What’s up your sleeve?

Recently I was at a meeting when a member gave five referrals, read out a testimonial and had also brought along a visitor. It was great. And they received, a deserved, standing ovation.

It reminded me of an occasion in my own chapter a few years ago when one of our members did a similar thing. However, there was a big difference between the two members. You see for our member it was pretty much a one-off event as they were often short of a weekly contribution (a member in the red), whereas for this recent member it was common place, they are amongst the best ‘givers’ in their chapter; always at the top of the green in the traffic lights.

A weekly contribution is key to your success in your chapter as members tend to forget the great one-off contribution but they remember someone who gives every week. And that is very important to you (being remembered for giving every week) if you are going to get the best from your chapter. It will mean more referrals.

Now, as you will know if you regularly read my blog, I don’t think members bring enough visitors to their meetings but the other thing they don’t do is give as many testimonials as they could. Now I’m not talking rubbish testimonials here (Fred did a great job), but really useful feedback on work done. Testimonials that truly build the credibility of the member (receiving it), in the minds of everyone who hears it.

The reason I don’t think enough testimonials are given is because every good referral given could lead to a useful testimonial. And more testimonials would lead to more business for every member, due to increased credibility, not only for the person receiving it, but also the member giving it.
And the great thing is that there is no real time pressure on a testimonial. So if you struggle a little for a weekly contribution why not keep a good (written) testimonial ‘up your sleeve’ for a week when you have nothing else to give.