Our first One-to-One was over lunch. It was there, over 10 years ago, where we both committed to finding each other “Specific Referrals.”
After building trust and passing a few referrals to each other, we became each other’s customers. At the time, BNI Member Amber Payne, worked for a national magazine where their tagline was – “Mint Magazine…..Saving Families Money and Helping Businesses Grow.” I purchased monthly advertisements and she hired my cleaning company for her home, business office and vacation rentals. This rooted our referral partnership deeper.
This certainty about our business relationship has created a bond that far exceeds the 90-minute meeting agenda. Amber shared, “Barbara is not only a friend, but a sister that I could not imagine my life without.” Through many life changes, each of us have found solace in our alliance. Our years together has seen trials and victories. In fact, I was there when she experienced the ultimate joy of accepting her marriage proposal from the man of her dreams…and guess what….he was a member in BNI.
Fast forward to today. Amber is now Vice President of Marketing for Rytech INC, which is a water restoration and mold specialist company. I now work for Griffin Service, a HVAC company as their Marketing and Community Liaison. These industries align so well naturally, yet our alliance continues to advance us through many new doors of opportunities.
One thing that drives us through these “doors of opportunity” is our passion to connect and recruit for others. This has led us to a number of speaking engagements, a home service radio show, called “WSOS, St. Augustine – The Ambie and Barbie Home Show”, and training videos. Even further, and so close to my heart, Amber has helped me personally fundraise over $12, 000 for Act 4 The Nations, an organization I am involved with that helps support women and children both locally and around the world.
Some would say me joining my local BNI Chapter and meeting Amber was a coincidence. But I know it is something far greater than that. It has afforded me a world of blessings and endless possibilities…needless to say, BNI has changed my life (in the most profound, positive way)!
In our quickly evolving world, where rules can differ greatly from industry to industry, and from country to country, staying on top of your industry’s regulations is more important than ever.
As you know, BNI was founded on a set of founding principles, our Core Values, which guide us all within the organization. With our Core Value of Lifelong Learning, we encourage every BNI member to know what regulations in their industry may impact them, and to ensure they’re in compliance with those regulations.
As a global business organization, BNI believes that business leaders everywhere should set high standards of conduct, starting of course with compliance with rules and regulations that may be applicable to their specific industry. In fact, it is written specifically into BNI’s Code of Ethics Statement that any industry’s specific professional standards supersede ours. So, for example, if you’re a lawyer, compliance with your respective Bar Association’s guidelines is imperative. Likewise, if you’re in the residential real estate field in the United States, you should understand and adhere to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA).
From our perspective, knowledge of, and compliance with, applicable regulations is good business practice. It may make sense to spend some time each year reviewing applicable regulations within your industry and reflecting if your current operations are in compliance with those regulations. And while getting expert advice can sometimes entail some cost, over time this can be one of the most important investments you make.
At BNI, our goal is to help make you more successful than you ever thought possible, and to do so using a set of Core Values that are as applicable today as they were when BNI first started 33 years ago. We wish you much success and fulfillment along the way!
We are celebrating our 20th year as a foundation – what a fantastic milestone! In this time, we have donated over three (3) million dollars to our local communities – around the globe – in support of children and the teachers who educate them. But with your help we can do so much more!
We are often asked, where does the money go?
Thanks to the support of BNI’s Headquarters, known as the Global Support Team, we are able to use 100% of all money donated to help in your local communities. Not many foundations can say that!
Grant recipients have used the money in a variety of ways:
One teacher bought Leveled Readers to help advance her students’ reading skills.
Another school purchased College & Career Ready Material to help their students be better prepared after graduation.
One program used the grant to buy and fill backpacks with school supplies for the elementary students in their shelters.
A camp bought science equipment, microscopes and binoculars.
These are just a few of the many examples of how your BNI Foundation donations have helped. Another common question we receive is: what do our Business Voices teams do?
Career Days and Fairs
School Supply Drives
Student Mentoring
Student Recognition
School Projects
Events
This month we’d like to highlight some of the tremendous work that BNI’s Global Support Team in Charlotte, NC has done supporting a local elementary school. This is just to show you how easy getting involved can be!
In September, the team collected school supplies and book bags
In December, they donated pajamas for the students
In February, March and April they collected belts, pants and polo shirts – all part of the students’ uniforms
In May they sponsored a class trip for the 5th grade, who also came by BNI’s office for a talk with CEO Graham Weihmiller about what they each wanted to be when they grew up.
And last but certainly not least, the team sponsored coffee and breakfast for the teachers, to recognize and celebrate a tremendous school year!
Are you interested instarting a Business Voices team?
It’s easy. This infographic outlines the entire process, and our website has everything you need to start a team, including a toolkit with information, resources and project ideas. We look forward to bringing the BNI Foundation to your community.
Drink Great Coffee – Help the BNI Foundation
RX Coffee makes fresh roasted, single origin, small batch specialty coffee. They have generously agreed to donate one dollar of every coffee bag sold to the BNI Foundation. Head over to our website store to order your coffee today! Use promo code “BNI” to receive an automatic 10% discount on all online orders. A big thank you to RX Coffee for their generous contribution!
We have some great news to share: BNI has recently launched in Guatemala. We are thrilled to welcome a handful of excellent Directors, Estuardo Cruz, Mónica Cruz and Julio Lemus, into the BNI family and look forward to supporting a growing number of entrepreneurs and business leaders across Central America.
Over the past few months, we’ve seen tremendous momentum building around the world. As you may know, we’ve also recently welcomed new Directors in Estonia, Morocco, Uganda, Mainland China, Taiwan, China, Sri Lanka and Russia.
New Members seeking business growth, training and professional development opportunities are joining BNI every day in countries around the world. Are you looking to make new connections with business leaders in another region, country or even continent? If so, there are over 235,000 other Members like yourself, who meet weekly to change the trajectory of their business and of their community. That’s inspiring.
As we continue to grow our Membership, and expand in new countries, our goal is to help create more and more opportunities for you – and to make regional and global collaboration easier than ever before.
On January 17, 1994, at 4:31 a.m., Southern California experienced one of the largest earthquakes ever felt in the region – the Northridge Earthquake.
I lived in Southern California at the time and I experienced this earthquake firsthand. It startled me from my sleep like it did millions of others throughout the state. It lasted almost 20 seconds and produced a ground acceleration that was the highest ever recorded in an urban area in North America at that time.
What followed after the primary quake were two huge aftershocks measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale. This was the first earthquake to strike directly under an urban area of the United States since the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake. Damage was wide-spread: sections of major freeways collapsed, parking structures and office buildings collapsed, and numerous apartment buildings suffered irreparable damage.
One day later, on January 18, I showed up for a BNI meeting very near Northridge, only to discover that the restaurant the chapter was meeting at had been condemned the night before because of severe earthquake damage.
I got there early. The president was there. We assumed that very few other people would show up; however, one by one – every single one of the 30 BNI members drove into the lot. Since they couldn’t meet inside, they all stood in a big circle in the parking lot and held their meeting. Except, this meeting was different. The President went around the ad-hoc circle and asked everyone to share how they were doing and what they were grateful for after the big quake.
It was an incredible experience to watch so many people support each other in a way that had nothing to do with business but everything to do with our core values in BNI.
They wrapped up the meeting by sharing their referrals and requests for assistance after the quake. Those more fortunate willingly volunteered to help those who were more greatly affected by the earthquake.
But the most touching part of the meeting was when everyone met in the center of that circle to comfort each other and give each other hugs in the parking lot of that small, condemned coffee shop.
The outpouring of support and love was incredible. I could only watch in awe as I witnessed the true power of the relationships created in BNI. It was Givers Gain in action.
My experience that morning is indelibly etched into my memory, and it will be for the rest of my life. BNI is so much more than referrals, and if I ever doubted this before that day, I have never doubted it since. BNI is about relationships. It’s about being there for one another. It’s about the things that happen when people truly get to know each other and trust each other.
I feel honored to be a part of this organization. Because I believe that BNI is more than a meeting – it’s a way of life.
I stated at the conference the BNI Foundation
is YOUR foundation! We need all of you to get involved. I would like to thank
our donors who helped make this year’s US National Conference the most
successful in our history! We exceeded our goals and had tremendous fun in the
process! This
conference was truly a celebration of 20 Years of giving! There is an overwhelming need to increase our
Business Voices Teams. These teams support local schools through career days,
school supply drives, mentoring, and many other projects. They have a direct
impact on your local children. For more information on how you can help please
contact us at info@bnifoundation.org – David
Kauffman BNI Foundation
BNI Foundation
Surpasses US National Conference Fundraising Goal
The 2018 BNI National
Conference was a huge success for the BNI Foundation. We raised $26,000,
surpassing our $20,000 goal. We also signed up five new Heroes and six new
Super Heroes! Heroes and Super Heroes are supporters who commit to donate $50 a
month and $100 a month respectively.
In an exciting chance
encounter, actor Keifer Sutherland, who was visiting the Red Rock Casino where
the Conference took place, was kind enough to offer his support
for an impromptu fundraiser at the hotel lounge. Before the night was
over, Mr. Sutherland had helped us raise $1,000.
A big thank you to
everyone who contributed. With your help the BNI Foundation will do more to
help students and teachers this year than ever before.
Summer Givers Gain
Grant Cycle is Here
The Givers Gain Grants,
educational grants awarded by the BNI Foundation twice yearly, are designed to
help educators fund special projects. This summer we will award five $1,000
grants. This grant cycle will begin on June 1. Schools and educational
organizations can find more information and a link to the application here.
The funds raised during
this year’s BNI National Conference have allowed us to double the number of
grants awarded this year to twenty. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters,
additional grant cycle will be announced.
Beth Misner Recognized
by Austin Child Guidance Center
BNI Foundation
co-founder Beth Misner has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious
Community Activist Phyllis Richards Austin Icon for Children Award. The award
is presented each year by the Austin Child Guidance Center to recognize
outstanding contributions to positive change for children by exemplifying
excellence through community engagement. Mrs. Misner is a finalist in the
Community Activist category, awarded to an individual who demonstrates
excellence in improving outcomes for children.
Established in 1951,
the Austin Child Guidance Center works to improve the
mental health of children and their families by providing early intervention,
diagnosis and treatment. Congratulations to Mrs. Misner and all the finalists
for this recognition of their work with children.
Submitted by Justin Brande, BNI Vermont Director Consultant
When was the last time you attended a Member Success Program session? Did you have a favorite lesson from the course?
Every time I attend or teach Member Success Program, my favorite part is always the Referral Confidence Curve. This important lesson encourages us to make wise decisions and practice wise behaviors in all of our interactions with others, BNI-related and not. When we do something wise and other BNI Members witness it, their confidence in us goes up. The more confidence in us they have, the more likely they are to send us better and better referrals.
It reminds me of something that pops up on the internet every so often: “Would a foolish person do this?” Would a foolish person jump off a bridge into a river without checking if it is safe to do so? If we ask ourselves that question about any action we are considering taking, and the answer seems to be yes, then maybe we should think twice.
Let’s use that same framework to create a question specific to the Referral Confidence Curve. “Would a BNI Member trying to increase others’ confidence in them [insert the following]?”
Would a BNI Member trying to increase others’ confidence in them use their smartphone during their meeting? Nope.
Would a BNI Member trying to increase others’ confidence in them skip a One-to-One? Certainly not.
Would a BNI Member trying to increase others’ confidence in them treat a customer or another member disrespectfully? Absolutely not!
Ask yourself that question about anything you do or don’t do in BNI.
Climbing the Referral Confidence Curve is easy, it just takes time. Crashing back down to the bottom of the Curve is even easier. It can happen with enough small poor choices, or even happen in a single instant if the poor choice is severe enough.
It may seem like the goal of climbing the Curve is just to get more referrals (and that is often one of the outcomes), but it’s more about the behaviors that come before that. Let’s make good decisions in our life, and let’s make good decisions in BNI. Not because we expect reward, but because it’s the right thing to do.
Can you believe this year?s Global Convention is only five months away? ?Below are the top three things you need to know about this year?s event, which is centered around how you can build a A New World of Opportunity in BNI:
This is an excellent opportunity to promote your business to BNI Members and Director from around the world. One hundred individuals will have the opportunity to promote their business, and showcase their products and services, to a truly global audience at our first ever trade show. Register here to reserve your exhibit booth. Unique sponsorship opportunities are also available.
Guests are invited! On Wednesday, 7 November, your friends, business colleagues and partners are invited to join us at the Centara Grand & Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld to network, share ideas and meet the BNI leadership team.
We hope you, your family and your colleagues join us in Bangkok for #BNIGC18. Have any questions? Email events@bni.com. We?re here to help you get the most out of your experience.
We don’t teach networking in colleges and universities hardly anywhere in the world — we didn’t when I went to school, and we still don’t today. I meet so many entrepreneurs who are hungry to learn how to network effectively. Many things about networking are actually counter-intuitive to what business people may actually think. So – how do entrepreneurs learn? Other than through trial and error, I recommend finding someone who can mentor you on how to network effectively.
Recently, I had someone ask me four questions about this process. Here are the questions and my answers to them.
1. Who should your mentors be, and how do you find them?
First you need to determine your values (they can be aspirational values – values that you are striving to achieve), or they can be values that are clearly part of your life now. Next, you need to think about your personal and professional goals. Have you noticed that many successful people tell people to set goals? There’s a good reason for it – they work! So think about yours before you look for a mentor. Once you’ve looked at your values and thought about your goals, then, look for people that you believe embody those values and goals. Try to “network up.” Look for successful people whom you admire, who embody values congruent with yours, and who may be able to help you with your objectives. Look for people who have the characteristics that represent your values, who may have achieved some of the same kind of goals that you have established, and then go to the places where you can actually have meaningful conversations with these prospective mentors. Unless you pay for coaching, trying to get the “sage from the stage” to be your mentor may not be realistic and will definitely not be easy. Talk to people you’ve met, know, and respect. They are the most likely candidates.
2. Should the relationship be formal or informal?
It is not either/or, it is both/and. Both can work. I have had many, many informal mentoring relationships, as well as formal ones. I’d recommend creating a formal mentoring relationship for about a year (if the prospective mentor is willing), then let it transition to something more casual over time. If the mentor is only available informally, go with that. The “right” person is the key. Work with this person as much as is reasonable and respectful of their time.
3. What should you expect from your mentor, and what should they expect from you?
It depends on whether your relationship is formal or informal. In both cases, you want the relationship to be congruent with your values and goals. It always comes down to that. Formal relationships should have structure and processes in place. They should include regular meetings in person or by Skype (generally monthly). There should be a set objective or topic to discuss at each of these sessions. I have found it helpful if the person I’m mentoring sends me questions in advance so I can give thought to them before we talk.
4. How do you both determine whether the relationship is working and also recognize when it is time to move on?
As long as you continue to receive value from the relationship and/or give value to the relationship – it is working. I have had some mentoring relationships where I started as the mentee, but it evolved over time where I was a peer mentoring my mentor on certain issues. That’s when you know you’ve developed a long-term friendship. Ideally, a strong mentoring relationship evolves into a long-term connection and friendship.
Some people tell me they don’t have time to be a mentor. To them I say, “find a way to make the time if at all possible.” You see, every time I was a mentor to someone – it was also a learning experience for me. When I was given topics from people I mentored, I always did a little research or looked through my files to see if there was something I could offer them to help them through the issue. What I realized over time was that I was improving myself while trying to help them.
This really struck home with me when many years ago I coached my son’s elementary school chess club. I remember going into it thinking that it would be great to spend time with my son and his friends – but at no time did I think that I would become a better player by coaching 10 and 11 year olds! I soon discovered that I was wrong. By coaching these young chess enthusiasts, I had to really brush up on my game. More importantly, I had to do my homework to learn the names for many of the moves and strategies that I had done intuitively for years. I was amazed at how my game improved by coaching elementary school kids.
The same is true with mentoring people to network better. The process not only benefits the mentee, it also benefits the mentor.
Submitted by Braith Bamkin, Executive Director – BNI Melbourne West & Geelong and Melbourne Central
In a previous post, I discussed the concept of owning a ‘BNI share’ rather than buying a membership. I talked about how shareholders in BNI can do simple things to increase the ‘yield’ of their share and I discussed how you can do simple activities to generate tens, hundreds or thousands of times returns on your investment.
This week, I want to talk about how you can increase the capital growth of your share.
If you buy a share on the stock market, you want to see it increase in value over time. The same should be said for your BNI share. Increasing capital growth is really easy in BNI if you follow these simple guidelines.
Each time your chapter lets another member join, you are effectively splitting your share. Unlike normal shares, this increases the value of your original shareholding. It’s possibly counterintuitive to those outside of BNI, but listen to this podcast from Dr Misner and you’ll learn just how powerful large chapters can be and he back sit up with hard stats.
Be careful who you let into your chapter.
Not everyone is right for BNI and BNI certainly isn’t the best marketing tool for many. If you have new people join your chapter, you want to ensure they understand the commitment required by being in a BNI chapter. Just like any shareholding, your BNI share comes with certain responsibilities and expectations. Quality members are the goal of every chapter.
Dr Misner, founder of BNI discusses the concept of “Who’s in your Room” in this informative podcast.
Ensure there are people looking after your best interests.
If you have stocks, you probably have a stockbroker or investment advisor. He or she is charged with looking after your investments and making sure you are protected. In BNI we have a similar function, we call it the Membership Committee. They are there to ensure your BNI share increases in value.
Being on the membership committee is a great way to serve your fellow members and those that take this task seriously, ensure everyone benefits from having the right people in the room.
Listen to this podcast from BNI founder, Dr Ivan Misner on the ‘function’ of your membership committee.
Measure and track
Like any share, you want to measure and track the results. BNI has many tools that help you to measure and track your investment and also those of other ‘shareholders’ in your chapter. Many regions use the Power of One reports. Some regions use the member commitment report. Either way, you have valuable tools on hand that help you to manage your BNI share.
I really like the Power of One report (traffic lights) because this easily shows al members what activities they need to do to meet the minimum expectations of the chapter. As discussed last week, these basic activities combined will deliver a strong yield which over tie will increase the overall value of your share.
Approach your membership like buying a share and your behaviours and activities in BNI will definitely change. You’ll spend more time doing the basics and ensure that the overall health of your chapter is maintained.
Submitted by Peter Ruthenberg, BNI Intrepid, BNI South Peninsula, South Africa
I consider myself fortunate to have been invited to join a BNI core group in Cape Town before the chapter launched. I understood the benefits of being in a network group, but the deciding factor for me to sign up as a member was the structure that BNI offers, the repetitious nature of a simple-to-follow system that encourages being focused, and that members are held accountable – especially for giving good quality referrals and follow through when a referral is received.
I definitely benefited from our core group members pulling together for a common chapter launch goal, and from having the advantage of being in weekly training with a director consultant at a point where no “bad habits” might have crept into our meetings – as well as from attending Member Success Training. But, it took six months and a particular One-to-One for me to truly begin to gain the benefits of being a BNI member. About six months in I had a One-to-One with a BNI member who highly recommended listening to the BNI podcasts. I took up his recommendation and started at podcast #1. I have subsequently listened to BNI podcasts at a rate of about 15 to 20 per month and it has made a remarkable difference to my BNI membership.
From the start I have found it easy to have One-to-Ones and build relationships with my fellow members; and I take every opportunity to invite visitors, sharing with them firsthand how BNI has helped to grow my business, but that having been said, listening to podcasts, being trained by Dr. Ivan Misner, reinforcing the basics of The Power of One, and keeping my BNI goals firmly in view has made a significant difference to my membership – and I have not looked back!
I have found that BNI education comes in several forms: In being dedicated to self-education; in being continually educated regarding my fellow members’ businesses and their ideal referrals; and, as President of my chapter, in educating my fellow members by walking the talk. You first have to do what you would like other members to do – for the good of everyone in the chapter.
Submitted by Donald Church, BNI Premier, Ft Lauderdale, Florida, United States
I joined BNI back around 2010. I didn’t know much about it, but I knew that part of the process of building trust among the members was to have One-to-Ones with others.
My very first One-to-One was with our chapter’s commercial litigator. I joined him at his office and we both exchanged information about each of our businesses, what we do and what an ideal referral would be. At the end of the meeting, I told him that I sort of felt bad. Of course he wondered why, as though he had said something wrong. I told him that now that I know more about what he did, I didn’t see any likelihood that I would ever be able to refer any clients to him. I really didn’t run in circles where anyone had ever asked me where they could find a good commercial litigation attorney.
He laughed and said, that’s really not how BNI works. He said that the way it works is that he may refer to me, I may refer to other members and other members will refer to someone else. He may not necessarily be a natural referral for me. In addition, what he was looking for was a little different than most other members. He said that his goal was to get one solid referral per year. I thought that was odd, as my business relied on many repeat referrals, most of which were smaller dollar amounts. He said that as a commercial litigation attorney, one good and solid referral could change his business.
That first One-to-One had an impact on me and I have told that story to many new members that I’ve met through many years as a BNI member.
I hope that in some way, what I share with other new people to BNI will make as big of an impact as what was shared with me as a new member.
Submitted by Claudia Lowry, Executive Director, North & South Peninsula
Leadership means different things to different people. It does have a lot to do with what age you are and how you were raised. But today leadership has evolved into a magnificent animal, which can be the main driving force behind a successful team. It can also be the downfall. While some say you have to choose the type of leader you want to be according to your personality and strengths, we say a leader should always have certain traits, no matter the type of person holding the role.
According to business studies, there are 6 main types of leaders:
We will not go into those types specifically, but rather pull the best parts of them to mould the perfect leader.
Let us add one other to the mix … the Inclusive Leader.
Inclusive leaders are on the up and up and they encompass all the positive strengths from all the types of leaders out there.
What can we learn from an Inclusive Leader?
As the name says, Inclusive Leaders believe that their team needs to be anchored with inclusion and diversity. They take their personal values into account and they merge them with the team’s strategy as a whole.
Inclusive leaders are very much aware of their biases and strive to see passed them, should they not be for the greater good of the team.
The company culture is very important to an inclusive leader and therefore he needs to believe in it 100%. He will take the time to help his team understand the culture, why the company does what it does and why they too should do what they do.
Seemingly small matters will be handled by an inclusive leader as if they were big. From how they treat staff to how they treat clients, the inclusive leader is very much aware that even the smallest gripes, concerns and issues can blow up into something bigger. They nip these in the bud quickly and deal with them like a true professional. Everyone and everything is treated equally well.
Inclusive leaders know their strengths and weakness, and work at improving all the time. Where they are not good at something, they delegate. Where they are brilliant, they coach others to follow suit. With all this, their aim is to benefit the team, always.
This leader knows that everyone is different and in knowing this, they see those differences as where the brilliance lies. He or she will exploit people, but only for the good of the team and the company.
A referral is a referral, right? Well, not so much. Once a referral source has given you the name of a person to call, what more could you hope for?
Actually, there’s quite a bit more you can expect from referrals that have been properly developed by their sources. Referrals come in several different shades. I’ve identified five types of referrals that vary in quality according to how much involvement your referral source has invested in preparing the referral for you. The more time and effort your source puts into qualifying, educating, and encouraging the prospect before you become involved, the higher the quality and level of that referral. Conversely, if your referral source only passes an interested prospect’s name to you, most of the work of converting that prospect into a customer falls on you, and the likelihood of a successful conversion diminishes significantly.
Now let’s cover the five levels of referrals, ranging from nothing but a name and contact information to the “Full Monty” (which despite the movie, actually means to do everything possible). We call this the Referral Continuum and we’ve ranked the levels of the continuum in order of ascending quality.
Please note that this is a “referral” continuum, not a “leads” continuum. All of these levels are true referrals not leads (including the first one). The person giving the referral knows both parties and is recommending the person providing the product or service to the person who is receiving the product or service.
Note that each level below builds upon the previous. So a Level 2 referral includes much of what is included in a Level 1 referral. A Level 3 referral includes much of what is in a Level 1 and 2 referral etc. etc.
Level 1: Name and contact information. Your referral source has recommended you to someone and given them your contact information. They have done just enough work to provide you with a phone number, address, email, or some other way of contacting the prospect and that prospect knows you might contact them. If the prospect is expecting your call, this is a legitimate referral, it’s just not a high-level referral. That said, we’d take this over a “cold-call” any day of the week!
Level 2: Supplementary material. In addition to the recommendation they gave, the referral source provided either your marketing literature, website information, or other content to the prospect for their review but nothing substantially more. This additional information can positively influence the prospect by providing more material for them to review in addition to their verbal reference.
Level 3: Share experience. In addition to some or all of the items above, the referral source gave a personal written testimonial or a strong verbal recommendation about you to the prospect. They spent time talking to the prospect about their experience working with you or their understanding of other people’s experience in working with you. This is the first level of referral that truly involves a modicum of effort on the part of your referral source. It usually includes background information and a description of your product or service as filtered through the lens of the referral source.
Adding the element of promotion increases the effectiveness of your referral source’s effort on your behalf. Promotion is advocacy—an outright recommendation of your product or service with a description of its features and benefits.
Level 4: Introductory call and/or arrange a meeting. This is another level up in terms of effort from the referral source who makes a personal phone call on your behalf and/or arranges a phone or in-person meeting between you and the prospect (in addition to many of the things outlined above). When your referral source arranges a call or a meeting between the two of you, they move beyond the role of a promoter and move into the role of a connector or facilitator. This takes effort and is the sign of a committed referral partner who you should definitely support in return.
Level 5: In-person introduction and promotion. At this level, your referral source is making a serious commitment of time and energy in support of your business. They haven’t just arranged a meeting, they participate in the meeting. At this level, your referral source has done the work of assessing the need a prospect may have for your product or service and has gauged the prospect’s interest in learning more about it. They share this information with you which enables you to tailor your products or services to emphasize the specific benefits that the prospect is looking for.
This level is practically a “closed deal.” Generally, a level 5 referral means, the business is nearly closed before you even contact the prospect, solely on the strength of your referral source’s efforts. Not much is required from you except to answer some questions and deliver the product or service and collect the payment. People who give you Level 5 referrals are prized referral partners. Make sure to treat them as such. You should have a reciprocal relationship with these individuals. They are worth their weight in referral gold.
The Referral Continuum that shows the amount of work you must do to close a prospect, based on the level of the referral. If you’re given a Level 1 referral, you have to do 95 percent of the work to close; this is not much better than other marketing efforts. On the other hand, if you get a Level 4 or 5 referral, then the person giving you the referral has already done most of the work for you. It’s easier for your referral source to edify you than it is for you because your source already has a relationship of trust with your prospect. For this reason, it’s important for you to do a superb job in fulfilling that referral so your referrer will get great feedback and want to refer you again. The referral giver is, in essence, lending you his or her credibility; this is not something to be taken lightly.
Of course, the effectiveness of your referral network in providing you with quality referrals depends on the amount of work you do to develop your sources. There are many ways to encourage them to become active and enthusiastic members of your marketing team. The Networking Scorecard from Networking Like a Pro 2nd Edition will enable you to manually track the work you are doing to develop your network. However, you can also download a free app of The Networking Scorecard at www.IvanMisner.com/Scorecard. By using this scorecard to keep a weekly record of your networking efforts and the quality of referrals you receive, you’ll begin to see the relationship between the two.
Submitted by Braith Bamkin, Executive Director – BNI Melbourne West & Geelong and Melbourne Central
Do you have shares or an investment portfolio of some sort? How do you treat that investment? Chances are you spend some time in looking after it, ensuring it grows year after year. What if I said to you that rather than buying a membership in BNI, you were buying shares in a chapter. Would that change your attitude towards being part of a BNI chapter?
Like shares on the stock exchange, you want your BNI shares to grow and return you a dividend. Unlike shares on the exchange, your investment in purchasing your ‘BNI share’ can return you tens, hundreds or thousands times returns every year.
When I train chapters on this concept, inevitably the members are extremely excited about the prospect of what their one BNI chapter share can yield each year and they all start talking about how they can increase the value of their shares. To say the least, they always have an ‘ah-ha’ moment.
Just like stock exchange shares, there two metrics to consider with your BNI share. The first part is yield and the second part is capital growth
Thie week, I want to take a look at Yield.
Your BNI share’s yield is measured as TYFCB (Thank you for closed business). This is the dividend your share delivers on a regular basis. To get this dividend in BNI, shareholders need to meet the KPI’s of BNI. We make things very simple, we have the “Power of One” activities. Some of you may see these on the member’s traffic light report, some may use Member Commitment reports but whichever tool you use, the metrics of BNI are really simple.
Turn up.
Just like in life, you have to show up to get a result. You simply won’t get an ROI on your share in BNI if you’re not there. This is the most basic and easiest KPI to meet.
Listen to this podcast from BNI founder, Dr Ivan Misner and get the hard-core statistics on attendance.
One 1×1 per week.
Your fellow chapter shareholders will never be able to deliver you business if they don’t know what it is you want and how they can deliver it to you the way YOU want it delivered.
Listen to this podcast from BNI founder, Dr Ivan Misner and learn how One to Ones equals more referrals
Bring visitors
Visitors are the lifeblood of your chapter. Some will join, some won’t, so what? As a member, all you need to do is bring people to meet your trusted network. They’ll do business with other chapter members and everyone will benefit.
Listen to this podcast from BNI founder, Dr Ivan Misner and learn how one visitor per month will generate YOU USD$12K pa
Pass referrals
If you want to get business first you have to give business
Listen to this podcast from BNI founder, Dr Ivan Misner to find out just how easy it is to generate referrals with absolutely no extra effort in your daily life
Not many investments have such simple actions to follow that will deliver you an ROI to the same degree that your “BNI share” can do. Now that you know how easy to is to get a dividend, what can you do to increase the activities you are doing so that you meet the KPI’s developed by BNI.
