Print
E-Mail
tool name
closeBuilding bridges is not just for engineers
Sally Zeiger Hanson / Community correspondent
This month, the conversation at the Puyallup / Sumner Chamber of Commerce has focused on the value of networking.
It seems that around 2004 a memo must have been sent out to some companies outlining the benefits of creating unusual alliances. Before that, companies worked together when they obviously had a shared customer base or when their products clearly aligned.
It makes sense for bookstores to have coffee shops co-located in their sites. One expects that hotels and airlines will work together.
What is less obvious is why a copy store and a delivery service would make a good partnership (Kinko’s/FedEx) or why a coffee shop should distribute online music (Starbucks/iTunes). It is time for the rest of us to see this memo. Maybe the memo looks like this:
TO: Businesses looking to grow and find new ways to have an impact
FROM: The new millennium
SUBJECT: Creating alliances in unexpected places
This memo is being sent to inform you that the old way of doing business is being turned on its head.
From now on, the most likely source for business partnerships will be found either by connecting with direct competitors or with businesses unrelated to anything you are currently doing.
There are two ways to be effective in this new environment:
1) Reevaluate your core business to find a new marketable expertise.
For example, if you are currently producing textbooks on CDs or in Web format, maybe your core business is CD production, not textbook content as you’ve always assumed.
2) Focus on what others need.
When you enter into a business relationship, stay focused on what your partner needs. In a roundabout way, this will result in your business getting more returns than you might have originally intended. This is because you have put aside your outcomes and made room for some creative ideas to develop. (This principle works on all kinds of relationships, by the way.)
Please note that in this new environment you will need to get out from behind your desk. Expand your circle of contacts and challenge yourself to look in unusual places to find your new millennium alliance that no one, not even your competition could predict.
Upcoming events:
A The Chamber’s Luncheon on March 14 will feature guest speakers Tom Dorr and Aaron Ignac from the Small Business Development Center at Western Washington University speaking about Economic Gardening: A strategy for fostering small business growth. The luncheon is at 11:45 am at the Best Western Park Plaza on South Hill.
A From 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 17, the Puyallup / Sumner Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center will be celebrating its new location at 323 N. Meridian in Puyallup. You are invited to come by for an Irish-themed Ribbon Cutting and Grand re-opening celebration.
A The next Sales & Marketing Roundtable workshop will be offered at 7:30 a.m. March 21 at Mama Stortini’s. The topic is The Seven Deadliest Marketing Sins ...And How To Avoid Them and will be presented by Stacy Karacostas of SuccessStream Sales and Marketing Solutions.
A Community and Chamber members are invited to stop by the new Chamber office at 9 a.m. each Thursday for coffee, doughnuts and conversation. This is an opportunity to meet the Chamber staff and to connect with Chamber members.
Information is available about all Chamber programs at www.puyallupsumnerchamber.com.