B2B Networking: At Conferences, Part 2

Written by: Brooke Pettys, Marketing Specialist

To continue with this week's topic of networking, these tips discuss steps you can take after a conference has ended and ways to ensure a positive follow up response.  Additionally, the Cachet and PTM Regional Managers share some networking tips they have learned over the years that have proven to be effective for them. 

After a conference, the follow up is one of the most important factors when trying to generate new business.  Regional Manager, David Taub, says it’s best to wait 2-3 business days after a conference to follow up with any prospects you may have met.  This is because everyone, including you, is playing catch-up on the days they missed and therefore cannot devote additional time to create new professional relationships right away.  To make sure that you still stick out in your prospect’s mind days after a conference, always write down one personal or professional topic the two of you spoke about on their business card that you can mention again when you call them.  This brings up another important tip, which is making sure that you call first.  You can and should always follow up with an email, but calling a prospect gives you an advantage over the people who solely email and may never get a response back.  Additionally, try and connect with prospects on LinkedIn, or see if you have any shared connections or group between the two of you.  This can bring up another topic to discuss if you feel that your personal anecdote isn’t enough.

Tips learned from conferences:

Cachet and PTM Regional Managers shared great networking tips to follow/not follow that they have seen throughout the years at conferences.  

Scott Johnson stated that “you never want to be the person in the room just collecting business cards trying to meet everybody.  Everyone is trying to create relationships that can move their business forward, and people recognize when someone is not being sincere and are only interested in themselves and their company”.  A great networker is someone that can establish genuine connections and build relationships without having to constantly push their product.  It is better to establish five valuable and genuine relationships than trade 20 business cards without creating engaging in genuine conversation with the people you met.  

David Taub recommended that if you attend a conference alone, which is very likely, it is important that you have no qualms about speaking to competitors, alliance partners, and prospects.  This may take you out of your comfort zone, but keep in mind that most people attending conferences are either alone or with one or two other employees, so they are most likely feeling the same way as you.  

Ken Spitzer discovered that the best networking opportunities often occur at the optional events.  Dinners, golf games, fishing activities, etc. are a great time to get to know people on a personal level and build the relationship from there.  People will most likely remember the conversation they had with you about your shared love of rock climbing a lot more easily than the 5 minute pitch you gave about your company through the midst of the chaos during an event.

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B2B Networking: At Conferences, Part 1

Written by: Brooke Pettys, Marketing Specialist

In a Business-to-Business industry, networking plays a very important role in obtaining clients, building meaningful professional relationships, and growing business for your company. A majority of networking is done at conferences, but actively networking in various other ways throughout the year is also an effective tool for increasing business. To provide better insight, Cachet and PTM Regional Managers share networking tips they have used throughout their career that have proven to be successful and effective.

Before a conference, it is important to research the conference as much as possible. Who is hosting the event? What is the main focus of each session and the overall conference? Is an attendee list provided? Are you familiar with the sponsor companies? Which companies are competitors, alliance partners, prospects, etc.? These are some of the questions you should be able to answer before attending a conference. Regional Manager, Scott Johnson, finds that it is also helpful to look up attending companies on LinkedIn and the employees representing them so that he knows exactly who he wants to talk to and how to approach them before he arrives at the conference. "Putting a face to a name is key," he says. 

Reaching out to as many attendees as possible before the conference can allow you to make a connection with prospects and set up meetings with vendors. By doing this, you already starting the networking process before you arrive at the conference. Regional Manager, Ken Spitzer, finds that when he actively networks before a conference people are then searching for him and his company, rather than him constantly trying to find and meet people on his own.   

During the conference, presentation is everything. Although the SWAG you pass out may not seem as important, it is something that draws attendees in. This, partnered with a professional yet friendly demeanor, can make you an instant success at the conference. Scott stated that he tries to engage in as many conversations he can while still keeping each one genuine. David Taub, Regional Manager, tries to make sure that both he and the company stick in someone’s mind rather than become another portfolio in a company’s pile at the end of the conference. Scott Johnson believes that swift initiative keeps you ahead of the game at conferences. Sending a quick email or LinkedIn invite to the people you personally met each conference day creates an instant connection and in turn makes you more memorable down the road.

Check back in tomorrow to see tips for follow-ups after a conference and networking that can be done throughout the normal work week.

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Risk Management for Business: Tips 9 and 10

To end the Risk Management Tips for the week, the focus is on transaction times and deadlines for both collections and deposits, and procedures set in place for competitive services offered. 

Tip 9: Expand time between collection and deposit transactions. You should consider the benefits your company would have if you processed payroll on Monday for a Friday check date. You will collect from the client on Tuesday and by Thursday you’ll find out if there is an NSF.

Tip 10: Establish procedures for next-day and same-day payrolls. To stay competitive, you need to be in a position to offer next-day and same-day processing. Consider requiring these clients to wire funds to you. If your ACH processor has the capability, DrawDown FedWire (reverse wire) may also be a good choice.

Additionally, make sure you are reconciling your accounts, especially your tax impound account, down to the FEIN (client) level, on a daily basis.

 
*Bonus Tip: Consider contracting a risk management expert. You can limit your risk by contracting with a trusted partner, allowing you to focus on your core product -- payroll. A service like PTM's FlexTax, gives you the control you desire in an in-house tax processing system, but with all the checks and balances you get with traditional payroll tax outsourcing solutions.

Whichever way you go, make sure you establish risk management policies, and that you review and revise them no less frequently than annually. Make it a point to read articles on industry trends and adjust your business policies as needed.

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Risk Management for Business: Tips 6 - 8

To continue with our Risk Management topic for the week, these tips discuss safety steps you can take before accepting a client as well as procedures and the capacity of your tax software.

Tip 6: Know Your Client. You should consider steps to ensure you do not take on any "clients" that are fraudulent companies, "payroll jumpers", or companies that are financially unstable. Consider running credit checks on new clients, visiting their offices, calling to obtain references from other vendors with which they process, calling their former payroll service bureau, etc.  And don’t forget to do background checks on corporate officers.

Tip 7: Establish procedures for client NSFs. Your procedures should help ensure that you recover the funds as soon as possible. The procedures should include escalating NSF fees, procedures for holding or reversing payroll tax deposits, procedures on when to terminate a client for NSF activity, etc. Follow your procedures to the letter and don't fall into the "he's good for it" trap. Do not let your clients put your business at risk by soliciting unsecured loans!

Tip 8: Consider the capabilities of your tax compliance software. You may be able to offset risk by holding payroll tax deposits in the event of a client NSF. It is important to know the capabilities of your system in order to set your risk management policies. Does your system automatically track $100k payrolls? Does your system allow you to place clients on hold for NSFs? Does your system automatically hold payroll tax deposits if funds have not been received?

Once you have taken into consideration all factors that will contribute to your potential risk and your ability to control it, you need to establish written guidelines that are published, known and practiced by all employees.

Check back every day this week for more helpful tips regarding Risk Management that could potentially save your company a lot of time, money, and stress.

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Risk Management for Business: Tips 3 - 5

We are continuing our Risk Management tips this week, which focus on common issues that businesses encounter when dealing with clients, NSFs, and cases of potential fraud.  Today the primary focuses are ACH providers and the responsibilities your employees have that can increase the risk of fraud for your company. 

Tip 3: Provide ACH options for all clients without comprising your risk exposure.  The most important way to reduce risk exposure is to secure funds to avoid fraudulent payrolls. Here are some recommendations that we provide to our clients:

·         Direct Wire or DrawDown® Fedwire allows you to offer Direct Deposit to high-risk clients. It eliminates client-funding risk entirely.

o        DrawDown® Fedwire – Puts the payroll provider in control.

o        Direct Wire – Client initiates wire for collection funds.  Payroll provider controls release/suspension of direct deposit transactions

With Cachet’s online system, you can stop the direct deposit transactions on Thursday and prevent them from going to the employees, eliminating the possibility of another set of NSFs.  

Tip 4: Separate your employees’ ACH responsibilities.  Separating the various ACH duties within your company to different employees can reduce your overall risk exposure from internal errors, preventing additional penalties and/or fees.  Can reduce potential ACH errors and/or missing ACH files.

Tip 5: Include proper legal verbiage.  Do you include the appropriate legal verbiage in your client service agreements?  Stating who is ultimately liable for the payroll funds in the event of unfunded ACH funds in your service agreement will also assist in establishing limits to your clients and enforcing those rules on an ongoing basis. This may ultimately reduce your NSFs. This will also protect your company against potential legal battles, should your client “skip town” or avoid funding their payroll(s).

Check back every day this week for more helpful tips regarding Risk Management that could potentially save your company a lot of time, money, and stress.

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Risk Management for Business: Tips 1 and 2

A Cachet and PTM Remarketer recently alerted us to an incidence of attempted fraud.  Fortunately, they had strong risk management procedures in place and were able to handle the situation without any financial restitution needed. 

In light of this, our topic this week is Risk Management and the different measures that a company can implement in order to establish procedures for various payroll processes, protect themselves from NSFs, reconciliation tips, etc.  We will be posting ten tips throughout the week so be sure to check back every day to see every helpful guideline.

Every business model will differ slightly, even in our tight-knit industry. First, think about some key factors related to risk.

Tip 1: Consider your niche market. The first step in creating Risk Management guidelines for your company is to assess your potential risk. Do you specialize in a certain sector of the market, such as restaurant payrolls? You need to understand the potential risk of any niche market in which you specialize. Restaurants are notoriously bad at cash-flow management and far more likely to NSF. Understanding your potential risk as it relates to your niche market will help you create a plan that works for your business.
Tip 2: Consider the policies of your bank or ACH processor. Timing is of the essence when it comes to items that put your business at risk. Look at your bank or ACH processor's policies... How soon are they notifying you of a client NSF? Do they give you the ability to suspend or reverse files? You will need to tailor your risk management policies accordingly.

*Check back every day this week for more helpful tips regarding Risk Management that could potentially save your company a lot of time, money, and stress.

Connect with us for up-to-date expert information about the

Payroll industry and our company's products/services.