out in, that
(41:32):
kind of report.
Um, but yeah, I even started it this morning and it wasn't because of that, but it's okay.
you know, my, my fiscal calendar technically for personally starts over in August on thesales side.
so.
When I look at what I've done so far in the last 10 months, I started, you know, I waslooking at all my sales and who I brought on, who I expect to grow and who I expect to
(41:56):
continue on the way they are.
Um, and I guess in, at least in my, my mind, that is strategic thinking, cause I'm tryingto look at where do I need to focus going into my next year?
Um, as far as my numbers go and who I'm, who I'm talking to.
So.
But that's the biggest thing.
(42:16):
think the strategic thinking and being able to ah put a little bit more data behind myfeelings is always good.
Your feelings.
right.
Well, and I will say to you that you see you only have your top five and there are 34strengths and you may find that right behind the five that you see are a whole bunch of
(42:39):
strategic ones.
So you can unlock the rest and get what those are.
And that's what I do in coaching is, you know, people want to focus when I do a coachingsession, they want to focus on the top ones.
and the bottom ones.
And the bottom ones are, they want to hyper-focus on what they feel like they're not goodat, which is what you just said, right?
(43:01):
I think I'm strategic, but I'm not seeing that, so I must not be good at that.
Overall, you didn't say it exactly like that, but that's a thought, right?
Somebody's gonna have that thought.
And when you rank order sort of from top to bottom, it's not that your bottom ones, thingsyou can't do, it's just that's not your go-to.
So, you you tend to be, you don't even think about communication.
(43:25):
It just happens.
You don't think about influencing others, you know, woo, all those things.
It's just part of who you are.
You know, you don't think about, need to make sure everybody, I wrap my arms aroundeveryone because you're already doing it.
It's just natural for you.
It's the other stuff, you know, we, looking at the chapter, we don't have anybody thathas.
(43:48):
Context in so far that's taken this in the top 10 I've only sorted it by some of you someof the folks have only taken the top five Context is looking back.
We have a number of people that are futuristic and I'm trying to find the number here Iknow there's at least two or three of us that have futuristic that's looking forward and
(44:10):
So what happens when you don't look backward?
Sometimes what do you think?
you gotta repeat the same mistakes and never move forward.
Yep.
to repeat the past if you don't understand what has already happened.
So you need somebody that has, it's a nice blend when you have futuristic and contextbecause you've got somebody going, already did that and here was the result.
(44:35):
um Or this somebody else did that or here's, let me go look and see what's happened.
Because without that context, you might not be going forward in the right direction.
They can give you a balance of things that you didn't consider.
And, you know, I have high ideation and I'm so I'm just popping off ideas and they'relike, nope, did that.
(44:59):
Nope, did that.
Right.
And they don't have to say it like that, but, we it's nice to have that, you know, whoeveryou may not be great at.
I might I'm definitely not context is not one of my high ones, but knowing having somebodyon my team that is is helpful.
So, you know, don't look at it in when you unlock the rest.
think you'll be surprised if you go that direction.
(45:21):
And as a coach, then all that planning that you were talking about, that's what I do forpeople is help them look at, okay, what are we trying to do next?
And how can we maximize that with what you already do well?
So, so there's that.
Well, thank you Jeff for joining us today.
It was great having you here.
All right.
And.
Thank you for all the listeners for being here with us on the Perfect 100 and we lookforward to seeing you or hearing, guess you're hearing us and seeing us next time.
(45:49):
All right, have a good rest of your week if you're listening and keep that networkgrowing.
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