F.A.Q.

Could you provide me with a brief description of these groups? NetWorks! groups are professional networking or “leads” groups where sales and marketing professionals from various industries meet, discuss, and share business related intelligence in effort to maximize each others earning powers.

So, is it like Rotary, Kiwanis, and the Chamber of Commerce? No. Rotary and Kiwanis would be considered service organizations and, while you may be presented with business opportunities as a result of membership, that is not the purpose of these clubs. The Chamber of Commerce is both business and service related but would be a more “passive” form of a networking organization. What we would call “social-business”.

I’ve been involved with leads groups before with mixed success. What makes this different? We believe that the NetWorks! groups are what leads groups were designed to be, not what they typically become. We are highly selective of our members, their companies, and their industry match. We require strong commitments in terms of attendance, participation, and contributions to the group as a whole. This is an organization for the very serious only and we will not hesitate to ask members to resign if commitments are not met or standards are not maintained. And, we reward our members with unique tools to further advance their probability of success. As a “for profit” business, we must invest in your success.

My business focus is on consumers, home owners, and the like. Is this group for me? At present, no. Membership is currently limited to “Business to Business” organizations. If there is enough interest from “Business to Consumer” industries, we may consider adding new groups. However, membership between the two will not be mixed.

75% attendance is pretty intensive. I often have other commitments. Is it o.k. if I come when I can? Sorry but no. Attendance is a core function necessary for group dynamics and also builds the necessary trust factors between you and other group members. Additionally, your membership space representing your industry is secured from your competition and, if you are not there, other members are not getting the benefit of your industry participation. We do allow you to designate an alternate to attend meetings in your absence.

How long are meetings and when are they held? Meetings are held weekly and there are 48 meetings per year. NetWorks! meetings are designed to run one hour and they do start and end on time.  Meetings do include your meal. Meeting times, dates, and locations for future groups have not yet been set. Our existing groups, Bing! and Business Minds, meets Wednesdays and Tuesdays at noon respectively.

What are the dues to join? Presently, NetWorks! dues are paid on a quarterly schedule that results in annual dues of $1,200. Not much of an investment when you consider what you get, your “Return on Investment”. Typical leads groups may range from those meeting for coffee on no particular schedule and having a roundtable discussion to other groups that are more formally organized and include meals.  So, what do you get with NetWorks!? Certainly, there are the refreshments, the camaraderie, and the qualified leads. Additionally, we offer interactive web based CRM software designed to maximize your business opportunities. No other group that we are aware of offers anything remotely similar to this software. In the end, it is all about Return on Investment (ROI). If you are a commissioned sales representative and, say you get 10% commission on sales, if you can’t sell an additional $12,000 annually as a result of this group, we would suggest that you may have chosen the wrong career path. For more information, please visit our page titled “The NetWorks! Model“.

What does it take to be successful in this group? Be there, participate, contribute, and be active. That’s it. We know of several successful sales representatives who have done just that in marginally organized leads groups, that do not feature the format and tools provided by NetWorks!, who have earned commissions multiple times over their quarterly membership fees. Now, associate that same person in a group of 20-25 people who share their work ethic and commitment to success….you can clearly see the possibilities.

Please tell me more about the CRM. Customer Relationship Management. CRM is software which allows you to not only track contact names and specifics and maintain your calendar, it also allows you to: track opportunities, sales results, create and manage marketing campaigns, and communicate in a timely fashion with clients and prospects. The full list of features is extremely extensive. In the environment of the group, it becomes a central interactive data base of lead information and progress that is available to, and constantly updated, by all group members. It becomes fully dynamic. Many organized leads groups will take member leads, compile them into a list (just a list) and email this list to members. From there, those members who are aggressive will each work that list independently, which means that no other member benefits from their efforts. And why should they? CRM takes the lead qualification process, and resulting successes, to an easy to use and, until now, totally unavailable level. It harnesses, and makes available to all members, the power of the total group membership. And, while our business model does call for multiple groups, groups will not have access to each other group’s database. Your “member services group” maintains the data base including lead entry and pre-qualification of lead information.

What are the conditions of my continued membership? Assuming that you fit the member and group profile and are invited to join, you will be expected to: attend a minimum of 75% of all meetings, be to meetings on time (people who come in habitually late destroy group dynamics and will be asked to resign), provide a minimum of two good leads weekly that you did not read about in the paper (see “good lead”), actively update the CRM database, conduct business in a professional manner, maintain confidentially of lead sources and members as the rule and not an exception, not share group leads with other networking organizations, and pay your dues on time. If you are not comfortable with these commitments, please do not apply. If you can not, for any reason, maintain these commitments, please offer your resignation and your place to another who can. It’s not personal. We wish you great success. It’s purely business.

What is a “good lead”? A good lead would be something you know about that would not be considered to be widely known. Most members read the newspaper but we all have projects that we are working on which few others may be aware of. And we have contact names and phone numbers for these clients and prospects. That information constitutes a “good lead”. Something about the project like what exactly is going on. That being said, we are all working on some projects that we do not want published at all or only want made available to select people. We respect that and there is a vehicle for those situations. Once again, our strong requirements regarding member applications and commitments, play a huge role in all members getting to know one another and build to a relationship based on trust. It’s a winning formula.

Are these groups designed for a particular type of sales person? First let us say that membership is not limited to those whose primary duties are in a sales related role. As examples, you will rarely find people who are in professional industries such as attorneys, engineers, and accountants who consider themselves to be sales people. But they do share a common interest in building their respective businesses and client bases. For those of us who do consider ourselves sales people, and have no problem with that moniker (smile), we would say that same goals apply. At the same time, this group is well designed for sales people whose responsibilities include a strong requirement for both prospecting and building new business. Please see the page on this site titled “Are We Right For You?“. Group sizes will be limited to a maximum of 25.

What qualifies you to facilitate these groups? Thirty plus years in successful business to business selling, management, and ownership positions. Three years as a training consultant developing materials and conducting sales training at both the business and university levels. Twenty years of experience working with CRM software. Twenty plus years of experience participating in, and creating, networking organizations. And all that time, thinking of ways and doing the research needed to create and take this concept to the next level.

Sales Results LLC – Craig M. Jamieson – 208.340.9546 – craig@salesresultsllc.com