Cys Bronner, BNI Executive Director, CRO and The Constant Social Media Networker asks if you closed your business just a little too early (and often!) for the holidays. We all deserve a break but sometimes if can lead to a bigger step backwards than we imagined.
Transcript:
Hullo, I’m Cys Bronner, BNI Executive Director and the Constant Social Media Networker and today I want to ask you, have you closed your business just a little too early (and often!) for the holidays?

I love the holidays, don't you?

For me it's the spirit all around us, it's a true Givers GainTM embodiment and that's wonderful to see and have all around you.

For me it starts around Halloween. I absolutely adore seeing everybody all dressed up whether it's spooky or cutesy, big or small, I have the opportunity to open the door and share some goodness with them, stickers or sweets, smile and wave and wait for the next one.

Thanksgiving is another one to share my table with the people around me that I love and are close to my heart is just as amazing and giving as helping to feed our community.

Then December, wow December, in our home as in many there's a frenzy of decorating and gifting and feeding and gift wrapping and so many, many, things that I just can't even begin to list like holiday parties and mixers and business get togethers, all the way through to New Year’s Day.

In fact, the more I look at this month by month the more I realize that August is the only month on the calendar without a holiday that I am personally aware of, but I usually take the first week of August off to do some type of community gifting so it's not just December is it?

Many businesses slow down during the holidays, while others struggle to reach those year-end numbers. But what do they have in common? Existing business relationships!

One thing I see that many businesses or entrepreneurs do is take their current business relationships and set them aside saying “oh let's get together or meet after the holidays are over”. I even see our BNI chapters stop meeting for several weeks during this time of year - it happens during the summer too - and it just boggles my mind. If these are the businesspeople that I've worked so hard and close with during the other times why would I meet with them less and basically close the door to my business with them?

It reminds me of a story Dr. Ivan Misner once told, about how a chapter didn’t believe that meeting weekly was really necessary, so they asked if they could try meeting every other week for 6 months and test it out. After 3 months, the chapter President told Dr Misner that the referrals had dropped by 50% and would like to return to meeting weekly. So, there you have it, if you want more referrals, meet more often!

4 Ways to Make the Most Out of the Holiday Season

1. Keep your usual business commitments and meetings on calendar – don’t disappear for 2 months!

2. Still swamped? Set up a planned meeting for after the holiday. Reach out to at least 4 people (1 for each week of January!) you’ve been meaning to catch up with.

3. Is it a slower time of year for you? Host a Holiday Coffee & Cocoa morning at your office for your network and their business friends too.

4. Set aside time to reassess your goals for the coming year. Make adjustments to your schedule, if your January pipeline isn’t up to the goals you set.

Thank you so much for being a part of today’s session. I look forward to hearing from you in the comments about how your holiday and other times of the year went!

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