Being the beginning of the year; now is a good time to brush up on the basics of BNI. One crucial part of our organisation that people sometimes find confusing is Thank You For Closed Business.
Thank You For Closed Business or TYFCB is simply a mechanism that we use in BNI to track closed business between members. Ultimately, tracking the dollar value of referrals made through BNI is one of the clearest ways to assess how your chapter is benefiting from the members’ collective structured networking efforts.
Measuring is important. You basically achieve what you measure in business. We tend to find out when setting standards and expectations within chapters that if it gets measured, it gets done. We want to put forth the right expectations of our members.
So why do we use Thank You For Closed Business to report referrals?
- We want to thank the people who give us referrals that turn into business. A lot of times, people don’t actually have a formal way to thank them. This is a way to recognise the people who pass quality referrals in the chapter.
- We also want to provide the deserved recognition to our members. The whole givers gain mentality. People will see that they are giving good quality referrals that turn into business, so people will want to start to do business with them.
- It’s also about accountability. We want to make sure that members are passing qualified referrals. That it is not just information that is being passed or leads being passed. These are actual referrals, and thank you for closed business shows and reports the closed business going back and forth between members.
Thank You For Closed Business is now incorporated into the BNI Connect system, which makes reporting referrals, 1-2-1’s and Thank You For Closed Business far simpler. Confidentiality is assured as the amount generated by the person who gave the referral is recorded rather than the amount earned by the member.
Should you like to keep a private tally of your Return on Investment or ROI you can do this by using the “saying thank you for business invoiced” option in your “My BNI Business” page within BNI Connect. Any revenue received to your business is recorded against your private BNI Connect account.
If you have any further questions talk to your leadership team or the team at the BNI Support office.
What exactly is reported in Thank You For Closed Business?
It is based on the type of business that you are in.
- If you are in a commission based business, you put down your gross commission figure.
- Service providers, you put down the gross amount you charged.
- Product providers – for example, promotional products, printing, those types of industries – you put down the gross product sales.
All figures are net of GST. The key is to keep the recording consistent.
Set a target for Thank You For Closed business
Now is the perfect time for your chapter to set a target for 2016. Look at your records from last year and see what you achieved, then set a new goal for this year.
You can also set a target as an individual. That’s what Pam Allen-Baines from BNI Metro did. She looked at the total number of referrals in her chapter and divided that by the number of members to get an idea of what she should be bringing in. Look at your own referrals from last year and make a determination about how you want to track in 2016.
Your mind-set is crucial with Thank You For Closed Business. Those who are most successful with referrals track and measure their progress at BNI. It’s a great way to assess what your BNI membership is worth to you. When you see the figures and how you are tracking, it really resonates. Set a target today.
