Leads, Introductions, Acknowledgements & Shout-Outs

• Dave Crissman brought in a flyer that is working for him.  It gives him an opportunity to talk to clients and increase business. 

• Bob Busch thanked Fred for the sign on the door.

• Bill LaLonde introduced his guest today, his brother-in-law.

• Fred Vandervort thanked Don for his banner order.

• Dave Lathrop was inspired to work with Herb after last week's presentation.

• Jim Bache dressed up this morning...don't get used to it.

• Keith Miller proud of Jim's eating habits at MABE.  Note:  You can burn a latte off in 1.5 hours.

• Sandro Menasci told us the previous owner of his location commended him for what he has done with the place.

• Herb Stokes brought his little setup to update photos for the website.

• Done Ellis reminded people of portion size and to eat more often.

• Joe Zingale said all the girls in the office are downloading viruses so they can get a visit from Mark.

• Lin Schmelzer has been extremely busy doing charity work...not making a dime!

• Phyllis Prater thanked Roman for sending people over for appraisals.  Its a good way to get her a lead.

• Carole Weishaar had a similar week to Lin.  She thanked Dave Lathrop for setting up the social media sessions.

• Stuart Schindler spent a full day at the San Diego zoo.

• Roman Okonowski can take care of all your insurance needs.

• Steve Chilton offers a 24/7 building center.  Thanks for the leads.  As social director he is open to ideas for the MABE holiday party.

• Guy Sawyer thanked Dave Crissman and Steve Chilton for giving him ideas on a project...One of the benefits of MABE. 

• Mark Menasci said Windows 7 is a little bit better than it was last Friday.  Don't forget to protect your computer with anti-virus software.

• Chris Curran has been doing pro bono work all week too...not intentially!

Membership
Ryan Bohlander of Jumpstart Kids Fitness submitted part two of his application earlier this week.  There were no objections so he will be invited to join our group.  

MABE Survey
Dave Crissman led today's meeting.  He has been around to see many changes and cycles occur within the group.  The economy definitely has had an affect on the group.  The group bounced around offering comments on the different questions asked...and some not on the survey.

• We are a better group when everyone attends on a regular basis.  Hearing each others stories - victories and defeats - shapes who we are. 

• The bylaws do state the minimum requirements.  They are a guide. 

• Attendance has been an issue for 20 years.  Personal view - if you are not going to attend you are not going to get value out of the organization nor are you going to give value.  You get out what you put in and vice versa.  If it is important enough to join than you should be here. 

• We could kill a meeting talking about attendance.  What size do we want to be?  I think 100 is too big.  You lose the closeness.

• The policy of my last group, you were allowed to miss 3 before getting kicked out.  It was your responsibility to find a substitute.  What I like about this group, if something comes up I don't have to spend an hour of my time trying to fill a seat.  This group is respectful of my seasonal demands.

• It should grow as much as it can and see where it takes us.

• 24 people completed the survey online and 6 completed them offline.  It took a lot of effort to get people to respond to the survey.  The first 8 responded immediately.  The remaining 16 took some work to get.

• I look at the website to stay on top of things.  I am curious to know how many others do.

• To me the website has been non-relevant.  But that is me...old school.  I am working to make it a priority.

• If you miss a meeting do you read Melissa's email minutes.  Most people raised their hands.

• Common courtesy!  We aren't good at it today.  Pick up the phone.  What you bring to this meeting is what you get out of it.

• An observation (here and in my own business)...There are a big number of people that despise talking on the phone.  People tend to communicate via email or text message.  They say they have no time to pick up the phone anymore.  If the group continues in this direction it can alienate people.

• I like the preciseness and record of an email. 

• We stopped the leads, questions of the day, phone calls and doing outside seminars...we have lost the interaction.

• I won't give a lead to anyone that won't pick up a phone to someone I give a lead to.

• I don't things have to be all one way or the other.  The social media is part of our future whether we like it or not.  Even if we don't like it, it is important for us to know how to use these tools.  But we can still use the phone.  My daddy said too much of anything is no good.

• How you get your business is how you get it back.  Principles are fine but are you will to fall on your sword over it.  I pickup on how people prefer to communicate.  If I need to reach someone, I do it by their preferred method of communication.

• Refusing to broaden our methods of communicating with people can cost us money.

• I struggled to transition to the new ways of business when I sold my company and joined another firm.  I have come to appreciate it and see the value.  You will seldom find me at my desk.  Most of the time you will get my voicemail.  I spend more time with people face-to-face.  Technology allows me to do this.  Its a matter of utilizing all the tools to improve your business.  But you must maintain those relationships.

• There is a tremendous resource here.  There is value in connecting with 30+ people on a weekly basis.  But you have to continue to work on it.

• Its the people that don't get heard that wanted to be heard that leave disappointed.