Jack Sullivan

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[email protected]

Jack Sullivan is the Founder and Managing Partner of Sullivan & Associates, Law Firm P.C.(www.thesullivanlaw.com). Sullivan & Associates is a law firm that handles all aspects of tax and corporate law. The Firm assists companies of all sizes with all of their tax and corporate law needs, including business and personal tax planning, tax controversy representation, business formation and entity choice, contract drafting and review, and tax compliance. Jack is an expert in Federal and State taxation and has a specialty in multi-state service based and telecommunication company taxation. Jack can be reached at [email protected] and (212) 281-6064.

The Network!Network! Round Table & Around the Horn

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 The Network!Network! Round Table &

Around the Horn

The Network!Network! round-table is divided into 3 segments: Segment one is a twice-around-the-room series of presentations about the participants’ businesses – what they do, who an ideal client might be, who a good lead source would be and like that. Everyone gets 4 minutes. Then we do a 30-45 minute segment called “Around the Horn”.  It is loosely patterned on EO’s Gestalt Protocol.  At EO one member brings up a business problem and the group seeks to help him/her with the solution, not by giving advice but by recounting an analogous experience.  EO conducts a special 4 hour meeting with one person designated to bring the problem to the group and a coach to help him/her present the problem in a compelling manner.  We are a bit less formal.  The first one to raise a hand gets to present a problem. And finally, we do some thank-yous in the last 5 minutes.  The meetings start at 8:00 AM and end promptly at 10:00.

Around the Horn works on a number of levels and is always enjoyable.  First, and foremost, somebody always gets her problem addressed.  But, it also works on a number of other levels as well.  For example: It works as a bonding exercise as everybody is sharing a personal experience.  It also enables participants to see how other members think.  And, it can be quite enlightening.  Finally, and this happens more frequently than I would have imagined, many of the participants pick up bits and pieces of tactics and stratagems that alter the way they approach similar problems.  And, I’ve seen it happen where someone will have presented his or her approach to a problem only to hear someone else present an approach that is diametrically opposed in either substance or style or both.  And (you can smell the wood burning) the first presenter thinks, “Wow, this suits my style much better than the way I’ve historically approached the problem.”

While I control the meeting fairly tightly during the round-table to assure that everyone gets an equal shot, an equal time slice to present their product or service, I am a bit more flexible during this segment.  Unless someone is dominating the discussion, I just let it flow, offering my own experiences along with everybody else.

Over the years we have had a number of compelling problems, many dealing with sales, but also with problems concerning (of course) Networking, Marketing, Process, Referral Fees and even Ethics.  I am proud to add that the one ethical issue we had was brought to a virtually unanimous conclusion, one that the person with the problem agreed was likely to bring the best resolution and only served to confirm the approach he had seriously considered on his own.

In this space I will be publishing, over the next few months, some of the more compelling Around the Horn discussions under the premise that if one of the Network!Network! members has the courage to float out a business problem to the group, many others will benefit from the discussion as well.

Attitude

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Attitude

Networking is all the rage now-a-days and there are books, blogs, monographs galore on the how-to’s of networking.  You can learn the art of starting a conversation and ending a conversation.  You can learn when and how to offer your business card and when not to.  You can get tips on selecting a group to break into at a cocktail party and then how to break into the group.  And, you can get advice on how to construct your ‘elevator pitch’ and tag line.

But, none of this will amount to a hill of beans if you don’t have the ‘right’ attitude.  It’s almost like high school.  Most of us are shy.  It’s difficult to break the ice.  But appearance is also reality.  If you are confident and positive people will want to meet and to be with you.  If you are tentative and cautious, not so much.

We all project out attitude outward.  People want to be associated with success and if you appear successful, they will want to be with you.  The more you consciously project this positive attitude, the more the appearance of confidence will become the reality.  Assuming that everybody wants to hear what you have to say will make it a reality.  Assuming that others are not interested in what you have to say will also make that a reality. This is a self-actualizing process.  Success breeds success.  The more you do it, the better you’ll do it in the future.

In business networking, as with all other types of networking, the objective is to form a relationship – here, in order to get better referrals.  It is important to note that one must project a pay-it-forward approach.  And, it is not so much what you say as how you say it. And by “say” I mean in addition to being able to effectively spit out your tag line and brand without stuttering.  Have a firm hand shake; look into their eyes, (and don’t flicker – pay attention).  Listen and ask substantial questions before you volunteer anything about yourself.  If you project a me-first attitude, you’ll get nothing.

Your objective should be to find the few referrals sources with whom you have business synergy.  And, since you will never have the time to fully explore the possibilities or form meaningful relationships in the time allotted to this first meeting, schedule a one-on-one follow up meeting to both flesh out the relationship and better understand ways in which you can work together.  I say “relationship” because people do business with people they like and respect.  And, this needs to be cultivated.

If you keep this idea firmly in mind, you will (live long and) prosper.  So, stand up straight, pull your shoulders back and plant a smile on your lips. Believe! This will be fun.