Brenda Thomson's BLOG

Networking is all about building quality relationships but how many times have you had a coffee meeting that goes absolutely nowhere?  You know how it is … an hour wasted while the other person tells you all about themselves and their business with no mention of how they may be able to help you.. Or worse still they try to sell you something whether or not you are even in the market for their products or services.

Or perhaps you meet in the hope of creating a strategic alliance, you agree that you may be able to refer business to each other, but nothing ever happens.

And then there are the ones who are there to pick your brains and you find yourself in free consulting mode.. “Hang on a second” you find yourself thinking, “My clients pay me for this information and I am buying you coffee while I give it to you for free.  What is wrong with this picture? “

If any of this sounds familiar then you may enjoy Brenda’s SMART coffee Recipe

Ingredients

One Clearly Defined Business Objective *

2 Large Scoops of Matched Target Market (This may be substituted for some other factor in common such as a common cause or shared geographic location in some cases)

2 generous dashes of Desire to Help.

A sprinkle of Outside the Box Thinking.

* More Leads; Improved Conversions; Increased Average Dollar Sale; More Sales Per Customer; Reduced Costs all work well in this recipe.

Warning:  BEFORE commencing coffee making ensure that you have ALL the necessary ingredients at hand.

Method

Stage 1 (Preparation)

1. Do I have sound business reason for commencing this coffee making process? What do I want to achieve?
2. Is the timing right for me to start making more coffee right now?

Stage 2 (S.M.A.R.T. Percolation)

Safety check

Before turning on the S.M.A.R.T. Percolator check

1. Am I comfortable working with this person?
2. Do we share the same values and ethics?
3. Will the relationship reflect positively on my brand?

S.M.A.R.T. Percolation

1. S – Select a SPECIFIC activity that you can do together that will meet BOTH your business objectives
2. M – agree on how you will MEASURE and evaluate the results of your strategy.
3. A – Agreement – make sure that both of you are in AGREEMENT on all aspects of the strategy, both implementation and outcomes.
4. R –Be very clear on the RESULTS each of you wants and expects to achieve from the strategy even if it is not measureable in dollar terms
5. T – Put TIMEFRAMES on your strategy. 

1. When will the strategy be implemented?
2. How long will it last for?
3. At what stages along the way will you evaluate?

Warning: Once you have started percolating your coffee NEVER leave the kitchen without agreeing the next step in the process.

Stage 3 – cleaning up ( Never leave the kitchen without cleaning up ready for the next time)

1. Review
2. Revise
3. Repeat
4. OR exit.

 And there you have it Brenda’s Recipe for SMART Coffee – enjoy.