Like many business owners in Kansas City I network on a regular basis. And networking can be a powerful thing. That was illustrated to me a recently by an event that took place. To many reading this, it won’t seem like much. To me though this story shows the power of networking.
I’m in a networking group that meets every Tuesday morning for breakfast. I go every Tuesday and make it a point to sit with a different group every Tuesday. I have been going to the group for about a year. Because I make it a point to sit somewhere different every week I’ve gotten to know many of the members. There are approximately 100 people that go to the meetings every week. I am the acting secretary of the club. I attend board meetings. What I’m trying to say is I am involved. Because of this I was able to come to a member of the club with an unusual request. My sister lives in lee’s summit every Monday she goes to Saint Luke’s hospital and eats in the cafeteria. She tells me they have of the best Philly cheese steak sandwiches in all of Kansas City. We were having a conversation two months ago and she told me they stopped making them. One of the members of the club has a connection with the Food Service at Saint Luke’s. I know this because I’m involved in the club, I talk to people I get to know them. I asked him two weeks ago if he could just talk to the people in charge, and see if they could bring back the Philly cheese steaks on Mondays. If you don’t already know where this story is going my sister called me today and told me the cheese steaks are back.
Again to many people this may not seem like much. But it was important to my sister, it made a big difference in her week. And because I asked, I got what I wanted. Or should I say it my sister got what she wanted. The Point I’m trying to make here you never know what type of situations you’ll find yourself when you and network. None of this would’ve been possible if I hadn’t been an active listener. I got to know the people that were in my club. I got involved and because I did things happened. The next time I need something it may actually be something for me.
My suggestion to every business owner, go out today, find a group of people you can connect with and get involved. For those of you that are master networkers, I would love to hear your stories of how networking helped you in a situation. Email me and I’ll share it on my blog.
Filed under:Networking
Author: Josh Wendel
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