10 years ago, I went skiing with a group of other business owners. The group had been running for 5 years by the time I heard about it. I hadn’t skied for about 10 years, as no one at home really liked messing around in the snow, so I had no one to ski with. Then I met a businessman at a networking event, who had set up a group for sad and lonely skiers like me!

Everyone on my first trip ran their own business. Like me, they had all left their non-skiing significant others and families at home. We were there to ski, but we were also there to network and to do business. It was expected that we would have business conversations over dinner – and even on chair lifts. Everyone knew that within the first 24 hours, they were likely to be asked “What do you do?” (I was actually asked early on the very first morning before we’d even left the airport in the UK!) It was expected that connections would be made and that clients would be met – not always in the group, but ‘through’ the group.

On my very first trip with that group, I met a new client. The work they paid me to do paid for the cost of the trip (which was obviously all put through my business, as a marketing expense.) The same happened for the next 5-6 years. Sometimes new clients were people within the group; often they came from referrals from fellow skiers. I was never looking for dozens of new clients – my goal was always to have the trip pay for itself. One year, after skiing with and getting to know one particular business owner for about 5 years, he finally said “I’m ready. What do I have to do to sign up to work with you?” We spent the day skiing together, chatting on chair lifts and eating dinner together. By the end of the day, we had a plan!

This group is still running, over 20 years from when it was first set up. After a few years away, I was able to join the recent trip and ski with the group again. Some of the people I met all those years ago were still there; there were many new faces too. Some of the ‘new’ faces have been skiing with the group during my absence and have built up strong connections. What makes the trips a success? Why are they still going, after all this time? Because of the Stand Out Strategy that I call Connection. A group of people who share a love of skiing come together. The majority of them also run their own business. So deals are done over dinner.

These ski trips fill up quickly. Why? Because everyone knows that they’re about connection. They know that they’ll be able to have great business conversations and make really strong, enduring business connections. Not much marketing is done to promote these ski trips – most people come along because they’ve been introduced by another business connection. The trips bring together business owners. It’s all about connection – and a bit about skiing.

Is Connection the strategy that will make your business stand out this year?