Watching the kettle boil!

Finding a little time for BNI is a challenge for many BNI members. I can understand that because I can remember a time when, as I was that busy, it was difficult to find even a couple of minutes to go to the loo. That may sound crazy, but it’s true. However, I soon sorted out how to prioritise and, in fact, now help a lot of my clients use their time much more effectively.

The thing is, as I’ve written before, just a few minutes a day spent on BNI activities would make a big difference to your rewards as a member. So how about this for an idea?

If you are anything like me, a couple of times a day you make myself a cup of coffee (I have tea in the afternoon) and, again if you are like me, while the kettle is boiling you sort out your cup, put in some milk and a spoon of coffee (and maybe sugar). Then you watch the kettle boil; it’s a couple of minutes when nothing much happens. Your world is in a sort of limbo.

But actually it’s the perfect time for a little BNI activity. You have time to send a few texts, maybe an email or two, even to make a quick phone call. The great thing about this idea is that you don’t need any more time to get this stuff done.
Just imagine if all you managed to do was to send was a couple of texts a day but that you did it every day. That would be 10 texts a week and 40 texts over the course of a month. Now that has to be worthwhile!

What’s that pin?

Yesterday (Saturday) I went to see a prospective new customer (a partner in an International company) and as we were talking he asked me what the pin was on my jacket. I looked at the pin, twiddled it a little, and replied that it was my BNI pin. Obviously he asked me what BNI stood for.

I explained that BNI stood for Business Network International and that we are the world’s largest referral organisation. He then asked what we did. I briefly took him through the meeting format and explained that we all supported each other and shared referrals. His next question was about the sort of businesses made up a group. He was very interested in our single category policy and surprised at the size of our chapters; I told him that chapters ranged in size from around 20 members to as many as 80 members and that we had just about every type of business as a member from Accountants and IFAs, to every type of trade, to driving instructors and tailors. He said that he was surprised that he had never heard of us.

I knew that because of his job he was not a potential visitor (never judge anyone!), but that like all successful business people he just wanted knowledge of things he didn’t know about and should.

He then surprised me by asking if I could recommend a good electrician.Of course I said I could, and he asked if I could put him in touch. I found out a little more about the work he needed doing and then texted my electrician just under an hour later and passed the referral.

The thing about this is that it would never have happened if I wasn’t wearing my BNI pin. Now, I’m not a crazy person swapping my BNI pin onto every jacket I own before I go out, but I do have a pin on just about every jacked I have; around nine I think.

The BNI pin is a conversation starter and you never know when someone might ask you what the pin you are wearing is. So if you don’t wear your BNI pin please do because it can’t harm you; whereas not wearing it certainly can. And, if you only have one pin and would like more, just ask your BNI Director for some as I’m sure they will be happy to supply you.

The lesson here is that finding referrals doesn’t have to be hard work and that doing the little things can make a big difference.

Note: In case you are wondering this is a true story and happened exactly as I have told it.

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.

Fun Free Tombola

I attended a meeting last week where a member organised a Fun Free Tombola. Laid out on a table were all of the prizes, nicely wrapped, with a ticket number taped on top. There were enough prizes for every member, plus five extras.

Then as each member (and visitor) signed in, they drew a ticket from a hat, and claimed their prize. Now, as I say it was a fun tombola, so half the prizes were a Mars Bar, while the other half were more valuable. There were things like: high-lighter pens, Thank You cards, CDs, books, a dinner for two and vouchers for the member’s services.

It really was good fun and as usual got me thinking.

How about this for an idea?

A Free Tombola for (eligible) visitor bringing. You could run the tombola in exactly the same way, and depending on your chapter’s funds, you could run it for just a month, or two months, or even three months.

Let’s assume your chapter has the funds to run the tombola for a month. From your Palms Report find out what your average monthly visitors are. Then add, say, 20% to the number and that’s how many prizes you will need. Now you need to buy the prizes and/or get them donated. Remember half will be just Mars Bars (or similar) and you need a few really good prizes.

Wrap and number them all and put the counterpart number into a hat. Now you are ready to play!

Each week anyone who brings a visitor picks a tombola ticket and collects their prizes from the prize table. And of course they get a ticket for each visitor they bring.

Of course the better your ‘Star’ prize is the more incentive there will be for members to bring visitors. An iPad maybe? With this in mind a shorter time with better prizes may work best.

I think this could be great fun (who doesn’t like a draw?) and help grow your chapter.

If you do try this please let me know how you get on.

NOTE: If you do run a tombola please email me first for one last piece of advice.

BNI Game a waste of time!

I visited a chapter recently in London who were taking part in the BNI Game and one of the members complained to me that it was a complete waste of time, as it encouraged members to just make things up.

The BNI Game, as I explained to the member, can be an outstanding building block for a chapter. But it does depend on the ground rules set out by the Leadership Team and a strong, but fair, game co-ordinator. In addition, strong members will not take ‘advantage’ of the game to score points.

So, what can the organiser of the game do to ensure that every member plays to the spirit of what is being done for their benefit?

Well, with regard to visitors, this is an easy one to answer, and just a few basic guidelines are needed. First, if someone has come as a visitor within the previous six months they can’t come again as a visitor during the game, unless it’s with an application form. A visitor won’t count if it’s the same person a member ‘wheels out’ every time there is a membership drive.  An eligible visitor is only anyone that could apply to join the chapter.

Then there are referrals - always a difficult one! Well, again this is easy to deal with. It’s why there is a Referral Reality Check. If there is a doubt over the validity of a referral it can ‘randomly’ be picked during the referral part of the meeting.

Testimonials, workshops and 1-2-1s are all often part of a BNI Game and if more of these are done, even if a few are not as good as they could be, it can only be good for the chapter. As are the wearing of a badge, BNI Pin and getting to the chapter early.

The only item that is difficult to ‘police’ is the Thank You for the Business, but even here an astute Membership Co-ordinator can usually spot the odd anomaly.

Now I’m not naive enough to think that a little ‘embellishment’ of the truth doesn’t take place. But given the amount of extra business the BNI Game produces for the members of a chapter, I suppose the odd duff contribution is a price worth paying.

And in any case, certainly where I was concerned, if I knew that another member was bending the rules it damaged their credibility, and long term that member lost out.

The BNI Game is a brilliant incentive for any chapter. Just make sure that it’s not you who is taking ‘advantage’ of the spirit of the game.

Thank You

On Friday I subbed for a very good friend of mine, KeithSpillett, at Isis in Ealing; Isis is a chapter of over 40 members.

It was great to go back to Isis as they were one of the chapters that I used to look after, as an Area Director, for London North West. But what made my visit even more special was what Charles Scholefield said during the contribution part of the meeting. He said that they missed my experience and support; I have to admit that it made me feel rather good. He also bought a copy of my new book, ‘The 10 Year Breakfast’, as did many of the other members of the chapter. It was a very good morning!

However, it was one of the testimonials given that really caught my attention. It was from Mathieu Rossano to Olivera Babic of BabicInteriors (interior designer). Olivera had designed the layout and colours for Mathieu’s new clinic and his testimonial not only explained how great Olivera was at her job but also how good the layout and colours made his patients feel. A good testimonial. But then he presented her with a bottle of Champagne. What a great way to say ‘Thank You’, and what a wonderful testimonial.

Being successful has a great deal about being different, about standing out from those around you. And I think that both Mathieu and Olivera have achieved that here.

So, next time you have something to do, what can you do to make it that extra bit special?

90 Day Challenge

It seems that wherever you turn there’s a new 90 Day Challenge being made. It’s all over Facebook and the leader of the pack seems to be ‘The Body by Vi Challenge’. The idea is that you set a goal, video it, and then ‘Go Public’ with it; on Facebook, Twitter, just about everywhere.

There’s nothing new in this idea, I have written blogs about making goals public and there’s even a chapter in my new book ‘The 10 YearBreakfast’ on the subject. But, being challenged by a friend, and making the goal public, really seems to have caught on.

So, how about this for an idea?

Challenge your best mate in your chapter to a goal: to bring a certain number of visitors to your chapter in the next 90 days, or a certain number of referrals. The bigger the challenge the better! Then make a video (including your chapter name of course) and go public with it.

I think this would be a great deal of fun and I’m sure you could think of a prize or two. Maybe if enough members in your chapter took part, all of the winners' names, could be put into a hat for a special prize from the chapter?

Maybe even a BNI Director would like to challenge a member or two!

Do you know, I’m pretty excited about this idea! What do you think?

Now who shall I pick…

Have you any idea?

Well it’s back to work with a bang this week and I guess most members will be attending their first meeting of the New Year.

Now with a new year come resolutions and new targets.  Chapter Leadership Teams may ask their fellow members what their plans for the year are.  They might have set goals for the chapter themselves and just let the members know these plans.  As a member you might have set your own targets.

Targets might include; the number of referrals you will give, the number of visitors you will bring to the meetings (not merely invite), the number of workshops you will attend, the number of 1-2-1s you will have, and the number of testimonials you will give.  One of my targets was to never be absent (always have a substitute).  And, of course, your Leadership Team might have a target for the amount of business passed in the chapter.

There are of course other targets you could set yourself, like taking the Education Slot three or four times a year.  Always being the first member to arrive (or at least not being the last).  Never giving anything less than a great 60 Seconds.

I promise you that if you take the time to think about what you will do for your chapter and fellow members (and you) over the coming year, it will make a big difference to your success.
But how about a starting point?  Have you any idea how many referrals you passed last year?  Or visitors you brought to your chapter?  Or workshops you attended?

If you don’t know, please find out, because it might surprise you.  And, in any case, it will give you a good starting point for this year.

I would love to know some of your targets.  So please let know.