September 3, 2024 • 22 mins
Can networking truly transform your small business? Join us on Small Business Big World as we sit down with Ashley Winslow from Bangor Savings, who brings her wealth of experience in networking to the table. With insights from her own initiative, Ashley uncovers the secrets to expanding your business's reach through a community built on trust and professionalism. Learn why commitment is crucial and how surrounding yourself with reliable professionals can be a game-changer for your referrals and client relationships.
We also share actionable strategies for making networking a consistent and effective part of your business routine. From engaging new contacts with confidence to setting clear goals and seeking advice from seasoned networkers, Ashley and I explore the nuances of both formal and informal networking events. Get inspired to start, commit, and grow on your networking journey with tips that prioritize meaningful connections over superficial ones.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Small Business Big World, our weekly
podcast prepared by the team atPaper Trails.
Owning and running a smallbusiness is hard.
Each week, we'll dive into thechallenges, headaches, trends,
fun and excitement of running asmall business.
After all, small businesses arethe heartbeat of America and
our team is here to keep thembeating.
Welcome to Small Business BigWorld, our weekly podcast, where
(00:23):
we talk about all the excitingthings that we deal with in
running and managing a smallbusiness.
Today, my guest is AshleyWenzel with Bangor Savings.
Thanks for joining me, Thankyou.
Excellent.
Today we're going to talk aboutnetworking in small businesses
and how to be a networking pro.
Before we do that, I alwayslike to remind everybody like,
follow, share, rate, review,subscribe.
We are across the internet.
(00:50):
Anywhere you want to bewatching or listening, we are
there.
Be sure to like, follow, rate,review, subscribe.
I'm sure I forgot one.
John always yells at me forforgetting one.
We got that one.
So, and certainly if there'sany questions you have for us or
any of our guests, youcertainly can email podcast at
papertrailscom and we will getthose questions answered.
So, ashley, you are anetworking wizard, right.
So what do you think networkingis for small businesses?
What does that generally looklike, and so forth.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah, I mean, the way that I look at networking is
like you and I both havephysical locations and we have a
certain amount of employees.
The way that I've always seennetworking is that's growing
your almost like employee base.
So it's growing the people thatare out there spreading the
word, looking for opportunitiesfor you and vice versa, and just
it's really building that groupof you know, highly
(01:32):
professional, highly motivated,really great people to be around
.
That's great.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
So you know, we always look for folks that
compliment our business, right?
That our clients are alsoworking with those types of
people, right?
So what does that look like foryou?
Like, who are those kind offolks that you kind of look to
work with mostly?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Yeah, I mean, in my networking group in particular,
we have everything from you know.
We have commercial cleaning, wehave divorce attorneys, we have
people that spray for ticks andmosquitoes, we have, you know,
nurses.
We have quite literallyeverything that you can think of
, and it's amazing how manyconnections you can find for
people even though they're sofar outside of your industry.
(02:11):
What I always try to tell myteam and other networkers is the
most important thing is to bethe type of person that you
would want to send your bestcustomer to.
So that's what I try to be formy network, for my um networkers
.
If I have somebody well like,say, I have my top customer that
I'm sitting with and they'relooking for a divorce attorney,
unfortunately, then I will wantto be extremely confident in
(02:34):
putting cause.
I am giving my, you know what Imean.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Advice.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Right.
So that's kind of the peoplethat we try to surround
ourselves with in our networkinggroup.
Um, it's been really great.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
So you're in a networking group, right.
There's a lot of differentnetworking groups, like BNI, but
you're in a different one,right.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah, I'm in several.
I've been networkingprofessionally for about nine
years.
I did start my own networkinggroup in Sanford Springvale
about a year and a half ago.
To this point it's called TBDConnections.
It's part of a greater group ofconnection groups.
They're all called.
(03:10):
TBD we have chapters fromBrunswick all the way to
actually Florida.
We have a couple of chaptersover there, but we are the
newest chapter and you know, Iwas the vice president of the
local Kennebunk chapter forabout five years until I thought
you know like we, there seemedto be a really large need for
that networking space down.
You know, like the SanfordSpringville, all those areas
down there just didn't reallyhave any Waterboro.
So I was like why don't juststart one?
(03:34):
So we put a couple I mean itwas like grassroots, as you know
putting up a post in the localcommunity board on Facebook and
saying like we're going to tryto start a networking group.
We'll be here at nine o'clockon this day board on Facebook
and saying like we're going totry to start a networking group.
We'll be here at nine o'clockon this day and to our surprise
and excitement, we had 17 peoplewalk through the door that day.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
That's awesome.
For a first day, that's enough.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, and it's grown from them and it's just been.
I mean, the need is huge.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
So when?
What is that format?
So that's a more formalnetworking group, right?
What does that look like on aweekly or monthly basis?
What is it?
How do you guys weight thatwork?
Speaker 2 (04:07):
So this particular group meets weekly and then
annually.
We have a large social eventwhich all the other chapters
come to.
We just had ours a couple weeksago actually, for the Sanford
chapter.
We got some great networking inand we actually raised over
$600 for a local nonprofit whichis really exciting Nice.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
So is there a cadence that goes along with that?
I think you said you meetweekly, right?
So what does that weeklymeeting look like?
And I think that's a biginvestment.
For a lot of people is a weeklything.
But explain how it all works.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah, and that's kind of what we hear a lot is you
know it's.
You know I don't have the timehear a lot is you know it's, you
know I don't have the time, orI did go and I didn't get
anything out of it.
But really networking isextremely largely like you get
out what you put in, and ourparticular networking group
doesn't have any attendancerequirements.
There are some that you knowyou have to.
You have to go there every weekand if you miss a week you have
to find a substitute.
(04:58):
We don't have those policies inplace.
Although those are greatpolicies, we kind of leave it up
to exactly that.
So the more you put in, themore you get out, and that's on
you.
So we have people that show up,you know, once every six months
and they probably get a dealfrom us once every six months.
We have people that come once aweek and they yield really
great results from that.
(05:19):
But really what that looks likeis, you know, during those
weekly meetings you only have 45seconds to talk about yourself
and what you do, and like Idon't think any of us can really
describe fully what we do in 45seconds.
We all have our great elevatorpitches, but it's almost like a
second full-time job.
So you need to take the time.
What we've found is and havethose one-on-ones with people
(05:39):
and have those ongoingcommunications.
So you have your weekly meetingwhere you get in the room and
you meet people, but then thereal networking I always say the
most important part of thenetworking group is the 15
minutes before the meeting andthe 15 minutes after the meeting
, because that's when you get tosit down and people talk about
your day, show them who you areas a person and really really
build that trust.
So you're not just, you know,the seventh mortgage loan
(06:01):
officer sitting at the table andmaybe they'll pick your card
and maybe they won't.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Right, yeah, you know , I think so.
One of those things about theform, formal networking groups.
You know, how do you engagewith the folks that aren't
necessarily in your traditionalnetwork, right?
So I mean, if you have thismosquito and tick guy right, who
largely is maybe dealing withmore consumer-based clients not
necessarily business clients whomight be your ideal client, how
(06:28):
do you get leads to them andfrom them?
How have you found that working?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Yeah.
So I mean we've like as a group, in the past year we've passed
over 150 referrals to oneanother and our industries are
so widely separated, but wefound great success in things as
simple as I mentioned earlier,like just those community boards
on Facebook.
You know, if you see peoplethat are, you know, looking for
someone to come spray my lawn,you know you have eight of us
(06:54):
sitting here and saying likethis guy is the best, he's
wonderful, he's great.
I've known him for a year.
That's kind of how we've been.
So that's a really it's.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
That's a totally interesting way of looking at it
, because I would definitely saythat that happens all the time,
right?
I mean, especially in this dayand age, we're all in these
facebook groups where somebody'slooking for somebody to do
something right and of coursethere's a million
recommendations and sometimesthere's some non-recommendations
and things like that.
Uh, but I never really thoughtabout the networking in terms of
the power of you know, gosh, if10 people recommend the same
(07:25):
person, that's probably going todrive that cold.
I mean, I consider that a coldlead, I guess, but that's going
to drive that cold lead to thatprovider, right?
It's kind of an interesting wayof thinking about networking.
It might not be someone that'salready in your network.
It's totally blind, right,which I guess you know.
You said earlier that you wantto be, you know, the person that
(07:45):
you'd refer your best client to, right?
And so I, when we makereferrals in our with our client
base, I know there's peoplethat I just know are going to
work better with some peoplethan not, right?
So that whole concept kind ofscares me, because now I'm
referring clients blind tosomebody and, gosh, maybe that's
a client that they're nevergoing to want, right.
(08:05):
Yes, you don't know that.
That's which is a little scaryto me, right.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, you just have to have.
I mean, what we do is we justhave a great amount of faith in
the people that we network with.
So these are people that youknow I would never go to a
networking group and the veryfirst time someone comes in and
be like great I'm that they getout what they put in.
And you know, I meet them weekafter week after week after week
and I get to the point where Iwould feel, where I do feel
(08:30):
comfortable saying like I thinkthat you are a great property
manager in the area.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Sure, yeah, yeah, interesting.
What are some of the you knowdo's and don'ts that you've
found in this kind of formalnetworking relationship?
I mean, what are the thingsthat have worked really well and
the things that have goshreally tanked really bad?
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Yeah, I mean in the beginning I found exactly to my
point earlier.
If you show up and you give you45 seconds and you leave like
that's not networking, and yousit there and you're that person
and we hear it all the timeLike, oh, I went to six meetings
I didn't get anything out of it, it's like, yes, you and six
other you know what I meanrealtors did, and none of them
got anything out of it, because,except for the one they took
(09:09):
the time to meet everybody totalk about themselves.
That's kind of the maindifference.
But as far as the do's anddon'ts, I got a really good
piece of advice when I firststarted networking.
I was lucky enough to have someamazing mentors and one of them
said the worst thing you coulddo is be an inch deep and a mile
wide.
So if you're that person thatjust I mean you're at every
(09:29):
after hours on your everynetworking group, you're
everywhere under the sun andyou're just like here's my card,
here's my card, here's my card.
Um, you have, you know, you canhave all these connections, but
they're not meaningful, they'rean inch deep.
You know what I mean.
So it's better to have a smallgroup of five, six people that
you've really really built thatconnection with.
That you email on a weeklybasis, that you go to lunch with
once a month, that you reallythat you are 100% confident that
(09:53):
every time they come across anopportunity, it's coming your
way.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
That's interesting.
So I you know that was one ofthe questions I was going to ask
is how do you manage?
Okay, so you have your formalnetworking group, but how are
you managing your you know, theinformal things, the after hours
, the other?
I mean, this week is one ofthose weeks I literally have
tonight, tomorrow night,wednesday night I have, you know
stuff every night fundraiser,you know, networking event.
(10:17):
I don't even remember what'shappening Wednesday, but I have
something Wednesday night whichis business related and I think.
So how are you managing thosekinds of connections in the more
informal, not your formal,networking group?
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Yeah, I mean, the best advice that I've received
and I've given to people is thenetworking should be one of your
top priorities each day,because if you're doing it right
, that hour that you're spendingfrom five to 6 PM, which no one
really wants to do, but if youmake the most out of that hour,
it's going to pay back like thesame amount as if you sat in
your office and did 10 days ofwork.
(10:49):
Because you have so many morepeople that you're connecting
with, You're not going to havethat many people walk through
the door of your business.
So I always just, you know,it's on my calendar, it's not a
priority.
I'm going to be there, unlessthere's some catastrophic reason
that I can't.
And then just, yeah, making thetime for it and, when you're
there, being fully present.
So you know you, you go to somenetworking groups and there's
people that'll come for fiveminutes and there's people
(11:11):
that'll you know what I meanLike go and stay at the bar for
the most of the time, but it'sreally going in there committing
to yourself.
I'm going to have, you know,three really, really deep
conversations with people aboutgetting to know what they do
leave with their card, leavewith a follow-up meeting and
just really making it a priority.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
So I consider myself an extroverted person and a
pretty connected person in thecommunity.
But even when I go to afterhours I feel like I gravitate to
the same people, right, thesame group, the people I know
already, the whatever.
But what have you found or haveyou found that helps you kind
of reach out to cold, to peopleat those events?
Right?
Have you done anything?
You know, what do you do topsych yourself up for that,
(11:48):
right?
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Yeah, no, I do.
I try to do and I've trained alot of people in networking as
well and I always encouragepeople to do their due diligence
.
So if you're invited to anetworking group, what I do is
I'll go on.
You know, if you get like anOutlook invite and there's like
the people that are going, I'lltake the time to pick three and
research them and find them atthe meeting and commit to myself
that I'm going to go introducemyself to this person.
(12:08):
I'll try to ask people thatknow them if they can give me a
warm introduction.
Same thing if you get like theFacebook event invite you know
see who's going and kind of justpick three people you want to
meet.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
That's actually really good advice, I think you
know, just as you're preparingfor a prospect I think that's
the same kind of thing, right,just preparing to meet a new
networking partner.
That's kind of a neat, neatthought.
So what, you know?
What if things aren't workingright?
How do you?
How do you rejigger yourself Ifyou know you?
You talked about a lot ofthings good, set good goals, you
know, challenge yourself, doyour research.
(12:38):
But what if things aren't, justjust aren't working right?
Gosh, I'm talking to peoplethat I really want to be in
front of and it's not workingright.
No, I'm not getting anybusiness out of it, or vice
versa, I'm not able to findanything to send to them, right?
What do you think about that?
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah, no, there's a catchphrase in networking that
says don't go to these groupstrying to like pin the tail on
the donkey.
So you need to be, yes, haveyour goals, but also like be
flexible and if thingsopportunity to step back and I
think what a lot of people fallinto is like networking is not
working for me, it's just notfor me and that's not true, it's
kind of that you need to takethe step back and reevaluate,
(13:10):
like what you're doing.
And in that time I mean that'shappened to me in my first
networking group I went to.
I was 23 years old and I walkedin and I had no idea what I was
doing.
But a really good thing is tofind the people in the room that
seem really well-connected andseem confident and be open and
honest enough to go up to themand be like I need your advice.
Could we schedule a meeting andyou kind of tell me your tips
(13:32):
of the trade?
And I've never, ever, ever metsomeone that's like no those are
my secrets.
Really good networkers lovesharing tips on really good
networking.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
I think that's a good point, even within your own
industry.
For the most part, I thinkwe're very fortunate where we
are, most people are willing to,to share and, and you know,
give their advice and teach.
I think that's really.
I mean I truly believe that arising tide floats all boats.
I mean, I think, as thecommunity is doing better, I'm
doing better, my business isdoing better, my employees doing
better, everything's.
(14:09):
You know about that and I thinkyou know, if we have peers, I
have competitors, right.
I mean we're competitors tosome extent, right.
I'm not afraid of that, right,in essence, I think you know for
us it's great that we are closebecause if the shit hits the
fan, you know maybe you'll bethere to help me, right, or I'll
be there to help you, orsomething you know that's.
I mean all of our competitorslocally.
We know I've got them in mycell phone.
I could text them, you know, atnine o'clock at night saying,
god, I really need help withthis Right, and I think that's
the same thing you know in yourindustry, there are 15 banks in
(14:32):
a one mile stretch and I'm sureyou know all the branch managers
, right, and you know, and it'sthe same thing it's.
It's being there to help eachother and support each other and
maybe, just maybe, right.
This bank may not be the right,you know, this client may not
be right for this bank and theymay say gosh, we're going to
send this to Ashley because Iknow she can handle it right.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
That happens.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Absolutely.
That happens all the time.
You know I try not to sendthose nasty clients to.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Mike.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
I don't want to recommend people, if you know,
if I know, the client's notgoing to be right fit for them.
But I think that's reallyimportant, like you said, is
people usually will take sometime to say, hey, what's out
there and how can you help me?
And I think most people arewilling to do that.
So that kind of goes on to thenext thing.
What about the one-on-ones?
How do you get someone to say,hey, listen, you've gone up to
(15:17):
them in networking event orwhatever.
Can I get coffee?
What are you looking to usuallyget out of those?
What are you looking to usuallyget out of those?
What are you you're looking toprovide?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
in those.
I guess, yeah, honestly in the,in the advice I've given others
as well, is in the firstmeeting I try to not talk
business out.
My goal is to leave and themliterally knowing, like, where I
work and what I do, but that'sabout it as far as I'm not
sitting there, being like wehave the best rates and you
could do this and we can.
You know I mean we.
My goal is for them to get toknow me, because there are a
hundred other bankers out therethat are having these same
(15:47):
meetings with them, that aresitting in product.
You know any dumping on them,whereas if you take the hour and
you find commonalities like, oh, I love to ski, I have two kids
in the school district I have,you know what I mean, I love my
cat, like all those sorts ofthings I feel like is that's
when the true connections startto build.
And to your earlier point ofhow do you blindly recommend
someone, those are really greatthings to build off of too.
(16:09):
So if I run into someone thatlike and their personality just
reminds me, oh, they would workso well with Lisa, you know what
I mean.
Lisa also has a house in themountain.
They have so much in common, soit's really taking that hour.
I feel like to try to sharemore about you and, more
importantly, much moreimportantly, like them.
So always let them lead theconversation.
(16:29):
Tell me about yourself, tell meabout your family, like, what
got you into this industry?
Where are your passions?
That's usually how theone-to-ones look like.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
So once you get your first one on one-to-one right,
you talked about setting goalsfor yourself in networking
events, but do you kind of setgoals for each other in
subsequent meetings?
I mean, gosh, so we're going totake that out of our big group
and maybe we're going to meetonce a quarter.
Can we say hey, listen, I wantto find a person a month to send
to you.
I want you to spend.
Does that ever happen?
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Yeah, no, there's definitely.
There's a lot of people thatwill end on end one-to-ones with
like a solid like I.
I had one banker that was innetworking and that was like his
thing.
He, like, at the end every timewas like I have committed that
I'm going to send him threedeals and he did it because he,
he had those goals for himselfand that worked really, really
well for them.
Everybody does.
You know what I mean theircommitments in a different way,
like my main main thing is Ijust try to to stay relevant in
(17:22):
their world.
So if you go and you have thisreally, really great one-to-one
and then that's it for the nextyear, like that's like you
wasted all that time and youwasted their time Um, it's
really committing to looking outfor opportunities for them.
It's keeping that communicationopen.
When you have you know what Imean Like like a great rate or
something that popped up or youknow a special through payroll,
(17:47):
it's communicating that withthem and really just staying in
the loop on their lives.
So, you know, follow theirLinkedIn If they get a promotion
, like, write them a card,congratulate them, bring them
out to lunch, just keep that,those connections, going, just
like you would a friend.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Sure, and certainly, again, you kind of get out of it
.
What you put into it, right,and that's I think that's a real
thing is gosh, don't just leavethat meeting and not do
anything.
Right, follow up.
I mean, I had coffee withsomeone Friday morning and you
know my wheels are turning about.
Okay, how do I stay engagedwith him?
He's a great, great person toknow, very well connected, maybe
not necessarily going to sendme some business, but I think
you're right.
Okay, you know he was in mainbiz a few weeks ago and that's
(18:20):
how I kind of got connected and,hey, congratulations on your
award.
Blah, blah, I'd love to gettogether with you and that's
kind of spurred coffee and whoknows from there.
Right, but I think that's on meto try to figure out where to
where to next.
So, um, that's good advice forsure.
So you are in a very saturatedindustry, right?
Yeah, how do you, you know, setyourself apart from all of the
(18:41):
other bankers out there that areliterally rate shopping, right?
I mean, they're, you know, gosh, we have a mortgage promotion,
we have a HELOC promotion orwhatever.
You know, how are you settingyourself apart with your
networking partners?
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Yeah, we have a community that's just absolutely
chock full of talent,especially in the financial
world.
There's so many, just I mean wehave, we have.
I mean we have.
We have local banks, we havelarge banks, we just there's.
There's an immense amount oftalent in this industry.
And, to your earlier point, Iwelcome the competition in the
way that they are.
(19:13):
In a lot of the cases, my topreferral sources I look out for,
like you had mentioned, like ifthere's a new branch manager at
a local bank, I'm going tolunch with them that week.
Um, just kind of keep thoselike lines of communication open
and the way that you, you knowyou complement each other so you
don't want like, oh, me versusthem.
It's kind of like how can wecohesively you know what I mean
(19:36):
make sure that everybody's needsare met?
Um, I think one thing that doesmake people stand out is
trustworthiness, responsiveness,you know what I mean.
And then like punctuality, so ifI'm at a networking group and
someone comes in 15 minutes lateand they haven't been there for
three weeks and that might notbe my first choice of someone to
send to, opposed to the personthat came 15 minutes early and
(19:57):
took the time to talk to me andshared a little about their
lives with me.
So I think standing out is justdoing those things that make
you, as I mentioned earlier, theperson that they feel the most
comfortable sending their topcustomer to and not worrying
about it a bit.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
That's really good.
What's the one thing that youthink people listening today
should take away in terms ofnetworking?
If you do nothing else, what'sthe one thing?
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Yeah, I mean it's the best free advertisement out
there and I've said it a milliontimes you get out what you put
in and if it's something thatpeople have wanted to try in the
past, I say, just do it.
Like I said, my firstnetworking group I didn't even
get invited to, I just showed upand I had no idea what I was
doing and I was welcomed so bigwith open arms and it was so
(20:43):
wonderful and honestly, I'm sureyou can say the same.
But I feel like the people thatI've met through my business
networking have become like someof the closest people in my
life, which is which is crazy.
I mean they've, they've growninto, be my professional
references.
They are the first people toyou know what I mean Celebrate a
promotion or like, uh, when Ihad my second child, like they
threw me a baby shower, like itwas just they really do become
like, really really close in somany ways and it's just a whole
(21:06):
world of opportunities and Ican't recommend it enough.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
So if folks want to get in touch with you to learn
how to become a master networker, just like you are, what's the
best way to get in touch withyou?
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Email or yeah, absolutely, I mean, I'm always.
I have email text.
We have our meetings, ourweekly meetings.
There's a weekly meeting.
There's the TBD Connectionswebsite where you can see all of
the chapters' meetings.
Ours is Wednesday mornings at 9.
Kenny Bunk's is Tuesdaymornings at 8.30.
And there's chapters everywherein between.
You can stop by the bank, youcan.
Really I'm always around.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Sounds great, well, wonderful, well.
Sounds great, well, wonderful,well.
Thanks everyone for listeningthis week.
Again, don't forget like,follow, share rate review
everywhere all the time,multiple times if you can, and
otherwise we will see you allnext week.
Thanks very much.
Thanks for listening to thisweek's episode of Small Business
, big World.
This podcast is a production ofPaper Trails.
We are a payroll and HR companybased in Kennebunk, maine, and
we serve small across NewEngland and the country.
(21:58):
If you found this podcasthelpful, don't forget to follow
us at at Paper Trails Payrollacross all social media
platforms and check us out atpapertrailscom for more
information.
As a reminder, the views,opinions and thoughts expressed
are the hosts and guests alone.
The material presented in thispodcast is for general
information purposes only andshould not be considered legal
or financial advice.
By inviting this guest to ourpodcast Paper,
This is Small Business Big World, our weekly
podcast prepared by the team atPaper Trails.
Owning and running a smallbusiness is hard.
Each week, we'll dive into thechallenges, headaches, trends,
fun and excitement of running asmall business.
After all, small businesses arethe heartbeat of America and
our team is here to keep thembeating.
Welcome to Small Business BigWorld, our weekly podcast, where
(00:23):
we talk about all the excitingthings that we deal with in
running and managing a smallbusiness.
Today, my guest is AshleyWenzel with Bangor Savings.
Thanks for joining me, Thankyou.
Excellent.
Today we're going to talk aboutnetworking in small businesses
and how to be a networking pro.
Before we do that, I alwayslike to remind everybody like,
follow, share, rate, review,subscribe.
We are across the internet.
(00:50):
Anywhere you want to bewatching or listening, we are
there.
Be sure to like, follow, rate,review, subscribe.
I'm sure I forgot one.
John always yells at me forforgetting one.
We got that one.
So, and certainly if there'sany questions you have for us or
any of our guests, youcertainly can email podcast at
papertrailscom and we will getthose questions answered.
So, ashley, you are anetworking wizard, right.
So what do you think networkingis for small businesses?
What does that generally looklike, and so forth.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah, I mean, the way that I look at networking is
like you and I both havephysical locations and we have a
certain amount of employees.
The way that I've always seennetworking is that's growing
your almost like employee base.
So it's growing the people thatare out there spreading the
word, looking for opportunitiesfor you and vice versa, and just
it's really building that groupof you know, highly
(01:32):
professional, highly motivated,really great people to be around
.
That's great.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
So you know, we always look for folks that
compliment our business, right?
That our clients are alsoworking with those types of
people, right?
So what does that look like foryou?
Like, who are those kind offolks that you kind of look to
work with mostly?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Yeah, I mean, in my networking group in particular,
we have everything from you know.
We have commercial cleaning, wehave divorce attorneys, we have
people that spray for ticks andmosquitoes, we have, you know,
nurses.
We have quite literallyeverything that you can think of
, and it's amazing how manyconnections you can find for
people even though they're sofar outside of your industry.
(02:11):
What I always try to tell myteam and other networkers is the
most important thing is to bethe type of person that you
would want to send your bestcustomer to.
So that's what I try to be formy network, for my um networkers
.
If I have somebody well like,say, I have my top customer that
I'm sitting with and they'relooking for a divorce attorney,
unfortunately, then I will wantto be extremely confident in
(02:34):
putting cause.
I am giving my, you know what Imean.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Advice.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Right.
So that's kind of the peoplethat we try to surround
ourselves with in our networkinggroup.
Um, it's been really great.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
So you're in a networking group, right.
There's a lot of differentnetworking groups, like BNI, but
you're in a different one,right.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah, I'm in several.
I've been networkingprofessionally for about nine
years.
I did start my own networkinggroup in Sanford Springvale
about a year and a half ago.
To this point it's called TBDConnections.
It's part of a greater group ofconnection groups.
They're all called.
(03:10):
TBD we have chapters fromBrunswick all the way to
actually Florida.
We have a couple of chaptersover there, but we are the
newest chapter and you know, Iwas the vice president of the
local Kennebunk chapter forabout five years until I thought
you know like we, there seemedto be a really large need for
that networking space down.
You know, like the SanfordSpringville, all those areas
down there just didn't reallyhave any Waterboro.
So I was like why don't juststart one?
(03:34):
So we put a couple I mean itwas like grassroots, as you know
putting up a post in the localcommunity board on Facebook and
saying like we're going to tryto start a networking group.
We'll be here at nine o'clockon this day board on Facebook
and saying like we're going totry to start a networking group.
We'll be here at nine o'clockon this day and to our surprise
and excitement, we had 17 peoplewalk through the door that day.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
That's awesome.
For a first day, that's enough.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, and it's grown from them and it's just been.
I mean, the need is huge.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
So when?
What is that format?
So that's a more formalnetworking group, right?
What does that look like on aweekly or monthly basis?
What is it?
How do you guys weight thatwork?
Speaker 2 (04:07):
So this particular group meets weekly and then
annually.
We have a large social eventwhich all the other chapters
come to.
We just had ours a couple weeksago actually, for the Sanford
chapter.
We got some great networking inand we actually raised over
$600 for a local nonprofit whichis really exciting Nice.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
So is there a cadence that goes along with that?
I think you said you meetweekly, right?
So what does that weeklymeeting look like?
And I think that's a biginvestment.
For a lot of people is a weeklything.
But explain how it all works.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah, and that's kind of what we hear a lot is you
know it's.
You know I don't have the timehear a lot is you know it's, you
know I don't have the time, orI did go and I didn't get
anything out of it.
But really networking isextremely largely like you get
out what you put in, and ourparticular networking group
doesn't have any attendancerequirements.
There are some that you knowyou have to.
You have to go there every weekand if you miss a week you have
to find a substitute.
(04:58):
We don't have those policies inplace.
Although those are greatpolicies, we kind of leave it up
to exactly that.
So the more you put in, themore you get out, and that's on
you.
So we have people that show up,you know, once every six months
and they probably get a dealfrom us once every six months.
We have people that come once aweek and they yield really
great results from that.
(05:19):
But really what that looks likeis, you know, during those
weekly meetings you only have 45seconds to talk about yourself
and what you do, and like Idon't think any of us can really
describe fully what we do in 45seconds.
We all have our great elevatorpitches, but it's almost like a
second full-time job.
So you need to take the time.
What we've found is and havethose one-on-ones with people
(05:39):
and have those ongoingcommunications.
So you have your weekly meetingwhere you get in the room and
you meet people, but then thereal networking I always say the
most important part of thenetworking group is the 15
minutes before the meeting andthe 15 minutes after the meeting
, because that's when you get tosit down and people talk about
your day, show them who you areas a person and really really
build that trust.
So you're not just, you know,the seventh mortgage loan
(06:01):
officer sitting at the table andmaybe they'll pick your card
and maybe they won't.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Right, yeah, you know , I think so.
One of those things about theform, formal networking groups.
You know, how do you engagewith the folks that aren't
necessarily in your traditionalnetwork, right?
So I mean, if you have thismosquito and tick guy right, who
largely is maybe dealing withmore consumer-based clients not
necessarily business clients whomight be your ideal client, how
(06:28):
do you get leads to them andfrom them?
How have you found that working?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Yeah.
So I mean we've like as a group, in the past year we've passed
over 150 referrals to oneanother and our industries are
so widely separated, but wefound great success in things as
simple as I mentioned earlier,like just those community boards
on Facebook.
You know, if you see peoplethat are, you know, looking for
someone to come spray my lawn,you know you have eight of us
(06:54):
sitting here and saying likethis guy is the best, he's
wonderful, he's great.
I've known him for a year.
That's kind of how we've been.
So that's a really it's.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
That's a totally interesting way of looking at it
, because I would definitely saythat that happens all the time,
right?
I mean, especially in this dayand age, we're all in these
facebook groups where somebody'slooking for somebody to do
something right and of coursethere's a million
recommendations and sometimesthere's some non-recommendations
and things like that.
Uh, but I never really thoughtabout the networking in terms of
the power of you know, gosh, if10 people recommend the same
(07:25):
person, that's probably going todrive that cold.
I mean, I consider that a coldlead, I guess, but that's going
to drive that cold lead to thatprovider, right?
It's kind of an interesting wayof thinking about networking.
It might not be someone that'salready in your network.
It's totally blind, right,which I guess you know.
You said earlier that you wantto be, you know, the person that
(07:45):
you'd refer your best client to, right?
And so I, when we makereferrals in our with our client
base, I know there's peoplethat I just know are going to
work better with some peoplethan not, right?
So that whole concept kind ofscares me, because now I'm
referring clients blind tosomebody and, gosh, maybe that's
a client that they're nevergoing to want, right.
(08:05):
Yes, you don't know that.
That's which is a little scaryto me, right.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, you just have to have.
I mean, what we do is we justhave a great amount of faith in
the people that we network with.
So these are people that youknow I would never go to a
networking group and the veryfirst time someone comes in and
be like great I'm that they getout what they put in.
And you know, I meet them weekafter week after week after week
and I get to the point where Iwould feel, where I do feel
(08:30):
comfortable saying like I thinkthat you are a great property
manager in the area.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Sure, yeah, yeah, interesting.
What are some of the you knowdo's and don'ts that you've
found in this kind of formalnetworking relationship?
I mean, what are the thingsthat have worked really well and
the things that have goshreally tanked really bad?
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Yeah, I mean in the beginning I found exactly to my
point earlier.
If you show up and you give you45 seconds and you leave like
that's not networking, and yousit there and you're that person
and we hear it all the timeLike, oh, I went to six meetings
I didn't get anything out of it, it's like, yes, you and six
other you know what I meanrealtors did, and none of them
got anything out of it, because,except for the one they took
(09:09):
the time to meet everybody totalk about themselves.
That's kind of the maindifference.
But as far as the do's anddon'ts, I got a really good
piece of advice when I firststarted networking.
I was lucky enough to have someamazing mentors and one of them
said the worst thing you coulddo is be an inch deep and a mile
wide.
So if you're that person thatjust I mean you're at every
(09:29):
after hours on your everynetworking group, you're
everywhere under the sun andyou're just like here's my card,
here's my card, here's my card.
Um, you have, you know, you canhave all these connections, but
they're not meaningful, they'rean inch deep.
You know what I mean.
So it's better to have a smallgroup of five, six people that
you've really really built thatconnection with.
That you email on a weeklybasis, that you go to lunch with
once a month, that you reallythat you are 100% confident that
(09:53):
every time they come across anopportunity, it's coming your
way.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
That's interesting.
So I you know that was one ofthe questions I was going to ask
is how do you manage?
Okay, so you have your formalnetworking group, but how are
you managing your you know, theinformal things, the after hours
, the other?
I mean, this week is one ofthose weeks I literally have
tonight, tomorrow night,wednesday night I have, you know
stuff every night fundraiser,you know, networking event.
(10:17):
I don't even remember what'shappening Wednesday, but I have
something Wednesday night whichis business related and I think.
So how are you managing thosekinds of connections in the more
informal, not your formal,networking group?
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Yeah, I mean, the best advice that I've received
and I've given to people is thenetworking should be one of your
top priorities each day,because if you're doing it right
, that hour that you're spendingfrom five to 6 PM, which no one
really wants to do, but if youmake the most out of that hour,
it's going to pay back like thesame amount as if you sat in
your office and did 10 days ofwork.
(10:49):
Because you have so many morepeople that you're connecting
with, You're not going to havethat many people walk through
the door of your business.
So I always just, you know,it's on my calendar, it's not a
priority.
I'm going to be there, unlessthere's some catastrophic reason
that I can't.
And then just, yeah, making thetime for it and, when you're
there, being fully present.
So you know you, you go to somenetworking groups and there's
people that'll come for fiveminutes and there's people
(11:11):
that'll you know what I meanLike go and stay at the bar for
the most of the time, but it'sreally going in there committing
to yourself.
I'm going to have, you know,three really, really deep
conversations with people aboutgetting to know what they do
leave with their card, leavewith a follow-up meeting and
just really making it a priority.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
So I consider myself an extroverted person and a
pretty connected person in thecommunity.
But even when I go to afterhours I feel like I gravitate to
the same people, right, thesame group, the people I know
already, the whatever.
But what have you found or haveyou found that helps you kind
of reach out to cold, to peopleat those events?
Right?
Have you done anything?
You know, what do you do topsych yourself up for that,
(11:48):
right?
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Yeah, no, I do.
I try to do and I've trained alot of people in networking as
well and I always encouragepeople to do their due diligence
.
So if you're invited to anetworking group, what I do is
I'll go on.
You know, if you get like anOutlook invite and there's like
the people that are going, I'lltake the time to pick three and
research them and find them atthe meeting and commit to myself
that I'm going to go introducemyself to this person.
(12:08):
I'll try to ask people thatknow them if they can give me a
warm introduction.
Same thing if you get like theFacebook event invite you know
see who's going and kind of justpick three people you want to
meet.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
That's actually really good advice, I think you
know, just as you're preparingfor a prospect I think that's
the same kind of thing, right,just preparing to meet a new
networking partner.
That's kind of a neat, neatthought.
So what, you know?
What if things aren't workingright?
How do you?
How do you rejigger yourself Ifyou know you?
You talked about a lot ofthings good, set good goals, you
know, challenge yourself, doyour research.
(12:38):
But what if things aren't, justjust aren't working right?
Gosh, I'm talking to peoplethat I really want to be in
front of and it's not workingright.
No, I'm not getting anybusiness out of it, or vice
versa, I'm not able to findanything to send to them, right?
What do you think about that?
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah, no, there's a catchphrase in networking that
says don't go to these groupstrying to like pin the tail on
the donkey.
So you need to be, yes, haveyour goals, but also like be
flexible and if thingsopportunity to step back and I
think what a lot of people fallinto is like networking is not
working for me, it's just notfor me and that's not true, it's
kind of that you need to takethe step back and reevaluate,
(13:10):
like what you're doing.
And in that time I mean that'shappened to me in my first
networking group I went to.
I was 23 years old and I walkedin and I had no idea what I was
doing.
But a really good thing is tofind the people in the room that
seem really well-connected andseem confident and be open and
honest enough to go up to themand be like I need your advice.
Could we schedule a meeting andyou kind of tell me your tips
(13:32):
of the trade?
And I've never, ever, ever metsomeone that's like no those are
my secrets.
Really good networkers lovesharing tips on really good
networking.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
I think that's a good point, even within your own
industry.
For the most part, I thinkwe're very fortunate where we
are, most people are willing to,to share and, and you know,
give their advice and teach.
I think that's really.
I mean I truly believe that arising tide floats all boats.
I mean, I think, as thecommunity is doing better, I'm
doing better, my business isdoing better, my employees doing
better, everything's.
(14:09):
You know about that and I thinkyou know, if we have peers, I
have competitors, right.
I mean we're competitors tosome extent, right.
I'm not afraid of that, right,in essence, I think you know for
us it's great that we are closebecause if the shit hits the
fan, you know maybe you'll bethere to help me, right, or I'll
be there to help you, orsomething you know that's.
I mean all of our competitorslocally.
We know I've got them in mycell phone.
I could text them, you know, atnine o'clock at night saying,
god, I really need help withthis Right, and I think that's
the same thing you know in yourindustry, there are 15 banks in
(14:32):
a one mile stretch and I'm sureyou know all the branch managers
, right, and you know, and it'sthe same thing it's.
It's being there to help eachother and support each other and
maybe, just maybe, right.
This bank may not be the right,you know, this client may not
be right for this bank and theymay say gosh, we're going to
send this to Ashley because Iknow she can handle it right.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
That happens.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Absolutely.
That happens all the time.
You know I try not to sendthose nasty clients to.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Mike.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
I don't want to recommend people, if you know,
if I know, the client's notgoing to be right fit for them.
But I think that's reallyimportant, like you said, is
people usually will take sometime to say, hey, what's out
there and how can you help me?
And I think most people arewilling to do that.
So that kind of goes on to thenext thing.
What about the one-on-ones?
How do you get someone to say,hey, listen, you've gone up to
(15:17):
them in networking event orwhatever.
Can I get coffee?
What are you looking to usuallyget out of those?
What are you looking to usuallyget out of those?
What are you you're looking toprovide?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
in those.
I guess, yeah, honestly in the,in the advice I've given others
as well, is in the firstmeeting I try to not talk
business out.
My goal is to leave and themliterally knowing, like, where I
work and what I do, but that'sabout it as far as I'm not
sitting there, being like wehave the best rates and you
could do this and we can.
You know I mean we.
My goal is for them to get toknow me, because there are a
hundred other bankers out therethat are having these same
(15:47):
meetings with them, that aresitting in product.
You know any dumping on them,whereas if you take the hour and
you find commonalities like, oh, I love to ski, I have two kids
in the school district I have,you know what I mean, I love my
cat, like all those sorts ofthings I feel like is that's
when the true connections startto build.
And to your earlier point ofhow do you blindly recommend
someone, those are really greatthings to build off of too.
(16:09):
So if I run into someone thatlike and their personality just
reminds me, oh, they would workso well with Lisa, you know what
I mean.
Lisa also has a house in themountain.
They have so much in common, soit's really taking that hour.
I feel like to try to sharemore about you and, more
importantly, much moreimportantly, like them.
So always let them lead theconversation.
(16:29):
Tell me about yourself, tell meabout your family, like, what
got you into this industry?
Where are your passions?
That's usually how theone-to-ones look like.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
So once you get your first one on one-to-one right,
you talked about setting goalsfor yourself in networking
events, but do you kind of setgoals for each other in
subsequent meetings?
I mean, gosh, so we're going totake that out of our big group
and maybe we're going to meetonce a quarter.
Can we say hey, listen, I wantto find a person a month to send
to you.
I want you to spend.
Does that ever happen?
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Yeah, no, there's definitely.
There's a lot of people thatwill end on end one-to-ones with
like a solid like I.
I had one banker that was innetworking and that was like his
thing.
He, like, at the end every timewas like I have committed that
I'm going to send him threedeals and he did it because he,
he had those goals for himselfand that worked really, really
well for them.
Everybody does.
You know what I mean theircommitments in a different way,
like my main main thing is Ijust try to to stay relevant in
(17:22):
their world.
So if you go and you have thisreally, really great one-to-one
and then that's it for the nextyear, like that's like you
wasted all that time and youwasted their time Um, it's
really committing to looking outfor opportunities for them.
It's keeping that communicationopen.
When you have you know what Imean Like like a great rate or
something that popped up or youknow a special through payroll,
(17:47):
it's communicating that withthem and really just staying in
the loop on their lives.
So, you know, follow theirLinkedIn If they get a promotion
, like, write them a card,congratulate them, bring them
out to lunch, just keep that,those connections, going, just
like you would a friend.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Sure, and certainly, again, you kind of get out of it
.
What you put into it, right,and that's I think that's a real
thing is gosh, don't just leavethat meeting and not do
anything.
Right, follow up.
I mean, I had coffee withsomeone Friday morning and you
know my wheels are turning about.
Okay, how do I stay engagedwith him?
He's a great, great person toknow, very well connected, maybe
not necessarily going to sendme some business, but I think
you're right.
Okay, you know he was in mainbiz a few weeks ago and that's
(18:20):
how I kind of got connected and,hey, congratulations on your
award.
Blah, blah, I'd love to gettogether with you and that's
kind of spurred coffee and whoknows from there.
Right, but I think that's on meto try to figure out where to
where to next.
So, um, that's good advice forsure.
So you are in a very saturatedindustry, right?
Yeah, how do you, you know, setyourself apart from all of the
(18:41):
other bankers out there that areliterally rate shopping, right?
I mean, they're, you know, gosh, we have a mortgage promotion,
we have a HELOC promotion orwhatever.
You know, how are you settingyourself apart with your
networking partners?
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Yeah, we have a community that's just absolutely
chock full of talent,especially in the financial
world.
There's so many, just I mean wehave, we have.
I mean we have.
We have local banks, we havelarge banks, we just there's.
There's an immense amount oftalent in this industry.
And, to your earlier point, Iwelcome the competition in the
way that they are.
(19:13):
In a lot of the cases, my topreferral sources I look out for,
like you had mentioned, like ifthere's a new branch manager at
a local bank, I'm going tolunch with them that week.
Um, just kind of keep thoselike lines of communication open
and the way that you, you knowyou complement each other so you
don't want like, oh, me versusthem.
It's kind of like how can wecohesively you know what I mean
(19:36):
make sure that everybody's needsare met?
Um, I think one thing that doesmake people stand out is
trustworthiness, responsiveness,you know what I mean.
And then like punctuality, so ifI'm at a networking group and
someone comes in 15 minutes lateand they haven't been there for
three weeks and that might notbe my first choice of someone to
send to, opposed to the personthat came 15 minutes early and
(19:57):
took the time to talk to me andshared a little about their
lives with me.
So I think standing out is justdoing those things that make
you, as I mentioned earlier, theperson that they feel the most
comfortable sending their topcustomer to and not worrying
about it a bit.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
That's really good.
What's the one thing that youthink people listening today
should take away in terms ofnetworking?
If you do nothing else, what'sthe one thing?
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Yeah, I mean it's the best free advertisement out
there and I've said it a milliontimes you get out what you put
in and if it's something thatpeople have wanted to try in the
past, I say, just do it.
Like I said, my firstnetworking group I didn't even
get invited to, I just showed upand I had no idea what I was
doing and I was welcomed so bigwith open arms and it was so
(20:43):
wonderful and honestly, I'm sureyou can say the same.
But I feel like the people thatI've met through my business
networking have become like someof the closest people in my
life, which is which is crazy.
I mean they've, they've growninto, be my professional
references.
They are the first people toyou know what I mean Celebrate a
promotion or like, uh, when Ihad my second child, like they
threw me a baby shower, like itwas just they really do become
like, really really close in somany ways and it's just a whole
(21:06):
world of opportunities and Ican't recommend it enough.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
So if folks want to get in touch with you to learn
how to become a master networker, just like you are, what's the
best way to get in touch withyou?
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Email or yeah, absolutely, I mean, I'm always.
I have email text.
We have our meetings, ourweekly meetings.
There's a weekly meeting.
There's the TBD Connectionswebsite where you can see all of
the chapters' meetings.
Ours is Wednesday mornings at 9.
Kenny Bunk's is Tuesdaymornings at 8.30.
And there's chapters everywherein between.
You can stop by the bank, youcan.
Really I'm always around.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Sounds great, well, wonderful, well.
Sounds great, well, wonderful,well.
Thanks everyone for listeningthis week.
Again, don't forget like,follow, share rate review
everywhere all the time,multiple times if you can, and
otherwise we will see you allnext week.
Thanks very much.
Thanks for listening to thisweek's episode of Small Business
, big World.
This podcast is a production ofPaper Trails.
We are a payroll and HR companybased in Kennebunk, maine, and
we serve small across NewEngland and the country.
(21:58):
If you found this podcasthelpful, don't forget to follow
us at at Paper Trails Payrollacross all social media
platforms and check us out atpapertrailscom for more
information.
As a reminder, the views,opinions and thoughts expressed
are the hosts and guests alone.
The material presented in thispodcast is for general
information purposes only andshould not be considered legal
or financial advice.
By inviting this guest to ourpodcast Paper,
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.