If your organisation has a waiting room, you have a perfect opportunity to seek referrals for your fellow members. When you get back to work look and see how uninteresting your waiting area is. How old are the magazines? What is the average waiting time? If you have the situation where people do have to wait at your company, why not use that time to promote your group and its members?
People waiting for an appointment are generally looking to distract themselves. That is why, if you ever observe someone in a waiting room, you will see that they do not read a magazine, they flip through the pages glancing at the colours, they might start to read something, but at the back of their mind they do not want to commit to reading anything they may not have time to finish, so they just flick.
This means they are receptive to short colourful messages. This is where you have the chance to let them know about your fellow members and win referrals. There are several ways you can promote your group, these include:
Card Folder – You put a copy of your card holder on the waiting room table. On the cover you stick a label which reads something like ‘READ ME’ or ‘FREE ADVICE’ (this you do in a very large font to attract their attention), underneath it write ‘this folder contains information about companies we do business with. If you think you may want to use one of their services please feel free to take their card and mention us when you call them, or alternatively you can speak with (INSERT YOUR NAME) for more information’.
You will probably need two reception area folders, one being used and one you can take away each week to refill.
Folder of Raps - This takes a little more effort on your part but will get many referrals for your Chapter. You collate together a written copy of all the raps and testimonials that members of your Chapter have given about each other, not just about you. Put them into a loose-leaf binder and insert a one page summary about the business. Place the business summary on the left-hand side and on the right hand side, a copy of a testimonial.
If your reception area is busy, you may find you need two of these folders to allow people to be exposed to the membership effectively. Do not be tempted to merely put brochures in this folder as this will require the reader to get them out and put them back in, which is a real hassle. Also, these will be read and often put down just anywhere, whereas a folder that people can flick through will keep your reception area tidy.
Posters - The use of posters can also be quite effective, one of the best being one that reads ‘do you need a...’ followed by a list of the professions of some of your membership and at the bottom put ‘see the folder on the waiting room table or ask JOE’. I once created a poster that I placed in our office toilet (a great place to advertise and get peoples almost undivided attention). The poster is a copy of the original poster for the movie The Godfather. I have changed the sense of it to talk about our chapter, but it always attracts the attention of and questions from visitors.
The next one I am designing, is based on a monopoly board. I am drawing from a hat to see which company gets which property to save insulting people by making them the lower value properties. The beauty of large format digital printing (offered by the copy shop in your Chapter) is that these posters can be blown up very large to have impact, and the cost is not high. You might even get together with other Chapter members and collectively design a poster, share the costs, and have the same poster in many reception areas.
Brochure Displays - You might also consider having a display of your Chapter member’s brochures or other literature. This will need to be restocked and kept tidy, and again put a note of explanation about why you are promoting these companies in your waiting room. As well as promoting your Chapter and its members, you should include some information about the group. After all, you never know when someone visiting you might be, or know, a potential member.
Using your reception area / waiting room as a way of capturing referrals, promoting your fellow members, and promoting your group in general, is an opportunity far too many members miss out on simply because they had not thought to do so.
Remember, it is not rocket science, it is networking, fundamentally, it is easy.