August 2007
Art of Networking |
The Six "P's" of Networking
It's about people.
We've learned many things about networking in BNI over the last two decades. The biggest is that it's all about people. At first, that may seem obvious, but the truth is—it's not. Especially in three very specific and meaningful ways.
It's About People, Not Professions
We have seen many chapters try to build their membership by focusing solely on what categories they are lacking in the group. There is nothing wrong with looking for specific professions needed in a group (as a matter of fact, it's important to do that). However, finding the right person is even more important than finding the right profession. In other words, don't bring someone into a group just because they represent a needed profession. There needs to be a good fit with the group, and most importantly, you want a person with the right attitude. This is much more important than finding a person with the right profession.
Techniques like Stack Days (targeting a couple of professions to attend a specific meeting) are great ideas we recommend, but remember, you end up doing business with a person, not a profession. Make sure it's the right person. Some of the hallmarks of the right person are: a givers' attitude—the person who comes to the table with the intention of giving to the members rather than a "what's in it for me" approach; credibility—he or she follows through on promises made and can be counted upon; a good reputation in the business community—this visitor is known by one or more of your current members who can vouch for her reputation. And did we mention attitude? You will work with a person first, and a profession second.
It's About People, Not Places
Where the potential member is located is secondary. Just this month, a visitor to the regional meeting we attended asked if he should join a group near him in the suburbs or a group in the central business district. The answer was that he should apply to the chapter he felt best fit his needs. We told him that the location was absolutely secondary to the people in the group. If he was in a convenient location but he didn't connect well with the people, then the location was irrelevant.
To the chapter reviewing the application of this potential member, we would say the following: pick the person, not the place they are from. If the potential member has the ability to provide his product or service to the members in the suburb equally as well as in the central business district, then his office location is not a variable in either accepting or declining his application. Again, his attitude, credibility, and reputation are most important. It's about people, not places.
It's About People, Not Paper
Third, it's about people, not paper. We currently have a lot of support material with which to market your chapter. There are brochures, fliers, invitation cards, postcards, newspaper article reprints, fax invitation sheets, etc. This is great support material to help a group. But the truth is that almost no one will join because you give them a brochure. They will join because they like the people and see the vision of how it will help them in business.
In the first year of BNI, this organization was built with only ONE SHEET OF PAPER: the new member application. And it was only a half a sheet! (There's a great CD and PowerPoint on this topic available at BNI.com through the BNI Store.)
Most people visit a chapter because of the relationship they have with the member inviting them … not because our brochure is so compelling. Although our collateral material is good, it is not good enough to be depended upon as the sole way to get people to your meeting.
When you invite someone to visit your chapter and he or she says, "Leave a brochure," it's best to interpret this as "the polite kiss-off." (Consider what you say to someone when you don't want to move forward with their product or service—"Leave me a brochure and I'll think about it!")
We do understand that some people get very excited by collateral material (if you've taken the Referral Institute's GEMS seminar, these are the Emeralds), but it's a minor percentage of folks who would be in BNI. Most of us say this just to get the pesky solicitors to go away!
That being said, why do we produce so much collateral material? It's primarily to educate our visitors once they do visit a meeting. It's to give them something to take away to keep us in their minds after the meeting and answer any questions that form after the fact. But it's NOT to get them to attend a meeting. That is done by your interaction with the prospective visitor; that's why we continue to say, "It's about people, not paper." Remember the half sheet of paper used in the beginning of the organization? That was all the paper it took to get BNI rolling over 20 years ago!
This is a relationship organization. Relationships depend on personal interaction. They depend on taking time to build partnerships with business people that will far outlive the shelf life of the various support materials we have available in BNI. We love it when we see chapters that understand this, are excited about developing social capital, and succeed at growing their chapter through personal interaction. It is our hope that our entire corporate culture will continually reinforce this principle. It is, after all, not about professions, places, or paper—it's all about people!
Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author and the Founder & Chairman of BNI. Look for his new, soon-to-be released book, Masters of Sales, at www.MastersBooks.com. It features many stories about BNI and by BNI Directors. Contributing authors include Brian Tracy, Tom Hopkins, Zig Ziglar, Martha Stewart, and Tony Robbins.
Elisabeth Misner is a contributing author to Masters of Networking, Masters of Success and Masters of Sales. She has edited many of Dr. Misner's books and currently serves as the Administrator for the BNI-Misner Foundation.
