15 Minutes Can Build Your Business

By Rita Walston, Senior Director, Marketing Programs

I carry a custom coin around with me. On one side it says strong relationships build business; on the other, I am not a commodity.

I designed and had 100 of those coins made last year and frequently use them in training and mentoring sessions.  We recently put those words into action at immixGroup by hosting an Emerging Tech Speed Networking Event.

We’ve hosted Speed Networking Events before, but this one was unique and addressed a specific need we’d heard from both our partners and our IT manufacturer suppliers. The partners want to know which companies are “the next big thing”—emerging technology logos they should add to their line card to grow their business. The IT manufacturers want to know which partners they should add as they establish or grow their channel and drive revenue—who is hungry and will be a hunter, not just an RFP gatherer.

Through a series of private, face-to-face meetings, we brought together a number of emerging technology suppliers and partners to start the conversations that lead to strong relationships. What can be accomplished in just a 15-minute meeting? A lot—judging by the continued conversations and feedback at the networking reception that concluded this Speed Networking Event.

There is still more work to be done: follow-up meetings to be set and “raincheck” meetings to be arranged for those who had last-minute demands that kept them from attending. The goal, after all, is not to host an event. It’s to help our suppliers and partners build business and grow revenue.

Our partners and suppliers are not the only ones who are strengthening relationships. Organizing and executing an event of this type is what my team and I call “a heavy lift.” It takes a lot of advance prep work, and a lot of people working perfectly in concert on the day of the event to ensure it goes smoothly and drives desired results. It requires communication and teamwork between the immixGroup marketing, partner alliances, sales and market intelligence teams to get just the right mix of people together in the right setting—and that’s why it’s one of my favorite events that we do. While we’re helping IT manufacturers and partners grow their business in a meaningful way, we’re also strengthening the relationships between our own internal organizations.

And that yields dividends and ROI for everyone long after the day of the event is over.

Learn more about our upcoming events.

Read my previous blog on Strong Relationships: Foundation of Successful Business.