Too often BNI members are asked to look for referrals they are incapable of delivering on, without first being trained and equipped.

For example, here are some referral requests I have heard recently that I know will be difficult to fulfil on:

• Accountant: ‘anybody who is on PAYE’.
• Personal trainer: ‘anybody tired of being fat’.
• Lawyer: ‘anybody who is having issues with a problem staff member’.

Unfortunately, many of these referral requests require that your fellow members pry into inherently personal, emotional and private issues.

Nobody is going to admit openly what their tax issues are, or share their weight frustrations or complain about a problem staff member. Most people keep quite about these things.

People close to us may talk about them, but this makes referral opportunities few and far between.

It is very important that you help us to find you referrals. Use your 60 seconds and your ten minutes and your dances to equip and train your members.

This may include:

1.     Teaching us about what cues to listen out for

2.     Training us in how to ask the right questions for your product or service

3.     Equipping us with a special offer to pass on

4.     Using props to give insights into your products or services we never dreamed of

Your fellow BNI members are your sales team. Don’t sell to them. Equip them to sell on your behalf.

By this I mean assuming people know what you’re talking about, making vague referral requests and speaking for longer than 1 minute (when you go on too long, everybody switches off and misses your referral request). Sixty seconds that go over time also drag down the energy of the meeting.

Remember, you are spending your time and money at BNI to get more business. Every second must count.

The old journalist’s mantra should apply – assume nothing, be clear, be succinct!

A good 60 second communicates the following:

1.     Your name and the name of your company

2.     Where you are located

3.     What your business does or specialises in

4.     A clear benefit (or two) that you offer

5.     A specific referral request

6.     Then finish with your name, your company and your memory hook

I suspect most of the waffle, foot shuffling, vague requests – all a singular waste of your time and money – are a result of failing to prepare.

Each week before your BNI meeting, pull out this formula, fill in the blanks and ‘hey presto’ waffle no more.

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®

—————————————————————————————————————

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

When someone asks “what do you do?”, what do you say?

Then highlight how some of the responses are “same old same old” and don’t inspire further conversation – e.g. the response… “I’m a florist” or “I’m an accountant”

Now give them two responses that would provoke some further conversation.

Listen to what some BNI members are saying when asked that question.

The Financial Planner said “I help people to retire rich!”

The Real Estate Salesperson said “I put other people’s money in your pocket!”

The Photographer said “We shoot your relatives!”

So what could you say when asked that question?

Take 40 seconds to write down a possible response for your business category.

Now call for responses and repeat 1 or 2 good ones.

The Referral Master®

What you say is in bold.
Instructions just for you are in normal text.

While listening to the infomercials this morning I noticed that many did not make it crystal clear on how we can find referrals for them. So over the next three weeks we will examine an infomercial in 3 parts.

This morning lets look at the first 15 seconds.  It should contain the following:-
• name and company name
• office location and house of business
• where you can do business

The last one is where many people fall down by not telling us the geographical area in which they operate. Some members will only want referrals in their immediate area whereas others can service referrals anywhere in the country and some even class the world as their market.

The challenge in not telling your sales team your preferred area is that some members will automatically exclude some areas rather than embarrass themselves by offering a referral you can’t service.Turn to the person next to you and CLEARLY outline in one sentence what area in which you do business.

After 30 seconds say to the chapter….Next week we will look at what you say n the middle and I expect to hear lots of specific statements on your market area.

The Referral Master®

———————————————————————–

While listening to the infomercials this morning I noticed that many did not make it crystal clear on how we can find referrals for them. So over the next three weeks we will examine an infomercial in 3 parts.

This morning lets look at the first 15 seconds.

It should contain the following:-

• name and company name

• office location and house of business

• where you can do business

The last one is where many people fall down by not telling us the geographical area in which they operate. Some members will only want referrals in their immediate area whereas others can service referrals anywhere in the country and some even class the world as their market.

The challenge in not telling your sales team your preferred area is that some members will automatically exclude some areas rather than embarrass themselves by offering a referral you can’t service.

Turn to the person next to you and CLEARLY outline in one sentence what area in which you do business.

After 30 seconds say to the chapter….

Next week we will look at what you say n the middle and I expect to hear lots of specific statements on your market area.

The Referral Master®

When you speak to another person or group do you use terminology that they can comprehend and understand?  The importance of this is heightened when you are expecting another person to repeat what has been said to a third party who may be a referral prospect.

Do your contacts know what you mean by percentage yield, EPS, “cap” rate, – and that the difference between IT and IP is not a speech impediment?!

All too often we are bombarded with acronyms and abbreviations in our everyday business – possibly made worse by the increasingly popular form of communication – texting.

If you feel that “geek speak” is overwhelming your ability to understand what people are talking about – relax – you are not alone.  There is a whole new business language out there – but outside of those with the technical knowledge of your product/service does this convey clearly what is being offered?

Imagine you are about to purchase a new car.  Now this model is a V6 with 5-speed transmission, 6 airbags, ABS, EBA, EBD, VSA, NCM, VCM etc.  Do you know/understand the alphabetic soup that this car has?  It certainly sounds impressive but what does it all mean?  ‘We presume the car will come with an engine and four wheels and will serve to transport us to wherever we wish to go safely and efficiently.

So next time you are giving a presentation (60 second or 10-minute) or talking to a new contact please talk to them in a language they can relate to.  That way not only will they understand what you have said, they will also be able to repeat it in their own words to a third party.

Alastair Christie is a Regional Director for BNI New Zealand

And the brain works best in two direct situations.
Situation 1: Change.
Situation 2: Problem.

On a normal day, you’d stand up and give your one minute speech. But what if you decided to squat on the floor instead? What if you decided to tape your mouth instead? What if you decided to use a bunch of cue cards like the famous Bob Dylan video? Instantly you’ve got the audience’s attention. It doesn’t matter what they were doing when you stood up, the ‘change’ in the routine got their attention.

So yeah, think about it for a second. How do you create change?

Now you’ve got their attention, it’s time to keep their attention.
Anyone can get attention by doing something different. But you sure as heck can’t keep their attention for too long if all you’ve got is a gimmick. What does keep the attention going is reverting to the “problem’. If all you do is simply tell them about how your company does this and that, then the audience quickly reverts back to their coffee and breakfast. And because you’re so keen on whatever it is you’re saying, you don’t notice that they’ve zoned off.

But if you bring up a problem, you’ve created continuous attention.
e.g. If you fix computers. And you talk about how a virus attacks the system, you’ll get and keep their attention.
e.g. If you sell houses, and you talk about how to spot a crappy house from a mile off, you’ll get and keep their attention.
e.g. If you sell time management, and you talk about the biggest reason why time management fails…then ditto.

The point is not to be lazy
Laziness is when you simply stand up, and rattle off what you do, and what you do, and what you do. And blah, blah, blah. That’s just boring. That ‘what you do’ commentary that you’re so used to giving is just putting your audience to sleep. Instead see if you can bring in the two factors, namely ‘change’ and ‘problems’. And then watch as your audience’s eyes grow wide.

Now you’ve got their attention.
And you’re keeping their attention.
And that’s what your networking one-minuter should be all about.

Waking up an audience is easy. Try it. It works.

First put in a factor of change. Then a factor of the problem. And then end with your company name and the referral you’d like to receive. And watch the difference in the response.

Sean D’Souza is the author of The Brain Audit. You can read more about him (and read the first chapter free) at http://www.sevenredbags.com

P.S. The winner of last week’s “The Brain Audit” giveaway is Angela Murray. Angela, please get in touch to get your copy.

For weeks I have been trying to hammer in that having a prop or something to grab the attention makes a difference. I even ran a test one morning. It was a small chapter – 18 there if you exclude me – and I made notes on the key point/s of each speaker.

At the end of the meeting we still had time and so I passed around sheets and got everyone to write down what they thought were the keys points of the other speakers.

The recall was just over 42%! And that was boosted by 3 speakers who had been very effective with props and had nearly 100% of the listeners recalling correctly.

The message is simple…. BE VISUAL!

But there is more….

Last week I was at one of my larger Chapters (over 30 present) and this time I was watching the members as the 60” spots were done. Over half of the listeners were not even watching the speaker. Now because I was not watching the speaker (I was watching the members), it became obvious to me that unless you are ‘actively listening’ – watching and listening, you cannot take in the information to its best effect… Especially with lots of speakers.

The exceptions again… speakers who broke the mould, they had props, one sang her 60” (and very well too), another hopped on a kiddies trike and motored around the centre of the group while doing his 60”. They grabbed the listeners’ attention and kept it.

Props don’t even have to be complicated, at one chapter recently the Real Estate agent took her shoes off (not recommended for male agents) and used them to demonstrate the difference between buyers and sellers and bringing them together.

To summarize… you can troop along to BNI each week and read out a boring 60”, or worse still, do it off the cuff and get heard by probably a third of the chapter.. or you can undertake to stand out, be bold, be visual and as a result… be successful!

 Imagine a chapter where every speaker grabs your attentions with fun, interesting and visual infomercials… wouldn’t that be fantastic!

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

Purpose: To highlight members on the benefits of focus.

Requirements: – 0.

*************************

Start by saying…

How many of you use the internet?

Wait for an indication – you may even need to ask for a show of hands.

And how many of you use it to search for specific information?

Again, wait for an indication.

What search engines do you use?

Repeat some of the responses?

What is the single most effective technique when using search engines?

What you are looking for here is “to be specific in your description of what you are looking for”. You may need to prompt them – ensure that this is the answer you end up with.

What happens when you ask a general question rather than a specific question?

Repeat some of the answers here – make sure one is that “you get too many responses that are not always exactly what you are looking for”.

And so it is with both your 60-second infomercial and your 10-minute presentation.

You need to be specific!

You need to ask for exactly what you want.

You need to tell your search engine – your team at BNI – exactly what they are searching for.

The Referral Master®

Watch the YouTube DVD

Instructions: This is a 2-3 minute activity that involves those at the meeting. 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 highlight members on their purpose.

Requirements: – 0.

Start by saying…

Last week we focussed on what your customer looked like.

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.

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 that clients visit or do I visit the client?

4. how would you identify the location of 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 ®

Watch instructional YouTube Video