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Will Williams
Michigan Works
Business Services Coordinator
Over my last year years involvement with the Howell Chamber I would say my success has been based on forming relationships! I have had many different interactions between members at the Chamber at various events that are held on a weekly basis. It's not about trying to hand out your business cards to anyone who will take them at a Chamber event. It's not about setting out to sell your products or services to Chamber members, expecting that your Chamber membership can be a directory for leads. Instead, your Chamber membership is about forging relationships first, of being part of the Chamber community. Attend the events to get to know other members. Discuss what you're doing, seek or offer advice for business-related issues.
Through your interactions, establish yourself as a go-to source. When someone you've interacted with needs your service or product, or finds about someone else who does, they might pass the referral on to you. If you need a service or product, or encounter a similar need, you do the same for the other business. It's a more organic relationship building, creating a network of contacts into relationship-building business.
It's the concept at the heart of "The Go-Giver: A Little Story About A Powerful Business Idea" by Bob Burg and John David Mann. For those of you who have not read it I highly recommend it and applying its "Five Laws of Stratospheric Success" in your approach to business. This book, which is definitely a quick read, illustrates the concept of creating meaningful relationships that help others and that these could ultimately lead to unexpected rewards.
Pick it up, learn from it and instead of being a "go-getter," set out to become a "go giver."
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