Stable membership, dues strengthen network group

Creation of a successful business leads group, says Floyd Rowley, takes two things time and money.

Enough time, that is, for members of the group to get comfortable enough with one another that they're comfortable sharing information.

And money? The Northern Nevada Executive Council founded by Rowley six years ago really took off, he says, after it began charging participants $250 a year. With some skin in the game, they got serious.

The Reno group includes about 25 members who meet monthly to hear from a featured presenter and share information about potential business relationships.

Membership is limited so that participants know they are the only folks from their industry banking, say, or business law who can run with a tip about a potential new client.

And the group's members want only warm leads information that has a reasonable chance of leading to a deal rather than tips that are little better than opportunities to make cold calls.

Kris Richards, a member of the executive council and the president of Insight Technology Solutions Inc. in Reno, says members generally focus on the development of business relationships, helping to introduce each other to key players at other companies, rather than specific sales opportunities.

Because members are either owners or top managers of companies in the Reno area, they often can make a phone call that will open a door that otherwise might remain closed, says Richards, whose company provides telecommunications consulting.

"This is the best business networking group I've been involved with," he says. A key factor for Richard: The stability of the group and longstanding relationships between members.

Rowley says the members needed some time to bond together; enough for the Executive Council to become an effective forum to exchange leads.

One important step toward creation of those bonds, he says, came with quarterly social gatherings to which members bring spouses.

Another key step was the decision to begin charging annual dues, says Rowley, who works as an investment real estate broker with Colliers International in Reno.

"It forced people to decide if they were committed," he says. "Ever since then, turnover has been small. We're on a roll."

While the Executive Council's core has remained stable in recent years, Rowley says the group still would like to include a representative from an insurance brokerage that specializes in property and casualty coverage.

The group widened its scope a bit within the last couple of years as it invited a couple of executives of nonprofit agencies to join its membership. They provide Executive Council members with a better awareness of the nonprofit agencies in the community and their needs, Rowley says.