Not sure if this blog should have been titled “The Value of Loyalty” or “The Value of Making a Call.” For many years I have been loyal to AVIS.  They treat me quite well and I love just showing my driver license and being able to drive off into the sunset (well I really don’t like the sunglare) but couldn’t resist the image.

So recently we flew to Colorado—rented a beast (you know one of those way too big SUVs not a Bison) from Avis and paid a little over $600 for the week. The same time I made those reservations I also made reservations for an upcoming trip to Florida—imagine my shock when the midsize car for less than a week was going to be over $1,000.

Now back from vacation and cleaning out my email I got an email regarding the Florida trip from the airline with an offer to rent a car from Alamo—prepaid they would rent me a car for $600. Well that got me thinking “Do I really want to not be a preferred customer?” Memories (or should I say a nightmare) of a trip to LA where I stood in line in a hotel lobby so long for a rental car that was really cheap and had been advertised as convenient location “right by LAX.”  Turns out the reason the line was sooooo long was they had no cars left so when one came in they gave it to you dirty.  When I figured out the problem just gave up and took a cab to my destination as I no longer had any slack in my schedule.

So rather than rent from someone else I called AVIS and said before I cancel my reservation because the price is so much higher than your competition I thought I should give you a chance. As Steve would say, “Yup, you guessed it.” The have dropped the price to $400. Just by asking the question.

So the moral—ask nicely and you may be rewarded for your loyalty.

And if you are looking for a new rental company may I suggest mine? They try harder.

So, starting next post, Kay and Tom are going to write some things.  If all goes well, Kay will do the next one.  And I mentioned this to a few people and have a number of volunteers who want to do guest posts.  Hmmmm, we’ll have to see if they have what it takes to be a Conversation on Networking Guest Blogger.

I’ll still ramble on a bit but am also going to start a totally random blog called Welcome to Steve’s World…as though I haven’t been random enough.  The very first new post will occur Thursday morning March 24 around 9…Internet Gremlins and Web Ogres willing.  It will be spectacular…so I highly recommend you go there and sign up.

And if you don’t sign up for a random romp through the deep recesses of my mind…sign up for the ongoing travelog of my adventures and experiences.  Somewhere in there I’m pretty sure a nice nugget of useful information will surface each post.  And if not, well, I will absolutely refund the price of admission.

In the meantime, I’ve been out and about networking away.  In the last little bit I have found two new clients and third I hope will call and sign up momentarily.  All three come directly from networking connections.  I also have a new client I found myself with no help at all.  Sometimes that works too.

That’s all I have time for since I’m off to meet some new connections.  As I say on those ads you’ve all seen “Stay hungry my friends.”

Change Tip: Do something new…regenerate

Then I returned and a day or so later I was laid (no, not what you’re thinking) low by some bizarre and horrible little bug circulating through my head, chest, and various other parts of my body.  At first I thought it was something I brought back from Africa but then I ran into several people suffering from the exact same affliction.  So, no, I didn’t manage to catch up.  I barely managed to get through the things scheduled.

Bizarrely, I landed two new clients during this time and wound up meeting quite a few people.  Apparently the hoarse voice part of my physical condition was quite intriguing…unfortunately now that I’ve finally recovered this seems to have disappeared leaving me with my normal boring voice. 

I did manage to put out the third announcement about the Talkfest which you really do want to attend.  Of course, this link is to the first announcement since I couldn’t figure out how to get you to the third announcement…but all the important info is the same: a spectacular event you really ought to attend…so I expect to see you April 17 at the Birchrunville Store Cafe.  Did you know that normally you have to actually make reservations months and months in advance to get a reservation!

I even spent a day in New York City in my infirm state.  I had networked to several very interesting people who are desperate to do things with me…and could meet a wonderful fellow from Ghana who is working with me to put together a nice Wharton Global Consulting Practicum project.

I’ve been meeting people at the Penn Club, right in the heart of Manhattan.  There is something quite nice about a place where they remember who you are and always treat you very nicely.  Luckily I get this nice deal on membership since I’m a Wharton faculty person.  But that’s another story.

And it’s spring.  The time of renewal.  So get out there and take advantage of the opportunity to renew old connections, revive old relationships, and maybe even leverage a few new ones while you’re at it.  Personally I have a week filled with breakfasts, lunches, a few dinners, and the expectation that I’ll end the week with a few new people in my Rolodex. (Okay, I really don’t have a Rolodex but it is such a nice metaphor even in this age of silly electronic thingies)

Spring

More Spring

A bit more spring

So in spite of my weakened state, I have been out doing things…while taking buckets of medicine and keeping a people free zone encircling me.  To my amazement I have had quite a few good meetings, connected with some new people, landed 2 new EOS clients, dealt with a bunch of Wharton stuff and Africa followup, gotten several new referrals, and am still alive.

Hmmmm, disease as a networking tool? 

Now about that heading up there at the top.  We are changing a few things.  Starting as soon as our Web Ogres get it done…quickly we expect…this blog is going to morph into the Conversation Blog.  I have conned my Conversation partners Kay and Tom into sharing a few of their thoughts.  We actually have no idea what will happen since the three of us have totally different ways of thinking about…and thus writing about…everything.  We’ll see…

I also decided that I want to do something even more about whatever I’m thinking about than I’ve been doing in this little missive…so those Ogres are setting up something just for me.  Hopefully this will be up and running in a few days too.  Like I need more chaos in my life (see assistant need above).

But it’s all good.  Change is good.  It breaks you out of your rut and gets you thinking about things in new ways…and even thinking about new things.  Suddenly you notice opportunities that you’ve been passing by every day…totally oblivious.  Wow!

 Uncomfortable Tip: Force yourself to try something different…and notice a different reality

By the way, I really am sick which is doing interesting things to my brain.  Talk about a different reality…

They have these odd trees all over Namibia. Huge trunks, a few tiny branches, and some big leaves. This one is in front of where I stayed.

Off I go to the airport.  They have this beautiful new…but tiny…airport in Botswana.  (Last time I was in Botswana they had a tiny shack and were building this new building…which is still under construction.  As with everything else being built in Africa, a Chinese construction company has the contract.  Where are the rest of the world’s major contractors?) There are never more than 2 or 3 planes there at a time.  They must be expecting us to be very successful with that Diamond Tourism project I mentioned last post. 

You might remember my issue with getting out of Philadelphia Airport to meet my flight to Johannesburg from Washington Dulles Airport.  If not, here’s the post on that.  I had a similar problem getting out of Botswana!  My flight was delayed for hours.  I sat in the airport with the 20 or so other passengers waiting around.  Suddenly, they called my name.  I went up to the counter and discovered that they had moved me from South African Air to Air Botswana to try and ensure I made the connection…yup, 2 airlines actually fly from Gaborone to Johannesburg…and I should immediately go out the door and board.

On board I had a great conversation with a nice fellow who turned out to own a big milk company in South Africa.  He started the conversation which was quite a nice change.  By the end of the flight (it’s only 45 minutes) he was asking me if I might come to South Africa and do a bit of EOS implementation!  I do love talking to people on airplanes.

Side Bar…Rant on Stupid TSA Security: On my return, first I went through Botswana security.  Then in South Africa I went through addition security when transferring even though I never left the secure part of the airport.  Then the US has forced foreign airports to have people put you through more security before you enter the boarding area.  No one else does this.  We are clearly not only the most fearful people in the world…we show our disdane for the abilities of anyone else’s competence, hardly a way to win friends and influence people. 

So I have a little game I play with myself of seeing just how incompetent our security is…and it is.  In this case, as I stood in line I watched what they were doing and decided I could manage to skip the pat down and minimize the carryon search…and I managed to do both.  As near as I can tell, I was the only person who was not patted down and then I had a funny conversation with the luggage searcher which caused her to forget to look at my second bag. What is the point of harrassing us when it clearly is useless?

Maybe it’s just a way of keeping hundreds of thousands of people off unemployment.

Then on the plane they made that stupid announcement that TSA requires that you do not congregate near the bathrooms.  It’s a security risk.  It is so blatantly stupid that after making the announcement South African Air apologizes and makes a big point of how they aren’t worried about this horrible congregating but are forced into this by TSA. 

OK, so much for ranting.  Thanks for listening.

One last thing on the be nice and talk to everyone front.  I parked in Wally Park at the airport.  They are close, have a bin with free food in the van, and give you a bottle of water when you pay.  Nice! On my return, I was the only person in the van and got talking to the driver.  He heard I was in Africa for the Wharton Global Consulting Practicum, mentioned that his wife used to teach one of the faculty’s daughters Chinese, and reminded me to ask for the Wharton discount…which I did not know existed.

I ask when paying…showed them proof…and got a 40% discount!  Parked for 9 days for $66.85!  And got my bottle of water.

Sharing Tip: Yak it up with new people…get discounts and opportunties

One last thing…they fed me Oryx and Springbok in Namibia.  Yikes!

To my great pleasure, I was taken to NICE for dinner.  This is the spectacular restaurant in a beautiful old mansion run by Namibia Institute of Culinary Education, in Windhoek…yup, students doing all the cooking.  In addition to the wonderful food, service, and decor, they have the most interesting photographs on the walls: the cooks and the famous dunes of Namibia…together.  Take a look…you owe it to your eyes.  And visit…you owe it to your taste buds.

And I came away with a great possible project involving 10 southern African countries…which is a story for another day.

Now I’m in Gaborone, Botswana…another huge country with only a few people.  Namibia has less than 2mm people while Botswana has just over 2mm.  But it does have a nice little business…25% of the world’s diamonds come from Botswana.  I visited the senior folks at the Botswana Diamond Hub where we talked about…diamonds. 

Getting in is high security, fingerprint ID readers and lots of guards.  At least I wasn’t in a red zone where they strip search you before you leave!  Makes those damn assume the position pornographic airport scanners seem positively benign.

We actually knew people in common.  It never ceases to amaze me how if you wander around, talk to everyone, stay in touch a bit…your network eventually encompasses the entire world. Wow!

Today I’m off to meet the Deputy Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Trade.  I wonder who we’ll know in common.

By the way, one of the things that Botswana Diamond Hub is interested in is Diamond Tourism.  Let me know if you’d like to visit a diamond mine and wander around inside.  Maybe they’ll thrown in a safari to the first 100 people who come and visit.  Hmmm, perhaps a project?

Jwaneng Diamond Mine, Botswana…richest diamond mine in the world

Diamond Tip: Talk to people…you might find one

So I was my usual early self as I got to Philadelphia Airport to begin my journey to Africa.  It was a horrible day with winds up to 60 miles per hour!  The counter fellow told me that my flight to Dulles was already an hour late.  I asked if I was going to make my connection to South African Air and he said something about “finding another way to get there.”  Right.

I go up to the Red Carpet Club and tell the fellow at the desk about my problem.  He tells me that the previous flight to Dulles is still there…running 2 hours late…but leaving momentarily so if I run to the gate he’ll call and tell them I’m coming.  They are waiting for me and I run into the plane, sit down, and a few minutes later they close the door and we’re off.

Wildebeest

And the Early part…well, I was about 2 hours early for my scheduled flight.  If I had waited til the last minute I would not have gotten the flight I took and the one I was supposed to be on…wound up getting in too late to make the connection to South Africa.  And there aren’t lots of flights to South Africa.

So after hours and hours and hours of travel I get to my nice Southern Sun Hotel at Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg.  I have to overnight there to get a morning flight to Windhoek, Namibia this morning.  And here I am in Namibia which is spectacularly austere and beautiful.

But, back at the Southern Sun last night, I went down to sit at the bar and see who was around.  I wound up talking to a fellow who was an engineer in the oil business and happened to be an Egyptian who had just come from Egypt.  Nothing like getting a first hand story of what’s been going on there.

South Africa

Then this other fellow starts talking to me.  He turns out to be one of two founders and the Executive Producer of Africa Report.  I get their bi-weekly newsletter of the stories they are airing and have watched some.  We both are amazed at this coincidence, I share some story ideas about projects I’ve been involved with, he is interested, we trade cards, and I agree to email him a bunch of things for him to follow up on.  They film stories on entrepreneurs in Africa and are shown on a number of different stations…in case you’d like to take a look.

So what can I say?  Travel, talk to people in bars of nice hotels, meet interesting people.

Namibia Tip: Visit…it’s worth the aggravation of getting there…and you’ll meet interesting people along the way

Pictures from my last trip to Africa:

Since I last wrote, we had a big snowstorm.  It was great since it gave me an excuse to spend the entire day…except when shoveling…reaching out to people I hadn’t talked to in awhile.  As usual, these calls led to a couple of referrals, a few breakfast appointments, agreeing to visit Paris (this was a hard one), and confirming that I was willing to do an EOS presentation for which we set a few tentative dates.

I don’t understand why I don’t do this more often: take a day just to catch up and re-connect with people.  And I really don’t understand why some people never do this…and then complain that they don’t meet anyone new or get good referrals.  Not that anyone reading this would ever fall into this category of people.

I had that breakfast meeting with Dave Reibstein (as mentioned in the last post), owner of Home Marketing Consultants.  We had a great time…including fighting over the check which I cleverly let him grab.  He is going to help my parents sell their house and I am going to help him become a Global Power. 

Dave is the most recent in a long line of new clients that came through a networking referral.  As I mention above…take some time and reach out to all your connections.  They really do know some people who are looking for you.

Why, when I sat down at my computer early this morning there was a note from someone I know asking me for some dates when she can introduce me to a business owner who she is convinced…will want to install EOS to run his business to perfection.  Whoo Hooo!

Build Your Business Tip: Take a day and just catch up with people

Off to Africa…

I’ve gotten particularly friendly with Mike Paton since we seem to share an odd sense of humor as well as a liking for blue jeans as formal business attire.  While in Detroit he approached me and mentioned that he’d really like to figure out how we can do some things together.  I enthusiastically agreed and even offered to come and visit him, and his company EOS Midwest,  in Minneapolis…although not until spring.  (they had another 15 inches of snow last night and the airport is closed)

And then that wonderful thing which happens so often occurred.  Friday morning…my first day back…I received a call from someone I know in Boston asking for some advice.  I mentioned just coming back from Detroit…and why I was there.   It was a subtle reminder to her about EOS, which we had discussed.  She immediately mentioned that she has a company founder I should talk to…in Minneapolis!

No, I did not make this up. 

So I send off a note to Paton and, yes, he would be happy to hear about a prospective new client.  Stay tuned.

Which leads me right into the other such thing that happened since I’ve returned 3 days ago.  I connected with a fellow named David Reibstein who is Owner and President of Home Marketing Services.  He was referred to me by Andrew Benioff, Managing Partner of Llenrock Group…a real estate advisory and investment banking firm.

Home Marketing Services has a business I’d never heard of: they specialize in helping people sell their houses to move into retirement communities.  Talk about specialization.  Reibstein and I talk and he says the magic words “thinking I might hire you”.  In a nanosecond I set up a breakfast meet with him for this week. (I’m hoping I’m not jinxing this by sharing with you…but, what the heck…it’s such a great story, with the best to come in the next paragraph!)

Soon after this, my mother calls.  She and my father have decided to move into Quadrangle, a retirement community.  (you know where this is going) She was calling to let me know she had sent in the deposit so the process of moving was beginning.  One of my parents’ concerns was selling their house so she also let me know that Quadrangle had told her of a company specializing in helping people sell their houses when moving into retirement communities!

Yup, Home Marketing Services.

Alignment Tip: Sometimes you and the universe are in phase…take advantage of it.  Share ideas everywhere and it happens more often.

Guess Where

So much for having 10,000 close friends on Facebook.

Matt Ridley wrote about this in an article in the Wall Street Journal: How Many Friends Can Your Brain Hold?  This seems to have major implications for our favorite topic.  It seems to say that you need to drop someone off your list to add someone new…assuming you’ve been out there networking away and have reached or even exceeded the magic 147.8.

It also seems to say that you really do need to connect with some really good connectors so you can leverage their connections.  I figure if you have good connections with 147.8 people who each have good connections with 147.8 people…why, you now have 21,844.84 people just one person away.

As I write this I am sitting in the very nice Westin Hotel in the Detroit Airport where a few of us have assembled for an EOSmeeting.  (you remember that I’m one of those strange EOS Implementers who help business leaders run their companies…spectacularly)  I can’t wait to go down to the meeting and decide which person there I’m going to wipe from my brain so I have room for someone I just know I’m going to meet in the plane this evening.

Beat Science Tip:  Prove Professor Dunbar wrong…just keep adding new connections

Professor Dunbar:

On a different not, in a few days I am off to Namibia and Botswana with one night in South Africa.  Let me know if there’s anyone you think I should drop in on while I’m there.  If all goes well, the internet will work and I’ll send a few missives from there.  Last time I was in Botswana, the entire country was cut off from internet and telephone service for a couple of days.  By accident.