Featuring guest co-author Elisabeth Misner

You walk into some chapters and they are on fire!  They are energized, goal-oriented, thriving, and most importantly they are reporting high dollar values with their Thank You for Closed Business (TYFCB).  While others are basically on hold, just going through the motions, doing the minimum, and getting average results.  Then, there are others that just seem to be “in a hole,” always struggling with attendance, not holding members accountable, not excited, and having difficulty maintaining strong membership.

Stop for a moment and think to yourself – where is your group relating to these three phases.  Be honest – where do you think your group stands?

If you think your group is on fire – then let me congratulate you.  That was my vision for what a great BNI Experience should be about.   If your group is on hold – trust me when I say that it doesn’t take a lot to move from this phase to on fire.  I’ve seen many groups do that in a short time.  If your group is in a hole – don’t despair.  You can be an incredible group.  Believe me, I have seen it.  The exciting thing is – it is actually possible to leap frog over the middle right to an on fire group fairly quickly with the right Leadership Team and a full commitment from your members.

All groups go through cycles or phases.  It happens.  It’s ok.  The key – is to recognize the cycles and know when it’s time to up your game.  Why accept mediocrity, when excellence is an option? Excellence is an option and I see it every day in BNI chapters around the world.

Let’s look closer at the three phases:

On Fire Groups: These chapters are not willing to settle for mediocrity! They are the biggest, the best, and the most productive chapters for members to be in. Their Leadership Teams are committed to the BNI policies, guidelines and the system. Their members attend virtually all the trainings offered by local region, often over and over. You will find many members with several ribbons attached to their badges denoting the many roles they have held in the chapter: Visitor Host, Education Coordinator, MSP Graduate, and so on. These members often quote BNI Podcast episode numbers to me when I meet them!

Most of the members in these groups have fully completed their BNI Connect profiles, including member testimonials, badges and CEUs from the many trainings they have attended. They are actively passing referrals online and reporting them to the chapter at each weekly meeting. It is common to hear many stories from these chapters about extremely lucrative connections. They always report far higher TYFCB than their counterparts in the same region.

The excitement level at their chapter meetings is simply electric!  Chapters in this phase exude high energy and a very positive attitude.  The chapters are likely to try most or all of the ideas offered by their Director. They effectively utilize one-to-one’s, worksheets like the GAINS Exchange, or the Chapter Reality Check, and they have almost full attendance at Member Success Program training.  They use Meeting Stimulants developed by BNI and their Education Coordinators regularly review BNI SuccessNet articles or the BNI Podcast episodes each week.

In addition, they tend to operate in a very friendly environment, have a great culture of support and positivity, have more members than the average, generate a lot of referrals, and enforce accountability in the group. They are there to do business, but they also understand the importance of adhering to a structure. Most importantly, they don’t let either business or structure get in the way of having fun and developing close relationships.

On Hold: In this phase chapters have become somewhat complacent. They may have been in the on fire phase at one time and lost some of the spark that made them successful, or they may be a smaller chapter that has begun to give up on growth and has accepted the status quo.

A chapter that is going through this phase tends to believe that things are okay as they are and don’t have any pressing desire to work on enhancing their meetings or developing the quality or quantity of members. They may feel like the amount of business they are doing is okay, even if it is not that great. They may take some suggestions offered by their Directors, but they are just as likely to dismiss other suggestions, because they think they don’t apply to them or they feel they know best. They tend to follow many (but not all) of the policies and the basic structure of the meetings, but they have lost the enthusiasm and spirit that makes for a great group.

In a Hole: Chapters in this phase tend to have numerous problems. Attitudes, referrals, and attendance are all lower than the groups in the other phases I’ve discussed. Unfortunately, most of the membership is focused on the problems and not on positive solutions. I have found that when chapters focus on problems and not the solutions, they become an expert on the problems. This is where these chapters live as a group.

They tend not to follow the agenda, structure, and/or policies. In addition, they tend to view their local Director as an outsider, rather than a resource to coach and support them to make the BNI process work. They tend to make many exceptions for the actions of their members and generally seek the path of least resistance relating to the way they apply policies and procedures. It’s hard for them to grow and succeed until they have a reset of the mindset. That process begins by recognizing the phase they are in and working with their Director to get back on track.

Almost all chapters go through the phases or cycles listed above; however, the really successful chapters tend to spend more time in the on fire phase than either of the other two phases. Once again, consider where your chapter is in these cycles. A good tool to use is the “Rate Your Chapter” worksheet. If you determine that you are in the on hold or in a hole phase, contact your Director to get some suggestions on how you can help the group achieve excellence.

BNI has thousands of groups in dozens of countries.  With that many groups, we have landed on the right combination of passion, structure, accountability, and culture to make groups work. Don’t reinvent the wheel! The process works very well for the chapters that effectively use the tools and assistance that BNI provides.

As important as passion is to success, I believe that passion alone does not produce results, passion and commitment produce results!

I’d love to hear your thoughts about these cycles.  Have you experienced them?  How did you move up the ladder?  Sharing your experiences can help other members achieve success.

Featuring guest co-author Beatrice Sparacino

When you give a referral to someone, you give a little bit of your reputation away.  When you give a good referral, it enhances your reputation. When you give a bad referral, it hurts your reputation.  The referral process works most effectively when you know, like, and trust someone. Trust is particularly important; therefore, referrals and trust go hand in hand.

So if trust is important to the referral process, how do you expedite it within the context of networking?  BNI can be an accelerator, reducing the time required to build trust between individuals. One of the best ways to accelerate trust is through regular 1-2-1s. Research involving hundreds of BNI members in Europe has concluded what we’ve believed in BNI for many years. 1-2-1s can have a direct impact on referrals passed within a chapter.

The co-author of this article, Beatrice Sparacino, found this to be the case in her recent thesis from the University of Bocconi in Milan, Italy.

The 1-2-1 process allows members to deepen mutual knowledge and develop better relationships with each other. It is building this personal connection that helps to expedite the referral process.

What’s key in conducting an effective 1-2-1 is that it be structured and social. It needs to be the right combination of both a social discussion along with enough business and professional information to allow both parties to get to know one another better. As they continue the process, they will naturally discover overlapping areas of professional and personal interests.

One of the BNI tools that we recommend to help achieve this goal is the GAINS Exchange. This instrument is a great tool to use in order to get to know people better and to help find overlapping areas of interest.

We know that the quality of the 1-2-1 is important. What’s interesting to see as a result of this research, is the quantity of 1-2-1s is also very important.  As you can tell in the graph here, there is a direct, linear correlation between the number of 1-2-1s conducted and the number of referrals given and received! Those who do three or four 1-2-1s per month both give and receive almost double the number of referrals as people who do only one (or less) 1-2-1 per month.

The bottom line here is that if you do three or more 1-2-1s per month, you will be more likely to give twice as many referrals – and more importantly, you are more likely to receive twice as many referrals as people who do one (or less) 1-2-1 per month!

Once you know someone and begin to develop a level of trust, you are clearly more likely to refer this person. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence to support these findings. For example, Episode 191 of BNIPodcast.com includes a great story about a BNI member named Allen who was very concerned after the big recession of 2008 hit. Allen was in the commercial real estate industry which was decimated by the recession. After he joined BNI, he committed to doing as many 1-2-1s with members as possible. He did so many, that he actually won awards in his region for doing the most 1-2-1s and for having given the most referrals in the entire region that year. But what was most interesting, was that we discovered that by doing these 1-2-1s, he actually generated more business for himself than he had ever generated before (recession or not)!

The Milan study clearly shows hard evidence of what Allen’s story suggested: namely, there is a direct corelation between the number of 1-2-1s carried out and the number of referrals generated: the higher the number of 1-2-1s the higher the referrals.

BNI provides members with methods and instruments to activate this process. But as results show, BNI membership is a little like a gym membership: paying the subscription to get fit is not enough. You need to actually show up and work out in order to get results. BNI functions the same way: the more effort you put in, the better the results.  So – start setting up 1-2-1s with your fellow members today!

We’d love to hear your story about doing 1-2-1s and how it’s helped you in BNI.  Please share your story below – or feel free to comment on the results from this study.

Called the “father of modern networking” by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author.  He is the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, the world’s largest business networking organization.  His new book, Avoiding the Networking Disconnect can be viewed at Amazon.com.

In the early 1980s, John Naisbitt wrote in Megatrends about the emerging importance of the networking process in society. Later, Tom Peters wrote in Thriving on Chaos that this “process can be systematized.”

When you stop to think about it, these two statements weren’t made all that longago. Networking and relationship marketing is a fairly new kid on the block. From the mid 80s to the 90s, systems and structures began to emerge that shifted a lot of business owners from a single-minded focus of direct selling to a broader scope which included relationship marketing and networking.

There are several emerging issues and trends surrounding the process of networking that are being created out of the need to find an effective way to develop business for entrepreneurs and sales people in this new century. I will address three of the most prominent trends that I believe will become more important in the coming years.

1. Online AND face-to-face networking will both continue to flourish

I’m a proponent of online networks like Ecademy.com and others. I think they will continue to grow successfully and help many of their members; however, they are not the final answer to business marketing or to networking. They are another great tool for people to connect with others (especially outside their local geographic area).

On my Referrals For Life Blog (http://referrals.ducttapemarketing.com), I recently had someone who said: “I don’t know that it is true anymore that referrals are about relationships.” He went on to basically say that technology is changing the rules and that just participating in a website will be good enough. Well, in one word, I’d have to say…. WRONG!

Referrals are, and will be for the foreseeable future, all about relationships. Whether they are relationships built online or face to face – they will still involve relationships. People refer people they know and trust. They will not regularly refer someone just because they are listed on a website – that’s called advertising, not networking.

Online networking works, but relationships must still be part of the process. Using the internet to exchange ideas, share knowledge and increase your visibility will be imperative in the coming years. Virtual networking is a trend that is really catching on in many circles. Some people involved in face-to-face networking feel threatened, as if online networking is going to replace their tried and true system.

Those who foretell the demise of face-to-face networking fail to note one important thing… the facts. Face-to-face networking groups continue to expand. The growth rate of my own referral networking organization, BNI (www.bni.com), bears this out. Since the internet first became popular in the mid90s, BNI has experienced a 1,186% growth rate. That is NOT a typo!

The more “high tech” business owners become, the more and more they really need to foster those “high touch” opportunities that face-to-face networking affords.

Virtual networking can be an effective way to increase your business and the internet can certainly be a great tool for staying in touch with those with whom you are currently networking, but I don’t think it will replace face-to-face networking in our lifetime.

Technology flattens the communication hierarchy and provides opportunities to improve your networking efforts – not replace them. I believe people who understand this will begin to effectively utilize technology without replacing relationships to take their marketing to new levels in the years to come.

2. Networking & Social Capital Education

Don’t hold your breath for the colleges and universities of the world to begin teaching networking and social capital. At this point there are only two colleges in the world that offer regular, core-curriculum college courses on networking and social capital. One is at Davis College in Ohio taught by Debby Peters and the other is at the University of Michigan taught by Wayne Baker. That’s it – two colleges!

The college and university systems are behemoths of bureaucracy that are so far behind the curve of small business development that I’m beginning to despair that they will ever catch on. Most professors have never had a real job in the business world and are completely out of touch with what is happening in real life, especially in small business.

I predict that the current trend in networking and social capital education will emerge in the form of private professional training organizations in much the same way that private industry has controlled the educational market on “sales techniques” (another area that colleges fail miserably). Companies like the Referral Institute (www.referralinstitute.com) that are offering a series of trainings specific to the techniques and systems of networking, social capital, and referral marketing are starting to pop up with a very refined and polished slate of seminars and trainings for those business owners who want to learn how to harness the power of word-of-mouth marketing.

3. Small companies will continue to have the edge over big companies relating to business networking

For the most part, big companies are clueless about building sales through the networking process. They continue to teach sales people traditional methodologies while relying heavily on advertising to create buzz. Mind you, there’s nothing inherently wrong with these strategies. The problem is – big companies don’t effectively add referral marketing into the process.

When it comes to developing social capital and the networking process, small business is king. Big business is slow to move out of the mindset of splashy ad campaigns, big dollars spent on traditional marketing, and the same-old, same-old.

If big corporations ever get it, watch out. But so far, they have been slow to act. Even programs like the USA’s “Do Not Call” registry, have not moved big companies into understanding how to train their people to network effectively… yet.

If big business does ever get it, however, they are likely to run over the little guys. They will learn how to develop social capital and will teach their people how to do true relationship marketing. Most big business is just a notch or two above the universities in the “you can’t tell me anything new” department! For now, there are only a few forward thinking big companies who consistently apply these concepts (and I mean very few). For the rest, it is a trend to watch for in the distant, distant future.

When The World’s Best Known Marketing Secret came out in 1994 it was one of the few books in the bookstores that talked about networking. Now there are dozens if not hundreds. An entire industry has been born over the last decade that is now being codified and refined. Over the next several years, you will see more and more about the importance of networking to build your business. It is developing into a science as well as a way of life.

These trends are not just an American phenomenon but an international one. The introduction of “International Networking Week” (www.InternationalNetworkingWeek.com) is a prime example of how this approach to doing business is growing worldwide.

Small business development through the process of building social capital will continue to grow in the global market we are currently experiencing.  No one has a crystal ball, but based on what I’m seeing and what I’ve seen in the past, I believe these are some of the key things to look for relating to networking and referral marketing over the next few years.

Called the “father of modern networking” by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author.  He is the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, the world’s largest business networking organization.  His new book, Avoiding the Networking Disconnect can be viewed at Amazon.com.

A member recently asked me if “repeat referrals from one member to another counts as a referral?”  Here’s the answer to the often asked question:

There are several ways one can look at this. Some people feel that repeat “inside referrals” are not legitimate referrals. Others feel that money is money and every referral should count. First, I think you should meet with the chapter’s Membership Committee and discuss it with them. This is a perfect example of helping to “guide” the members in a positive way around an important issue.  On a topic like this, we believe that there should be some local control. The Membership Committee should discuss the pros and cons and make a decision based on their experience. For the record, I have found that most chapters do count these referrals because they are legitimate referrals given for a legitimate reason. The money made from these referrals spends just as well as the money made from any referral. On the other hand – and this is important – sometimes people get ridiculous in giving repeat referrals.

Many years ago, I worked with one chapter that had a member that ordered a ream of copy paper (500 sheets) every week and counted it as a “referral.” The chapter thought this was crazy (and I agreed) so the Membership Committee met and decided that “repeat inside referrals were OK to count as long as they equaled at least $50.” Although this seems a bit arbitrary, it did set a standard that the chapter liked and could live with. It also opened a positive dialog that the members could be involved in to help establish guidelines that fit the nature of their membership.

If your Membership Committee needs guidance on an issue like this, make sure to bring in your local BNI Director to help.

For me, the bottom line is to get the Membership Committee involved and work out something most people like. In my personal opinion I think repeat referrals are valid as long as they are a minimum reasonable amount.  Recognizing members for “continuing” to use each other has a lot of value – as long as it is not abused.

Called the “father of modern networking” by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author.  He is the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, the world’s largest business networking organization.  His new book, Avoiding the Networking Disconnect can be viewed at Amazon.com