I get together with a couple dozen other business owners for lunch every Tuesday here in Birmingham 
– Community Business Builders of Birmingham — is what we named the group several years ago when it started…

 

 

 

We have a 60 minute meeting over lunch and we keep the meeting very structured in order to be respectful of everybody’s time.

 

Every person has 60 seconds to introduce themselves and their business.

 

The we have a 5 minute education segment and then 2 of our members have 7 minutes to talk about their business in a little detail…

 

If there is any time left at the end of the meeting we encourage anyone with referrals from any other member to give a little gratitude/feedback.

  

It’s a very “fast” hour so we constantly encourage members to have “one on one” meetings during the week. In other words get together for Coffee or lunch and get more in depth about what we do business wise and what kind of referrals are good for each other. I love it…

 

Today’s business education segment was handled by Joe Simons.

 

Joe is an architect who is focused on “building with integrity”. It’s his branding motto. Although he’s capable and proficient with just about any architectural work Joe especially works with a lot of churches.

 

It’s not just about drawing a plan for a building with an architect like Joe, it’s about guiding his clients through the “mine fields” of government red tape that can cost a client a lot of extra time/money.

 

Joe gets most of his business by networking so it was no surprise to me when his educational topic was “Questions to ask an influential leader”. Joe related how he had used this exact list of questions when he had lunch with a mayor of a New Mexico city recently…

 

Joe was quick to credit John Maxwell with 7 questions Joe likes to ask “Influential Leaders” but it occurred to me the list works well with anybody you or I are talking to (in person or over the phone) so I thought I’d share it.

 

Next time you are talking to someone and establishing “rapport” here are some questions that may help you help them help you & them…

 

1. What is the greatest lesson you have learned?
2. What are you focused on learning right now?
3. How has failure shaped your future?
4. Who do you know that I should know? (my favorite)
5. What have you read that you’d recommend I read?
6. What have you done that you’d recommend I do?
7. How can I add some value to what you do?

 

That’s an easy 7 to jot down and try the next time you are meeting with someone. Let me know how it works for you if you do use them — that would be a great future post.

 

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