“Hi, I’m here for the networking event.”
“Sure. Are you a member of non-member? Non-members are $15.”
“Ok. Here’s my credit card.”
“Sorry. We only take cash or a check.”
This last line was followed by silence. A long silence.
In this day and age of Square and PayPal and other mobile POS solutions, they only take a check or cash? Seriously?
The lesson here for me was to always carry cash. The lesson for the organization is to consider that maybe they could actually increase traffic if they offered more options in the way of payment.
The object lesson I always remember in a similar situation is from a few years back: I was in line for one of these events and the woman in front of me had neither cash nor check. She was about to leave when I offered to spot her the cash and pay her way in. This worked on many levels: I made a friend, we had lunch and she even (to my protests) paid me back the admission cash.
Oh, and that woman eventually became the chapter president of that organization.
We do have a lot to remember at networking events. And it starts at the sign in desk.
Relentless
