One-to-One Meetings | Mountain Networking Referral Group

One-to-One's

The whole premise of MNRG is to build business through building relationships. While some may think it's enough to simply join a networking then sit back and receive referrals, this is a false mindset. As with any relationship, there are steps necessary to build trust to the point where referring business happens.

Building business through building relationships is one of the major distinctions between MNRG and other groups. Group meetings alone cannot provide that. One-to-One's are the only way to do it.

The purpose of One-to-One's meetings is for each of you to learn more about the other member and the products or services they provide. In doing so, you should then be able to provide each other with referrals.

RELATIONSHIPS TAKE TIME

Relationships don't happen overnight. This is true not only in our personal lives but in business as well. We encourage all members to take the time to understand one another's business by getting to know each other through One-to-One's.

TO BE EFFECTIVE, FOLLOW THESE TIPS:

Schedule an initial one-to-one with as many members of our group as possible and as soon as possible.
A One-to-One needs to be both structured and social. The more you can find overlapping areas of professional and personal interest, the more successful your One-to-One is going to be.
If you ask someone for a One-to-One, then the focus of your meeting is the other person, not you. You ask in order to learn how to give referrals to that other person, not how to get them. It’s "Give before Gain". You may have time in your One-to-One meeting to switch roles and focus on you, but if that doesn’t happen, it’s still a successful One-to-One. Of course, if someone asks you for a One-to-One, then you’re in the spotlight. If nobody asks you, you may want to look at how you’re interacting with other Chapter members.
Prepare a document that includes your Business Goals, Career and Personal accomplishment, Interests, and Skills. If you use this as a structure for your discussion, you’ll find the most valuable, and useful information about your fellow MNRG member. You want to end each One-to-One with a clearer picture of how YOU can bring good referrals to the other member.
End each One-to-One with a commitment. This may be to refer someone to the person you had a One-to-One with, or it may be to follow up with another One-to-One meeting to find out more about your MNRG partner before attempting to make a good referral, or to focus on you and your business needs. It doesn’t matter what you’re going to do, just make sure that you’re going to do something as a result of your meeting. If you don’t come away with an action plan, did you really accomplish anything, or were you just socializing?
One-to-Ones are how you train your sales team to bring sales to you, and how you get trained (by them) to bring referrals to them.

IN CONCLUSION

As we've mentioned before, it is a misguided perception to join any networking group and expect to instantly receive referrals from members within the group. By getting to know each member through One-to-One's, learning their business and building trust, referrals begin to occur.