2014 was a year of extraordinary business activity for BNI chapters around New Zealand. Almost 64 million dollars in referrals were made throughout the country. This equates to more than 24,000 dollars for each of our 2600 members. This enormous amount was calculated through Thank You for Closed Business.
Thank You for Closed Business is simply a mechanism that we use in BNI to track closed business primarily between members, but also from visitors. Ultimately this is the way that we track how successful your members are in passing referrals. Measuring is important. You basically achieve what you measure in business. That’s why it’s important to do this.
A great example of a chapter that has had huge success thanks to careful planning and measurement of its activity is BNI B’Nspired in Whangarei. They closed a record $3.2 million dollars of business in 2014. This phenomenal total didn’t come out of the blue; it was achieved by following these three simple steps.
- Tracking individual members’ closed business each week. Every week the chapter sent a sheet around that recorded the value of business members had received against the name of the person that provided the referral. It’s very important as a chapter to keep good records and to use these to evaluate individual members’ progress.
- Tracking collective closed business each week. From the referral information the chapter discussed the total they had generated collectively so far and matched this against their target for the period. This kept business at the front of everyone’s minds and created momentum as they began to achieve their aims.
- Held visitor drive to increase membership and business. In a six-month period the chapter had at least 40 visitors coming along to meetings. Visitors are enormously important to a chapter because they generate both long-term and short-term business.
Following these three simple steps led to fantastic success for BNI B’Nspired in Whangarei despite the challenging economic times that many parts of provincial New Zealand have faced.
Showing gratitude
Part of completing the Thank You for Closed Business process is about showing gratitude for the business you have received. Gratitude is a very important concept in business because it indicates the respect you have for your customers.
Showing gratitude to the customers you currently have is something worth focusing on in 2015. Building customer loyalty is a solid business practice. You shouldn’t be out getting more customers until you have serviced your current clients’ needs completely. How do you do this? It is all in the follow-up.
There are many ways to stay in touch with your customers, including apps and software programs that offer solutions to connecting with your database. Use these technological solutions in 2015 and also make showing gratitude part of your chapter’s business success this year.
