Becoming a good referral giver is a state of mind. The more ‘giving referrals’ is on your mind, the more likely you are to find opportunities.
Here are some ideas for keeping ‘the giving of referrals’ uppermost on your mind…
* Dance regularly. In fact, make doing a dance a re-occurring appointment in your diary. For something to become a mindset, it must become a way of life. It’s not a huge leap – your business is a way of life and BNI is part of your business.
* Identify a member of your chapter to whom you would like to give a referral. Put a one of their business cards on your dashboard, another on your mirror at home and another on your desk. Leave them there until you have given that person a referral.
* Actively identify people in your BNI who may be able to become part of your referral alliance i.e. people with products, services or types of clients that complement your business.
* When you meet somebody, always be asking yourself:
a. “How can I help this person?” before you talk with them about your own business;
b. “Who from my BNI will be able to make this person’s life easier?”
* Avoid starting a conversation with the weather, sport or traffic. Your first step is to establish common ground, and for this you need to ask open ended questions…
a. Common ground allows you both to instinctively relax with each other and immediately you both begin to trust each other more. Perhaps you both enjoy boating, have young families or keep model railways in your garage.
b. Open ended questions begin with: What? When? Why?
i. What did you do this weekend? Not, how was your weekend?
ii. Are you originally from Auckland?
iii Did you know…?
iv. How did you get your start in this business?
v. What do you enjoy most about your profession?
vi. What separates you and your company from the competition?
vii. Above all, LISTEN when others are talking. Resist the urge to interrupt or join in.
* This type of questioning automatically leads to…
“I understand your frustration. I felt the same way until I met Tom…”
* Finally, always be closing (ABC)…
“It might be useful to have a chat to Tom, here’s his card – but I will get him to call you.”
TELL them, “Tom will call you”.
