When you are thinking about how to find referrals for other members what is the most valuable tool that BNI provides for you to achieve this?

Seek responses and repeat one or two. Then continue by saying….

Those of you who said the “Dance Card” were correct. The single best BNI tool for knowing how to find referrals for individual members is the Dance Card.

So, let me ask how many of you have done a dance card this week? Let us see who has been doing Dance Cards during the last week. Will you stand please if you have done a Dance Card during the last seven days?

Lets first congratulate these members! (lead with some applause)

So now I want you to turn to the person next to you and confirm when you last had a Dance Card with them. Go on, do it right now.

Wait for them to do it.

And now I want you to turn to the person on the other side of you and do the same please?

Wait for them to do it.

How many of you were not able to say when you had the last dance card? Show of hands please?

Let me now ask you, how many of you have had something change about your business during the last 6 months? A phone or fax number, new email address, new street address, new staff member, new product or service, totally new business direction, new partner?

Show of hands please?

So, what chance do you have of being able to accurately know what to look for if you don’t do regular Dance Card appointments?

Please take out your BNI Card File? That’s right, take it out right now?

Now please take out of it one card for every member with who you have not had a Dance Card appointment over the last 6 months.

The challenge for you now is to use those cards as reminders to book Dance Card appointments with every one of those members before next weeks breakfast.

The Referral Master®

I want you all to think about how much total potential business there is in your category?

How much business, even just in this country, is done each year in the category that you represent?

Call out to me some answers please? Is it $100, $1,000, $100,000, $1 million, $100 million, $1 billion?

Just how much is it?

Repeat some of the answers as well as nominate the category they represent. Then say…..

Now tell me what percentage you think that you are getting?

Call out to me some answers please?

If you nominated a figure that was less than 100%, does that leave you room for business growth in your business?

So, what is your philosophy about business?

Is it one of scarcity or one of abundance?

If it is scarcity, then you will have difficulty making the BNI philosophy work for you.

However, if it is one of abundance, then there is enough for everyone and you can easily get your share, whatever you perceive that to be!

How, I hear you ask?

In the words of that famous American speaker, Zig Ziglar ……

“You can have anything you want, simply by helping enough other people get what they want!”

Zig would have made a great ambassador for BNI.

The Referral Master®

How do you say thanks when someone refers you to some one else?

What it is that you do to acknowledge your appreciation?

Push them for answers and repeat some of the responses. Then say…..

Here are some of the ways that I wrote down in preparing for this session.

1. send a special thankyou card
2. send a hand written letter in a hand addressed envelope
3. make a special phone call for that purpose and nothing else
4. send chocolates
5. send an email
6. send some theatre tickets
7. send a “scratchie” lottery ticket
8. send a bottle of wine
9. send some flowers
10. drop in unannounced at their office/premises to say thanks
11. give them 2 referrals
12. send them a $10 note suggesting they spend it solely on themselves
13. make a big fuss at the  R,R & R session next week
14. remember their birthday

I am sure you can think of others. Just make sure your thankyou is genuine, says something special about you, and you always do it.

The Referral Master®

This week we are focussing on getting good referrals.

Let me ask you, what do you need to do for your members to get GOOD QUALITY referrals?

Wait for responses and repeat 2 or 3. Then say….

From a BNI perspective, the following are three mandatory things you need to do:

Explain your business well and in detail

If you want members to refer you to high quality referrals, then they need to understand very clearly what you do. They also need to understand what you don’t do. How can they do this?

Wait for responses and repeat 2 or 3. Then say….

Take time – this does not happen overnight

Be very clear about what it is that you do

Be prepared – both for your 60-second infomercial AND your 10 minute presentation

Do a Dance Card EVERY WEEK

Earn the respect of the other members

You will only get referred to other members’ clients and contacts if they respect you.

How can you ensure that they do?

Wait for responses and repeat 2 or 3. Then say….

Demonstrate your professionalism by ALWAYS being on time for meetings

Stay for the full 90 minutes AND show that you are involved

Offer to assist rather than waiting to be asked

GIVE high quality qualified referrals

Get to be liked by the members

People do business with people they like.

How can you ensure that they like you?

Wait for responses and repeat 2 or 3. Then say….

Be natural and be yourself

Take a genuine interest in other people

Be positive and optimistic

Getting Good Referrals is all about the BNI philosophy – Givers Gain.

You will GET good referrals if you GIVE good referrals.

It takes time and it does happen.

If people know your business, like you and respect you, you will receive referrals!

The Referral Master®

You will need to read it through beforehand and be prepared. What you say out loud to the group is in larger type in bold.

Purpose: – To understand what it is the members are selling to their customers.

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Start the workshop by saying the following to the members and any guests!

I want to start this morning by asking you a question.

Are you selling what your customers and prospects want?

Now you might say… “of course I am!”

So I want you to think about this:

If you are in the recruitment business your potential customer is looking for a great employee, not a great headhunter.

They don’t care that you placed 100 people last year. They only care that the person you place with them will be superior. Talk about the quality of people that you place. Talk about increasing productivity, morale, and profitability and you may have somebody actually interested in talking to you.

Or you can brag about yourself on into the night and wonder why your business is not increasing. Sell what they want – not what you do.

So now I want you to take 45 seconds to write down 2 things that relate to your products or services that fit this criteria.

Let me give you three examples:-

1. 1. Customer wants a beautiful brochure, not a great graphic designer.
2. 2. Customer wants more enquiries from the website, not a great website designer.
3. 3. Customer wants higher price on the house they are selling, not a great real estate agent.

Go – you have 45 seconds. Write down 2 things that fit the criteria of “what the customer wants” rather than “how good you are” in relation to your business.

Give them 45 seconds and then call for 2 or 3 responses and repeat them. Then say…

Next time you do your infomercial you can incorporate these.

The Referral Master®

You will need to read it through beforehand and be prepared. What you say out loud to the group is in larger type in bold.

The purpose of this workshop is to highlight the difference between selling and referrals in BNI.

———————————————————————————————-

Ask the members the following question.

What is the main function you have in your own business?

Repeat some of the responses. You are looking for the word “selling” or “sales”. If you don’t get it from the responses you need to suggest it to them as a question.

Then ask them….

What is your main role as part of the team in this BNI Chapter?

Again you are looking for the words “selling” or “sales”.

Now tell them that you want to suggest a different role for them.

I want to suggest that your role, when a member of BNI, is different to other business people!

Your role is not selling……. it is networking!

If you truly believe in the basic principles of BNI, then you need to change the way you think about business.

You are a networker. Delete the word sales and salesperson from your vocabulary as they belong to people who do business the hard way – selling!

In BNI we do business differently – by networking – by making our net work!

Think about it…. and change the way you do business!

The Referral Master®

What you say out loud to the group is in bold.

The purpose of this workshop is to highlight the importance of your 60-second infomercial.

————————————————————————–

This week we are talking about an idea that will see how effective you have been in training your sales team.

What things do you think you should be talking about in your next 10-minute presentation to the chapter?

Ask for feedback here and repeat some of the answers.

What we want to suggest to you this morning is rather than telling them things, first start by asking them.

Stephen Covey, in his bestseller book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, said ………

Seek First To Understand

And the best way to do that is to ask questions – stop telling and ask!

So here is a suggestion for your next 10 minute presentation.

Spend the first 2 minutes doing a survey of your sales team by asking them questions.

Questions that will find out how effective you have been

Questions like…

1. describe for me my best customer?
2. list three products/services that I sell?
3. do I have premises clients visit or do I visit the client?
4. how would you identify my premises to a potential client?
5. what would a referral for me be saying/doing to alert you?

There are many other questions that you could ask. Your task this coming week is to list them and then use them next time you do a 10 minute presentation.

The Referral Master®

The purpose of this workshop is to highlight the importance of your 60-second infomercial.

———————————————————————————-

This morning we are focussing on your 60-second infomercial!

Do the other chapter members really know who to look and listen for?

To make sure that they do, lets look at one aspect of what you say each week.

And lets use a chiropractor as an example.

For me to know how to find a referral for a chiropractor I need to know two things….

1. What will I hear potential referrals say, and

1. What will I see potential referrals do

If I hear someone complaining about a sore back, stiff neck or inability to sleep…. then that person is a referral opportunity.

If I see someone obviously in pain, rubbing and stretching their neck, back or shoulders… then that person is a referral opportunity.

Whilst it is important to know what a chiropractor does, it is more important to know what his or her clients will be saying or doing.

So next week when you do your 60-second infomercial tell your sales team what the need to listen for and look for to find a referral for you.

After all, you are the expert on your business and you will know how to find referrals for you.

All you need to do is tell your team.

The Referral Master®

The purpose of this workshop is to highlight the importance of your invitation of potential members.

—————————–

Ask the chapter the following question and repeat some of the responses.

When you invite people to BNI what do you say?

Make sure you get some responses and repeat them to the chapter!

The responses will probably include words like….. meeting, weekly, join.

Now ask them…..

Is anyone is having difficulty getting acceptances to those invitations?

Do you know why?

Lets look at some of those invitations and see why potential members are not coming!

What does the word meeting mean to most people?

Seek responses and repeat them. You will get words like …. boring, waste of time, starts late, etc.

Now, how many of you simply can’t wait to join something? In your busy lives you are actively looking for something to join?

And also in busy lives how many people simply can’t wait to go to an extra meeting that meets weekly?

Maybe we could all look at what we say when we invite potential members!

Why not simply invite them to ……

A breakfast (no meeting or weekly) where they can talk to other business people about their product/service.

And remember, if they ask how much, simply tell them the price of the breakfast. Because that is all you are asking them to do – come to one breakfast. The rest is up to them once they have seen what we offer!

The Referral Master®

The purpose of this workshop is to highlight the importance of Inviting Potential Members.

——————————————————————————————————————

Ask the chapter the following question and repeat some of the responses.

In the last month, how much time – in hours – have you spent inviting business people to visit your chapter?

Wait for responses and then say….

Write that number down.

Now write the time – in hours – from the last workshop that you spent in Dance Cards last month.

Now add the first number to the second.

Can I have some feedback on the total number please?

Wait for responses and then say….

Now you have the total number of hours you spent on “out of chapter” WOM activity in the last month.

Now, ask the group whether they really think that is enough to ensure their WOM Marketing will work?

Can I have some feedback on whether you think that is enough to get you the results you want?

Repeat some of the responses.

Then say ….

Research amongst successful BNI members who actively work a WOM Marketing Plan shows that they spend at least 2.5 hours per week on Dance Cards and Inviting Guests. The KEY word there was WORK!

Then ask the question….

How serious are you about WOM Marketing?

The Referral Master®