Thanks to Everyone!

As the year winds down it's time to thank everyone for being a part of a terrific year.

Saying thanks and really appreciating many great people for all the good things that have happened this year.  Both in business and personal.

Looking forward to seeing many of you soon and in the New Year!

My first new years resolution is to actual make a new years resolution!    The first one is "Letting Go".   It's not going too good yet and have a couple of weeks to practice before the resolution kicks in.

Thank you everyone, have a great holiday and all the best in the new year.

Building Team Circles within your Organization

Do you only interact with your Team during office hours?

As the AlphaKOR team continues to grow, there are more team interactions after hours.   This summer there were golf outings and volleyball.   Currently there is a soccer team and plans to recruit for a hockey team.

Besides sports, there are some social events such as the annual Christmas dinner, BBQ's or meet at a restaurant for social time.

Interacting after hours has increased communication, respect and teamwork during business time.   This was demonstrated during a recent staff meeting with great discussion and ideas shared around the room.

Establishing the rules of engagement and respecting them lead to excellent teamwork both inside and outside the office.

What do you with your Team after hours?

Networking during the Holidays

When do start wishing everyone a Happy Holiday?  

Let's back up a minute, it's December already and it sure snuck up fast!   Many happy holiday wishes have been heard starting with last week of November.  Personally I think this is a bit early and no offense taken when someone is being positive.

This month brings holiday company events, customer appreciation events, holiday networking events and many more to choose from.   How many events can you attend and how many do you want to attend?

Finding the right balance is challenging.  When clients and suppliers invite you for their appreciation events it's important to make the effort to attend.   Don't forget to wish them Happy Holidays in person!

Glancing at the December calendar shows many good events I'll be attending.   Looking forward to this Season to rekindle with fellow networkers and making new connections.  

Looking forward to saying thanks for your business this year and saying thanks for your referrals at these events.

Happy Holidays and Happy Networking!

What Circles can do for You

What Circles do you belong to in your personal and professional life?

Having a number of connections you can count on for whatever you may require or when asked for something you cannot offer, your Circles are there for you.

Building these trusting relationships are valuable and set you apart from others that may not have these individuals to reach out to.

A recent example was a peer inquiring about a Travel Agent.   The request was along the line of "Well you know a lot of people what Travel Agent do you recommend?" 

Some may think this is not valuable.   If you stop to think about it, when you are known to be a connector and can help anyone with any situation by making a connection, isn't that what relationships are all about?

What Circle stories do you have to share?

Are you really on Vacation?

When you are on vacation, are you really on vacation?

How close are you to the office with your Smartphone, Tablet and Notebook?   There are so many ways to stay in touch with e-mail, texting, cell phones.....does one ever turn it off?

I like to glance all my e-mails/texts/voicemails first thing in the morning and mid-day.   I respond or forward the ones requiring an answer before the vacation is over.

With Social Media added to the mix, there are schedules set-up prior to vacation so information can be sent out while you are away.   By the way, this blog is being compiled live on my first morning of vacation.

Here's to turning it off most of the time while on vacation!

Updating my Blogging Schedule

After blogging daily for 6 weeks I've been thinking of focusing on the blog once a week.   Instead of daily snapshots of information the weekly blogs can focus on well thought out areas with more details.

What matters most is what you think about this?

I'd like your feedback on daily vs. weekly blogging.  As AlphaKOR continues to grow, my focus will be on Thought Leadership.

Looking forward to your feedback.

Frank Abbruzzese, President
http://www.alphakor.com/

Using Social Media to Network

How do you use Social Media to Network?

Whenever I meet someone interested in building a business relationship, one of the natural steps is to send an invitation to connect via LinkedIN.  

Once this individual accepts the connection, the next step is to send an e-mail to say thanks and to request a meeting or phone call to continue the discussion of the initial meeting. 

These couple of steps have created many new connections and opportunities.  

Adding twitter followers and blogging to reach out to your connections becomes the next part of the social media process to network and communicate to your audience.

The questions you ask are:  How often to communicate?   What message to send?

All part of building your social media strategy - how are you building yours?

Did you miss the biggest WindsorEssex Circle Event?

The Circle keeps growing and growing thanks to like-minded business people!   We had over 50 in attendance at LaCucina last night.

It is always interesting to observe the room and see everyone participating in conversation.   The amount of energy and discussions happening is inspiring as connections are made and opportunities are shared.

Meeting new people and listening to their stories is a fun part of the circle events.   Meeting someone in the real world after connecting via LinkedIN makes for a good conversation starter.

This is the networking event you don't want to miss and we meet every month.   Join via LinkedIn and everyone is welcome.

What experiences do you have with the Circle meetings?

Three key components to Communication: Follow-up, Follow-up, Follow-up

Communication challenges seem to all fall in the same category:  follow-up!   Lack of communication via follow-up seems to be the number reason clienteles and prospects ask why they are not being taken care of.

We rely on e-mail and sometimes picking up the phone with a short message (or talking to a person live!) is the best decision you will make on communication.

Does anyone else use the phone to communicate?

When an e-mail gets long to explain your follow-up it's a sign to call instead.

Following up is one of those Sales 101 things to do and those who do it consistently are the leaders.

How do you follow-up and how often?

Circle Events this Week

Just a reminder the Leamington Circle meets Tuesday, noon at Mettawas and the WindsorEssex Circle meets Wednesday at 5:00 pm at LaCucina.

Have you ever attended a networking event without a business card?   How do you handle this?   How professional is it not to have your business card with you?

Once I was caught without a business card and it was on a Sunday afternoon at my in-laws.   A friend of the in-laws asked me for my card so he could forward it to his manager the following day.   No card in my wallet, in the car and Carmela had none in her possession either!  

The next morning I showed up the friend' business with a stack of cards and asked how many would he like?   Yes his manager called and yes they became a client.   Bring lots of business cards and have them on you all the time - you just never know where an opportunity will arise.

Letting Someone else take the Lead

As a Leader it's easy to take move discussions forward and bring energy to the table.   It's sometimes challenging to let someone else take the lead.

I'm spending more time observing our corp team and letting them take the lead.   Simply observing and not partaking in the discussion can be easy at times and yet very challenging at other times.

One of the meetings yesterday, with a long-term client, resulted in bouncing the lead from me to the corp rep.   The client looked at me and moved the conversation back to me several times.  

Since we have a long history together, I chose to run with each discussion and moved it back to the corp rep.   This happened several times in this meeting.  

In reflecting on this particular meeting, it may have been better for the corp rep to keep the lead and "allow" me to comment and take back the lead to focus on the original purpose of the meeting.

My goal is to support the Team and provide feedback.   The rep was glad I attended and commented on how natural the conversation moved with my replies.   This will happen as he learns more about our products and services and will find the focus will shift away from the "specifications" to the business side of the conversation.

Looking forward to the next meeting to watch this corp rep take the lead!

Take your Kids to Work Experience

Yesterday my 14 year old daughter Haley "shadowed" me to observe what I do all day.

The morning started out slow for her as she watched me sift through the Inbox.   At first she seemed interested and soon it became apparent it was so much information to decipher so she decided to sit back and let me complete the three D's.

I did my best to explain the three D's and how it helps deal with so much information:   Do, Delegate or Delete.   Haley seemed to like this process!

The rest of the morning included a number of internal conversations and phone calls.   She even coached me on one conversation to let the other person finish before making my comment.  Thanks Haley and caught myself later in the day.   This time I bit my tongue and waited!

We stopped into a few places and she listened to some business chat and everyone asked her questions about the day and what career she was pursuing.

Lunch was the highlight of the day!   When deciding on lunch I wanted to create a "wow" memory.   The Windsor Club is one of those venues where you can take someone for the first time and hear them say "wow".   Haley certainly enjoyed the view, lunch and awesome dessert.

We stopped into the Business Accelerator and chatted with the WEtech team.   Thanks Yvonne for a great tour and engaging her in conversations about entrepreneurs and her career.

Last meeting of the day was with a University Student I met via SIFE.   He wanted to share his idea and dreams of his career.   This was a good experience for Haley to see someone closer in her age talk about what they wanted to do, their aspirations and their fears.

Haley' report at dinner was rating the day as an 8 since the morning was just OK. Well I have three years to prepare for Sydney and hope to get at least a 9.

Moving Opportunities to Business

We have a qualified opportunity and we are ready to provide a proposal or a presentation.

What works for you to move the opportunity to business?  What questions do you ask to know if you are on track with your recommendation?   


Communication is always the challenge.   Does the audience understand what you are communicating?   Is everyone on the same page?   Do we the presenter understand the request?


I personally ask a lot of questions to ensure I have a clear understanding.   The challenge is communicating the information back in such a way it is understood and clearly shows the plan of action for the opportunity.


We provide a balance between the technical specifications and what it really means.   I do not provide "speeds, feeds, acronyms" besides the  minimal to ensure we have the correct product specifications.  We provide more technical details when technical personnel are at the table.

Once there is an understanding of the proposal and all questions have been answered in regards to the plan of action and return on investment (ROI), how do you close this opportunity?


Usually we know where we are in the sales cycle and the question needs to be asked:  "Does it look like we will be moving forward?" Asking "How would you like to proceed?" may also apply.  "We can start the implementation in two weeks"....


Ever notice when you ask these types of questions,  the objectives are thrown out and you wonder why now?   Know the objectives and overcome them during the proposal/presentation stage.


My personal favourite objective is falling into the TIO trap.   Anyone want to guess what TIO means?

Next Circle Meetings in Leamington and Windsor

The Leamington Circle meeting for November is Tuesday, November 8th at noon.   Location is Mettawas Station at 169 Landsdowne in Kingsville.   Anthony and Janet have hosted us before and offer a fabulous lunch!

The WindsorEssex Circle event is Wednesday, November 9th from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm.   Our host is LaCucina, 1614 Lesperance (Expressway) and good venue to host our event.

Looking forward to seeing the Circle members to network and share good discussion.

If you have not attended a Circle event, I personally recommend to check it out and see what these growing groups are all about.

For more information e-mail frank@alphakor.com or check out more information under my LinkedIN profile.

I have enjoyed making many new contacts,  connecting others and pursuing opportunities.

Anyone have some Circle success stories to share?

Evaluating what Groups to belong to

How do you decide what group to join?   How do you know when it's time to leave the group?

Overall I find groups with individuals who are open minded and genuinely interested in helping make a positive impact for the members of the group.

Sometimes groups become complacent or stagnant.   A few key individuals will step up to make changes with success and sometimes without success.  When it is not successful it is difficult to decide to leave because you know the potential the group has.  Ultimately a decision needs to be made and leaving the group may be the best option.

 
Focusing on groups moving forward in a positive direction is my number one criteria.  

Being part of WEtech Alliance Network as a Board member, Chair of Membership and actively participating in this groups events, I see the positive impact we are making on the Region and specifically with entreprenuers.

It is highly rewarding to hear such passion and to offer suggestions and feedbacks to help the entrepreneur move in the right direction.   Thanks to WEtech for this great experience on an ongoing basis!

Other groups like the Circles create opportunities to connect with business individuals sharing ideas, making connections and mentoring others to network.

What groups are making a difference to you?   What criteria do you use to join, stay or exit a group?

Building Circles Press Release

Thanks to Kim Hutchinson (@francesamerikey) for writing our Building Circles press release to get the word out!

Have you attended one of our Circle events yet? 

It's an informal business/social event where you meet like-minded business individuals for good discussions, make connections and create opportunities.

Check out more information at http://alphakor.com/building-circles-press-release/

How do you Qualify Opportunities?

Working with sales reps each of them has their own idea how to measure the success of qualifying an opportunity.  Some reps gauge how long the meeting was.   The longer the meeting the more successful.   My rule of thumb is 45 minutes resulting in an hour more or less.  

Some reps like to give away all the answers.   This can actually work against you.   Ever find yourself listening to how many challenges the prospect is having?   It is natural to answer all their questions, provide solutions and walk them through how to resolve all these issues. 

What happens when you do that?  Sometimes they say yes we will move forward with you.  More than likely they will respond with thinking it over and resolve it themselves or give the answers to their current vendor.

So where is the right balance on sales and unpaid consulting? 

Some good questions to ask during qualification stage are: 

How do you make decisions?   Who needs to approve the decision?   What is your budget?  (ever get an answer to this one?)  What is your timeframe?   Who else is bidding on this opportunity?  What kind of Return on Investment (ROI) is required to move forward?  If we could provide you with.....would you move forward with us?
There are a lot of opportunities out there and qualifying them will lead to declining some and moving forward with others.

Social Media Networking

I am a Social Media Networking addict - there I admit it.   Actually I am really addicted to LinkedIN.  I look forward to seeing who has looked at my Profile and sometimes send the individual an e-mail to pique some interest.  The group discussions can lead to interesting topics and create opportunities.

Thanks to my Coach Lora she has helped me embrace a plan for creating a Blog, Twitter, LinkedIn and more!  

So what opportunities have Social Media created?   Plenty!   For me it's about making new contacts, connecting individuals and creating business opportunities for AlphaKOR.   Sharing knowledge and telling stories is the fun part I truly enjoy.

When you receive a call from someone from the "virtual world" and they have to talk to you to help them, you know the investment of your time has paid off.

What are your Social Media strategies and goals?

Networking too much? Learning to say No. (it goes against my grain!)

Ever find yourself saying yes to every event and networking opportunity?  

I took a look recently at all the events and groups I'm involved in.   Making a list is always a good starting point and then prioritizing based on your own criteria.

After scratching off a couple of items I thought I was done and then realized more have to be removed.

The decision came down to removing or delegating?   That is a good question.   This made it a little easier to move some items to another column and have someone else attend the event.

This is a work in progress as I personally have many on my list to review.   Learning to say No is a tough one and it is the right thing to do sometimes.

Are you learning to say No or have you learned this already?

Networking during Social Time

What are your thoughts on networking at social events not directly related to business?

Paying my respects the loved ones at a funeral recently, an individual pulled me aside to talk business.   I don't mind a brief chat and exchange business cards and prefer not to dive into business conversation in a situation like this.

If this was a family picnic, the conversation can lead to a bit more business and again not too involved and not dominate the entire event.

At the grocery store a hello and small chat can lead to an opportunity to call the next business day to continue and to set-up a meeting as required.

At sporting events such as the Spitfires games, this leads to an atmosphere more of making connections especially in the lounge.   However, diving too deep into business is not the goal.   Making the connection and building a relationship is more important than getting right down to business conversation.

As a general rule I always take the lead from the other person and move it back to social and non-business as soon as possible to keep the relationship and conversation moving in the right direction.   Creating the opportunity to touch base afterwards is my goal to continue the business conversation.

What are you rules?

Business Presentations

How do you approach doing a business presentation to the groups you belong to?

Some presenters enjoy talking from the podium with notes and some without any notes.   Some presenters use PowerPoint presentations with slides, pictures, video clips and sound.

What makes a good presentation?   Knowing your audience, choosing the right topic and providing the audience with one to three "nuggets" has always been my goal to measure success.   What is yours?

Remember to tell your story!   Earlier this year, I attended a presentation wanting to hear about a very successful company and how they were purchased by a large player.   The disappointing take aways were we did not know what the company does as their core competencies and we did not get a story of the success!

Being in the technology sector my observation is never to get too technical and drop all those acrynyms unless it is a technical presentation.

One big no-no I recently observed was talking negative about the competition.   Focus on what you and your Team do well and better then the rest would be a better approach.

On a different note, thanks to Marianne @ Windsor Chamber for inviting me out to the event last night.   Great to see many familiar faces and new ones.

Name Tags for Networking Events?

Do you think we should have name tags for Networking Events?

When arriving at StartUp Drinks last night we wrote our names on peel-n-stick name tags.   This makes it easier to introduce yourself and helps you "remember" the person' name.

By the way great job as always Yvonne (@yvonnepilon), WEtech and SIFE for organizing the StartUp Drinks.   Great venue at Villains and good opportunity for new entreprenuers to network.

Some networking events have no name tags and others who meet regularly have pre-printed or professional name tags.   What is your preference?

Left or Right Side?

Years ago it was suggested to place your name tag on your right side.   Why?  When shaking hands (most of us shake with right hand) your eyes look to the person' right side where the name tag is.

Check it out next time you are at an event with name tags.  Most will have them on the left side and you can help me start a movement to have them on the right side so we can quickly glimpse their name as we shake hands.

Any thoughts or experiences on name tags?

AlphaKOR welcomes new Sales Manager

Don O'Rourke has joined the AlphaKOR Group as our Sales Manager.   This is the step in the right direction for our continued growth and success!

The change was well received and yesterday was Don' first day.   AlphaKOR has a great culture and set of values to make this transition smooth.

This has been embraced by the team as positive change and part of the AlphaKOR' vision to continue to lead the IT industry in the WindsorEssex Region.

Please join me in welcoming Don and you may see him at some of the Circle events.

What do you do with all those Business Cards?

When you arrive back at your office from a networking event, what do you do with all those business cards?

My routine is to add everyone in our database, send an invitation to connect via LinkedIN and send an e-mail to continue our discussion from the event.

Once the business cards are entered in the database they go into the recycle bin.   After reaching out to each individual a follow-up task is assigned for future communication.

Simple process and working to build relationships generating good ongoing discussions.

What do you do with your business cards you collect?

Another successful WindsorEssex Circle Event last night

Thanks to everyone who attended last night at The Windsor Club for a successful Circle event!   The number of discussions happening in the room and high level of energy are signs of successful relationship building and networking.

Observing how we interact and listen was a good challenge I gave myself last night.  Yes I caught myself losing focus a couple of times and quickly looked the speaker in the eye and concentrated on the conversation. 

One interesting observation at these types of events is watching two people in a conversation and a third person approach.  

 Sometimes the third person stands outside of the "circle" waiting.   Sometimes one of the individuals says hello and the two-way conversation resumes.   Sometimes the person talking stops, says hello to the individual and introduces them to the other person.

I found myself in this situation several times last night.  I used to say hello to the newcomer and then continue with my conversation.   Last night I changed my gameplan and did my best to say hello and  introduced the third person.   Once they two were having a discussion telling their story it was easy to either stay and listen or move to introduce others to each other.    

This is referred to as Triad relationships:   invite the third person and make the connection instead of focusing on the two-person conversation and leaving the third person out.  

Try it and share your experiences!

Circle Networking Etiquette

Many of us go to lots of networking events and some of us are just starting to network.   The Circle events provide a welcoming atmoshphere to network.   Many first time networkers attending the events are having positive experiences and learning how to meet others.

Successful networkers genuinely like to help others.   When we see someone new or someone not part of a conversation, we gravitate towards them, start a conversation and introduce them to others.

One key first impression is the firm handshake.   Remember to look the person in the eye as you shake their hand and introduce yourself.   Focus on the moment, the person and the conversation.   Challenge yourself to eliminate all the background distractions for each conversation.

Check out the Circles in WindsorEssex, Leamington, Chatham and Sarnia via LinkedIN under my Profile.

Share your experiences for networking etiquette, successes and things not to do.

Looking forward to connecting with you soon.

Goodbye Steve

Steve Jobs, where do you begin to talk about an individual who changed the World one person at a time.   Only 56 years old and his legacy will live on.

Although personally I am not a Mac user you have to respect such a powerful person/company with innovative products that continue to change all of us.

Apple' website today has a picture of Steve and clicking on it brings you to a personal message from Apple (http://apple.com/stevejobs/).  Below is an e-mail address to share your memories of Steve.

What stories do you have about Steve Jobs and Apple?

Building Circles in Chatham and Sarnia

Just formed new Circles in Chatham and Sarnia.   Check them out on LinkedIN via my Profile and if interested join!   The WindsorEssex Circle and Leamington Circle are moving along well.

It's great being part of a movement to connect business individuals and create opportunities.

The energy in the room is filled with good discussions.  Our winning formula of social/business setting has been embraced.

Looking to hear from other Circle members to share  their experiences and success stories.

Testing New Leadership: Apple' Tim Cook launches iPhone 5

Cook will be filling the shoes of legendary Apple co-
founder and pitchman Steve Jobs, who surrendered the California company's helm in August due to health reasons. Jobs, 56, who underwent an operation for pancreatic cancer in 2004 and a liver transplant in 2009, remains with Apple as chairman of the board of directors.
Apple is holding the event in an intimate auditorium at its Cupertino headquarters and has invited only select press to be present for Cook's on-stage debut as chief executive.


"For a moment tomorrow, all eyes will turn toward San Francisco and most activity will cease when Apple introduces the iPhone 5," said analyst Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates. "This event will be Tim Cook's first time out as the undisputed leader of Apple, and so it will be a test for him," Kay added.


The iPhone 5 is what analysts and others have taken to calling the new generation in Apple's sizzling smartphone line. Apple, as usual, has provided only the scantest of hints regarding what to expect at the event.

Focusing on Building Circles

After taking some time to reflect, it's time to get back to Building Circles.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Leamington Circle and WindsorEssex Circle next week.

Join us to check out our monthly events to connect with others and create opportunities.

Why am I writing this Blog?

To share stories with everyone on our experiences with connecting with people.  

Being part of many networking groups and having experienced success in some and having been part of creating a couple of successful groups are the inspiration to create this blog.

Building Circles is about connecting business people together to create business relationships and opportunities.  Good discussions and shared experiences of what is working and what has not worked are great topics.

Looking forward to Building Circles with you!