Over nine months!

Early in my BNI Membership I met a member, in another chapter, who was in the same category that I was in. The only difference was that he received ten times as much business than I did. I was more than happy with the amount I received but asked him how he achieved so much; just out of interest.

Like me he received referrals that weren’t really ideal (lots of them); wrong type of job, wrong sort of price, sadly a delivery he couldn’t make and more. So I asked him what he did to improve the situation.

His answer: a 60 Seconds where he advised all of his fellow members exactly the sort of work he didn’t want. The list was long; in fact so long (after all I ran the same type of business) that I didn’t know what was left. So I asked him. He told me and I have to say that I was amazed! What happened I asked? Well for over nine months he didn’t get a single referral. Not one!

My next question was so, what did you do?

His answer was: he attended every week, bought along visitors, went to workshops and gave over, on average, a referral every week. He also had regular 1-2-1s (a Green Member).

But what he worked on the hardest was educating the members, of his chapter, into the actual work he wanted. What it was, how it was made, the sort of business that used it, the person that would oversee the buying of it and how to talk about the work on his behalf. And, most importantly, the benefits of the person talked to, speaking to him about their next project.

It took over nine months but then he received an incredible referral that became a very good job. And, as they say, the rest is history.

So my thought is this. Do you receive exactly the sort of work, and the amount, that you are looking for? If your answer is ‘I would like more’, then I recommend that things could improve if you follow some, even if not all, of what my friend did. It certainly helped me.

A Beachball!

 In 2008, I met Andy Bounds for the first time, at the BNI Directors European Conference in Dublin. He was a main speaker and I loved what he told us. I also got a copy of his new book (at the time), The Jelly Effect.

The Jelly Effect is a brilliant book all about communication skills. Your business could improve a great deal if you get this right and Andy will help you do so.

Here’s an illustration Andy gives; it’s a great way for improving your sales. And, it’s about a beachball.

As I expect you know, a beachball has six coloured segments. They might be red, white, blue, yellow, green and orange. If you and a friend hold the ball between yourselves, the ball might look red, white and blue to you. However, from your friend’s side, they would think it was green, yellow and orange.

The same beachball looks completely different from different perspectives. The great thing to do is add the beachball view to your own business.

You look at your business – the beachball – from a certain point of view. You think of lots of selling points and you focus on these.

A possible prospective customer hears what you say, they’re looking at your company – the same beachball – but, maybe from a different point of view. What they want to hear, and see, is evidence that you can provide the ‘Afters’ that they are looking for.

Are you selling what they want? Will they receive what they want? Because at this moment that’s all that really matters. If they are not sure, then they have a reason to look elsewhere.

Here is a suggested example for you. ‘A building you are proud of, that meets your needs.’ This would lead to better and more results than, ‘I am an architect with three qualified staff.’

So, have a look at your communication. What do you open with? Is it who you are and what you do, or, is it what you give your customers and what they want?

The key, for real success, is to start with the end result first (The Afters). So, what are your customers looking for?