Canadian Small Business Women

Connection, Synergy, Community

For Women on the Move

Aviary Photo_130605261112039905

JDC met Heather and Nicky from Women on the Move at the start of summer. Friends since 1981, they have shared successes, challenges and many adventures. As serial entrepreneurs they now join forces to bring an unparalleled depth of knowledge, understanding, experience and passion to help women start and grow prosperous businesses. Women on the Move is Heather’s third business startup and Nicky’s second. Prior to her first startup, Heather climbed the corporate ladder and was VP of Sales and Marketing for Lucent Technology before she was 35. Nicky fast tracked her entrepreneurial path within a franchise structure. She started with Arthur Murray Dance Studio as an instructor at 30, two years later becoming a sales manager and shortly after that a successful franchisee.  As we learned more about these wonderful women’s individual and collective successes, we just had to share their experiences and learnings with you. Here are 4 great pieces of  advice from Heather and Women;

  1. Best piece of advice for women struggling with sales: Invest in yourself and get some training. Sales is a skill and like any other skill it is acquired, and that takes time and training.  You need a process so you can look back and see where you made a wrong turn and where you made good turns.  Otherwise you are just shooting in the dark. Learn to drive sales and develop strong closing skills and excellent communication skills. Make sure you know how your product is relevant to your buyer and make sure you know how to present your product as critical.
  1. Women are by nature more collaborative than competitive. Community and teamwork are part of how we are wired. We thrive on community and confidence, which is a key factor in sales and entrepreneurship, that soars when women work together towards a common goal.  We love to contribute to one another’s success, it is our instinct to nurture and that sets us apart from men.
  1. More than I have from my success! Failing forward is important. When we fail we examine where we went wrong and where we can improve next time. One rarely looks at one’s success with the same intensity. I always say that Olympic medalists have failed more than anyone else on the planet.  They kept getting up when everyone stayed down.  If you keep on keeping on regardless of failure, at some point you will be the last one standing.  That is one of the key secrets to success….keep on keeping on.
  1. Never, never, never give up. It always takes more money and more time than you think it will. And always marry your passion with your skills. That is a winning combination.  Never stop learning.

 For more information on Women on the Move.

www.womenonthemove.club

Written by Marisol and Silvia Fornoni, Founders of JDC.

JDC supports socially conscious organizations with finding sustainable ways to tell their stories using visual design, engaging content and non-traditional media. We help you with anything from organizing fundraising campaigns to web design and social media management.

http://www.joint-development.com

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

Networking Etiquette

Martina New

 

How does it make you feel, when someone you just met launches into a full-on sales pitch? Probably not so dandy. It may make you feel the same way as those sales calls you get after 8pm all right during dinner, and you just want to tell them to go away.

When this happens at a networking event, it’s awkward. Someone just introduced herself to you, or you said hello and asked what she does, and suddenly you’re finding yourself trying to back out of the conversation.  If you’ve attended more than a couple of networking meetings, you know exactly what I’m talking about! 

I admit that at my very first networking event as a fresh business owner, I hadn’t yet figured out the best way of going about things. Somewhere I had heard or read that it was a good opportunity to get and give as many business cards as possible, and many business owners support that view. Because you never know whom you`ll meet, or whom they know.

Being competitive as I am, yet also feeling a little nervous in a downtown pub stuffed to the hilt with small business owners, I “worked the room” as much as I was comfortable. In between greetings, I excitedly felt the growing number of cards in my pocket and felt somewhat proud over how many I had at the end of the night.

Yet therein lies a problem. As Christel Wintels, franchise owner of the BNI Golden Horseshoe groups, shared at a recent big networking bash, some informal ‘research’ had shown that of all the people who attend any given networking event, only around 5 per cent are there to buy something, yet a good 90 per cent or more are there to sell! So Christel’s commandment is: Thou shalt not sell!

Just like any other set of manners, networking etiquette has its pitfalls. Understandably, we’re excited about our business or idea and want to tell as many people as possible. And isn’t it all about exchanging business cards with lots of new people? 

It is in a way, but of course certain guidelines should apply so that you are remembered in a positive way. For example:

  • Prepare your introduction. Have a well-rehearsed pitch or ‘infomercial’ of 60 seconds or less. It should tell the listener about your key services and main benefits to them. Make it engaging, use some intrigue.
  • Listen! Cany people “don’t listen with the intent to understand, merely with the intent to respond.” Make the conversation about the other person, and hope they’ll do the same.
  • Ask new people for introductions to other specific businesses, and also ask them whom they would like to meet. You will be a superstar if you can introduce them to somebody else you met at that event!
  • Wait for a break in conversation or an obvious end before jumping into a still ongoing dialogue between two or more persons.
  • Avoid introducing yourself to someone just as they’re putting food in their mouth. I always find this one particularly challenging to handle when on the receiving end! I struggle for a suitable and polite response when asked “So what do you do?” while I’m currently balancing hors d’oeuvres on a napkin, and trying to keep crumbly filo pastry off my face and clothes. Needless to say I also don’t want to talk with my mouth full. Maybe say hello to someone else first and come back later.
  • Be humble and accept the fact that not everyone will be interested in your business. Start a dialogue and then wait to hear if that person would like your business card or not. If they don’t prompt you, maybe they’re really not interested or in need of your service.

In any case, enjoy the event! Every networking event is a good opportunity to improve on and perfect your sales conversation, get a feel for which aspects of your conversation and benefits spark the greatest interest, and you never know whom you might meet and whom they know!

Just remember to leave the kind of impression you actually want to be remembered for.

 

Martina Rowley is the founder and operator of Beach Business Hub – THE co-working space east of the Don Valley. She combined her passion and experience in the environmental sector with her community engagement side to create a local work environment where space and resources are shared. She fosters and facilitates collaboration, networking, and learning for and with small business owners and new start-ups. Contact her at:http://www.beachbusinesshub.ca, on Facebook and on Twitter

What Your Communication Style Says About You

Martina-R.

Communication is key. Whether we communicate in writing – in letters or e-mails – or verbally, over the telephone or in person, what business owners and clients say and how we say it is important to understanding one another. Getting it completely wrong can have consequences ranging from simple misunderstandings to lost business.

While we all know how to talk, and business training teaches us what to say, what do we really learn about interpreting someone else’s communication style and what it says about their preferences in dealing with us?

In a recent Lunch & Learn, Jayne Huhtanen, a business coach with Focal Point Coaching of Toronto [http://ca.linkedin.com/in/jaynehuhtanen], addressed whether our communication style might be holding us back. Not speaking the same ‘language’ as our existing or potential customers, Jayne says, “can significantly limit your success”. To start with ourselves and recognise our own style, Jayne demonstrated the DISC profile created in the 1920s by psychologist William Marston.

The profile identifies four main communication styles: Dominant, Influential, Steady, and Conscientious. The first step is to recognise your style or that of the person you are communicating with. Then it helps to know what does and does not work when dealing with someone of that style.

  • Dominant individuals are: decisive, competitive, direct, often demanding and impatient. When dealing with a D-style it is best to be brief and to the point, focused, and logical. Keep the conversation results oriented and on topic. Do not dominate the dialogue, get emotional or touch the person.
  • Influential individuals are: sociable and talkative, impulsive, spontaneous, and emotional. When dealing with an I-style it is best to focus on the positive, show enthusiasm and smile a lot. Be warm and friendly, let him or her talk, and ask their opinion. Do not squash their enthusiasm, be negative, or focus on too much detail.
  • Steady individuals are: calm and laid-back, amiable, patient, modest, and often indecisive. When dealing with an S-style it is best to build trust, and slow down to draw out his or her opinions. Do provide reassurance and enough time to make a decision. Do not press for an immediate answer, make sudden changes, or fail to deliver on promises you make.
  • Conscientious individuals are: precise, logical, analytical, quiet, and disciplined. When dealing with a C-style it is best to present facts and data, use proven ideas, and stay on task. Do be patient, provide detailed information, and give enough time to think. Do not touch the person, be too chatty and talk about personal issues, or keep important information to yourself.

Recognising these different communication styles quickly is, of course, a challenge for anyone who is not a psychologist or otherwise trained. Nevertheless, when dealing regularly with your existing clients it will probably become quite evident which style pervades.

With some observation and a little practise you should be able to recognise which style your clients – and you! – fall under. It may help to understand that someone’s curt mannerisms are borne not out of malice but a habit they have less control over. Makes me think of the TV character Sheldon in ‘Big Bang Theory’!

 

Sources:

https://www.discprofile.com/what-is-disc/william-marston/

 

Martina Rowley is the founder and operator of Beach Business Hub – THE co-working space east of the Don Valley. She combined her passion and experience in the environmental sector with her community engagement side to create a local work environment where space and resources are shared. She fosters and facilitates collaboration, networking, and learning for and with small business owners and new start-ups.  Contact her at:http://www.beachbusinesshub.ca, on Facebook and on Twitter