Ep238 Sara Branch—Network With Intention and Build Relationships That Compound

Sara Branch 0:00

It's just amazing the things that you find out when you spend time with people. Last year, I think I had two different dinner parties where people were disclosing things about their past. You'd never have guessed. It was fun stuff. So I've lived in this country, and I've lived in this country, it's so much fun to learn more about people, because that's what we human beings want, we want to be connected to each other.

Mike O'Neill 0:25

Welcome to get unstuck and on target, the weekly podcast that offers senior leaders insights and strategies to not only lead with confidence and vision, but also to achieve groundbreaking results. I'm your host. Mike O'Neill, I coach top level executives on the power of ethical leadership to forge teams to be as united as they are effective in each episode, join me for insightful conversations with leaders, just like you, providing practical advice to help you get unstuck and propel you and your company forward. Let's get started. It's not the effort that's holding most leaders back. It's connection. They're social, they're visible, they're busy, but their network isn't actually working for them. In this episode, I sit down with Sarah branch to unpack a distinction that most professionals miss. The difference between socializing and networking. We talk about why relationships, not tactics, are the real growth leather how high performers unintentionally dilute trust in what it actually takes to build connections that compound over time. This isn't about working the room harder. It's about showing up with intention. If your calendar is full but your network feels hollow, this one will land. I see this all the time with leaders and sales teams. They're told to network more, but what they actually do is collect contacts, and they call that progress. My guest today, Sarah branch, has spent nearly a decade helping entrepreneurs and sales professionals rethink that entirely. She's the founder of branch Consulting Group, and her work sits at the intersection of relationship, building community and revenue, not as a tactic, but as a life skill. What really caught my attention about Sarah is this she draws a clear line between socializing and networking, and shows leaders how confusing the two quality limits their growth. I've invited Ron because leaders don't need more activity. They need intentional relationships that actually compound over time. Welcome Sarah.

Sara Branch 2:52

Thanks, Mike. I really appreciate being here today.

Mike O'Neill 2:55

I have the advantage also. I have actually been in a room where

Sara Branch 3:00

Sarah presents. It was a room with about 15 business owners, and, boy, she just knocked my socks off. That's why Sarah is here today. I love to just get into how I introduced you, and that is most people think networking really just means being friendly and visible. But there's a line where's that line between social and actually building strategic. I think the biggest issue is people just don't think about it. They don't think about that. There is a difference. They'll show up at networking events, especially networking events, where they've been multiple times and they see some of the same people. So they think, Oh, I'm going to this networking event. I'm seeing people that I know, and I'll just talk to them and see how business is going, and then I'll go talk to another friend and another friend, and before the event is over, they've made no progress. They've not met anybody new, but they think they were networking. So that's I think people just don't realize that, as you said, there is a line, a very specific line, between socializing and networking. And another way you can characterize it is this, just about every single sales person has been through some kind of sales training, whether it's formal sales training, being coached by Sales Manager people, giving them pointers on on sales process, and then they're told, okay, now that you know how to sell, go out and network. Well, for me, it was a big huh? Wait, you, wait a minute. You put me through this sales training course. You didn't say a word about networking. You didn't tell me what I was supposed to do. So I went and spoke to the seasoned sales people that I was working with, and they said, Oh, here. Some events. Go to this place, go to this place, gather some cards, and when you get back, you can send them an email. Well, actually, that was before there was email, but it was send them a letter, send them some kind of notification, nice to meet you, whatever. And that in there is a huge problem, because we waste time as a result of, first of all, just going to collect cards, and then, second of all, follow up. We human beings are not good at follow up. And follow up is just a big black hole that so many things fall into. So that's part of the mindset that I help people see about networking.

Mike O'Neill 5:42

You know, it was follow up that resulted in you being on this podcast today. I immediately said, Boy, Sarah, well, she is good. And I thought, gosh, wouldn't she make a great podcast guest? So what did I do? I went up to you right afterwards, and we I introduced myself, and then I just asked, Do you do podcasts? And Sarah, I know you've done lots of podcasts, so you are kind of a natural, but if I had not done so, then I would have experienced a great presentation, but I didn't have the opportunity to kind of build on this relationship. So hope that's evidence of just taking the initiative. I want to go back to what you mentioned about going to these networking events. You know, I hear this something like, gosh, I hate networking. It feels so forced or or fake. What is the mindset mistake that if we're thinking that that we're making before we even walk in to that event,

Sara Branch 6:50

that encompasses several things. The number one thing that I see with people is they go to a networking event without a plan. That's the first thing. The second thing is, they have a well rehearsed elevator pitch, and nobody's ever bought anything as a result of hearing an elevator pitch. As a matter of fact, elevator pitches are little off putting, because the person who's reciting the elevator pitch thinks that they're making some connection with the person they're speaking to, and that's not true. And then once people have gotten frustrated with the fact they're not conscious of not having a plan, but if they're sitting there saying, Ah, this isn't working, and, oh, I don't like that, then they go find friends, or at least somebody they think they know, and then that becomes the end product of networking frustration, no plan, no way to communicate accurately with people, and they'll leave thinking this networking stuff doesn't work. So that, that, to me, are the three main things. They don't have a plan, they don't know how to talk to people, and they give up.

Mike O'Neill 8:03

I'd like to unpack that a little bit. Let's start with not having a plan. What should be a plan that a person going into a networking event look like?

Sara Branch 8:15

The simplest, easiest way to start is, I'm gonna meet five people I don't know. And if this is new, if it's a new event, you can get away with walking up to somebody and saying, Hi, I'm new. I've never been here before. Can you help me? People love to help. Oh, people love to help. Then the next thing is that person who says they're new must have an accurate description of their ideal customer, so let's say it's a CPA, so I can walk up to the first person I see and say, Hi, I'm new. Can you help me? And the other person will acknowledge and say, Yes, I'll be glad to help you. Do you know a CPA you can introduce me to? And in under two minutes, three minutes, you've connected with someone as a helper, and then the helper will take you to your ideal customer. That is absolutely the best way to start in a networking event.

Mike O'Neill 9:20

Great suggestion. Let's carry it on. This person introduces you to a CPA at the event you've cautioned us don't pull out the elevator pitch. What should that first engagement be? What should that first interaction look like?

Sara Branch 9:39

The first interaction should be something that grabs that ideal customer's attention, causes them to say, Oh, that's interesting. Tell me more then you know you've gotten their attention, that there's something you've said that they want to know more about the way we. Human beings process information is if I hear something new from you, Mike, let's say you tell me that you're training for one of those not quite in space trips. You go up in an airplane, experience weightlessness, and come back down, and my brain is thinking, huh? Where in my past Have I ever had any experience with anything like that? And what? How? How could I even imagine you doing that? So as you're speaking to people, if you know your ideal customer, you should be able to provide information for that customer or that prospective customer, that ideal customer that would say, Oh yeah, tell me more. So if your ideal customer is a CPA, maybe some way to process information faster, or some new chat about some new regulation, if it's a real estate agent, if it's just go down the list, you must know some pieces of information about that particular profession that will cause somebody to want to pay attention to what you are saying and engage in a conversation.

Mike O'Neill 11:12

So the assumption is that you start the conversation in a way that demonstrates familiarity, but something that familiar, that is, you're familiar with what they may be dealing with, but you capture their attention first,

Sara Branch 11:27

correct. For example, I love franchisees. God bless them. They've taken a huge risk in their lives, left a corporate job, usually, and cashed out their 401 K, gotten cash out of their house, and now they have a business. They show up at networking events like deer in headlights. And usually, when you walk into an event like that, if someone's wearing a logo, t shirt, logo, ball cap, they're a franchisee. That's usually who I look for first, and I'll go to them. I was, Oh, are you the franchise owner? Yes, a little bit about, I'll get a little bit about their background, and I'll look at them. I said, Did you know that 80 to 90% of your new business is going to come from face to face networking? Oh, they'll look at me like, oh. I said, Well, let's, let's talk about face to face networking for a minute, and I'll get them engaged about how they feel about networking if they have any apprehensions or they don't know anything, that type of thing. So I try to engage people with a question or a thought provoking statement, something that will lend them to believe I have some credibility.

Mike O'Neill 12:36

So what you describe going with a plan you mentioned. I want to meet five new people. The first person you meet, you ask, I'm new here. Who do you know? Any in this case, CPAs, that you introduced me to. That introduction takes place, that first interaction with CPA number one is there a general rule as to, how long should that conversation last?

Sara Branch 13:09

Yes, not long at all. You don't want to spend the rest of your time at that event talking to that person. However, you don't want to cut it short. And of course, this takes experience. If you've had experience speaking to CPAs, then you'll know based most CPAs are introverts. Most CPAs have trouble being chatty and fun and that kind of stuff. I do have a CPA friend. She's a riot, and I love spending time with her, but that's an exception. So you as a networker will need to ask them questions, find out some things about their practice, and usually within a couple of minutes, you'll be able to tell whether or not this is someone you want to speak to some more. My favorite way to end that part of the conversation is, wow. I'd really like to find out more about your business and how we can potentially help each other. Do you keep your calendar on your phone? Let's get a date, and that's how end that part of the conversation. And you must leave with a date on your calendar with an invite, and you don't that. You don't collect cards. You collect dates.

Mike O'Neill 14:27

Very, very well said, I know in the time we have, I don't want to only talk about networking, but I love to kind of bridge this notion of relationships, particularly relationships that last, and they should last a long time, perhaps even a lifetime. What separates, in your opinion, relationships that actually deepen over time from the ones that maybe stall after that first meeting?

Speaker 1 14:59

Do.

Sara Branch 15:00

Genuine help versus Transact transactions. If you really want to help people, you should walk into an event with the mindset of, who can I connect these people to? Now this is after you've gotten comfortable with going to events and understanding the lay of the land, knowing that you've got a plan to work. But this phone is the most powerful database that you've got. And if you're talking to somebody and say, oh my gosh, Sally, you make you reminded me I've got Jim and my database who you need to be connected to, and you're going through your contacts, and you connect them, maybe not necessarily on the spot, but you'll say, I'm going to connect you Sally, to Jim, who's in my database via email tomorrow. Now there's also a little kindness thing I like to do there, and that is, I usually record either a video or at least a voice recording that says, Hey, Jim, I met Sally last night at x event. And Sally does y, u do Z, and the two of you really need to be connected. And if you've got a mindset of connection, the person who, who you've now connected two people with, will say, Wow, that was that was really great of Sarah. Let's see what else we can do, and I'll follow up with each one of them. But as long as you've got a mindset of connection, that's when the relationships really deepen. Think about it, if you've got a problem in your life that's nothing to do with business, you are going to end, either end your mind or end your phone go through, who do I know that could help me resolve this issue? And you will go find go find them, because you will have been connected to them. We always want to do business with people that we're connected to. So it's the mindset of connection. I truly want to help you. Mike, I truly want to help Brent. I want to help whomever I've got you on my mind every time I go to a networking event, because there might be somebody there that I could connect you with to me. That's the real foundational behavior, thought process of long term relationships.

Mike O'Neill 17:16

If I heard you correctly, you've encouraged us to to go into a networking group with intentionality. Now we've shifted to deepening relationships. It sounded to me that what you're describing is intentionality, and what is it you're doing? You're looking for ways to to help others, and in this case, perhaps help them through introductions. Am I hearing that correctly?

Sara Branch 17:46

Absolutely,

Mike O'Neill 17:47

okay,

Sara Branch 17:47

absolutely.

Mike O'Neill 17:49

You are very social. I don't know if that is a learned capability or not. No, I was born an over the top extrovert. I've had to learn how to rein it in. And look at it quite frankly, I've been accused of the same. Let's talk that through. If what I heard you say, Sarah is you need to be mindful of who can I introduce others to? There's a practical side here, and that is, how many names in your experience can one kind of keep in their mind? As here are my go to connect teas, if that's the right term,

Sara Branch 18:32

I know there's this statistic for that now I can't think of it off the top of my head. However, our phones, as I said, have all those contacts in there, and you can label them different things. And I try to go through the contacts on my phone at minimum every couple of months. Sometimes after I've gone to a networking event, I'm going through it as soon as I am at the networking event when I get home, so that I will know who people are, and I have a mental ranking mechanism, I guess, so that I'll know certain people who I'm going to do work with, or give connections with most often. And then there's another level underneath that. Level underneath that. That's why I go through the contacts on my phone to remind me of the people that I don't often connect with other people, but I'm sure there's somewhere that I can connect them. So that's you can categorize on your in your contacts on your phone. And then please go through your context regularly, so your brain will be aware of who you are connected to.

Mike O'Neill 19:46

Yeah, I think it's great suggestion. Over I recently went back and just looked at my LinkedIn connections, yeah, and on one hand, I kind of go, my goodness, I've got 5000 connections. I. But that doesn't mean that I know 5000 people, and when I really began paying attention to it, the narrow people who I really know and know me, it's a much smaller number, yes, but I love what you said, and that is there's yet again, intentionality that top of mind, if you don't periodically go through that list. And I know this is a dated term, but You therefore have kind of almost a digital Rolodex in mind. Oh, yeah, when you're thinking about who might I introduce this person to, it's something that you've seen in a not too distant past, but you said something else, I thought was powerful, and that is a audio introduction. I mean, I don't know exactly how you're doing that, but you're sending a message to a person, saying, I want to introduce you to another person, but it's in your voice. You can control the inflection. I think that's brilliant. Sarah,

Sara Branch 21:06

well, thank you. I do it well, I can record a voice memo on my phone and send it if I want to do it quickly. But I like recording videos also, where the people can see the look on my face, hear the tone of my voice and know that, hey, I think you all really should be connected. And to me, that's more of a motivation than just getting an email that says, Hey, Sarah, meet Ryan. I get more comments and compliments on recording a video and putting dropping that into the introductory message,

Mike O'Neill 21:44

gosh, I hate go geeky here, but is there a video platform that you like to use?

Sara Branch 21:50

Yes, it's called loom, l, o, o, M, and it will let you know who's opened up the video. They'll let you know if it's I believe it will let you know who opens up the video. So if somebody sent it to somebody forwarded it to somebody else, you'll see who's opened it and how long if they watched it the entire time. And sometimes I'll just send out a video from loom to a handful of people that will say something like, Oh my gosh. I was on a webinar yesterday. I found out about X, Y and Z. I'm going to sit if you look in the email this is attached to you're going to see the URLs for these things. Please take a look at it, and I will do that. I did that yesterday. I got off a webinar yesterday that was all about keeping networking groups together, that if you've got a networking group, and she was talking about the gelling factor, how do you keep a group gelled and together? And I immediately recorded a loom and sent it off to five people and said, y'all got to get into this. So it was, it's interesting see who's opened it so far.

Mike O'Neill 22:59

That's helpful to know I have an account, but I don't use it, and therefore you've given me inspiration to start using it in the way that you describe. That is something I'm committing right here now, good to do just that. Can we go back to deepening relationships? And that is, we've moved from a networking event to intentionally making connections, but I in my introduction, talked about relationships that can and should span a much longer period of time. Why is that important that we pay attention to the long term nature of these relationships?

Sara Branch 23:37

That's what we human beings are wired for, and it's all part of the know, like and trust process. I like to get to know people first via one to one, and while you're there, you can talk to them about all sorts of things. I have a little formula for introverts who have trouble with small talk and chatting with people, so I teach them a very specific questioning process to follow that is about that person personally. What kind of recreation tell them about the business, of course. And in my process, process, I asked them to ask their personal why? What is it that makes you get up every morning, and so very quickly, you've gotten some information about a person that is not just their business. It's not just superficial things. Now sometimes we human beings like to hide behind the superficial I have that with franchisees, because a lot of franchisees, most of them have never owned a business before, never sold anything, and they think that brand is going to be the connection to people. Sorry, I have to teach them that. Yes, your your T shirt says Joe's hauling service or whatever it says on there, but the people want to buy from you. You personally. So you get to know them personally, then you introduce them to somebody. Now you've got three people who know each other because of that connection. One of those three people is going to introduce them to somebody else, somebody else. And who knows, you may find yourself at a dinner party at somebody's house. And then the connections go even further, and you talk more about your experiences in life, you'll find out that somebody didn't grow up in the United States, but you thought they did. You might find that somebody speaks five languages. It's just amazing. The things that you find out when you spend time with people and get more connected with them. I've had, last year, I think I had two different dinner parties where people were disclosing things about their past. You'd never have guessed. It was fun stuff, but it was great here. So I've lived in this country, and I've lived in this country, and my father was some kind of logistics thing. I mean, it was, it's so much fun to learn more about people, because that's what we human beings want. We want to be connected to each other.

Mike O'Neill 26:07

I appreciate you saying that you know we as human beings also get stuck, and therefore I'd like to ask, if you don't mind, this podcast is about helping leaders get unstuck. Maybe, can you share a moment, maybe where you felt stuck, maybe perhaps stuck in your own growth and what changed once you approached relationships differently.

Sara Branch 26:30

Wow. I graduated college in the era the low tech era. I believe you did too, Mike. There wasn't any email, there weren't cell phones. Basically the only thing we could do was go collect business cards, go back to our office, write a letter or make a phone call. I found that just incredibly, incredibly wasteful, and I kept trying to think of ways that I could get people together, and without knowing it, I was creating little networking groups of people. Let's show you know, happy hours, Happy Hour groups. Let's go to the bucket shop at five o'clock, things like that. And that thought had been in my mind most of my life, and I was teaching sales people to do that, but I've gotten stuck two or three times in taking all that information and translating it into actual human behavior. And I love Don't get me wrong. I love technology, but I want to teach people how to be connected to other people without technology, maybe technology will facilitate the introduction, but beyond that. So you asked me about my personal growth. I think it was about four years ago. Five years ago, I was in my most recent and last corporate job, and I was extremely frustrated by not being able really to execute on my job. My manager and I did not see eye to eye on how to get people trained. I was responsible for making sure that customers understood our software, and I knew there was there had to be something that I didn't know or didn't know how to do that, I could then tell my manager about and help her understand how to get our customers more engaged. It took a while, and it took some research, but I did eventually get her to see that we had to have our own software platform so our customers would be more engaged with us. And I'll tell you one more that experience with that manager led me to leave corporate and go into business for myself. I had the same problem. I'd never run a business before. Now I'd sold stuff, and I love talking to people, but thankfully enough, my husband's a business coach, so he helped me a little bit, but I was absolutely at a juncture Mike where I had known how to do so much for years and years and years, and all of a sudden it's like this cold wind comes in and you're, ooh, what do I do now? And it took me several months to come up with a clear path. It was those months that helped me figure out how to write this course that I've written, to come up with a plan for people so that I would say three years ago was my biggest pivot and struggle with putting everything that I'd learned into one place and share it with people

Mike O'Neill 29:46

when I appreciate you sharing with us. You didn't know that question was coming the way it came across. But what's really fascinating is in stuck nuts, if you would, it changed your entire. A path going forward. You know, Sarah, this really has been a grounded and practical conversation. What's the best way for people to connect with you or learn more about your work?

Sara Branch 30:15

Well, two ways. One, my email address, my name is Sarah, without an h, S, A, R, A at branch consulting dot group, and that's that's it. Sarah at branch consulting dot group, and my website is branch consulting dot group, so you can email me, and you could go to my website. You can book a meeting with me on my website. You can see the full outline of my course on my website, so you can see all the all the topics that I cover in my 10 module course. And as you said, with helping people get unstuck, I love to see people get unstuck in their networking or their dislike of networking. I should say, with the things that I teach, it's always wonderful to see people just their eyes open and say, Wow, this is really making a difference.

Mike O'Neill 31:16

So for those folks who are not watching but listening to this episode and kind of, Oh, what was that? Don't worry, we're going to include that information in the show notes. So for our listeners, if Sarah's perspective on relationship and community, if it resonated, let me encourage you connect with her directly. You are going to find the links in the show notes. And if today's conversation has you kind of maybe rethinking about how you build trust and momentum. I'll be glad to help you think that through. I offer complimentary two hour game plan sessions. These are for leaders who want clarity, not noise. There's no pitch, there's no pressure, but just a practical next step. You'll find a link in the show notes, if that interests you or someone you know as well, and to everyone listening. Thanks for doing the hard work that leadership requires, and I hope this helped you get unstuck and on target. Thank you for joining us for this episode of get unstuck and on target. I hope you've gained insights to help you lead with confidence and drive your organization forward. Remember, at bench builders, we're committed to your success, your leadership excellence and your strategic growth. If you've enjoyed our conversation today, please leave a review rate and subscribe to keep up with our latest episodes this show really grows when listeners like you share it with others. Who do you know who needs to hear what we talked about today? Until next time, I encourage you to stay focused on the target and continue to break new ground on your leadership path.

Speaker 1 32:56

You

AI VO 33:07

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