It is a simple known fact – 99.9 percent of the population cannot read minds. So unless you are in a BNI chapter full of clairvoyants, your fellow colleagues do not know what kind of referral you want unless you inform them, or ask them.
The core business of BNI is the giving and receiving of referrals. You do this through knowing the businesses within your chapter and the services or product that they offer.
When it comes to what you want, do you ask your fellow members for what you want. Try something new, without using the words somebody, anybody, someone, ask your BNI colleagues for a referral based around what an ideal referral is for you.
If you are plumber, instead of saying that you want people who may need a new hot water cylinder, or someone who needs help with their leaky bathroom. Spell it out – “This week, my ideal referral is for the property developer who is building the four homes at the end of that big suburb.”
A direct contact, a way in. You may think of it as hopeful – but there is always a chance that one of your BNI colleagues knows just who you are talking about and can offer up a connection. They can pass on your contact details to the person in question and that referral may lead to a high quantity of work.
If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
What is it that you want this week, this month, or even, this year?
Ask for it, explain it and put it out there, because you never know, it might just come back to you.
Hannah Blake is the BNI Regional Director for Northland and is also the imaginative genius behind BlakePR.
