My early years of networking were a disaster. My approach turned off more people than it turned on. The harder I tried the more stressed I got and the more I failed.

Networking is a learnable skill. I was able to turn things around when I worked on listening more and talking less. I came to see networking as an opportunity to help others rather than only to sell myself. Funny thing how we become more interesting to others when we are more interested in others.

Here are ten tips to help you with your networking technique:

•    Dress appropriately for the occasion but dress well. Wearing something offbeat doesn’t say you are a nonconformist; it says you are vain enough to think you can get away with it. Few can pull it off so don’t take the chance.

•    If you don’t know anybody walk up to someone who is alone and introduce yourself. I find it much easier to approach someone in the same boat as me. Breaking into a group of strangers having a discussion can be awkward.

•    Draw in other singles. Create a group of your own. You can then politely slip away when it’s time to move on.

•    Once you’re warmed up it’ll be easier to work the room. Be careful of the temptation to settle in with someone because you are comfortable with them. You are there to make new contacts.

•    Don’t tell others what you do until they ask. How do you feel when someone walks up to you and introduces themselves with a sales pitch about themselves or their business?

•    When they do ask, give them a business card and have a short and compelling answer that leaves them asking for more.  Don’t say “I am VP of sales for XYZ Company.” That’s already on your card. Say something like “I help businesses improve their productivity.”

•    If they don’t ask then ask them what they do. People almost always reciprocate. If they don’t ask it is likely that they are not interested. Be cheerful but look for an opportunity to politely slip away.

•    Look for opportunities to help. Offering good leads is excellent but only if they really are good.  Introduce them to someone you know. If apropos, offer connections. If nothing else, be a good listener.

•    If there is interest expressed to meet afterward, set a firm date for the meeting or the follow-up phone call.

•     Have fun. Networking is about making business connections but it is also about meeting new, interesting people.

To learn more, I recommend “The Frog And Prince” by Darcy Rezac. It is an excellent instruction manual for networking. It is available through the Vancouver Board of Trade at www.boardoftrade.com.

Doug Edgar is an executive coach and advisor to small and medium sized business owners and managers.  He can be reached at doug@compass-strategies.ca, www.compass-strategies.ca.

I recently signed up for Twitter.  I intended to check it out, confirm that it was nothing more than a time dump and close my account.

A few weeks later I stand corrected.  Based on media coverage I expected to find inane “tweets” (messages) proclaiming trivial personal news like what someone had for breakfast. Instead, I found a community of business people exchanging tweets with links to interesting articles, workshops, seminars, late breaking business news, business tips, famous business quotes and even job openings.

Every tweet is a broadcast by the tweeter to everyone following him/her. The tweets you see are only from those people you choose to follow. You follow someone by clicking on a button. From then on, anything that person tweets will show up in your “stream” (flow of tweets). If someone turns out to be a dud, you can unfollow them with another click.

Finding my business community was an easy process. Over the first couple of weeks I found my share of inane tweeters and spammers but I also found plenty of tweeters who shared my professional interests. I “followed” them and they “followed” me. Through their profiles I could see who they followed.  Checking out who they followed was an effective way to find other people for me to follow.

As my list of follows and followers expanded, I outgrew the basic Twitter platform.  Twitter itself is the base for sending and receiving tweets but it doesn’t have tools to help manage the steady flow of tweets throughout the day. Fortunately, there are numerous third party applications like Tweetdeck and Seesmic that allow you to sort tweets into groupings.

I use Tweetdeck.  I have an “A” List group which includes those I want to follow closely, a “B” List which includes those I want to follow as time permits, and a general list that includes everyone else.  I don’t often get to the general list but from time to time I will look it over and find people that look interesting and promote them to the higher ranked groups. I also have a “mentions” group where any responses to my tweets pop up.

The only cost to Twitter is time and an internet connection. All the software is free and most of the add-ons are free. I’ve not come across any need to purchase anything. You can do quite well with the hundreds of free apps available online.

I’m doubtful that there is profit to be made from using Twitter. The value I see is in the personal network it allows users to create.  I have made several valuable connections that would not likely have been made otherwise. Twitter may not become a direct source of profit but it can be a great resource of useful connections and information.

If you would like to check out Twitter for yourself, go to http://twitter.com.

Doug Edgar is president of Compass Strategies, an executive coaching and business advisory firm and can be reached at doug@compass-strategies.ca, www.compass-strategies.ca.

I’ve found that cash flow management is a misunderstood concept to many small business owners.  The health of your cash flow is critical to the sustainability of your business and should be a top priority for you.  This is especially true during tough times when banks are less willing to come to your aid.

Managing cash flow is not about making sure you have enough money in the bank to cover the cheques you are writing today.  It’s about making sure you will be able to write cheques throughout the ups and downs of your annual business cycle.  Will you have enough money coming in to cover expenses every month?

A good cash flow forecast will show you if there are periods of the year where you will not have enough cash and how short you will be.  You can then determine how much you need to put aside in the good periods to get you through the shortfall.  (A big bank balance in an up period does not necessarily mean you have money to spend.)  If prudent you can negotiate with your bank for a line of credit that covers potential shortfalls.

Your cash flow forecast will also provide you with a reality test.  If your forecast predicts that you will not pick up sufficient cash in the good times to get through the down times then your business model needs a serious reworking.

The unexpected can always arise.  A customer goes out of business without warning leaving you without that big cheque you were expecting next week with money you need to meet payroll.  A customer reduces his normal order leaving you with more inventory and lower receivables.  A piece of equipment breaks down and needs expensive repairs.  (One could argue that these types of situations should not be surprises if you are on top of your business but sometimes even the best due diligence can fail to detect problems before it is too late.)

If you see a cash crunch coming or if it is thrust upon you by an unexpected event you need to take immediate action.  Talk to your banker before the situation gets out of hand. Meet with your large vendors to negotiate longer terms.  Reduce your inventory of raw materials to a bare minimum.  Ask your customers to pay you sooner. Ask your accountant for advice. Put together a plan for how and when you are going to get out of the crunch.

Cash crunches are not out of the ordinary.  Don’t let your embarrassment get the better of you.  Don’t try to hide the situation.  Maintaining the trust of your stakeholders is critical.  If you have been doing a proper job of managing your cash then you can demonstrate to stakeholders that this is a temporary situation, you can show them why it happened and you can show them your plan for getting through it. If they trust you they will likely go along with you.

The Business Development Bank has excellent resources for small and medium sized business owners including templates for calculating and forecasting cash flows.  Go to www.bdc.ca for more information.

Doug Edgar is president of Compass Strategies, an executive coaching and business advisory firm and can be reached at doug@compass-strategies.ca, www.compass-strategies.ca.

May 27, 2009

Business coaching is an emerging profession.  If you haven’t heard about coaching, you will.  Fortune 500 corporations have used coaches for many years.  Small and medium sized businesses are now discovering the value of coaching.

In its early days, coaches were most often given remedial assignments.  They were called in to address a specific performance problem, perhaps to turn around a valued employee who was going through a rough patch.  Today, coaching is also a proactive tool for grooming future leaders, developing existing leaders, enhancing personal and team performance and improving the work-life balance.

An independent study of the benefits of coaching was conducted in 2008/09 by Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP for the International Coaching Federation, the leading professional coach association.  Coaching clients were surveyed and they indicated that the primary positive impacts of coaching included improved self-confidence (80%), improved relationships (73%), improved communication skills (72%), improved work performance (70%) and improved work-life balance (67%).

The same study presented the financial benefits of coaching as determined by clients. The study states “The median company return is 700% indicating that typically a company can expect a return of 7 times the initial investment.”

A coaching program typically involves initial research and development of a customized program followed by a weekly telephone session of up to an hour where issues are discussed, progress is reviewed and short term goals are set. In-person sessions are available but most clients prefer the telephone.  The duration of the coaching program is usually 3 to 6 months though some coaching relationships can last indefinitely.

There are many different approaches to coaching.  My personal preference (and training) is behavioural coaching. The behavioural coach focuses on finding a solution rather than a cause for negative behaviours.  The cause of behaviours is best left to professional therapists. Coaches are not therapists.

The cost of coaching varies widely depending on the nature of the assignment and the experience of the coach.  You can expect fees of $500 to $1000 per month.

Doug Edgar is president of Compass Strategies, an executive coaching and business advisory firm.  He can be reached at doug@compass-strategies.ca or www.compass-strategies.ca.

What is your customer service policy for dealing with complaints?  Do you make your customers jump through hoops to register a complaint (think cable and telephone companies)?  Do you treat each complaint as an attempt by your customer to get something for nothing? Or do you welcome complaints as an opportunity to improve your business and solidify your customer relationships?

In our roles as consumers, we have expectations of the companies and people with whom we do business.  We expect them to treat us fairly, live up to their promises, and stand behind their products if there are problems. Since the customer is always right, we expect to be given the benefit of the doubt if there are any grey areas.  In short, once the matter is settled, we expect to be satisfied to the point where we have enough confidence to continue doing business with those companies in future.

In business-to-business roles we have the same expectations when we are the customer.  Of course, that means our customers have the same expectations of us.

An entrepreneur I worked with had a simple customer complaint policy: act now – think later.  His employees were expected to treat complaints with sincerity and a sense of urgency.  Whatever the problem or whoever may be at fault, even if it is the customer, apologize and do whatever is needed to solve the problem and satisfy the customer.  Figure out later what went wrong or who may be at fault.  His company’s reputation for exceptional customer service increased its profitability even after allowing for the occasional customer who took advantage of the act now – think later policy.  (Such customers were usually removed from the company’s customer list.)

The act now phase is focused wholly on the customer. Resolve the complaint and satisfy the customer. Act now does not mean act without thinking.  It is a state of mind where thinking is focused on resolving the problem rather than looking for what went wrong or who is to blame.

The think later phase is the review process, an opportunity to explore thoroughly the root cause of the complaint in a calm, unhurried manner.  Lessons are learned and appropriate remedial action is determined.

An act now – think later policy can be applied beyond customer complaints. Delivery delays, equipment breakdowns and shipping errors are examples of where employees should be trained to focus fully on what needs to be done immediately to resolve the problem and satisfy the customer and not be distracted by the who and the why.

Doug Edgar is president of Compass Strategies, an executive coaching and business advisory firm and can be reached at doug@compass-strategies.ca, www.compass-strategies.ca.