How often do we say ‘thank you’ for a referral?

Not only is a ‘thank you’ good manners, it raises you in the esteem of others.

‘Thank you’ is also a great form of quality control. For example:

“Thank you’, that referral was spot-on…” let’s the referrer know he or she got it right and how to do it properly next time.

“I want to thank you for your referral and let you know why it didn’t quiet work… but I appreciate the thought.” This let’s the referrer know what works for you, and what doesn’t.

Instead of standing up at the end of the meeting with “I have no referrals,” why not report back on a dance or thank somebody for a referral?

Even if you have done it before and it was a long time ago, use the moment to help educate and remind the rest of your sales team on what a good referral looks like for you.

Colin Kennedy is a public relations consultant, copywriter and speaker. He is also the outsource Marketing Director for BNI New Zealand and assistant director for the South Central region of BNI.

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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

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A key message is public relations tool defined as: “A short, concise and memorable sentence used to convey an important message during an interview”.

I get to hear, on average, about 70+ sixty second presentations every week, and it always amazes me how we all – myself included – see the need to say something different week in and week out.

Sure, variety is important; and perhaps we feel uncomfortable repeating the same presentation on a regular basis.

However, repetition is important if you want your message to be remembered – so changing every week does nothing for making you memorable.

One way to kill both birds with one stone is to develop three or four key messages. Just one sentence long, each message says something compelling, memorable and important about your business.

For example: “John Green Landscapes are the premier sustainable garden creators in Auckland”.

Develop three or four of these key messages; then use them liberally throughout your sixty second presentation to make sure the important messages and benefits are getting through, without making yourself appear to be repeating yourself Ad nauseam.

Colin Kennedy is a public relations consultant, copywriter and speaker. He is also the outsource Marketing Director for BNI New Zealand and assistant director for the South Central region of BNI.

Photos by Rosemary Meyer. See www.prmeyer.com. Thank you Rosemary. Top: Fiona Powell and Colin Kennedy. Below: The Howick seminar.

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The first step is to manage your expenses and pay your bills on time. Develop a budget, do not spend more than what you make, and learn to reduce your expenses when you can.

Learn to manage your responsibilities by assigning certain tasks to others. If you do not have time to do a task, then let your assistant do it. You are only one person and can only do so much on a given day. Do what is most important and delegate the rest.

Talk with your customers and employees on a regular basis. Find out what is on their minds. Ask for any suggestions on how to improve business productivity and morale. Communicating with your workers and clients will help prevent future problems and conflicts.

Most importantly, develop a business plan and follow it. Being organized and goal oriented is very important in managing a business. Following a plan or set of goals will prevent you from a lot of stress and anxiety.

Learn to take it one day at a time. Instead of worrying about how you will get through the rest of the week or coming month, try to focus on today. Each day can provide us with different opportunities to learn new things and that includes learning how to deal with your business problems. Hopefully, when the time comes, you will have learned the skills to deal with your situation.

Be smart in how you deal with your business problems. Do not try to tackle everything all at once. When facing a current or upcoming task that overwhelms you with a lot of anxiety, break the task into a series of smaller steps. Completing these smaller tasks one at a time will make the stress more manageable and increase your chances of success.

Managing a business can be stressful, but the key is knowing how to manage your anxieties. There is a right way and wrong way to manage a business. Continue to learn effective techniques in managing your business and improve your bottom line. This will go a long way in getting rid of your stress and other business problems.

By Stanley Popovich
Stan Popovich is the author of “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear Using Psychology, Christianity and Non Resistant Methods” – an easy to read book that presents a general overview of techniques that are effective in managing persistent fears and anxieties. For additional information go to: http://www.managingfear.com/

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Let me explain.

I have a client who has a very strong sales programme, but the company’s marketing is a bit thin on the ground.

I was brought on board when the sales team asked for marketing support. At a recent meeting, now knowing the client well and understanding what they were about, I came prepared to deliberately sell them on the services of a member in my chapter. Those services were a fit with the sales culture of the company.

I wasn’t waiting for any opening. I was going to make my own.

At the end of the meeting, I mentioned the service and explained why I thought it would benefit them. I then recommended the member in my chapter.

By the end of the week, he had carried out the work for them.

What was different about this was that I had identified a need my client had – even though they weren’t aware of it – and I went in there with a deliberate pitch.

I did not wait for any cues in our conversation. If I did, I might still be waiting. Or I might discover some time down the line that they had used somebody else. It was a deliberate sell that I made on my fellow member’s behalf.

Sometimes we can waste so many opportunities waiting for the right moment to recommend a referral, instead of making it happen.

Here’s one way to go about doing this yourself:

1. List ten clients. They should be people you have a good relationship with.

2. In another column, list the members in your BNI.

3. Go through the list of your clients and compare them against each member in your chapter, asking yourself if the customer might genuinely benefit from the services of that member.

4. Write down why the client would benefit from those products or services.

5. The next time you go to see your client, be ready to suggest they utilise the particular service or product you have in mind for them.

Ask them: “Have you ever thought of…? The reason why I am suggesting it is…”

Go on, give it a try.

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Together BNI Millennium Chapter and SANZ raised $9,000 to be shared by North Shore, Warkworth and Northland Hospices. Our thanks to Warkworth Golf Course for providing the perfect venue – and throwing in perfect weather!
Of course the golf day was possible only with the help of the individuals and businesses who generously donated their time and money, plus thousands of dollars of products and services. Our sponsors:
Albany Insurance Services, Amac Automotive, Asparona, AXA, Barfoot & Thompson, CM Digital, DRG Technology, Fraser and Jim Lamb, Fullers Paihia, FunctionEight, Furlong + Associates, George Deeb & Associates, Jack Property Maintenance, Kevey Collision, Kumeu River Wines, Lion Nathan, Mark Adams Brand Stories, Mark Greenslade/Edge Mortgages, Millennium Institute, Orb Communications, Parkland Products, Sacred Hill Wines, Scholastic, Signtech, Start Smart – and principal sponsor Propella Software.
So thank you everyone, organisers, players and sponsors – see you again next year!

BNI Millennium Chapter Contact: Tom Kelly 027 262 6777 tom@jackofalltrades.co.nz
SANZ Contact: Cedric Braby 0274 742 264 cbraby@crownrelo.com

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Take a moment to list what most dominates your thoughts…

I ask this question, because in the words of The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius: “A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it”.

If our thinking is dominated by ‘how swamped with work we are’, we will live life overwhelmed. If we live in fear of losing a client or clients, chances are we will lose that client.

I’m no psychologist, but I know from experience that we tend to ‘go’ in the direction we’re looking. If I’m out cycling and I see an obstacle (like a rock in the path), I need to look at the way around that obstacle rather than at it. If I look at a stone, I’ll probably hit it.

I heard somewhere that there are so many head on collisions because people stare fixedly at the oncoming car as the accident unfolds. Looking away from the oncoming car might help you steer slightly away from the centre.

I don’t know how true this is, but it resonates with me. What we focus on is what becomes of us.

Within a networking context, if we leave our networking meeting or BNI meeting, and don’t think about it again, the chances are we won’t be very effective at generating referrals.

The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that if we want to become good networkers, it must become a core focus of our business – particularly if much of our business is generated by referrals.

One way to do this is to develop an action calendar of networking activities and to enter these in your Outlook or Google Calendar as re-occurring appointments.

Another is to create environmental prompts in your environment, such as a poster. If networking isn’t a focus and we would like it to be, create ways to remind yourself to keep it top of mind.

Colin Kennedy is a Keynote Speaker and dedicated storyteller. He is the Marketing Director for BNI New Zealand and assistant director for the South Central region of BNI. When not working with BNI, Colin is a copywriter and influencer marketing consultant in his business, Iron Road Ltd.

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There were heaps more cars – unlike the few taxis entering the government zone with special permission to drop-off visitors at their hotels – loud noise and beggars he hadn’t seen before. My client was intrigued as he found himself in the hustle bustle of what looked like the real China. He kept walking noticing things like groups of older men huddled together over a board game, the many shops with their varied offerings and then the sudden, odd feeling as he realized that he was the only “white man” around. Almost in that instant, he became aware that he was very much out of his comfort zone and that he probably needed to return.

My client’s story got us thinking about how we react when we are out of our comfort zone – or CZ, as I call it! Can you recall the last time you were out of your CZ and what your thinking pattern was? How did you feel? What did you do? The challenge is that most of the time we are totally unconscious of our behaviour and reactions. We tend to go into an automatic, default reaction as the brain kicks into a survival, threat mode. However, by being  aware through being mindful and recognizing when we are out of our comfort zone, gives us a greater choice to do something different.

What is your default mode?

It’s easy to say, “face your fear,” “take more risks” or “just do it!” But before we can do this, tuning into our own individual reaction helps us understand our engrained brain-behaviour pattern and then create some new pathways.

My client had been faced with a choice. Should he carry on exploring or return to the safety of his hotel? He found himself thinking that that no one in his team knew where he was and that there were probably very good reasons why he shouldn’t be where he was – so he returned.

Later as he narrated the story he expressed misgivings about not giving himself permission to explore and discover new things. He had felt excitement along with some fear. He began connecting this experience to his decision making in business especially when there was newness and ambiguity present. He realized that on a day to day basis, he tended to keep within his comfort zone – playing it safe but from time to time he would also take that big leap. What was interesting was that, each time he did, it paid off immensely.

Being out of our comfort zone can bring up all sorts of reactions. I saw a manager who reacted by becoming very loud, dominant and authoritative when deep down he was feeling rather vulnerable. Equally, I have seen team members who became withdrawn and disengaged. What have you noticed amongst your team members and or groups that you are part of? As a manager, how do you coach a direct report who has been put out of her comfort zone? Do you know how much autonomy versus guidance they need to succeed?

5 leading steps in moving beyond your comfort zone

1) Become more mindful of your thoughts, feelings and reactions when you find yourself operating out of your CZ. Can you give these a name? I notice my own feeling is one of anxiety followed by a strong need to find further information that could help. The underlying thought is “what if I haven’t got the resources to deal with this situation or worse – got it wrong.”Being self aware enough to identify and name what is going on is a key part of leadership effectiveness.

2) Notice how you behave when out of your CZ – what are you doing and how are you coming across in that moment? If you are a manager – are you able to take responsibility for your feelings and call it as is – at the very least to yourself – or do you end up blaming and attacking others and making them feel in the wrong? Do you become angry, withdrawn or do you take the best action that you can in the moment? Self-regulation and communicating with respect and dignity are vital leadership qualities in maintaining  your own reputation and integrity and for the outcomes you get.

3) How about your body language? What do you know about how you might be coming across non-verbally? If you are saying one thing and your body language is another, it’s your body language that will be read by others and be the winner. Self awareness helps being powerfully present in the moment and making the best, right decision at the time. Authentic leaders can still be strong while feeling vulnerable.

4) Consider how your reactions may be affecting those around you?For example, is it helping them to step out or get more into a “no risk” mode? Is your reaction helping your team be more experimental or shutting them down?Don’t underestimate the viral nature of your leadership impact across the organization.

5) With a greater, more conscious feel and awareness about your automatic reactions, you could now choose to create a new neural pathway through a different approach!  David Rock’s latest book, ” Your Brain at Work” will help you here. Being vulnerable is human – we all have our strengths and weaknesses. Growing and building our capacity, with mindfulness is one of the many exciting gifts that the leadership journey offers.

Jasbindar  Singh – www.sqleadership.com is a leadership psychologist, speaker and author.  She helps managers and leaders sharpen their self leadership effectiveness.

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The Epsom chapter of BNI raised more than $5,000 for their local Mercy Hospice at an evening auction held at the Sawmill Cafe in Auckland’s Mt Eden suburb last week.

Chapter President Alex Patterson said the chapter achieved a good result thanks to the hard work of the chapter’s leadership team and the voluntary services of people like auctioneer Paul Tobin (Driveline) and chapter assistant director Mariska Mannes.

Items auctioned included the complete collection of bestselling children’s books by BNI webmaster Brian Falkner, paintings, wine, tools and a pen collection.

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