Networking Benefits Regional Businesses

Three times a year, major players from all over the country convene at an undisclosed location and time somewhere in Benton County.
Bankers, builders, business owners, recruiters, Realtors, financial advisers, CPAs, high-level executives and investors are regulars at the ultra-exclusive “gatherings” that are by invitation only.
Deals are struck and partnerships are spawned during the gatherings that lead to new businesses, projects or other income-producing endeavors.
Steve Pangle, president of First National Title Co. in Bentonville, organizes the gatherings and appreciates the power of networking. He said the gatherings have grown from a few dozen when they began in the mid-1990s to more than 150 people at recent events.
Pangle estimates “a couple hundred million” dollars in projects have resulted from relationships formed at the gatherings.
“It’s not just networking, but networking with a purpose,” Pangle said. “A great deal of time and effort is spent by various industries to enhance their networking capabilities. The ones that I think succeed are those who use those networking skills to establish long-term quality relationships.”
There are networking events five days a week in Northwest Arkansas, allowing plenty of opportunities for relationships to form. Not every function is as exclusive as the gathering. Some are as simple as business after hours, some seek to bridge the gap between cultures and others rely on gimmicks.
Notwithstanding, the aim of all is the same: to generate more business.

Casting a Net
For the inexperienced up-and-comers, walking into a room full of strangers for the first time can be a test of nerves and confidence.
“People get really freaked out by networking,” said Carrie Perrien Smith, who hosts networking events as part of her Soar With The Eagles business in Rogers. “It’s like the first day of junior high all over again and you’re the only one that thinks you’re a goober.
“What’s so funny is everyone feels like they’re the only one, but they’re not alone. Everyone thinks they’re a goober.”
Smith lists several networking events that are free to the public on her Web site, soarhigher.com. The company provides guest speakers, training, consulting and publishing.
Besides helping with other networking events such as morning coffees, luncheons and after hours events, Smith is trying to get speed networking revved up in Northwest Arkansas.
Smith even sports a racing jersey during her High-Octane Networking power lunches. She said it’s a knock-off of speed dating, where rooms full of singles play musical chairs from table to table while meeting every person in the room.
With speed networking, the concept is similar. Attendees are lined up in pairs in a horseshoe shape. Five minutes are allotted for each pairing to discuss business. The lunches range in price from $40 to $50 and last about two hours.
“Speed marketing is the rage in the big markets and in the [United Kingdom],” Smith said. “Whereas the big markets may have 100 people in a room, we have a minimum of 30 and the one-on-one conversations are a little more private.
Smith said networking is all about the connections.
She mirrored her meetings after the Professional Women’s Networking meetings. It was the first area networking event not affiliated with any chamber of commerce and did not include any kind of membership or fee.
Since it wasn’t exclusive, anyone could become a member and that’s why Smith said her networking functions have grown so rapidly. It also increased the number of meetings per month, allowing people to quickly build stronger relationships.
Kerry Jensen, vice president and business development officer for First Western Bank in Rogers, began organizing “morning coffee” meetings about five years ago. Originally, there was only one per week, but it has since branched off into a five-time-a-week affair in each major city in Northwest Arkansas.
The coffees last about an hour and each participant is given 60 seconds to promote their business.

Card Carriers
Jim Watson has handed out thousands of business cards as vice president and business development officer of First Security Bank in Fayetteville.
If there’s a networking event in Washington County, there’s a solid chance Watson will be there with a pocket full of business cards.
“It’s important to give your business card out to as many people as you meet,” Watson said. “Everybody has a bank and most are pleased with their bank, but you never know when something happens that displeases them with that financial institution.
“If that’s the case and they’ve stuck one of my cards in their wallet or desk, maybe they’ll see it.”
Networking is a major part of Watson’s job description. Because First Security didn’t enter the market until 1998, it needed a way to get its name out quickly.
Watson, a Fayetteville native, already knew a lot of people, but also was aware of the importance of meeting more. He scoured the chambers for events and started reading business publications for leads on start-ups coming to the area.
“I’ve found that if you wait until a sign goes up, you don’t have a chance to get that business because they already have a bank by that time,” Watson said. “You need to find some sort of in before they ever get to that point.”
After meeting a new person, Watson enters their information into a “call sheet” database. The profile grows with each meeting and includes everything from the names of a person’s spouse and kids to hobbies such as fishing or golfing. The information makes coming up with conversation starters much easier, Watson said.
Watson said he’s won a few million-dollar deals simply by doing his homework and research on potential clients he met at networking functions. He said the key is to be outgoing, but not over the top or overbearing. He also makes it a point to never talk negative about another bank.
“We have some really good customers who I worked with for three years before they ever moved an account over to us,” Watson said. “I wasn’t there every week or every month, but I stayed in contact with them.”

Post Networking
Relationships are what networking is all about and Pangle said his beliefs are nothing new. In fact, he calls George Billingsley his mentor because he taught Pangle how to break business down to its most basics levels. Billingsley led the International push of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in the early 1990s.
Pangle, who wouldn’t say where or when the next gathering will be held, said the break down is simple.
“Answer the phone quickly and be glad it’s ringing,” Pangle said. “Return your phone calls — now e-mails — as soon as possible and for sure before you leave for the day, even the ones you really don’t want to make.
“Then, just do what you say when you say it.”
Pangle said it’s important to make sure the networking is valuable to your core business. Since he’s in the title business, his target client varies and is much different than the networking needs of someone who owns a software company.
For Pangle, he rubs elbows with the top brass at lending institutions, law firms and real estate firms. He also meets many residential and commercial developers along the way as well as individuals buying houses.
Without networking, many deals would never close, Pangle said.
“When you’re a small business or new to the area, it’s hard to make those contacts,” Jensen said. “But networking gives them a set time and place when a whole group of people will be there.”
Most chambers of commerce do everything possible to improve and sponsor networking events in their respective cities.
Missy Shanklin, the Fayetteville Chamber’s director of sales and memberships, is working on “beefing up” the Chamber’s current networking functions to make them fun.
As a chamber, helping grow local businesses will only improve a city’s economy.
“If people are introduced in a professional environment, you have 20 new clients that you never would have had otherwise,” Shanklin said. “So give yourself every opportunity to promote yourself and your business and attend some kind of networking function.”