Laura’s Winning Ideas

Do you need an industry organization or are they just a good place to hang out when you are looking for a job?

If you do business development, then networking is a requirement of your job. But if you do proposals, it can be hard to get out of the office.

So, if you specialize in proposals, do you need an industry organization?

Probably.

Some organizations fall short on offering a reason to attend, beyond an expensive lunch out of the office and some time to meet and make some friends in the industry. Since most of us can’t talk about our work, it can seem more sensible to use the time to run a few errands instead.

Here’s why I try to get out to industry meetings:

• New Ideas. Good speakers bring something valuable I can take back to work.
• Good discussion recharges my batteries to come back refreshed.

The benefits outweigh the time and money invested.

That said, it can be a chore to gain the freedom to attend industry organization meetings. It’s hard to make it to meetings if your organization feels it is a waste of effort and/or time.

Some executives say what many of them think:

• “Those meetings cause problems because everyone there is looking for candidates or jobs. I don’t want to lose my folks.”
  • Vice President of California A&E firm
• “Proposal folks are disposable. We aren’t going to pay for extras when we know they’ll burn out and leave in a couple of years anyway.”
  • Vice President of Tennessee ER firm

Here’s where organizations can help themselves by helping you. Show bosses the benefits of your organization in a way they understand. Find, and publicize the economic benefit of membership to the Boss:

• Subcontracting relationships which proved to be the winning combination for a great project — which started with introductions at your monthly meeting.
• Project opportunities identified weeks earlier (at your monthly meeting) so that intelligence could be gathered to win a great project.
• Proposal ideas that became part of the proposal used to win a great project — came from a speaker at one of your meetings.

An economic benefit grabs the attention of executives more quickly than any other approach.

Let me know if providing this benefit creates a surge in attendance for your organization!