Message of the President

Considered by many to be the modern-day business networking leader, Eric Pichette has traveled a particularly diversified career path. Mastering the art of business at a very young age, Mr. Pichette distinguished himself with his novel ideas and his genius for business. Originating from Quebec (Canada), he has established a network of worldwide contacts and has exchanged thousands of business references valued at billions of today’s dollars.

“We are through with dusty and archaic business networks; we must use today’s information technology and extend our horizons. Even if word-of-mouth referencing will always remain an indispensable part of networking, we must adapt to today’s market by being present on the internet and by making good use of social media.”

– Eric Pichette

An Early Start

At age 15, hungry for challenges, Eric Pichette starts his first business, “Collection Sport Plus”. Knowing nothing about sports, he wanted to better understand the sports card collecting phenomena. In a few months and after much research on the subject, he revolutionized the sports card and collection items market on Montreal’s South Shore.

His little kiosk rapidly turned into a business offering a new way of exchanging items. One year later, having acquired new management, administrative and marketing information, the little business already looked like an empire with thousands of customers. His 4 point of sales quickly drew the attention of prestigious sportsmen such as Patrick Roy of the Montreal Canadians. Thanks to the business’ exceptional profitability, it was sold after just 18 months in operation.

Market Knowledge

A few years later, at age 17, the young Eric Pichette was still looking for professional challenges. That’s when he decided to move into the groceries’ field, telling himself that that field wasn’t about to disappear, people always having a need for food. Not having any experience in this area, he understood that he would have to start at the bottom of the ladder and learn all the steps of this market; a philosophy that he applies today with his employees. In this fashion, he became department manager in less than 6 months.

“It’s important to master our work environment and to know all the aspects of the business, starting from the bottom. To grow within our work environment, one must also accomplish basic tasks such as pushing the broom, classifying documents, learning computing, negotiating contracts, meeting customers and learning about their needs.”

Unsurpassed Customer Service!

Eric Pichette’s professional history enabled him to strongly develop his customer service capabilities. However, always wanting to further interpersonal relationship abilities, he applied as croupier with the “Société des Casinos du Québec” and was chosen amongst many applicants. This position put him in contact with thousands of people, enabling him to gain significant experience with a very diverse public. The quality of his work brought on the position of trainer and then manager of game tables. His years passed within the government corporation enabled him to acquire knowledge that would serve him in his future projects.

“In a competitive field, you must distinguish yourself from the competition and show that you are the best in that field. Providing good customer service costs a business absolutely nothing but can bring in a lot.”

– Eric Pichette

Marketing, Marketing, Marketing

Having the urge and need of being his own boss, Mr. Pichette had to master all the aspects of marketing. He therefore started 3 new businesses: “Info Sortie Outaouais”, “Info Sortie Québec” and “Barman.ca”. These event-driven companies enabled Eric Pichette to apply all the know-how he had gained during his entrepreneurial projects. The advent of Internet around the mid-1990s greatly helped the marketing of these companies.

Very special attention was thus brought to the image of these companies, to their promotion and to the choice of advertising. With 11 franchises across Canada and over 300 events, the number of visits was reaching 100,000 clicks per day. Thus, Eric Pichette once again had faced and managed a challenge that he had given himself. In 2007, following its success, the business was sold and he was honoured with the Black Belt marketing prize.

“Marketing is a vital aspect of any business. The costs must be well assessed, the image must be impeccable and innovative ideas must tie in to the state of the present market. Today, resources are available at little cost for promoting one’s business. Creating demand for one’s product is what causes clientele to grow.”

­– Eric Pichette

Surround Yourself With The Right People

Eric Pichette is aware that it is impossible to accomplish everything alone. That is why he has surrounded himself with trusted people who have played a key role in the development of his business. Supported by his father, Yves Pichette and his longtime friend, Sébastien Guillet, he put together a team of dedicated professionals that became the foundation from which was created GR Business Networking.

“In almost 2 years, I built a construction business with over 250 full-time and contractual employees. Nonetheless, even by using all of my know-how, I wasn’t able to get them to apply the basic principles of teamwork. Principles such as sharing, loyalty and good communication are essential to the proper functioning of a team. I therefore decided to set up my own company with people that would know how to apply these principles.”

­– Eric Pichette

The Importance Of Being The Reference In Your Field

Mr. Pichette actively took part in many business networking organizations before starting GR Réseautage d’affaires®/GR Business Networking® (Groupe Reso International Corp.®). Never missing an opportunity for generating references, he earned the nickname of “Mister Networking” amongst Quebec’s business community.

A business must become unavoidable in the marketplace; it must be indispensable in a field where there’s a great need. A good business must adapt to the present economic market, whatever the fluctuations. Language, currency, technology, demographics, the economy and marketing must not represent hindrances to its growth.

By applying all the principles and knowledge acquired during his career, Mr. Pichette founded what was to become the most important business network in the world, a business that provides entrepreneurs with all the necessary tools to grow their revenue as well as being on the cutting-edge of the marketplace. GR Business Networking® has become a leader in business networking, in the use of social media and in business education by delivering a quality product that keeps getting better thanks to the strength of the network  and of its members.

“What are you waiting for to start using not only our services but all the means at your disposal to become the leaders in your field? Specialize yourself in today’s marketplace and become the reference in your field by leaving your competitors far behind. Success is there for every business; all that is required is to use the right means to reach it and maintain it!”

– Eric Pichette

Be Inspired By Your Predecessors’ Success

Donald Trump (Trump International®), Pierre-Karl Peladeau (Quebecor®) and Steve Jobs (Apple®) are some of the business people that greatly inspired Mr. Pichette in his career. It’s by learning from the good moves and bad moves of these business personalities that he developed an innovative business networking system. To reach the elite of the business world, Mr. Pichette performs daily actions to grow the success of his company (OU Mr. Pichette performs daily actions based on the success of those companies).

 “I would never have reached where I am now so quickly if I had not been able to analyze the actions of the great business people of this world. It’s important to analyze the success of others, to be inspired by it and to apply it to our daily work. We have to fight each day to reach our dreams. I get up every morning with a feeling of pride towards what I’ve accomplished and will accomplish in my work. I work each day with the objective of outdoing myself.”

– Eric Pichette

Training And Education: The Unavoidables

Aside from his university studies, Mr. Pichette has followed and given countless trainings with the objective of mastering all the aspects of his business. Amongst others, he has followed courses in Marketing, Personnel Management, Sales, Franchising, Business Development, Go-to-Market Strategies, Referencing, Presentation as well as training in technologies and their practical use.

What’s more, believing strongly in continual education, Mr. Pichette makes available to his employees and partners numerous trainings so that all may have the necessary tools to face the competitiveness of the business world.

“Usually in life, there are the “Book smart” and the “Street smart”. I decided to be both at once! Why limit ourselves to our acquired experience when we can enlarge our general knowledge with education and training? We must learn to manage our theoretical as well as practical knowledge so we’re ready to apply it to our business when the moment comes.”

– Eric Pichette