Telecom & VoIP: Best Referral Sources
Who should be sending you clients, and the rooms they are already sitting in.
Get the networking events worth showing up to
Tell us where you are. We will send you the best rooms for telecom and VoIP providers and the next meeting dates. Add a ZIP and this page will also show your local chapters and which seats are open.
Most business owners network where their competitors are, not where their referral partners are.
Your own trade group is for learning. Your partners' groups are where the work comes from. Everything below starts with one question. When something happens that makes people need telecom and VoIP providers, who else gets a call that same week?
Telecom and VoIP providers sell to other businesses, and most of the work starts when a business signs a lease or opens a location. It moves fast, so being the name already in hand matters more than being the cheapest. Clients come back, which makes one good introduction worth years.
- New lease or locationwhen a business signs a lease or opens a location
- Business formationwhen somebody starts a company
- First hire / payrollwhen a business puts its first employee on payroll
- IT or network failurewhen the network, the phones, or the servers go down
Who should be sending you clients
Who you should be sending clients to
Ranked by what starts the job, not by who sounds close to your trade.
The same list, turned around. Give first and the rest follows.
- 01
Commercial Property Manager
They send you work86Trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location
Commercial property managers hear about it when a business signs a lease or opens a location, before you do. This one sends you work rather than trading it.
- 02
IT Services / Managed IT
Two-way80Trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location
You and IT and managed service providers both get the call when a business signs a lease or opens a location, usually the same week. This one goes both ways.
- 03
Attorney Business & Corporate
They send you work75Trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location
Business attorneys hear about it when a business signs a lease or opens a location, before you do. This one sends you work rather than trading it.
- 04
Insurance Property & Casualty
They send you work72Trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location
P&C insurance agents hear about it when a business signs a lease or opens a location, before you do. This one sends you work rather than trading it.
- 05
Commercial Real Estate Broker
They send you work72Trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location
Commercial real estate brokers hear about it when a business signs a lease or opens a location, before you do. This one sends you work rather than trading it.
- 06
Business Banker
They send you work71Trigger: somebody starts a company
Business bankers hear about it when somebody starts a company, before you do. This one sends you work rather than trading it.
- 07
Restaurant / Food Service
They send you work70Trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location
Restaurants hear about it when a business signs a lease or opens a location, before you do. This one sends you work rather than trading it.
- 08
Community Association Manager (HOA / Condo)
They send you work68Trigger: the network, the phones, or the servers go down
Community association managers hear about it when the network, the phones, or the servers go down, before you do. This one sends you work rather than trading it.
- 09
Bookkeeper
They send you work67Trigger: somebody starts a company
Bookkeepers hear about it when somebody starts a company, before you do. This one sends you work rather than trading it.
- 10
Staffing / Recruiting
Two-way66Trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location
You and staffing and recruiting firms both get the call when a business signs a lease or opens a location, usually the same week. This one goes both ways.
- 01
Office Equipment & Copiers
You send them work75Trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location
You hear about it when a business signs a lease or opens a location, before office equipment dealers do. Expect to give more than you get back here.
- 02
Commercial Janitorial
You send them work69Trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location
You hear about it when a business signs a lease or opens a location, before janitorial companies do. Expect to give more than you get back here.
- 03
IT Services / Managed IT
Two-way65Trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location
You and IT and managed service providers both get the call when a business signs a lease or opens a location, usually the same week. This one goes both ways.
- 04
Staffing / Recruiting
Two-way63Trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location
You and staffing and recruiting firms both get the call when a business signs a lease or opens a location, usually the same week. This one goes both ways.
- 05
Radio / TV / Media Advertising
You send them work63Trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location
You hear about it when a business signs a lease or opens a location, before media and advertising reps do. Expect to give more than you get back here.
- 06
Merchant Services / Payment Processing
Two-way62Trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location
You and merchant services providers both get the call when a business signs a lease or opens a location, usually the same week. This one goes both ways.
Where those people actually are
Ranked by how many of your best partners are in the room, and how much work each one can send you.
Your city or county chamber of commerce
Your partners are in this room: commercial property managers, IT and managed service providers, and business attorneys.
Too big and too broad on its own. The value is in one committee. Pick one and go every time. The same fifteen people show up, and they get to know you.
Find your local chapter →Give someone nine choices and they pick none. If you do one thing from this page, do this.
- 01
Your city or county chamber of commerce
Chamber of commerceYour partners are in this room: commercial property managers, IT and managed service providers, and business attorneys.
Too big and too broad on its own. The value is in one committee. Pick one and go every time. The same fifteen people show up, and they get to know you.
Chapter finder → - 02
LinkedIn groups & local B2B communities
Online communityYour partners are in this room: IT and managed service providers, business attorneys, and commercial real estate brokers.
Works when your buyer has a job title. Useful comments on your partners' posts beat posting your own.
Chapter finder → - 03
Vistage
Paid peer groupYour partners are in this room: IT and managed service providers, business attorneys, and business bankers.
Run CEO peer groups. You are buying advice, not leads, but the group turns into a warm list over time.
Chapter finder → - 04
BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association)
Your partners' associationYour partners are in this room: commercial property managers and commercial real estate brokers.
People who own and run office buildings. Vendors can join, and the local chapters run events just for them.
Chapter finder → - 05
Software & platform user groups
Vendor & supply chainYour partners are in this room: IT and managed service providers and bookkeepers.
Groups for the software your customers use, like practice management, property management, and accounting. You meet people in the middle of a problem.
- 06
BNI
Structured referral groupOne seat per category, so your competitors are excluded by rule and the seats around you are the partners above.
The biggest referral group in the world. You meet every week. Only one person per job. They expect you to show up.
Chapter finder → - 07
LeTip International
Structured referral groupOne seat per category, so your competitors are excluded by rule and the seats around you are the partners above.
Weekly referral chapters. One person per job. Strong with trades and home services.
Chapter finder → - 08
Network In Action
Structured referral groupOne seat per category, so your competitors are excluded by rule and the seats around you are the partners above.
Referral groups that meet once a month. Good if you cannot give up a morning every week.
Chapter finder →
Your city or county chamber of commerce
Your partners are in this room: commercial property managers, IT and managed service providers, and business attorneys.
Too big and too broad on its own. The value is in one committee. Pick one and go every time. The same fifteen people show up, and they get to know you.
Find your local chapter →Give someone nine choices and they pick none. If you do one thing from this page, do this.
- 01
Your city or county chamber of commerce
Chamber of commerceYour partners are in this room: commercial property managers, IT and managed service providers, and business attorneys.
Too big and too broad on its own. The value is in one committee. Pick one and go every time. The same fifteen people show up, and they get to know you.
Chapter finder → - 02
LinkedIn groups & local B2B communities
Online communityYour partners are in this room: IT and managed service providers, business attorneys, and commercial real estate brokers.
Works when your buyer has a job title. Useful comments on your partners' posts beat posting your own.
Chapter finder → - 03
Vistage
Paid peer groupYour partners are in this room: IT and managed service providers, business attorneys, and business bankers.
Run CEO peer groups. You are buying advice, not leads, but the group turns into a warm list over time.
Chapter finder → - 04
BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association)
Your partners' associationYour partners are in this room: commercial property managers and commercial real estate brokers.
People who own and run office buildings. Vendors can join, and the local chapters run events just for them.
Chapter finder → - 05
Software & platform user groups
Vendor & supply chainYour partners are in this room: IT and managed service providers and bookkeepers.
Groups for the software your customers use, like practice management, property management, and accounting. You meet people in the middle of a problem.
- 06
Prime Time Business Network
Structured referral groupOne seat per category, so your competitors are excluded by rule and the seats around you are the partners above.
A South Florida referral group. Only one person per job in each chapter. So your competitors are kept out, and your referral partners have the other seats.
See chapters → - 07
An independent local leads group
Structured referral groupOne seat per category, so your competitors are excluded by rule and the seats around you are the partners above.
Most cities have small leads groups you will never find online. A realtor or insurance agent usually starts them. Ask three people in your trade who they meet with.
- 08
Independent Insurance Agents (Big I)
Your partners' associationYour partner is in this room: P&C insurance agents.
Insurance agents. They get the first call after almost any damage, and they talk to the client every year at renewal.
Chapter finder →
IT channel & MSP peer associations
Most telecom and VoIP providers join this room first. It is also the one most likely to be the wrong pick. Vendor certifications and comparing notes. Good for running your business, weak for finding work. Everyone in it does what you do. Join it for the training, the licences, and the ties to manufacturers. Do not join it for referrals, and do not join it instead of the rooms above.
IT channel & MSP peer associations →Let us be straight with you. For telecom and VoIP providers, a weekly referral group is not the best pick. Your partners gather in professional groups instead, so spend your time there. We would rather say that than sell you a seat you do not need.
Is your seat open?
Prime Time takes one telecom & voip per chapter. Put in a South Florida ZIP above and we will show you which seats are open.
Add a ZIP code at the top of the page to see which seats are open.
Prime Time doesn't operate where you are yet.
We have fifteen chapters in South Florida and none near you. Telling you to join would be bad advice. The rooms above are the real answer where you are. We can email you the one page version and let you know if we open near you.
Send me those roomsHave the next meetings sent to you
The rooms above are the answer. This is when they meet. Tell us where to send it and we will email you the next dates for telecom and VoIP providers, with the one page plan.
We already know your trade and your area from this page, so there is nothing else to fill in. We do not ask for a phone number. Every email we send has an unsubscribe link.
Your one-page action plan
Five partners, five things to say, three rooms. Print it and keep it in the car.
Networking plan: Telecom & VoIP
The five people who should be sending you clients
- Commercial Property Manager (They send you work)
Shared trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location - IT Services / Managed IT (Two-way)
Shared trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location - Attorney Business & Corporate (They send you work)
Shared trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location - Insurance Property & Casualty (They send you work)
Shared trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location - Commercial Real Estate Broker (They send you work)
Shared trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location
The three rooms to be in
- Your city or county chamber of commerce: Your partners are in this room: commercial property managers, IT and managed service providers, and business attorneys.
- LinkedIn groups & local B2B communities: Your partners are in this room: IT and managed service providers, business attorneys, and commercial real estate brokers.
- Vistage: Your partners are in this room: IT and managed service providers, business attorneys, and business bankers.
- Your city or county chamber of commerce: Your partners are in this room: commercial property managers, IT and managed service providers, and business attorneys.
- LinkedIn groups & local B2B communities: Your partners are in this room: IT and managed service providers, business attorneys, and commercial real estate brokers.
- Vistage: Your partners are in this room: IT and managed service providers, business attorneys, and business bankers.
Don't confuse this with networking: IT channel & MSP peer associations. Learning and supplier access, not referrals.