One-2-One in Mumbai

 Over the years I’ve been in BNI, since 2003 in fact, it has proved very worthwhile for me, not just for referrals, but for many other reasons; obviously most often from my own chapter but also around the country.

Right now, I can remember needing beautiful flowers in Oxford and a plumber in Southsea; very good reliable companies. I’ve also recently had members supporting my new children’s book and a few years ago helping me with a wonderful trip to Australia.

Well this week, I’ve had a One-2-One with a member in Mumbai. It was early morning for me, afternoon for them and the best part was seeing each other via Zoom. It’s such a great device to use today.

We had a very good and interesting meeting and I was also lucky enough to see their full 10 Minute PowerPoint Presentation – which was very distinct and beautiful.

Anjali Vhatkar is the founder and CEO of the Elaura Art Gallery and their work is amazing. If I had rooms large enough, there was art I saw that I would love to have, but sadly I don’t have walls that big!

However, what I can do is to speak to the architects and interior designers, and even hotel owners, I know, to see if they would like to know more about Elaura Art and how they could own one of these beautiful pieces.

But, what I like best is that I love the products (the art) and I find Anjali very distinctive, which means that I will talk about the Elaura Art Gallery to my friends, and in the past I’ve often found that this often leads to my friends asking me about the person I’m chatting about (how good they are?) and then to them later receiving referrals.

So, have you a great story to tell, that your fellow members will want to convey to their friends? Because, if you do, you might just find your referral number increases afterwards.

90 Minutes!

 

I had a One-2-One with a member this week which was very interesting.

During BNI training it is suggested that we all put in our diary one hour for BNI every week with the focus solely on BNI activity. Sadly for them, many members don’t have an extra hour free, so lose out on what they could gain.

At the moment most of our meetings are via Zoom, which means that there are some disadvantages but also some advantages. In fact, in the future there may be some Zoom-only Chapters formed.

Anyway, back to the lady that I was having a One-2-One with. One comment she made during our conversation, was that one thing a Zoom meeting achieved, was saving her 90 minutes getting to and returning from the meeting. There were a number of things that she really missed from a usual meeting but, there was also one large thing that she gained. And that was 90 minutes.

Now I’m not talking of time for her to rest! What she had gained, was not one hour for BNI activity, but 90 minutes instead. This led her to spending more time looking for referrals for fellow members (in a difficult time), having more useful One-2-Ones, and spending time, and learning, on the BNI U. And, all of this has led to her having more success in BNI than ever. I think you will agree that it’s not only very valuable but also rather wonderful.

And it got me thinking about things which I feel are very interesting and could make a big difference for all of us. First, use your saved travel time on BNI activity. What a great way of having more time to work for your BNI success and your fellow members' success. Second, if you think you don’t have the time for 1 hour of BNI activity a week, this has proved that you should make it, because it will lead to more success for you. More business, which I’m guessing means more profit.

So, how are you using your saved travel time? Sleeping?

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.

Four Referrals…

 I was asked by a new member recently how many referrals they should hope to receive in the coming year.

The first thing I said was ‘…have you time for a coffee?’ And, they replied, ‘Of course, but why?’

Well, this is part of what we talked about.

How many referrals would they need to get? But, as important, even more important, was how many referrals they were going to give? Givers Gain, BNI’s core value, is giving to others, before expecting anything from others. Giving first and getting second.

But, let’s get back to what they wanted to know. How many referrals would be a good return? The answer is pretty simple to work out but many members have never done the maths.

The first thing to do is to work out how much business you would like? This should be based on your money invested: BNI membership, venue costs, transport costs, etc. and, of course, time. As an example, let’s say £15,000.

Next we need the average value of your orders. If you don’t know that, just divide your turnover (no VAT) in a year by the number of invoices sent. Again, for example, let’s say £68,000 divided by 120 invoices; answer £568.00.

Okay, now divide the £15,000 by £568.00; answer 26. So, you need 26 jobs to make your £15,000. But, that’s not referrals; because now, you need your conversion rate. How many estimates do you give to receive a job? Let’s say it’s three. Therefore, 26 times three equals 78; which means you need 78 referrals per year to reach your £15,000. That’s 6.5 referrals each month.

The new member and I worked this out for him and, oddly, the number we worked out for him was the same number I have. One referral needed each week to reach our goals.

So, do you know the number of, qualified, referrals you need? If not, why not work it out? I promise you it could be very worthwhile.

Should I stay?

I was asked for a 1-2-1 this week and of course I said yes.

As soon as we had met, coffee arranged, and sat down, the member concerned opened with, 'I need to renew my membership this month and I’m thinking of leaving.’

Well, I guess it cut out the small talk! To be fair I know the member well so I suppose ten minutes rapport building wasn’t really necessary.

My reply was a simple question, ‘Why?’

It turned out that over the past seven months or so he hadn’t got any work from being a member of his chapter and he was asking if it was worth him staying a member. I told him that I couldn’t make that decision for him but that he should consider a number of things about his membership and then, with luck, his answer would be clear to him.

First, what was the real reason that he was a member? Lots of members don’t actually know this.

Second, what did he expect to get out of being a member? Because without a goal he would never know if he had achieved it or not.

Third, if his goal was a financial one, on average, how many pieces of work would he need to achieve it? We then discussed the life-time value of a customer.

In his case it was pretty good, as his clients often worked with him monthly, for a year or more. This knowledge can have a massive difference as to how you view a referral. For example: as a ‘one-off’ appointment you might be looking at £100 but over the life-time of a client the amount could easily be in the thousands.

Fourth, we talked about his 60 Seconds and how it might be improved.

And finally, we discussed what he talked about in his 1-2-1s (and how many he was having) with people and what he chatted about with his fellow members before and after the meeting. Was everything he was doing consistent with his marketing message? Was it helping people to find him referrals?

By the time we had finished our 1-2-1 he had a great deal to think about and we parted with him going to give some serious thought to his renewal.

I’m happy to report that a few days later I learnt that his renewal had been received.

So, how can my 1-2-1 help you?

I think however well you are doing as a member, it pays to, every so often, consider the questions I asked this member. As you never know it may just mean you avoid the ‘shall I stay’ question or, better still, improve the number and quality of the referrals you are given.

No time for 30 minutes.

I was talking to a member this morning that had just had a One-2-One cancelled on him for the third time. He added that the time before he was just leaving his office when the person concerned rang to say he was too busy and couldn’t make the appointment.

But there was still worse to come. The person concerned had that very morning asked the member I was talking to if they could introduce him to one of his clients.

‘Absolutely no chance’, the member told me.

Although I already knew the answer I asked the member why. His answer was simple. He’s unreliable and, I knew what was coming, if he can’t be bother to have a meeting with me and find out what I do, why should I help him? And, he added, I’m not even going to try and arrange another meeting with him; that’s it.

A relationship smashed all because someone couldn’t see the value of a One-2-One.

This very same thing happened to me once but the relationship was saved, and in fact grew to be rather special, because a good friend of mine went to the person concerned and explained how they were making a big mistake by not having a One-2-One with me.

So before you let someone down, or ask for something before giving first, think carefully about how what you are doing will be viewed by the other person. In fact, think about how you would feel if the same thing were done to you.

Building great relationships are vastly important in business, but even more important in your BNI chapter.