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MIni Workshops – Substitutes 002

Geoff Kirkwood — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 10:28:35 +0000

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 show members alternative ways to find a substitute.
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Start by asking the members…

How many members here have trouble finding a substitute?

Show of hands please?

This morning I want to suggest two alternative places to find substitutes.

1. The local university or business college.

Here you approach any tertiary institution that runs a business course and talk to the teacher/lecturer.

Tell them briefly about BNI and tell them that you are offering the opportunity for students to mix with experienced business people.

Then set up a contact point where students can arrange to be a substitute.

2. The local retirement village.

There will be many retired business people who would relish the opportunity on an occasional basis to mix with a motivated group of positive business people.

I suggest that, as well as the normal ways of getting a substitute, these two will guarantee results.

The Referral Master®

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Mini Workshop – Substitutes 001

Geoff Kirkwood — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 23:58:04 +0000

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 show members how easy it is to find a substitute.
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Start by asking the members…

How many members here have an organised substitute? Can I see a show of hands please?

Ask 1 or 2 members to tell the group, in 30 seconds, who they have and how they organised them. Once they have finished, ask the members…

Who can you organise as your substitute? Any ideas?

Wait for responses and list them verbally back to the group. Then say…

In BNI we recommend the following people as substitutes:-

1.   business partner
2.   personal partner who can talk about your business
3.   best client
4.   employee
5.   a member of another BNI chapter which meets on a different day

Now here are some other tips for this process….

a.   bring your substitute along to a breakfast “in advance” so they can see what goes on and meet the rest of “your team”
b.   offer to pay for their breakfast
c.   if they are from another chapter return the favour
d.   write out your infomercial for them to read
e.   if they are a client actively suggest to them the possibility of joining after they have been to the first breakfast

Ask the members…

When are the times that you may not be able to attend?

Seek responses and then say…

“Plan not to attend”. Plan in advance for those days where you already know that you won’t be there and start organising your substitute now.

The Referral Master®

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Don’t make your substitute look silly!

Graham Southwell — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:25:53 +0000

This weeks workshop has been sourced from the excellent BNI Blog in the UK - My BNI Day

In fact it’s not really a case of making your substitute look silly, it’s more a case of not making yourself look badly prepared.

It’s happened before but what made it stick in my mind recently was the fact that the same thing happened in three different meetings one after the other! The substitute got up and read the script that they had been given and each time had to stop, the first time because something had been added to a typed sheet and the person wasn’t sure where the next part was, the second time because the hand-written copy was so bad that they couldn’t understand it, and the third time because what they had been given just didn’t make sense.

I can even remember cases where the substitute has stood up and said, ‘ …… said they would send me something but nothing turned up, so I’ll just say what it says on their card’.

No, it doesn’t make your substitute look silly but it does embarrass them and they do spend a great deal of time apologising.

So, please be kind to the person who is substituting for you and send them a perfect copy of the 60 seconds that you want them to present for you. And, ask them to read it in advance and come back to you if all is not clear.

Not only will your substitute not mind covering for you again in the future but you will be demonstrating to the group how well organised you are!

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