
Women4Women Community Gathering

Join us for dinner and amazing conversation while we build meaningful relationships with like-minded women. Everyone will be responsible for their own dinner.
Join like-minded women and gain the support and insight you need to grow professionally and personally. We are introducing 1 virtual meeting per month to make things a little easier for all of us to connect!
Do you remember that classic nursery rhyme, Where is Thumbkin? If you do, well then you understand why you don’t want to be a Thumbkin or a Pointer or any of the other little finger people in that family when it comes to networking. Why do you ask? They all ran away immediately after building up enough courage to do the entire meet and greet dance. I mean really! They literally ran away after they introduced themselves. Who does that? The challenging part in networking is just getting out there and introducing yourself. Once you do finally get the pleasantries out of the way, the fun in building new relationships begins, if you are willing to put the time in to grow and nurture it.
I will be honest, it might be a little intimidating the first couple times you introduce yourself to a complete stranger, but relax, chances are they are there for the same reason. They are building their network just like you! And you are a Phat Maverick- resilient and confident, ready to take on the world. So don’t get all shy and run away only to never meet again. There is an objective and purpose to meeting new people and to being engaged with people in your community. It’s called relationships. It’s important in everything we do, not just in business but personally as well- we need relationships. I believe one of many secrets to all successful and happy people is building and nurturing relationships. The Thumbkin family apparently missed that piece of critical information.
When I was in the world of sales and sales management one of my favorite things to do was to go on sales calls with my employees. I wanted to meet their very best and favorite customers. It was such a great reality check of all the good you can do for real down to earth people who took a chance on their dream and started a business. I loved hearing the countless stories of how their journey unfolded; or how their parents started the business and passed it onto them. Every once in awhile our sales team was a part of their story, and that was pretty cool.
After being out there in the world for nearly 20 years meeting and greeting new people as though it was second nature, I realized that not everyone was as comfortable as I was going out on sales calls and meeting new people. Some were even horrified to join civic organizations and lead groups. It took me awhile to wrap my head around this because these people knew they were in sales when I hired them and now they trembled like a deer in headlights when I suggested going on sales calls with them. Gotta be honest- still don’t totally get it. It’s not that I don’t understand the different personalities and the different comfort zones people have in interacting but if you apply for a sales job you need to be ok getting out there and meeting new people. Not to mention I CLEARLY explained the expectations during the interview process. Regardless of what you sell or what service you offer, you must understand that you are in THE PEOPLE BUSINESS. People will typically make decisions based on an emotional connection. If you can connect, build relationships and nurture those relationships chances are they will choose to do business with you.
The world has become quite a busy place, and somewhere somehow the notion of building relationships has been lost. It’s become all about the quick meet and the quick sell. Email blasts and Facebook posts! Trust me, the relationships you develop and nurture will drive more sales and more referrals than an email blast or nagging people on Social Media.
I want to share a few of my “go to” networking tips with you and hopefully, it will help you become more comfortable and confident in approaching and meeting new people at your next networking event or social gathering.