WBENC 2022: Tammy Cohen with Infomart

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for GWBC Radio’s Open for Business. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:18] Lee Kantor live from WBENC’s National Conference in the GWBC booth, Booth 1812, if you want to stop by real quick. Right now, we’ve got an old friend, Tammy Cohen, with InfoMart. Welcome, Tammy.

Tammy Cohen: [00:00:30] Thank you.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:31] I’m so excited to see you. Before we get too far into things, just a brief elevator pitch for InfoMart, tell us how you’re serving folks.

Tammy Cohen: [00:00:39] InfoMart is a global background screening company, so we do background checks for new hires, we do vendor screening, and we also do continuous monitoring on your current employees.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:50] So, there’s a lot of job security in that service. There’s a lot of folks that need that.

Tammy Cohen: [00:00:55] Definitely, over and over again.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:57] Now, how has it changed since you started? You’ve been doing this for a minute.

Tammy Cohen: [00:01:02] Oh, wow. Well, see, I’m going to date myself, but you can probably remember this, when there was no internet and no email and there was just fax machines, so it was just a paper shuffle. And it was even on the fax paper that was thermal.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:16] The rolls.

Tammy Cohen: [00:01:17] Yeah. It would lose its color after so long. So, I’ve been doing it a very long time. So, mainly just, you know, everything is electronic now.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:25] And then, now, I’m sure people demand this service faster. The speed is an important component of this.

Tammy Cohen: [00:01:33] Just like the mail. You remember when you used to send something out, you had three or four days? Now, you send something out and they email right back. So, it’s the same thing. So, we generally get information out to our clients in a day.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:45] So, here we are at the WBENC National Conference. Have you been to these before?

Tammy Cohen: [00:01:51] Oh, yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:52] Because with the pandemic, there hasn’t been an in person one like this.

Tammy Cohen: [00:01:56] No, there hasn’t. But, you know, I’ve gone to the ones years before. I go to a lot of tradeshows, and this is actually my favorite every year.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:06] And the energy seemed so high. Everybody is so optimistic and looking forward to this and connecting. It seems like there’s hugs happening everywhere. Everybody’s been holding in all these hugs for two years and it’s kind of exploding out on the conference floor.

Tammy Cohen: [00:02:19] Yes, it is. It’s so good to get to see people and be able to hug them, and everybody’s excited. You know, this is one of those few shows you really do business at this show, especially for women. I mean, you walk in knowing you’re going to get business, and so it’s exciting.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:39] So, how do you attack the show?

Tammy Cohen: [00:02:41] I basically create my strategy before.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:45] All right. So, what’s the Tammy strategy?

Tammy Cohen: [00:02:47] Well, my strategy is, I focus on a vertical. I’ve had verticals that I’ve made friends, so I’m going to go drop in on those verticals, say hi. And then, I’ve got a couple of new verticals that I want to start building relationships. Because, really, if you want a larger account, you have to build a relationship. It takes many years, and get to know you and your integrity. So, I just take my time and get to know people.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:11] So, you pick out a vertical and then spend time kind of getting to know the players and who’s here. Obviously, if they’re here in a booth, they think this is important, too.

Tammy Cohen: [00:03:21] Yes. And I spend time getting to know that vertical, the lingo, what is happening in the industry, what is their pain point, what types of background checks are they going to need. Are they doing retail where, you know, theft is really important or do they have drivers? So, I try to look really deep and focus on that so I can really be a benefit to the organization.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:45] Now, what about from an educational standpoint, is there any kind of speaker you’re excited to see or hear?

Tammy Cohen: [00:03:50] I always like the fireside chats because you get to really know somebody. And I think I just love that and I love panels. I always get so much out of a panel and a fireside chat.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:04] Right. Because this is stuff where you can get some actionable information that you could just put back into your business tomorrow.

Tammy Cohen: [00:04:09] Yes. And learn something that, “Wow. I need to contact them because I’ve got a solution for them.”

Lee Kantor: [00:04:17] Right. Now, talk about GWBC a second. Why should a woman business get involved with GWBC? Why should they kind of invest the time it takes to get certified and actually go through the process?

Tammy Cohen: [00:04:29] So, you know, a lot of people always think, “Oh, you’re just here to get contracts.” And I think everybody joins for that reason. But what you really take away is, you learn how to sell, you learn how to pitch on the fly. You know, a lot of the corporates here I have had that have been great mentors that would say at the beginning, like, “That was horrible.” And you’re like, “What?” “You know, that was a horrible pitch.”

Tammy Cohen: [00:04:54] So then, actually my very first WBENC meeting was a meet and greet table, and I sat down and everybody pitched. And I was nervous and I did horrific. I walked away so embarrassed. And I was like, “I will never do that again.” So, I really refined, refined, refined. Two years later, I end up being in the final five on the perfect pitch competition on the big stage. And I thought, “That all came from WBENC.” You know, they have so many webinars and meetings, and you get a chance to constantly pitch.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:28] Now, any advice for the listener about that perfect pitch? What are some of the most important do and the most important not do?

Tammy Cohen: [00:05:35] I think, first of all, keep it short, keep it sweet, keep it factual. And don’t say, “Oh. We’ve got the best quality.” No. No.
“Our turnaround time is a day.” You know, give them the facts. Especially here, I mean, this is a tough sell because the corporate see so many pitches and they talk to so many people, they have an expectation. But the benefit is when I go to do a sales meeting outside of WBENC, I’ve got it. I know what I’m doing.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:08] So, if somebody wants to learn more about InfoMart, what’s the website?

Tammy Cohen: [00:06:11] backgroundscreening.com.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:14] Well, Tammy, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Tammy Cohen: [00:06:19] Thank you, Lee. Well, so do you, we appreciate you.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:21] All right. This is Lee Kantor broadcasting live from WBENC National Conference 2022. And we’re inside the GWBC booth.