Most visitors and many new members don’t fully appreciate the difference between coffee groups and a professional referral organization such as BNI. Whereas there is always the temptation to sell to one another at any gathering, such practice is positively discouraged at BNI as this is not what BNI is all about. The power of BNI is that it gives you the opportunity – over time – to develop strong relationship and help others to gain a deeper understanding about what you do. The goal is to get to the point where the relationship, trust and understanding is sufficiently strong that others are willing to delve into their own contact spheres and seek out the people you want to be introduced to. Referrals take trust and confidence in the other person, and this takes time. Your feature presentation plays an important part in this process so let’s spend a few minutes thinking about this.
Referrals come from establishing a clear understanding of what someone else wants in the way of a referral or a business contact. This means that you are responsible for being very clear about what you want. You need to educate your fellow BNI members, not sell directly to them. Not easy, the temptation is to focus on what you actually do assuming that chapter members will automatically understand what you want and how they can help you get it.
One unique way to make a real lasting impression through your 10-Minute Presentation or BNI Featured Presentation is to plan, invite and deliver an expert workshop. If you plan your topic and content well in advance, give your presentation an engaging name and write a short synopsis of what it covers you will be able to sell it to your chapter members and possibly even their contacts too. Ask them to invite any clients who may benefit from the topic and content you will be covering on the day. A different and unique way of inviting visitors to your chapter! Don’t forget that visitors are responsible for a large portion of each chapters annual TYFCB (even if they mightn’t end up joining).
Shout from the roof top about your talk and advertise it on all your social media platforms, including your BNI chapter Facebook page. Send a save-the-date email to your own personal contacts and clients. For optimal results we suggest you make follow-up phone calls to ask if your contacts received the invite, book them in on the spot via the App if you are able. By filling the room with clients and prospects you can make your presentation much more dynamic and educate more people in the process.
You’ll generally have around 6-8 weeks from the time your presentation is scheduled to the time you present. That gives you plenty of time to plan who you should invite.
So, what are you waiting for……. don’t wait, you can start planning today!
