Monthly Archives: December 2019

Who Should I Connect With?

Kevin Willett says to make connections with not only the present but the future in mind.

The short answer to this question is everyone. Let me tell you about my experiences. I was working as CFO of a bank many years ago and as social media grew, my connections increased. The problem, I was only connecting with people in the banking industry. Fast Forward to me starting my own business, The Friends of Kevin Networking Group. My connections now changed, and I was focusing on connecting with small business, non-profits etc, skipping people who did not fit the business to consumer requests I was getting. Soon I was getting a lot of inquiries into why I did not service the B2B market. Hmmm, OK, now New England B2B Networking Group was born and the people I did not think I should connect with were all now potential new clients. I wish I had made all those connections through all those years. I let my focus on one sector hold me back. The bottom line is you never know where your business will take you. Be ready, be open to all connections and be prepared to grow.

Watch my YouTube Channel  for more on this and other Business Networking Tips

Kevin Willett is the Author of One Connection How you can grow your business  (and change the world) one connection at a time. The business networking book is available on Amazon. Purchase One Connection on Amazon

Kevin is also the CEO of the Friends of Kevin Networking Group  and the New England B2B Networking Group. Please connect with him on social media to hear about his upcoming business networking events

Catch Me If You Can

Kevin Willett says the more you make people chase you, the less business you get done

Do you remember this game as a child? Well, I am trying to stop playing now that I am an adult. I have people who reach out to me because they are interested in getting involved in my networking group. They will say can you call me on Tuesday at 2pm. Of course, when you call, they are not available. They will then ask you to call them on Friday at 10am and again they don’t answer.

When this happens, I send them my number and ask them to reach out to me when they have time. I have learned that when I must chase people, I am usually sad when I catch them because they end up being lousy clients. My membership model works best for people who have time to come to events and take advantage of the perks of memberships. If you are lackadaisical about returning getting back to people, you probably won’t show up for events you’ve signed up for or take an interest in the other benefits of the group.

The other thing I learned is when I must chase people to be a client, they often struggle with focus and time management and they will message me asking me to drop everything and help them because they need me to promote them today. Now their failures are put on my shoulders even though I was not the procrastinator.

If you are chasing clients, maybe you should re-evaluate if this is worth your effort. If you are the person constantly saying you are interested, but then forever unavailable, how can anyone do business with you when you show a MEH attitude? Maybe certain matches are just not meant to be made.

Watch my YouTube Channel  for more on this and other Business Networking Tips

Kevin Willett is the Author of One Connection How you can grow your business  (and change the world) one connection at a time. The business networking book is available on Amazon. Purchase One Connection on Amazon

Kevin is also the CEO of the Friends of Kevin Networking Group  and the New England B2B Networking Group. Please connect with him on social media to hear about his upcoming business networking events

1st Rule of Networking

Kevin Willett says this rule is the most important

The first rule of Networking is to always return phone calls and emails. Plain and simple. I have said it before, we are all busy, but should never be too busy for business. I had a friend recently who needed a service urgently. They called their contact and never got a call back. The contact claimed they meant to call, and it fell through the cracks. Now that person is out a source of revenue & a referral source, thus hurting their business.

How long does it take to reply to a text? To an Email? 30 seconds maybe? Even if you are super busy, you have thirty seconds to respond to someone and tell them that. If you cannot help someone out yourself, maybe go the extra mile and suggest someone else they can call. The client will respect you for that and it boosts your reputation and brand because you are putting your client ahead of yourself. If you are afraid you will lose business by referring them to someone else, you’d be surprised. Clients value your honesty and will still make you their first choice because of that. Not calling them back will cost you a lot more.

Watch my YouTube Channel  for more on this and other Business Networking Tips

Kevin Willett is the Author of One Connection How you can grow your business  (and change the world) one connection at a time. The business networking book is available on Amazon. Purchase One Connection on Amazon

Kevin is also the CEO of the Friends of Kevin Networking Group  and the New England B2B Networking Group. Please connect with him on social media to hear about his upcoming business networking events

Managing Disappointments

Kevin Willett says your point of view can make a big difference in the outcome of your day

We held a food drive this past Saturday the local food pantry and it did not go as well as I hoped. I found myself feeling disappointed until I thought about how I always tell people that every canned good or box of dry food does make a difference. This thought in turn made me think about how appreciative I was for the people that stopped by to say hello and drop off donations. I met some new people and we raised awareness of the pantry. Overall, I guess it was a great day.

Why is it so easy to see things as disappointments? Many of my friends tend to focus on their missed opportunities rather than their successes.  Now there is nothing wrong with being competitive, I consider it a requirement to be a successful entrepreneur. However, you also must take the time to enjoy your victories and congratulate yourself. Try seeing the small things as wins, instead of not being good enough. In the end, you’ll find you had a good day too.

Watch my YouTube Channel  for more on this and other Business Networking Tips

Kevin Willett is the Author of One Connection How you can grow your business  (and change the world) one connection at a time. The business networking book is available on Amazon. Purchase One Connection on Amazon

Kevin is also the CEO of the Friends of Kevin Networking Group  and the New England B2B Networking Group. Please connect with him on social media to hear about his upcoming business networking events