It’s an exciting time in our family as we have three babies due in a few months.
And for the first time in a couple of generations, twins are on the way!
The excited parents are all my nieces and nephews, wonderful people and I am so excited for them.
I was looking for some antique children’s furniture as a gift. One item was described as “mid century.” It was made sometime around the 1950s.
I somehow thought mid-century would go back further than that, but that is just my perception. Once I thought about it, it made perfect sense.
In the business world we often overlook things that make perfect sense.
For instance, in my recent post I described the real role of the fitness business owner as developing the resources of the business.
One resource that is usually overlooked is the community. This is unfortunate because of how important this resource can be.
In its simplest terms, developing this resource consists of having relationships with the leaders in the community.
Knowing who these people are, what motivates them, what inspires them, what their hopes for the community are, and being on a first name basis is a powerful resource.
What usually happens is we know only the people that we must know. The Planning Board for instance, or the Zoning Board as we go through the application process for our business. These people are important to know, but they are not who I am referring to.
Leaders in the community are elected officials, volunteer leaders of community organizations, education officials, political representatives, and church or religious leaders. These are the people you should know.
It’s a simple process, but it does take time and for that reason many business owners never got to it and let other things take a higher priority.
If your vision is to run the most respect fitness center in your community, and it should be in my opinion, it’s vital to have relationships with the key leaders.
Here’s a simple plan to follow.
Call them up, introduce yourself, ask if they are available to get together for a few minutes for the purpose of gaining a better understanding of the community and what they do. I recommend offering to buy them coffee or breakfast but let them determine what works best for them.
When you meet remember you are interested in knowing more about them and when they ask, you should be prepared to let them know what you do but keep it brief. Here is where your elevator speech sequence will come in handy.
Here are some of the questions you should be asking:
How did you get into your line of work?
How long have you had this role?
What motivated you to seek or accept this role?
What are the strengths of the community?
What is your vision for the community?
What are the biggest challenges facing the community?
Who are the other leaders in the community that you should get to know?
Ask how you can support their vision for the community.
After you have briefly explained your business, ask them what they think your biggest challenge will be.
I recommend writing out these questions on a legal pad and taking notes, with their permission, on the highlights.
Keep the meeting short, you both have a lot to do. Thank them for their time and mention that you would like to stay in contact.
When you get back to your office send them a short thank you note. Tell them is was nice meeting them and you appreciate their time.
Do NOT send a thank you in an email only. You want to stand out and your snail mail will speak volumes in today’s world. Don’t be tempted to think a written thank you note is mid-century.
Get to know every prominent leader in the community. It will pay HUGE dividends.
