The BNI Positively Wellington chapter recently had a surprise visitor in Julie Bielenberg, Director Consultant from BNI Melbourne South, who says she came away impressed.
“It was a really well run meeting and great to see such a big chapter – it makes referrals so much easier!
“The best take away for me: The SMMs were really specific – I loved that. We always teach our members not to waste their Sales Manager Minute and be specific, but still some are waffly and their message not targeted enough. These were very specific and I loved that. Companies and contacts they wanted were named, and one woman asked the previous week for an intro to a particular company and reported she was given 4 from fellow members during the week – so it is working.
“This may seem insignificant, but it stood out to me: they didn’t waste time tearing apart the 3 parts of the referral form. That was already done and although a little thing it is a time saver,” says Julie.
Julie says members should never underestimate the importance of visitors.
“I am sure your chapters as ours so often get a good percentage of closed business through visitors. Often not straight away, but visitors take cards and often call later.
“I was there from another country so an unlikely candidate for giving business – but you never know who a visitor may know. In my case my daughter married a guy from Wellington and they live there – in Hataitai.
“I took the mortgage broker’s card as my daughter was in the process of wanting to refinance some of her home loan. She thought she would just go ahead and deal directly with the bank, but I told her it was worth one phone call to see if a better deal could be done.
“The end result – she refinanced with the same bank she was dealing with at a reduced rate. One very happy daughter!”
