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Just outside Orlando
I'm in Orange City East of Sanford.
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Just outside Orlando
This was a great post... good thread. I think I'll spend that money on my Alumni association instead. Any thoughts on that?
Or leads...
LGilmore said:If you're going to join Chamber, make sure it's for some reasons besides just making sales. Those guys get picked up on pretty quickly and avoided. Using chamber should be a long term project where you have an opportunity to show yourself as more than an agent. As people get to know you, they will come to you.
You have to remember usually every chamber has two or three guys already selling like mad. The successful ones didn't really make an outward show of what they did.
I used to belong years ago. I my town, chamber was kind of a wealthy meat market. You had 5 or 6 professional women using chamber as a way to get a better husband than the one they had. Cause half of a butt load of money is still a lot of money.
Wasn't for me. I like my wife and simply put, I was not a mid six figure owner, so these women didn't really have time for me. A interesting observation though. You'd watch guys who started with nothing, start making bank and the world around them changed. Suddenly the wife at home, the one who stayed with you when you had nothing, was a nag. (basically because she knew you when your sh ite stunk) These "chamber" ladies, who always looked nice and would always laugh and tell these guys how "great" they were, broke up a lot of marriages. Not for me.
0b1kanobee said:I'm in Orange City East of Sanford.
VolAgent said:It is all how you approach it.
No one wakes up and thinks, "I'm going to the Chamber to get a quote, find a resource manager, get a home loan, etc." Every last person in that room is there to sell something, including the Chamber staff. The Chamber staff is trying to sell memberships and sponsorships. Everyone there is there to sell, not to buy. So change your approach.
Smile, mingle, meet and greet and exchange business cards. Show up each meeting and volunteer for committees and other projects. Let them see you a few times, then start asking if you can quote.
As a P&C agent, remember that in the next 12 months everyone in that room is going to buy a new insurance policy. Personal, commercial or both, they are all going to renew. You need to position yourself as a person to talk to when it happens and not look for business today.
Chambers are good if you can capture people's attention through your appearance. It does you no good if you don't get involved and get to know the folks.
Just like attending a church, it's all good when you attend, but the magic happens when you get involved.
Curious as to what kind of results you guys have had by joining the local chamber of commerce. I was debating whether or not to apply, it runs approx $225/year in my area (Florida) and I feel like it would be better than doing a BNI. Anyone had any experience with one, good, bad, or indifferent?