PPAI

Round Table Best Practices Workshop

SPARK After Dark Networking Reception At The PPAI Expo 2018

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Table 1 Q & A    1 ‐ Advancing Personal Knowledge, Skills, Career 

1  How do I balance my passion with my job requirements? 

2  What advice would be given to someone going into a leadership position for the first time? 

3 What are some best practices in order to gain respect and consideration of upper management? 

4  How do I find a mentor or become one? 

5 How can we strengthen our emotional intelligence to stand out as leaders among both men and women? 

6  What are some negotiation best practices for getting a raise or promotion? 

7  How can I self‐advocate for new opportunities and positions within an organization? 

8 How can I present myself as an expert in the field despite only having a few years of experience? 

Question 1: Defined as a task-oriented person who knows how to prioritize and is good with time management.

Achieve accountability utilizing a priority list/to-do list to stay focused. Defined as someone who is good at time management. Achieve accountability using blackout periods (no social media, and just relax) and utilizing an Outlook

calendar. Turn off email notifications. Use good time management to be more efficient. Mix work with pleasure. Invite clients to social activities. Do one task at a time.

Question 2: Listen to the goals of the employees and respect the employees.

Don’t be everyone’s best friend. Lead by example. Communicate, delegate and listen to your employees.

Learn to be a follower. By being a follower you can lead others to follow you.

Don’t forget what your experiences were, your challenges, and what motivated you before you were a leader. Set and vocalize expectations.

Be authentic and genuine, and be a good listener. Be present when there is a challenge and listen to what others say about how you can improve; ask for feedback.

Be present and give your staff the proper tools to grow and do their jobs the best they can.

Continually learn.

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Be positive and see your employees as more than just people that work for you; know their passions.

Question 3: Practice good communication and honesty. Be approachable and have creative ideas, creative cost, and

ways to implement them; be innovative.

Listen, speak up with opinions when needed, have frequent communication with upper management. Also if you have a problem, present a potential solution as well.

Question 4: ASK. (also good for q1 and q2) Offer help to others and show them how to succeed.

Find people with similar interests and know what you’re looking to gain from the mentorship.

Question 5: Be sensitive to others. Know your employees and invest in the right individuals.

Output, efficiency and work ethic shape everyone. Men and women are becoming more equal.

Question 6: Document your work. Show yourself as an asset and have a good work ethic.

Ask for raises all the time. (What’s the worst that can happen?) Ask yourself, “What did I do or can I do to deserve a raise?” Sometimes lack of opportunity gets in the way. Key idea: Money and passion match (read “Rejection Roof”)

Question 7: See #6

See #6, be prepared and prove why you deserve it.

Question 8: Be willing to learn and ask questions.

There’s always something to learn. Say “yes” and then figure out a way answer. How you present yourself matters; for example, say, “Let me figure it out for you.” Always be honest!

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Table 2 Q & A    2 ‐ General Employee Relationships 

1 Accountability in an organization ‐ See it, Own it, Solve it, Do it ‐ How do you define and achieve accountability for yourself and with others? 

2  How to encourage employees to think outside the box 

3  Best practices for communication between generations 

4  How do I handle an employee who is resistant to change? 

5  What are best practices for a changing dynamic within an organization? 

6  How can I help my employees or peers when they are unable to manage their workload? 

7  How to deal with negativity in people 

8  How to build good coworker relationships and create a team atmosphere 

9  How to change views of upper management so the company works more efficiently 

10  How do you “reel in” an overachiever who constantly oversteps boundaries? 

Question 1: Utilize top-down examples; know that your job is important for the team; offer assistance and resources

from past experiences. Set goals and follow up on them.

Question 2: Try to find new ways to look at things. Push boundaries of existing capabilities. Allow employees the opportunities to give ideas. An open-door policy encourages pitching ideas to others who feel intimidated. Incentives and competitions Providing networking opportunities Seeing how other companies and departments work Changing perspective (working outside the office)

Question 3: Know your audience and adapt to changes. Shift your team to new processes and technology. Inclusion and participation are important, as well as understanding your employees.

Question 4: Give them an onboarding period and educate people along the way

Coach, observe and document, but don’t be afraid to fire people.

Question 5: Communicate and address concerns.

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Question 6: Ask them where they need help, and offer advice/solutions.

Question 7: Team building and building confidence.

Address problems with the individual, or go to upper management.

For every negative, give a positive and a solution

Find a good approach.

Question 8: Celebrate the small wins and utilize incentives. Take an overall interest in your employees.

Question 9: Be consistent. Provide analysis with support.

Question 10: Give them more responsibility or give them the opportunity to teach.

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Table 3 Q & A    3 ‐ Hiring, Retaining And Motivating Employees  

1  What are some best practices for finding quality talent in the marketplace? 

2 What have you done to improve your onboarding for new leadership within your organization that has come from outside the promotional products industry?   

3  How do you continue to facilitate growth for your employees?   

4  How to boost staff morale during the most stressful periods? 

5 How do I motivate others to look at bigger picture and work at a more professional level?  

6  How do I create good company culture? 

7 Very few people seem to have a strong work ethic. How do you find entry‐level people who care about the quality of the work they produce? 

8 What tools do others use to screen new employees? How do you measure the success of those tools?   

9  What are some best practices for effective management of diverse sales personnel? 

10  Sales team motivation: What truly helps to steer change and adjustment to behavior? 

Question 1: Some good opportunities would be career development during college career seminar classes; LinkedIn

and other social media; job experience, networking, challenging potential employees’ comfort levels.

Networking, social media, career fairs, LinkedIn

Question 2: Create a course training manual or become a mentor. Cross train in every department.

Introduce a gameboard that allows them to play and learn about the company, different departments, etc.

Shadow other leaders and people within the company.

Make them feel as welcome as possible; make it special during the honeymoon stage.

Question 3: Support professional development and encourage personal goals.

Set goals and use contests.

Question 4: Utilize personality tests, team meditation, live and breathe company values.

Keep it positive and build relationships with the team.

Question 5:

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Communicate

Question 6: Environment, proximity, communication

Start at the top with executives.

Recognize employees.

Introduce games.

Be passionate and flexible; build trust and relationships.

Establish a dress code.

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Table 4 Q & A

Question 8: Talk about the positives.

Keep an open mind.

Think about how the change will affect each and every person and talk to them about it.

Be transparent.

Create positive hype.

   4 – Managing Employees 

1 How do we mentor someone for management who has never managed, but thinks they can?         

2 In my experience, very few people take ownership and pride in their work. How can I help create the desire to go above and beyond, better their position and grow within the company?   

3  How do you build a stronger sense of team between internal and external employees?    

4  What is the best way to deal with personality conflicts within a team?        

5  What is the best way to stand my ground in regard to employee performance? 

6  What is the correct amount of communication with employees?   

7 What's the key to having a team that sees the big picture rather than the small annoyances that hinder them on a daily basis?   

8  How do you get your team excited with the changes for the future?    

9  How to best delegate duties and separate myself from completing the tasks myself? 

10 What are some best practices managing employees in an organization that is constantly changing with turn over? 

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Table 5 Q & A    5 – Industry News, Changes & Trends 

1 Company consolidation and restructuring that is rampant; how do we prepare or better equip ourselves for this continuous cycle?  

2 How do you keep ahead of the market to know the next big thing is coming (think fidget spinners) so that when clients ask you about them, you already know where to look?    

3  How the economy is affecting buying decisions? 

4  How do we grow the business and develop a “big picture” mentality? 

5  How do we stay relevant in the ever‐changing digital marketplace? 

6  How the end buyer is changing? 

7  The industry is changing; how do you see yourself changing in response in five years?   

8 What should smart companies or individuals do in order to thrive in the future? How should they prepare and what steps should they take? 

9 Which companies or individuals have handled change well? What can you learn from their example? 

10  What innovations or new developments do you know about that most others do not? 

Question 1: Cross train, and keep yourself relevant and educated while maintaining transparency with your

employees.

It can be a positive thing and sometimes inevitable. It is not specific to a single industry. It promotes growth and leaves room for adjustments/upgrades such as adaptability and core values.

Question 2: Keep up with retail trends, and pay attention to social media.

Keep up with lifestyle trends and hobbies.

Attend trade shows and events.

Question 3: The economy is currently slow so don’t focus on frivolous things.

Focus on quality and boost morale.

Assist international distributors.

The economy correlates with natural disasters (ie. Orders are on hold, returned, funds list) o Buying habits change and move more toward cheaper options.

Question 4: Utilize technology.

Companies should make themselves irreplaceable.

What you can do now to create positivity in 5 years? Practice emotional intelligence and transparency.

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Question 5: Follow the trends, be proactive with PR, and get involved in the community.

Embrace the change, be adaptable, be forward-thinking while respecting the older generation.

Be the go-to person.

Provide the unique solution with your “boutique”.

Create personal contact and connections.

Question 6: They force you to adapt because they do not like traditional methods (i.e. cold sales calls), but instead

they prefer emails and instant gratification.

They are more mobile via online ordering. Customers have already done their pre-sale research. There are no end-user surprises.

They have a lot more info and options.

They want to do it on their own.

They are willing to work harder and all hours.

Instant gratification.

Question 7: Become more value added by not being afraid of change; add new software, and expect updates often.

Question 8: N/A

Question 9: N/A

Question 10: Some marketing/social media platforms, some 3D pointers, and augmented reality.

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Table 6 Q & A    6 – Distributor Sales and Sales Relationships 

1 What are some unique things you are doing to build sales and develop new relationships and clients? 

2  In what ways are you thinking out of the box to grow your business sales? 

3  What are some best practices for moving from reactive sales to a consultative style? 

4  How does a small distributor compete against a giant distributor? 

5 How do you convince a customer to add items to their program that they are resistant to purchasing? 

6 How is technology affecting the way you do business and in what ways are you dealing with these challenges? 

7 What niche of the market do you find the easiest to penetrate; e.g. education, financial, health care, etc. 

8 My average order size is between $300‐$400, what are some ideas others have to seek out and land bigger or higher volume orders? 

9  What are some unique ways you have used specs or virtuals to grow your sales?    

Question 1: Ask for referrals, provide value add and finding their specific need, and follow up. A few additional

things you can do: Segment your database, recommunicate (use the phone), adapt to customers (via- age, groups, etc.), and be genuine and transparent.

Drop campaigns, have constant touches and maintaining relationships.

Question 2: N/A

Question 3: N/A

Question 4: « IT » talent, partnerships, web-to-print, stay on the cutting edge of technology. Simplify things for the

customer, and utilize rebates.

Question 5-10: N/A

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Table 7 Q & A    7 ‐ Supplier to Supplier Questions 

1 The market is fragmenting, now distributors are selling to retailers, what does this mean for suppliers who sell to retail or represent retail brands?  

2  What has changed most for you in your market in the last year?   

3  What will be your biggest area of investment and focus this year? 

4  How are boutique suppliers maintaining relevancy?    

5  How do you simplify your order processes to make distributors feel at ease?     

6 How do you get the meeting with distributors? Suggestions for meeting formats. How much time in office versus out on the road? 

7 How do you broaden distributor knowledge on products to get them out of their comfort zone? 

8 Pressure for margin: what are some best practices for rebates, pricing, allowances and keeping sales reps engaged? 

9 What do you find to be most advantageous in creating loyalty with, and marketing to, distributors?   

Question 1: It’s a catch 22 because suppliers will provide but feel that it’s unethical. Our industry hangs on

distributor/supplier relationships.

Question 2-10: N/A

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Table 8 Q & A    8 ‐ Supplier/Distributor Relationships  

1 As distributors, do you have suggestions on how suppliers can reach out to you in a different way to break through all the clutter?   

2  Are trade shows still the best way for distributors and suppliers to connect?  

3  What are some best practices for coaching distributors on helping us help them?    

4 How is online ecommerce selling/buying affecting the traditional model of distributor/supplier in the promotional products industry? 

5  How would the distributor group prefer we communicate about our products?       

6 Purchase rationale: price, quality, preferred supplier program, etc. How do you choose a preferred supplier?   

7  Supplier sand distributors: candid conversions about pricing structures.     

8  Supplier and distributor consolidation       

9  Understanding distributor challenges? 

10  What are distributors looking for from suppliers? 

11  What valuable tools do distributors want and need?  

12  What top 3 things do you look for in a key supplier? 

13  Is it okay for suppliers to directly market to end users?      

14 What inventory management software/CRM systems are recommended for hard goods, apparel, or customer service? 

Question 1: Not by email, not by treating each client/distributor the same. Try not to be generic.

Establish relationships, making it a priority. Check up on both big and small accounts.

Email blasts add to clutter. Personalize your attempts and be spontaneous.

Do your research on the distributor and personalize the connection attempt (email) to fit the distributor’s need.

Question 2: Helpful and personal vendor meetings are better. Peernet—peer network buying groups/speed dating

with suppliers are also more personal attempts to connect. Trade shows: suppliers cannot stand them, but distributors can find new products/brands.

Yes, for the most part.

Big trade shows are not the most beneficial way to network, because distributors are looking for the next trending products for their customers. We research suppliers who we would like to visit prior to the show and go around to see those specific suppliers.

Question 3: Your responses need to be in a timely manner; seek patience from distributors, keep relationships on a

professional level. Key: Treat others how you want to be treated.

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Communication

Create sales tools online. Helping distributors gives us the time to provide knowledge, and it’s okay to ask questions.

Question 4: Ecommerce stores are not easy. They can be overwhelming.

Question 5-9: N/A

Question 10: Effective websites with all the necessary information.

Question 11: Relationships. Take comfort in knowing you cannot fulfill all promises. Ask the right questions.

Question 12: N/A

Question 13: Yes, e-blasts and catalogs, and get products in front of distributors to supply to the end users. If you’re

reaching out, make sure you go through the right channels.

Question 14: N/A

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Table 9 Q & A

Question 1: Prioritize by project size and deadlines

Question 2: Rules and prioritize

Question 3:

Balance

Question 4:

Delegate to the team

Question 5:

Whiteboard

Question 6:

Balance and ground rules

Question 7: NA

   9 ‐ Time Management 

1  How do you balance your time dedicated to certain clients and projects? 

2  How do you balance family and work while traveling?  

3  How to make time to take a family vacation. 

4  How to manage a good balance between personal & professional goals. 

5  Project Management tips and tricks. 

6 What are some best practices for setting boundaries and making sure work time doesn't eat up too much into personal time? 

7 Tips or tricks to keeping up with the need for fast turn of orders, emails, calls in this instantaneous world we live in. 

8 When attending conferences and other meetings outside the office, what strategies do you implement to make sure the work back at the office is taken care of and allows you to focus on the conference?      

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Question 8: One thing at a time

Take a break, take a lunch, take care of yourself

Schedule time to work

Good communication with clients and co workers

Prioritize

Leave extra time to not be late

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Table 10 Q & A    10 ‐ Customer Service & Order Processes  

1  Best practices dealing with the changing dynamic of the customer. 

2 How do you handle when a supplier really messes up an order ‐ how do you bounce back with your client?   

3  How to deal with difficult or needy clients. 

4 What strategies or protocols could I use to work with a client when an order has not met their expectations?  

5  In what unique ways do you create customer loyalty? 

7 With so many technologies and platforms available on the market and the uniqueness of our industry (pricing, roles) what tools are promotional marketing professionals using in their corporate environments to increase efficiencies, reduce expenses and increase sales?   

8 What is a good (best/better) system for cross referencing and ensuring correct data entry from the initial PO through to the billing process?  

9 Blanket requests for pricing and items for programs that give little information about the projects or what the client is envisioning.  What free or inexpensive tech tools can help with this? 

10  How to best connect with customers. 

Question 1: Real-life service via phone calls or email.

Keep a level head and have everything in writing.

Be adaptable and train your client.

Question 2: Send personal thank-yous after the order.

Try to solve before hand; otherwise, come up with a solution as quickly as possible.

Make it right.

Take ownership.

Question 3: Allow and schedule time to specifically focus on them.

Try to calm them and them as comfortable as possible.

Determine how much the customer is costing the company .

Vent to coworkers.

Question 4: Be proactive vs. reactive

Apologize—send a gift or give discounts.

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Question 5: Take responsibility and make it work

Offer loyalty programs and special attention/pricing

Question 6: N/A

Question 7: ESP, SAGE, and sales rep relationships

Salesforce, shopify, hubspot

Constant Contact and zoho

Question 8: No specific platform, but look for one system to stream line the procedures.

Question 9: Free virtuals, SAGE, and supplier custom virtuals (online)

Question 10: Call

Face to face

Happy hour with clients

Mentoring personal attributes

To maintain relationships

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Table 11 Q & A    11 ‐ Marketing 

1  Marketing hot topics 

2  How to evaluate the success of a marketing campaign. 

3 How are you currently keeping your brand visible in the marketplace and with the clients you serve?    

4  What types of promotions are garnering the most success? 

5 When planning your marketing spend, are there new ways in which other suppliers have found to reach out to distributors? 

6  Marketing and social media: What is effective marketing in our industry? 

7  What Marketing media are the most useful? 

8  What marketing methods do you find get the fastest returns? 

9  What works for you in marketing in general today?     

10  What are the most effective ways to market to the new buyers in the market? 

Question 1: Master of one

Social media, catalogs, capability to pick your own medium, where to spend money, and what can “we” do for “you”

Question 2: Sales numbers; trackable links (click counters), promo code numbers and surveys.

ROI. Look at whether the phones are ringing, is business growing YOY, and what customers are asking for.

ROI and sales

Question 3: Pay for placement. Look at how things are being searched.

Consistent, but not overbearing, marketing and educational pieces.

Question 4: Personal connection, flyers, and low prices on popular items.

Timing and pricing.

Pricing, having good relationships with customers, fuel freight

Question 5: No

Question 6: Relationships vs product-driven culture

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Question 7: Direct email and phone calls

Question 8: Anything that keeps us on our customers’ mind, such as informing them of potential ideas and samples.

Question 9: E-blasts, direct mail, social media, flyers; reaching out to the whole spectrum of clients, not one specific

target.

Question 10: Learn about them and tailor your message to best fit their needs.

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Table 12 Q & A    12 – Distributor Questions 

1  As a distributor how do we handle more and more going direct?   

2  What is everyone doing about shipping issues? 

3  How to compete with online competition. 

4 How to grow a small business when everyone is consolidating or joining a larger firm. 

5  How do you add more business without always having to add resources?      

6  How can you find a niche product that works? 

7 What is the best way to identify cost savings within the organization and then create a plan to execute to achieve results? 

8  What should we stop doing as distributors? 

9  What effective ways are you managing the outsourcing of teams? 

10  Meeting client demands with increasingly tight timeframes. 

Question 1: It is an incredible honor to “brand storm” for major clients that are expecting out the box ideas and

original, creative ideas.

Relationships are more important than ever. A symbiotic relationship between the distributor and supplier is necessary for the future success of the industry. Both parties rely on specific sales pitches.

Question 2: Small businesses and large businesses alike can thrive in this industry. It isn’t so much a matter of

competition and consolation if each business is meeting clients’ needs.

Question 3: It is important to underpromise and overdeliver. We build businesses on managing expectations and

addressing the “in-hands” date above all else. Supplier/distributor partnership comes into play here.

Question 4: Small businesses do not know as much about larger firms and what they have to offer; great staff, great

system, loyal customers, keeping pricing down, and customer service.

Question 5: Cross selling, ecommerce, word of mouth, marketing via social media, price match, and loyalty.

Question 6-10: N/A

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Table 13 Q & A    13 – Engaging, Retaining & Working With All Generations 

1  Attracting, hiring and training young professionals outside the industry. 

2  What staffing challenges are others facing with younger Millennials?  

3 Challenges to our industry with changing buyers; where do we see the industry five years down the road with Gen Z? 

4  How do you market to Gen Z? 

5  How to convey to the older generation to not see Millennials as sterotypes. 

6  How do we stay relevant and connect to the newest generation of buyers? 

7  How do you get the younger generation excited about working in this industry? 

8  What is phone/email/text etiquette for staff and customers? 

Question 1: N/A

Question 2: Entitlement

Question 3-8: N/A

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Table 14 Q/A    14 – Supplier Sales & Sales Relationships 

1 What are some best practices for balancing persistence without being perceived as pesky or annoying to prospects? 

2  Besides compensation or bonuses, how do others motivate their sales teams to perform?  

3  Best training methods for new sales positions. 

4  Best practices for building compensation plans. 

5  How to track ROI from a trade show event. 

6  Does anyone have creative incentive sales programs that have worked well? 

7 Best practices getting the 'inside' team to see customers past a sales order, when they miss out on having an outside relationship.  

8  How to provide effective value to distributors. 

9  How do you compete with price? 

10  What are you currently doing to acquire prospects and generate leads?  

11  How to get more involved with organizations while still covering my territory. 

12  How to grow your sales with the current customers you have and gain new clients.   

13  How to increase sales with the increase of online sales.      

14  How to juggle both inside and outside sales.  

Question 1: Be upfront and honest; email and phone; consistent marketing, and engaging graphics.

Being face to face with your customer helps in developing relationships and not just “bugging” with email and calls. You have to be persistent. Face-to-face meetings help build trust and gives your prospect/customer a reference that stands out from all of the emails and calls.

Question 2: Have “skin in the game”: bonuses/monetary rewards, recognition, and rewards from upper level “C-

level”

Question 3-8: N/A

Question 9: Ask yourself where the distributors need to be? Help kick starter companies to start out. Be honest,

because sometimes you lose on price but your value add puts you through to close. There is fast, cheap, and good customer service. You can be one or two of them, but it is rare to be all three. Use that to your advantage. If you are more expensive, what are the competitors’ weaknesses?

Question 10-12: N/A

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Question 13: Online sales are more efficient than printing, signing and scanning.

It has to be digital and be capable of loading online sales through a customer site. It also helps them find the product, so do not have a “dated” site.

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Table 15 Q & A    15 ‐ Work Life Balance 

1  How do you balance your time dedicated to certain clients and projects? 

2  How do you balance family and work, while traveling?  

3  How to make time to take a family vacation.  

4  How to manage a good balance between personal & professional goals. 

5  Project management tips and tricks 

6 Setting boundaries and making sure work time doesn't eat up too much into personal time.    

7 Tips or tricks to keeping up with the need for fast turn of orders, emails, calls in this instantaneous world we live in. 

8 When attending conferences and other meetings outside the office, what strategies do you implement to make sure the work back at the office is taken care of and allows you to focus on the conference?      

9  Best practices for staying in shape and eating healthy when on the road/events. 

10 Are there areas of your life where you feel a sense of mission or purpose? Which ones and why? Best practices balancing them and work. Can you combine them? 

11 How do you make time for reflection in your life and find the space to think? What’s worked for you and what hasn’t? 

Question 1: To-do lists, priorities, blocking time out for calls, being out of the office twice a month for face-to-face

interactions.

Prioritize, focus on best opportunities, know and work with your customers.

Dollar value projects/clients: highlight in green what makes money.

Potential for more

Write it down/reminders (digital)

Time management–who can fit?

Degree of difficulty

Payment

Tackle challenging things in the morning.

Question 2: Facetime, Skype, photos, calls, etc.

Keep work and personal life separate. It is important to “turn it off.”

Question 3: Plan between work and travel.

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Just go! Don’t think about it.

Question 4: Leave work at the office.

Value alignment—personal and professional

Question 5: Be prepared and organized.

Question 6: Be adaptable and flexible.

Question 7: Communication, trust and internal relationships.

Question 8: Train your clients to your process: educate and set expectations.

Question 9: Work out while traveling and schedule “cheat” days.

Run a lot!

Question 10: Just make it work for your own personal schedule and needs.

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Table 16 Q & A    16 ‐ Big Picture Ideas 

1 Thinking of a large problem in the industry, how have other industries solved this same or similar problem? 

2 Can those strategies be imported into your company or our industry? What would that look like?  

3  How could you tweak the idea so it is even more effective for your company or our industry? 

4  How can you help others in your field do things better or more efficiently?  

5 Do you have training programs or internship programs set up in your company? What steps would you take to create one? 

6 What are you most afraid of? What is holding you back? How can you work to overcome that fear? 

7 What type of reading (journals, magazines, blogs, newspapers, ect) or topics do you want to start to learning more about? Make a plan to start one within the next month.  

8  What are the steps you are going to start taking first, Short term and longer term?  

Question 1: The traditional mindset is not willing change; large vendors having issues with quick responses.

Training—it’s important to have intros into systems/processes. Scholarships and internship programs.

Biggest problem: lack of communication between distributors and suppliers: o Fear of rebuttle from orders o Should we allow for a bit…? o Being afraid of asking “dumb” questions o Distributors don’t ask/tell what they actually need o Customer service/explaining how things work

Solution: Supplier/distributor open forum o Easier for suppliers to attend education sessions–open up Promo Connect for both parties. o Explain the process for each side. o Better social media messages/responses

Question 2-5: N/A

Question 6: Fax machines- there are apps that will take pics/scan (going paperless)

Change can be scary. Consolidating programs and platforms helps with efficiency and change.

Question 7:

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Local business magazines/newspapers

Focus groups

Blogs-products/industry related/business advice

Goodle alerts

PPB

Question 8: N/A

Table 17 Q & A    17 ‐ Build Your Network 

1  Are there areas where you feel you have expertise? How did you develop that expertise?  

2  Are you currently sharing that expertise with others? If yes, how? If not, why not? 

3 Do you have a group of colleagues with whom you share ideas? If yes, what role do they play in your life and how did you come to be part of the group? If no are there other ways you’re getting professional support and feedback? How could you build more of this info your life? 

4 Are you part of any communities built around an idea (TED or TEDx talks, meet‐up discussion groups, volunteer groups, industry groups)? If yes, why did the idea catch your interest and what do you get out of your involvement in the community? 

5 Whom do you respect most among your peers? Brainstorm a list of them—inside and outside the industry. For each one write down one action you can take in the next month to three months to deepen that relationship.  

6  What kind of insight do you wish you could receive, and what could you give to others?  

7  What are the strongest affiliations you possess? (Schools, big companies, volunteer groups, etc.)  

8  Can you maximize the networking potential within that strong affiliation?  

9  What charitable group means the most to you and how can you get more involved? 

10 What are some ways you can encourage your clients, peers or even competitors to get involved in charitable pursuits?  

11 What podcasts, blogs, newsletters, and social media platforms do your clients and peers watch? What new platforms are emerging? How can you reach out to more people and expand your circle of influence? 

12 Brainstorm how you can get more involved with those platforms with the “new to the industry” perspective, the “experienced perspective,” the “how to guide” writer perspective, etc. What connects with you the most? 

13 How can you be a connector? Please brainstorm, for the person sitting next to you, who can you connect them with. Then think about that on a bigger scale.  

14 What opportunities can you create, online and off for your community of peers? How can you spark the conversations about best practices or asking for advice? 

Question 1: Sales and marketing

Web -based platforms: total solutions

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Brand management

Mid-size management

Question 2: Yes (no specficiation)

Question 3: Yes, we share and collaborate on best practices, experiences and advice.

Question 4: Trade shows, events and marketing.

Question 5:

Question 6: It is okay to say no as a supplier.You cannot do everything; know your limitations. Present a solution for

your “no” answer.

You’ll get better with experience

Question 7-14: N/A