Swapped my weekly networking lunches for coffee meetups and got way better leads

I used to do the whole sit-down lunch thing with other business owners twice a week. Figured the more time we spent together, the better the connections. But after 6 months of dropping $40 per meal and leaving with nothing but small talk, I switched to 20-minute coffee meetups at a local shop downtown. The difference was night and day. With lunch, people just wanted to chat about their kids or the weather. With coffee, everyone got straight to the point because they had somewhere to be after. I got two solid referrals in my first week of doing coffee instead. What format do you guys use for meeting other owners?

2 comments

2 Comments

josephl6727d ago

That "dropping $40 per meal and leaving with nothing but small talk" part hits close to home. Actually had a buddy who owns a small plumbing business try the same thing. He'd take guys out for barbecue and they'd just shoot the breeze for two hours about fishing spots and high school football. One guy even ordered a second beer and dessert on his tab. After three months he had zero leads and a lighter wallet. He switched to quick donut meetings at a gas station by the highway. People showed up, grabbed a coffee, talked business for ten minutes, and left. He got three jobs from one of those short meetings alone.

lisa527d ago

Funny how the cheap, simple stuff always works better than the fancy efforts.