ConnectForLunch, a service soon to be provided to Norman Chamber of Commerce members, will bring together business people for the purpose of building business relationships with other business people.
For a monthly fee, chamber members enrolled in ConnectForLunch go to lunches in small groups of three or four different business people each week at local restaurants. ConnectForLunch matches the business people together, makes the restaurant reservations, and e-mails the pertinent details to people attending. All the chamber member has to do is show up at the restaurant.
"The person you're having lunch with may not be your ideal client. But the point is, they may know somebody who is exactly your client and can refer you to them," notes Scott Christian, the chamber's director of member services. "By the end of lunch they've had an hour or more to get to know you personally. By that time, they feel they know you well enough to recommend you to their neighbors, their friends, their brother-in-law, etc."
Founded two years ago, ConnectForLunch has so far brought its program for building business relationships to many chambers across the U.S. The program is open to chamber of commerce members only. Chambers agree to work with ConnectForLunch because the program helps recruit and retain members.
"A major reason business people join a chamber of commerce is to meet other chamber members," Scott Christian said. "In fact, we've heard from several other chambers using ConnectForLunch that business people are joining the chamber specifically so that they can participate in ConnectForLunch."
The charges for ConnectForLunch are $9.95 for two lunches a month and $17.95 for four lunch meetings per month. Members who are interested in trying out the program can go to lunch four times during a free introductory trial period that the chamber is offering. The cost of the meals is not included.
Only restaurants that are members of the chamber are used
as meeting places.
ConnectForLunch has offices in Santa Fe, N.M., and in the San
Francisco area. For more information, go to the company's Web site
at www.ConnectForLunch.com/normanok.
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