Wendy Caverly went to college to work in politics. She spent her last two years interning on a state campaign with a job lined up in the capital if the candidate won, and three weeks before graduation he lost. What followed was a long string of jobs, from telecom utility work and stocking grocery shelves to an athletic club front desk, her own vending and coffee business and a stint selling credit card processing, until she found her real skill as a meeting facilitator for small business referral teams.
Crusaders came out of 2020. When the lockdowns hit, Wendy kept her groups meeting weekly on Zoom, and a video she made about farming her business the way she tends her vegetable garden led someone to ask if she trained sales teams. In this episode of The PR Bunker Podcast, Wendy and Don talk about her personality-driven system for networking and why collecting conversations beats collecting business cards.
A few takeaways from the conversation:
Wendy doesn't love the word networking because it's just an activity, like running, and running to lose weight looks nothing like running from a bear, which is a real possibility where she lives in East Tennessee. Her framework gives people four objectives. Farming builds and maintains relationships, foraging spots and leverages opportunities, fishing attracts mentors and partners for bigger rooms, and hunting is the measurable action plan that keeps you productive instead of busy. An assessment shows each client which of those comes naturally, so introverts can network well too.
At an event, Wendy's goal is usually five follow-up conversations, and she keeps talking until she's confident five people will say yes to coffee. She asks what makes people unique and who they want to meet, while quietly asking herself who needs to know this person and whether she wants them borrowing her reputation. She wants specifics too. Her favorite example is a mortgage lender and veteran who didn't get to use his VA loan on his own first home and now works only with veterans, so he's the one she thinks of.
Her advice to young professionals is to give themselves one year to learn and build their own strategy. One year of learning and two years of effort can turn into 10 years of results, she says. Wendy works with clients for about six months with strategy sessions every other week.
Wendy's newest project is the Crusaders Connection event, a golf scramble paired with a professional development workshop in the clubhouse. Attendees fill out a strategic connection form, get a card naming three people to meet that day and leave with a directory of everyone in the room. She's now packaging it as a service chambers and other organizations can host. You can reach Wendy on LinkedIn.
Listen to the full episode above.
Reading is the hello. SBGA is where we get to yes.
What is relationship farming?
It's Wendy Caverly's term for cultivating relationships over time instead of chasing quick sales. It's one of four networking objectives in her Crusaders framework, alongside foraging for opportunities, fishing for growth and hunting with an action plan.
Can introverts be good at networking?
Yes. Wendy's assessment measures how comfortable each person is with each part of networking, then builds a repeatable process around their personality instead of forcing one style on everyone.
What is the Crusaders Connection event?
It's a one-day event that pairs a golf scramble with a professional development workshop, organized so every attendee gets three recommended connections and a directory of everyone there.
Have a project, campaign, or comms challenge in mind?
Want to be a guest on the PR Bunker podcast?
Reach out and let’s talk.
