The importance of building professional relationships

Monday and Tuesday were very productive days for me this week. Our little tournament in B-Town, the Golden City Classic, has gone from a "definite maybe" to "full steam ahead" in just over 24 hours.

As of 4pm last Friday, I was waiting on the council to get back to me about the use of Morshead Park, a venue we've never used before but I've had my eye on for times where we couldn't use Vic Park or the Uni oval. And this was one of those times. Unfortunately I didn't get confirmation before the council shut up shop for the week. So I had to wait.

I spoke to Racheal at the council on Monday about where we were at. Racheal has been very helpful because she knows that once we have the fields booked, we take care of everything else ourselves - the cleaning, the rubbish collection, and most importantly the public liability insurance. We also bring visitors to Ballarat. Racheal said that she was waiting to hear from Tony at the soccer club. Now I know Tony because I had dealt with him before when trying to find a new training venue earlier in the year. I called him up and asked about the fields - he said 'no worries', and Racheal confirmed the booking.

After setting up the rego page and sending out the first email of what I'm sure will be many, I made a big list of stuff I'd need. I shot off a quick email to my media contacts (Geoff, Mel and Fitzy) telling them to expect a formal media release later in the week. On Tuesday morning I went to see Geoff and Leighton at UBSA about using their PA system, BBQs and shade tents. While I was there, I sorted out a substantial loan for BUUF to buy custom printed discs for O-Week. They then spoke to me about BUUF doing a demo in Week 1. Later in the day, I spoke to both Mark at 21 Arms and Damian at the Bridge Hotel about a function, but decided not to book either of them until I knew how many teams were coming.

It was all too easy. And it got me thinking about the work I'd done to build that kind of rapport with all these people.

B-Town is a small town posing as a big city. As cosmopolitan as we like to think we are, there's still people who point at aeroplanes. It is very rare that you need to go more than two degrees of seperation to find someone who can do something you need. That's what makes it easy.

But once you find those people, make the effort to meet them in person. And dress well. I always make a point of scheduling face to face meetings with people before or after work, so I'm already dressed in business attire. I carry a folder with paper to make notes, even if I don't intend to use it. It gives a clear impression that I'm there for business and I know what I'm doing. It's little touches like these that get you remembered and makes a huge difference in the other person categorising you as part of a "sporting club" and not a "recreational group". Some others...

* Always follow any meeting up with an email that confirms any decisions that were discussed.
* Keep them in the loop with big news for your club. Eg: qualifying for Nationals.
* Try and have the same person from your club contact them each time, but take other club members to face-to-face meetings.

All of these actions keep your club active in the memory of other organisations, and establishes your club as an ongoing entity, rather than a series of one-off projects.