BASIC PROTOCOL FOR CONTACTS & CONTRACTS

Contacts & Contracts will be reflected as CC throughout this document. Contacts & Contracts is a division of the Urbandale Chamber of Commerce. LEADS/REFERRALS WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A LEAD AND A REFERRAL? A Lead is cold. A lead is a connection you THINK would be good for one of your CC group members. **This can NEVER be a number found on the back of a vehicle on the way to the meeting. ** A Referral is warm. A Referral is where you have let the other person know that you would like to give their name to someone that could help them. IE John Smith, you just said you were needing XXX product/service. I know of someone who may be able to help you. Could I give them your name? LEADS/REFERRALS EXPECTATIONS Referrals are strongly preferred over leads. A quick way to turn a lead into a referral is to mention to the CC member a possible lead, then follow up with the lead and let them know you would like to share their name with a fellow CC member. Once completed, let the CC member know it is now okay to contact your referral. 1.) Share leads/referrals immediately by contacting the person you are referring in CC to let them know to follow up. Do not wait to share at the next CC meeting. 2.) Write down the lead on the provided lead/referral sheet to distribute during the next CC meeting for tracking purposes. 3.) If a CC member does NOT have a lead/referral to report at the meeting, they must provide a testimonial for someone in the group at the meeting. When you are given a referral, both your reputation and the reputation of the person who gave you the lead/referral is on the line. Because of this you need to: 4.) Follow up IMMEDIATELY. 5.) Let the person know who gave you the lead/referral that you have followed up. Suggestions from the group would be to: a.) cc/bcc them in on the email you send the lead/referral. b.) send them a quick note that you have followed up.

TRACKING The Chamber Board would like to track the amount of business generated from CC. When you turn a lead/referral into business, please plan to share with the group the amount of business you were able to close! If a CC member is uncomfortable sharing the amount verbally, they still MUST share the amount on the official sheet turned into a co-chair. During the sharing time, they can just say business was closed. It is still strongly encouraged to announce the amount. We will do this during the Lead/Referral/Booked business portion of the agenda. If the amount of business booked is a continuous sale, please calculate the projected amount of the sale for the year, or you may communicate the amount of the sale for that month, every month. The business closed, should be the total amount of the sale, NOT commission collected or the profit margin, but the total of the sale. CONFIDENTIALITY You will be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. The leads/referrals shared must stay in this room. You are not to discuss any lead/referral with anyone outside of the CC group. If confidentiality is breeched by a CC member, it will result in immediate dismissal from the group. The individual will be banned from ever participating in the Chamber CC group again and the company will be moved to the bottom of the waiting list. ONE ON ONE MEETINGS We will name this at a later date. As a member of this group, you will commit to meeting with every other CC group member by February 2013. It is vital to know other CC group members are so that qualified referrals can be given to them. People do business with those they know, like, and trust. It is important for you to get to know the other CC group members. Some CC groups will hold social gatherings outside of the monthly CC meeting. These also serve as a place for one-on-one meetings. BRAG BUCKS At the end of the meeting, we will schedule a Brag Buck time. This is the time when CC members can brag or promote anything they want, but it costs $1 to do so. The money will be held on to and used to purchase cards, flowers, gifts for major events in other CC members lives. This is optional and a way to further connect with each other. FOOD

Any food brought into the Chamber office during the meeting must be purchased from a Chamber member business or brought from home. IF the CC group decides to organize catering for the meetings, anyone who orders food and does not attend will be charged for the meal. In the event a caterer joins a CC group and the CC group organizes a group lunch order, the organized order will be from the CC caterer of that CC group.

MEMBERSHIP IN CC GROUPS In order for someone to participate in the Chambers CC groups, the company they are employed by must be a member of the Urbandale Chamber of Commerce in good standing. If the employee leaves employment with the member company, the CC group membership will follow the employer first. If the employer does not want to designate an employee to replace the previous employee, then membership will be open for the employee to continue as long as their new employer is a member of the Urbandale Chamber of Commerce. If the employees new company category is already represented, the employee will be placed at the top of the waiting list. If the company, or the employee do not want to continue CC membership, then the Chamber staff will open it up to the next person on the waiting list. One person cannot attend two different CC groups, however one company MAY participate in multiple groups using different employees. If a CC member, leaves the member company and the member company does not want to hold the spot AND the CC members new company industry is already represented in the CC group, the CC member will be placed at the top of the waiting list. Individual members of the Chamber may not participate in the Chambers Contacts & Contracts group. Contacts & Contracts is a lead-share group and individual membership does not provide for any business affiliation. ATTENDANCE Please plan to attend all of the CC meetings if possible. You do NOT need to send a sub when you cannot make it, but if you miss more than 3 meetings in a year, you will be asked to step down from the CC group due to the high demand. When you have 3 misses, you will receive the following warning from the chair:
NAME,

I am writing to make sure you are aware of your attendance with CC. We have it recorded you missed MONTH 1, MONTH 2, AND MONTH 3 sessions, which means that you are at three absences for this year. Our calendar year goes through February, which means you cannot miss any more sessions through February 2013. Once March 2013 arrives, the attendance reverts back to zero and you would be allowed to miss up to three meetings for CC between March 2013 and February 2014. I just want to make sure you are aware of the policy. If you need anything, call me anytime (CHAIRS NUMBER): SINCERELY, CHAIR

The attendance policy follows the business. E.g. Employee 1 participates and misses 2 meetings, leaves the company and is replaced by Employee 2. Employee 2 misses 2 meetings. The company will lose its space in the CC group, but may be placed on the bottom of the waiting list. If the member employer has a delay in hiring, the company continues to have the ability to fill the open seat, for as long as the delay does not extend past the four available misses as defined in the attendance policy. Per the attendance policy, the ONLY excused absence is Jury Duty. Another person from the member company may fill the open seat in the interim; however, this must be the same person every month from the member company because this program is based on relationships. In addition, we will begin the networking at 11:30 a.m. and will conclude it promptly at 11:45 a.m. Please try to be seated and ready to go by 11:45 a.m. We will conclude promptly at 1 p.m. Jury duty is the ONLY excused absence. In the event of military leave, the company may assign a substitute to participate in the group.

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES Contacts & Contracts is a program that does not carry any cost to it for participants. Businesses do have the opportunity to sponsor a CC group every year. This sponsorship guarantees the sponsor a seat in their sponsored CC group. If a business sponsors a group where a current CC member is representing the same industry, the current CC member will be moved to another CC group or moved to the top of the waiting list.

Businesses may sponsor multiple CC groups, however they may not sponsor ALL cc groups, therefore locking out that specific industry from participating in any CC group. LEADERSHIP ROLES The Chair and Co-Chair are elected by the CC group in March of every year. It is assumed the Co-Chair will move to the Chair position and the group will determine a new co-chair for the year. Sponsorship of the group only guarantees the sponsor a spot in the group. It does not guarantee the leadership position. The Chair will send meeting reminders, coordinate the speakers for the year, meet with Chamber staff to develop CC policy recommendations, run the meetings and provide direction and encouragement to other participants. The Co-Chair will support the Chair and act as chair when the Chair is unable to attend the meeting. In addition, the Co-Chair is in charge of taking attendance and tracking referrals. It is understood the Co-Chair will transition to Chair the following year, as long as their company remains a business in good standing with the Chamber. SOLICITATION TO OTHER REFERRAL GROUPS No soliciting is allowed to members of CC to another referral group outside of the Urbandale Chamber of Commerce in order to uphold the integrity of CC. MEETING AGENDA Networking from 11:30 11:45 a.m. Sales manager Minute (1 minute each) Featured Speaker(s) for 7-10 minutes Sharing of closed business and number of referrals given Conclude 1 p.m.