Member Directories Member Directories Le Tip of La Jolla
TIPS-What Really Counts?

Tipping is the most important aspect of Le Tip. It’s in the name, it’s why we attend, and it’s the source of the revenues generated by Le Tip. We are here for the explicit purpose of increasing our income, and we do that by tipping.

In order to improve our chapter’s tipping practices and thereby increase the amount of business we generate, I am providing some tipping requirements and recommendations recently discussed at the Tipmaster Seminar and included in the Tipmaster handbook by Le Tip International.

Most importantly, Le Tip Bylaws, Article II, Section 2 defines a tip as:

“My qualified business TIP is a company or person who is interested in a specific service or product and is expecting a call from a Le Tip member. A Tip is further defined as a contact between two members or when one member generates a contact between another member and a non-member, which could potentially lead to a business transaction.
(a) An Inter-Chapter Tip does not qualify toward a member’s four-tip minimum.
(b) An Escrow Tip is designed for potential business with guests who are in attendance at a Le Tip chapter meeting. The Tip is only given to the guest when they become a member.”

When put into practice, what does this definition mean?

1. Read the tips that are being passed, even if they are not for you! The reason for this suggestion is that the tipper may not realize that this could also be a tip for you. Send the tipper a “Not a Tip” and ask them if they will introduce you to the same potential client. For example, if someone passes Marie Tolstad a tip saying, “My friend is moving to San Diego and wants to buy a house.” Then Karen Snyder should send the tipper a note saying “Will you introduce me to your friend, because I can provide the moving services.” It may feel like an invasion of privacy having others read your tips, but remember why we are here. We need to generate tips.

2. The key words “expecting a call” mean that we do not pass cold leads. We need to have discussed the tippee with the lead before passing the tip. For example, if my friend needs a face lift and asks me if I know anyone, I would tell her about Vicki Mairle, ask her if she wants Vicki to call her, and then I would give Vicki her number. Also, if you pass an inside tip, you should be expecting a call and be ready to discuss the business you mentioned in the tip. You can and should, of course, pass tips for business already completed if you didn’t already pass the tip at an earlier time.

3. The tip form must be completely filled out to be counted. First and last names, dates, and phone numbers should be included. In our chapter, we have two Dennises, two Gregs, two James, two Jims, two Karens, two Larrys, three Mikes, and two Vickies. None of us should have to spend the time figuring out which person is intended.

4. Complete the “Details” portion of the tip form. It is not sufficient to say “Let’s do lunch”. If you have confidential information, you should write the details that you can and then add the word “Confidential.”

5. Inter-chapter tips do not count toward your quarterly minimum. Remember that we need 12 tips per quarter, not counting the inter-chapter tips.

6. Inter-chapter tips do not count if someone in your chapter provides the same service or product. We need to be loyal to our own chapter for this group to work.

7. Do not pass multiple tips for the same transaction. I have seen it happen. People sometimes pass a tip saying, “I need to talk to you about X”. Then the next week they pass another tip saying, “Thanks for the information about X”. Then they pass yet other tip saying, “I send you a check for X yesterday.” Also, annual contracts that are paid monthly do not count as 12 tips. If you are passing multiple tips, this becomes an ethics issue. If you receive multiple tips, you should send them back with a note saying, “You already tipped me for this.”

8. Do not tip members outside of their category. For example, if John Rush holds the category for printing services, but sells Mary Kay cosmetics on the side, it would not count as a tip to purchase Mary Kay products from John. If a member wants to receive tips for more than one category, they need to purchase two memberships and find another person to attend for the other membership category. It is not always easy to draw this line. For example, Louella Woodhouse is in the acupuncture category but also sells herbs. I think everyone would agree that this falls in the same category, because it is part of the treatment that she provides. The problem is when one person receives tips for two or more different businesses. Finally, it is not a tip to purchase fundraisers such as girl scout cookies, gift wrap, or entertainment books from any member. I was personally not aware of this rule, but it makes sense. In the past, members have supported other members by purchasing their fundraisers, but they should not pass tips for their purchases.

9. Focus on outside tips. Le Tip International says that we should have 70% outside tips. If we only buy the products and services of each other, and don’t pass outside tips, we will quickly run out of customers and clients. By passing outside tips, the amount of business we generate is without limit. We will plant to have outside tip days about once a month to encourage outside tipping.

10. Escrow tips (to guests) don’t count until the guest joins. We are strongly discouraged not to give business to guests until they join. Therefore, if we have a guest and you feel you can use his/her service or product, send an escrow tip. When the guest joins, you get credit for the tip, and the guest gets the business.

11. Pass tips the longest way around to the tippee. This gives everyone a chance to look at it, it reminds everyone to write out their tips, it creates peer pressure, it increases the energy level of the meeting, and it impresses guests. The goal here is not to efficiently deliver the message but to fuel the tipping atmosphere.

12. Follow up on tips within 24 hours. Because we are passing warm leads, we need to act on them before they go cold. We are probably all guilty of filing the tips without taking action on them. We have a lot of excuses we use such as, “that’s not really a warm lead,” “they don’t really want me to call, they just needed a tip,” “I’ll do it later,” and so on. However, by acting on the tips immediately, we increase our chances of closing the deal, and we discourage bogus tips.

13. Our goal should be to pass 175 to 200 tips per meeting. This is 2.5 to 3 times our membership. We can only do this if we strive for 70% outside tips. Remember that LeTip of La Jolla is your sales force and the Friday meetings are your marketing staff meeting.

14. Increase your tipping proactively. Carry extra copies of your Le Tip roster and hand them out when someone you know needs a product or service. Carry extra tip forms with you. Ask people you know to be on the lookout for anyone who might need the products and services from our group.

Happy Tipping!

By: Alena Herranen, Tipmaster
June 3, 2003