Ashford company nets £12m worth of business from breakfast networking
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Clare Cooper presents
Daryl Carter with the £5,000 holiday on the paradise isle of St
Vincent
by business editor Trevor Sturgess
tsturgess@thekmgroup.co.uk
A "paradise-island" buy-to-let property investment
consultant has notched up business worth more than £12
million thanks to contacts she made at a local networking
group.
Word of mouth referrals at early morning meetings of Business
Network International (BNI) in Ashford catapulted Clare Cooper to
record sales, helping to keep Kent as Europe's BNI referral
hotspot.
Her firm Crystal Sands Investments, based in Ashford, offers
properties in the Caribbean and she has been delighted with the
interest generated at the Wednesday breakfast get-togethers of BNI
Eureka Chapter in Ashford International Hotel.
Ms Cooper recently surprised her group by awarding member Daryl
Carter, director of Style Brands - a promotional gift supplier -
with a luxury all-expenses paid £5,000 trip to Buccament Bay in the
exotic island of St Vincent.
Ms Cooper says 95% of her company's business deals come from her
BNI involvement.
She said: "Too many businesses overlook the power of word of
mouth referrals as part of what keeps them afloat. 98% of
businesses rely on word of mouth referrals yet only 3% have a
strategy for gaining new business this way.
"My advice to local businesspeople is to explore locally how
they can cultivate a team of colleagues to whom they can
cross-refer business. You never know who knows who and this is the
power of networking."
Wednesday, August 31 2011
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