When you give a referral to someone, you give a little bit of your reputation away. When you give a good referral, it enhances your reputation. When you give a bad referral, it can hurt your reputation. The referral process works most effectively when you know, like, and trust someone. Trust is particularly important; therefore, referrals and trust go hand in hand. So, if trust is important to the referral process, how do you speed up this process within the context of networking?
BNI is an accelerator, reducing the time required to build trust between individuals. One of the best ways to accelerate trust is through regular one to ones. One to ones can have a direct impact on referrals passed within a chapter.
But one to ones aren’t just about referrals as a recent example from our members in Palmerston North proves.
Earlier this year from BNI Palmerston North, Geoff Tattle, Owner of Couchman Alarms, did a one to one with Greg Watson from Watson Realty that proved to be “very” valuable. During the one to one Greg gave Geoff a heads-up about changes in legislation relating to rental properties that could open the door to a big business opportunity for Geoff. Greg knew what was happening with other companies in Australia around smoke alarms and thought Geoff could take advantage of the legislative changes here in New Zealand. They discussed this and Greg helped Geoff put together a business proposal for installing 10-year smoke alarms into rental properties.
With this proposal Geoff picked up business from two rental companies in Palmerston North and this has equated to $240,000 worth of business for just a three-month period. This windfall would not have come about without the one to one. It’s a great example of how one to ones aren’t just about getting to know other businesses in your chapter; they’re also about brainstorming new ideas and finding exciting opportunities for exploring new areas of business.
The value proposition of the one to one changes over time.
At first, it’s of value in terms of getting to know your members – understanding their services in more depth and therefore being more able to offer referrals. Over time the value of the one to one changes. As your relationship develops the one to one becomes a chance to explore new business opportunities.
Don’t take one to ones for granted; the business environment is dynamic and everyone’s business is always changing. By continuing to do one to ones over time at BNI you will see how people’s situations are changing and what this means in terms of creating new business opportunities for you.
No matter how long you have been in BNI, completing one to ones can increase your success significantly. Why not set your goal for one to one’s today!
