Safety Consulting Corner

Spring Cleaning - Tip 1

I am excited! I just learned about a free program called PC Decrapifier that removes all the "junk" that comes pre-loaded on most computers. If you ever bought a new computer from one of the major manufacturers, you probably got a new computer with free trials or programs that may include internet providers, media players, spyware protection and other things that you may not need. While you may want some of these, they can slow down your computer. PC Decrapifier easily and quickly can remove this unwanted "stuff" to help clean up your computer - and best of all, it's free!

What a Deal (Not!)

Maybe I am being cynical but I just received an email newsletter from a "guru" that I actually happen to really like but in it, he describes a 3 day seminar he is holding in Las Vegas. The event sounds great but near the end, he says the 3 days are really worth $10,000 but he is offering it for $2,777* (or 3 installments of $997 - that's $1K each to you and me). I guess anyone can charge whatever they want for anything but what gets me with his offer is the "limited time extra special offer - for this week only" where you can pay only $1,977 PLUS get free hotel, free lunches, a free cocktail, and admission to a show. Now seriously, does anyone really believe these things are free? Attendees are paying about $660/day. Take out the hotel, lunch, etc. and the cost would probably be about $250/day. Why do speakers jack up the price so that they can cover all of the "freebies" they are adding on instead of just offering a decent registration fee in the first place. Maybe this technique works - I don't know. I have never tried it and most likely never will. What do you think?

*notice how all price offerings have a "7?" Many "gurus" say the latest and greatest thing to do is to price things with a "7" in them because people are much more likely to buy. Forget the old $19.99 - now you are more likely to see $19.97

So, what do you do?

Imagine you are at a cocktail party or other event where you know no one and it is almost certain that no one there has any idea what a safety professional does. So, when someone asks the dreaded, "What do you do?", what is your answer? Unless you want to immediately bore the other person, keep your answer focused on what you can do for them. (Remember WIIFM, or What's In It For Me?) Most people have a pretty short attention span. Make sure your answer is fairly short and sweet. You also do want to launch into a version of your life story. The other person doesn't care how you got into safety or why you are a consultant.  Also - do not use the word "am." If you say "I am" something, including a safety consultant, other people will who already work with one or more safety consultants will quickly write you off because in their minds, they do not need what you offer. Instead, when describing what you do, use power verbs such as save,teach, manage, develop, etc. Instead of an "I am a safety consultant" statement, try using a statement with a power verb such as "I save worker's lives" or "I help safety directors sleep at night." Get the idea? With both of these phrases, you are likely to get follow up questions which can lead you into a meaningful conversation.  The idea is to start to build a relatonship. The longer you have a conversation with the other person (and don't forget to ask a lot of questions about what they do), the better start you will have to the relationship.

Stalking

I must admit, I was somewhat of a stalker yesterday....but all in the name of good networking. Most safety consultants believe they are pretty good networkers but there are just as many that believe that networking is just attending an event and handing out business cards. I attended a Human Resources conference yesterday (why you ask? I'll tell you below) and I'll tell you how I "worked" this conference.

First, when I arrived, all attendees were given a list of attendees  - awesome! It made my job much easier. The first thing I did was go through the list and mark the people I definitely wanted to meet.  The list included about 8 people which is pretty ambitious for a 6 hour conference. The list included the HR person from a pharmaceutical company since that is one of my target markets, the HR person from one of my clients (whom I did not know), the HR people from an industrial supply company, the HR person from a local (but very large) company where my husband had a significant project, an HR consultant I hadn't seen in about 8 years (I actually forgot what she looked like) and a variety of other people. So, what did I do next after I dentified my targets? I made a conscious effort to read names and companies on nametags to try to find these people and strike up a conversation. I was about 50% successful. I have to admit though that I did pretty much "stalk" one guy I had wanted to meet. I finally saw him at lunch but his table was already full so I figured I would try to talk to him after lunch. When he got up to leave, I followed him but only to find out he was headed to the bathroom (where he stayed for some time!) I gave up (temporarily) and moved on. I finally saw him again sitting alone in the auditorium where our next session was to be held. I went and sat two seats from him, hoping he would look up so I could introduce myself but no such luck. He stayed buried in his notes until the speaker started. (Obviously he wasn't a very good networker himself). So, after all of this tracking and stalking, I was unsuccessful in ever meeting him. The good thing about all of this name badge reading was that I did get to also identify other people whom I wanted t'to meet but did not originally identify from the start because they were not on the pre-registered list. I knew from the start that I was not attending this conference to learn about HR, although a few of the sessions were interesting. I was there for focused networking and to me,that's like a game. Yes, I was a stalker but all for a good cause.