This is a completely different topic. I was planning on blogging about different events that I have attended througout the course of the week and I felt that this was the topic for the week. I'm going to try to blog about different networking groups that exist within the Greater Cleveland area and my focus this week is on a group called JLG-Event Management Solutions http://www.jlg-eventmanagementsolutions.com/.
Now this small business/entrepreneur is a networking group that started out during the month of May. The idea behind this group is to get people to attend these meetings to share some ideas if your interested in your own business venture. Actually, I've found the meetings that I have been able to attend so far very valuable in that some topics could even benefit those who are currently in transition right now as well as small to medium sized business owners.
Today, I'm going to focus on the highlights of the meeting that I attended in Valley View. Marilee MacAskill from Dale Carnegie Training did a wonderful presentation based on the following book "How to Win Friends and Influence People". Some of the things that she discussed from the book would pertain to anyone who handles customers or works in a team environment with different work type personalities often found in Corporate as well as small business environments.
The topic discussed was "Gaining Enthusiastic Cooperation From Others" and how to gain trust from others when promoting your business. I think that this would also apply to how individuals would sell themselves and their particular skillset. She will be presenting at another event next week within the Greater Cleveland area.
Here are some of the principals that were discussed at the meeting:
1. Follow the 3 c's. Don't criticize, condemn or complain
2. Give honest, sincere appreciation (for example, if someone decides to buy some product or service from, take the time to thank them for their business through some form of communication)
3. Arouse in the other person an eager want
4. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid one.
5. Show respect for the other person's opinion. Never say, "You're wrong" (In other words, let's say that a customer calls in and says that they still have not heard back from someone at your company and the record shows that they have been contacted, instead of arguing with them, you can politely let them know that the records show that someone had contacted that person's place at a specific time. This would allow the person to go back to the individual who is responsible for handling their messages to make sure that they did receive that message).
6. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and empathetically.
7. Begin in a friendly way whenever handling any situation.
8. Get the other person saying "yes, yes" immediately.
9. Let the other person do a great deal of the talking (practice good listening skills).
10. Let the other person believe the idea is his/hers.
11. Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view. (For example, when promoting your business or yourself, don't go in with force and discuss things that might not be of value or interest to that potential client. Find out exactly what their needs are before explaining what you can do for them).
12. Be sympathetic with the other person's ideas and desires.
13. Appeal to the nobler motives.
14. Dramatize your ideas. (In other words, paint them a picture of how your products, services, or you can meet their needs). This puts you in the chair for them to make the decision to buy your services.
15. Throw down a challenge.
Obviously she went into more depth than this, however, I found these points to be very helpful as I look forward to writing about other events. Her message was to emphasize that we must strive to follow these guidelines in order to keep business relationships flowing smoothly.
Your question might be, what value might I get out of this group? The answer is, to gain valuable information and find other ways to improve business if things are not going as smoothly as they could. There were many more guidelines from the tiny booklets we received and I would encourage anyone to attend any of the next events that she will be making her presentation.
This particular group, JLG-Networking Event can be found on meetup.com.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Bob Coppedge's Event in Hudson, Ohio
Bob is the CIO of Simplex-IT, a Microsoft Small Business Specialist solutions company. He has been in many management and leadership roles throughout the Greater Cleveland Area. He was CEO of Patio Enclosures, served on the Board as President of the Greater Cleveland PC User's Group several times, has been involved with many different educational facilities including: Tri-C, American Logistics Group, and Devore Technologies.
For the past several months, I've enjoyed the presentations given by Bob Coppege on various topics. He started with his small business building located out in Hudson which consisted of approximately 6 attendees and leaped in size to 30 + so he needed to relocate the seminar to a different location. You may ask what all the hype is about? Well this is about Microsoft Windows 7 and yes it is something to get excited about.
Some of the features of Windows 7 that were mentioned were the following:
- seemless connections to the Corporate Network from a remote location without the hassle of using 3rd party VPN software to connect.
- the capability of controlling the use of Program Applications where you can control which users can launch specific applications
- the fixes that were applied to make up for the shortcomings of Windows Vista
- the volume control that controls the way the "are you sure you want to do this?" box keeps popping up just to perform any particular function. Yes, now there is a way to adjust that.
- more accurate recordings of error messages that may come up on the screen so that if someone calls into the Help Desk for a computer related problem, the system now has a recording feature to aid people.
Bob has mentioned that people are reluctant to research into Windows 7 because of all the negatives of Vista that burned many individuals. Now would be the perfect opportunity to learn more about Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. He has been scheduling these events for the past several months between the Hudson and Beachwood areas. With the economy being a little tight at this time, now would be the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the free seminars to find out more about these systems which are soon to be released. You can't beat this opportunity with free food to go along with it while the opportunity is still there. Also, it's a great way to meet with people, network, and see what opportunities may unfold for yourself.
When I first met Bob, he was attending some of the same Microsoft classes that I had been attending. We both were already involved with the Greater Cleveland PC User's Group and discovered that along the way. He has also been my instructor through Tri-C UTC Campus, he encouraged me to join on the Board for the Greater Cleveland PC User's Group, he has given me the opportunity of what I like to do best and that is write news articles about the group, and has returned on several occassions to give great presentations for the Greater Cleveland PC User's Group along with his own presentations for Simplex-IT.
If you would enjoy learning about these new Microsoft based systems in a fun and upbeat environment, then I encourage you to attend some upcoming events while the opportunity is still there!
Sincerely,
Doreen Skonier
For the past several months, I've enjoyed the presentations given by Bob Coppege on various topics. He started with his small business building located out in Hudson which consisted of approximately 6 attendees and leaped in size to 30 + so he needed to relocate the seminar to a different location. You may ask what all the hype is about? Well this is about Microsoft Windows 7 and yes it is something to get excited about.
Some of the features of Windows 7 that were mentioned were the following:
- seemless connections to the Corporate Network from a remote location without the hassle of using 3rd party VPN software to connect.
- the capability of controlling the use of Program Applications where you can control which users can launch specific applications
- the fixes that were applied to make up for the shortcomings of Windows Vista
- the volume control that controls the way the "are you sure you want to do this?" box keeps popping up just to perform any particular function. Yes, now there is a way to adjust that.
- more accurate recordings of error messages that may come up on the screen so that if someone calls into the Help Desk for a computer related problem, the system now has a recording feature to aid people.
Bob has mentioned that people are reluctant to research into Windows 7 because of all the negatives of Vista that burned many individuals. Now would be the perfect opportunity to learn more about Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. He has been scheduling these events for the past several months between the Hudson and Beachwood areas. With the economy being a little tight at this time, now would be the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the free seminars to find out more about these systems which are soon to be released. You can't beat this opportunity with free food to go along with it while the opportunity is still there. Also, it's a great way to meet with people, network, and see what opportunities may unfold for yourself.
When I first met Bob, he was attending some of the same Microsoft classes that I had been attending. We both were already involved with the Greater Cleveland PC User's Group and discovered that along the way. He has also been my instructor through Tri-C UTC Campus, he encouraged me to join on the Board for the Greater Cleveland PC User's Group, he has given me the opportunity of what I like to do best and that is write news articles about the group, and has returned on several occassions to give great presentations for the Greater Cleveland PC User's Group along with his own presentations for Simplex-IT.
If you would enjoy learning about these new Microsoft based systems in a fun and upbeat environment, then I encourage you to attend some upcoming events while the opportunity is still there!
Sincerely,
Doreen Skonier
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