QUESTION:
Bill:

Your e-mail newsletters are quite helpful.

I have a question. Myself and 3 other business associates (one is a local realtor, the other 2 are financial planners — a father and his two sons) have invested in a luxury box for the local AA baseball team. We have 20 tickets to each event, and there are 38 games. I am leaning towards utilizing 8 events for introductions. On a given night I would invite my clients, I’d use 100% of the box. I’d possibly invite 5 couples and suggest they bring another couple that would meet my ideal client profile.

Most games are 7:05, and I think I’d provide snacks and appetizers, since most retirees will have eaten by then. What about alcohol?

Would it make more sense to split the box on a given night with one of the other owners? I would assume that I could meet and converse with everyone if I had the whole box. Since this is the first of 10 years with the box, we are just getting our feet wet. I had hopped to acquire 2 new clients to justify the expense. Thanks for your help.

My referral business plan for ‘07 is to acquire 20 new retirees for the year. As of Friday, I have 7 new clients and need 3 more by the end of June.

Ted O.

ANSWER:
Ted,

Great to hear from you. I think alcohol in the box is fine – just don’t make it the centerpiece of the event. I suggest you think in terms of smaller eventsif they are going to be referral events. The point of a referral event is to really connect with these prospects. If you have too many people there, the connections aren’t usually very impactful. For pure client-appreciation events, you can have a larger group. Make sense?

Thanks for taking the time to write. Stay in touch to let me know how these events go. I’m writing a new book on Social Prospecting (due out in 2008) and this is the sort of thing that can produce great results.

Bill

In Just Be Honest: Authentic Communication Strategies that Get Results and Last a Lifetime, you will learn that honesty is not only the best policy; it’s the easiest and most effective way to communicate. You’ll learn how to be honest with others and how to get them to be honest with you.

You will learn how to use honesty as a tool to get immediate and dramatic results with anyone regardless of their background, needs, personality or personal agenda. You will learn how to eliminate communication breakdowns and personality conflicts, prevent problems before they occur and get the bottom-line results you desire-quickly and painlessly. You will learn why the 2 most commonly used “communication strategies” never work and what you can do instead.

Just Be Honest is packed with profound, yet easy-to-implement strategies and treasures guaranteed to help you immediately. When you read this book you will learn how to:
* Say what you really mean without offense or compromise * Reduce time wasted in rambling conversations and meaningless meetings
* Alleviate stress caused by personality conflicts and unresolved issues
* Create an environment that supports and encourages honesty
* Get the hidden information you need to effectively do your job
* Have people deliver what they say they will on time and on budget
* Give and receive feedback without offending Breath life into seemingly dead relationships

No matter how time-impoverished, overworked, understaffed or under resourced you and the people around you may be, the strategies taught in this book will enable you to positively influence every dimension of your life.