President's Message - Oct. 4, 2013

“What is the Value of the Rotary Brand?”  District Governor Blake McBurney shared a story in his monthly newsletter about how he had a very important business meeting in Tokyo and he was apprehensive as most of us are in a new powerful introduction.  As Blake was introduced to the Executive Vice President the EVP noticed Blake’s Rotary lapel pin.  The introduction was about to really warm up as the EVP is also a Rotarian. 

If you have ever had this encounter you know the feeling.  The barriers seem to come down instantly.  You have something very strong in common that not just anyone can walk into.  If the two people share a Rotary moment a very sincere bond is formed.  This is usually not all it takes to finalize a business deal, get the order, be awarded a contract or secure a job but it sure does put a few point son your side of the score board.

RLI has done some research over the years to see what Rotary club members want.  In a recent survey they discovered the younger generation (the new people) want to be told it’s OK to do business in the club.  I think some of us “middle of the road” people feel the same way.  Historically this has always been a byproduct but it was never spoken in the club.  There is an old adage that says “If they know you, they will talk to you, if the trust you they will do business with you.”  The key here is trust and you can’t skip any steps getting to this point.  A Rotary Club can offer one of the best platforms to get to know somebody and earn their trust.  Doing a habitat build, adopt-a-mile, international trip, NFCC Volunteering, etc., side by side you learn a lot about people. 

I am not proposing we turn the club into a leads group and if somebody doesn’t buy your goods or services it doesn’t make him/her bad.  We must respect relationships that exist outside the club.  So, “What is the value of the Rotary Brand?”  I don’t know if we can quantify it like Best Global Brands recently quantified Apple at $98.3 billion or even our own Coca Cola at $79.2 billion but I can tell you that great feeling you get when you do business with someone you really know and trust is priceless. 

Yours in Rotary Service,

Dan

“In business we must be good at one of two things: planting in the spring or begging in the fall.”