June 26, 2006
By Dylan Skriloff
Debra Pearlman looks at networking as a team effort. When people work together, everyone takes bigger pieces of a bigger pie.
Some people fear losing their identity in a group setting, but that is not usually the end result, Pearlman told a packed room at the RBA’s June meeting of the Small Business Council.
"You become part of the group. It’s like a team and you are just as valuable as everybody else," she said.
Over forty people filled a room at Iona College’s Blue Hill Campus, downstairs from the RBA’s office in Pearl River. One reason for the large crowd was that members from the former Consultant’s Council attended. That Council has recently been melded into the Small Business Council.
Another reason so many new faces were on hand was because the Chester-based Pearlman attracted a crowd of non-RBA members from Orange County to hear her presentation on networking.
She emphasized the importance networking can have in taking your business forward and gave many helpful, specific tips on how to effectively network. Her objective, she said, was to raise the level of networking success attendees could achieve.
For different people, different things mean success. For Pearlman attracting a large crowd to the Business Council made her feel successful, while for others it could be a fancy car or house. She recalled a friend who always wanted a Ferrari and decided to make it his goal. He taped a Ferrari to his bathroom mirror and it motivated him to achieve his potential every day. In less than a year the Ferrari was his.
"Visualization works," Pearlman said. She encouraged everybody to go for it and make the most of their lives.
Pearlman advised listeners to write down personal features about people they network with on the back of their business cards. She said that to get a good conversation going you need to ask open-ended questions that offer people an opportunity to expound rather than simply answer yes or no. She used a slide presentation she created herself to help drive home her message.
Pearlman, Chief Executive of DP Sales Pro in Chester, joined the RBA in February and has found it a major boon for her, so much so that she said she "begged" Roger Scheiber, RBA’s VP Development, for the opportunity to give back by offering the presentation.
Midway through, Pearlman threw a curve at the audience and had everyone find someone they did not know and speak with them about their businesses for five minutes.
Kurt Griffith of Fantastic Realities Studios said when he first joined the RBA he had a hard time in such settings. He was accustomed to having corporate business conversations with pre-set agendas. When he faced the RBA crowds he was a bit intimidated, having nothing specific to say. In time he naturally developed skills similar to those taught by Pearlman.
"Its good to have the reinforcement and she offered some finesse and detail that was helpful," Griffith said.
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"Her topic is very applicable to everybody across all careers," RBA member Harvey M. Iwata said.
Iwata, a Financial Advisor from Citigroup Smith Barney in Mount Kisco, was a regular to the RBA’s Consultant Councils. He found his first Small Business Council meeting quite helpful and exciting. There was definitely a positive side to folding the Consultant’s Council into the Small Business Council, he said.
"In a way its better because our market is small businesses. On the other side, it was good to have a chance to network as consultants," Iwata said.
Cindi Vasta, a sales representative from Charles B. Merrill Office Products in Newburgh "One nugget I took away was her suggestion about eye contact and some of the conversation tips, such as asking open-ended questions," Vasta said.
Pearlman said she got her start in sales workshops working for large corporations. She got very high ratings, even higher than her superiors. Eventually she went out on her own and now enjoys being accountable only to her self. She said her meticulous networking skills actually come quite natural to her.
Following the session Co-Chair Peter Wade announced the Small Business Council’s plans for the coming six months. The Council would take July off and then start a new "season" in August with a pep-rally of sorts, sharing small business success stories.
The following speakers have tentatively agreed to present to the Council; in September Ed Weinberg will give the second part of his sales techniques presentation, in October Wade and Kurt Griffith will talk about internet marketing and in November Bernie Wasserman will give a talk on marketing and sales. In December life coaching will be discussed and in January a talk on market planning is scheduled.
Wade said he is really enjoying his tenure as co-chair of the Council. "I love it, the Council is important. We are providing a good service," he said.
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