A Shed-Load of Money!

2022 is coming - in fact fast!

And, I would imagine, as a good business person that you are well into planning your New Year. What you would personally like and what your business has to do to achieve it. If not, maybe we should have a chat.

Now I would certainly think that the amount of money you receive will be important, but even more significant than that, is the amount of profit you will actually make.

After all you have lots of bills to pay like gas, insurance, mortgage, school fees, car costs; I could go on and on. And, of course, there are other things you would like as well, holidays, nights-out, karting, golf; again the list will be long.

Certainly it was what I always had planned into my business plan, for example; skiing, sailing, classic Mustang, school fees; to name just a few.

So, to help you, Surrey BNI has an amazing workshop coming up, on Tuesday 25^th January, at Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking.

It’s going to be very special, as the host is Phil Berg and, he is more than good, because he gets it (I've worked and listened to him for a long time), and he will help you achieve your goal. Helping you get what you want.

Whatever your plan, however far you have already got with it, I promise you that meeting Phil will help you succeed; and on so much more than just your Surrey BNI membership.

2022 could be an attractive year for you and Phil’s workshop could truly help you, so please don’t miss the chance of attending. 

You can book here:

HOW TO MAKE A SHED-LOAD OF MONEYFROM BNI – hosted by Phil Berg

Tuesday 25th January 2022 4pm – 8pm

Woodlands Park Hotel, Cobham KT11 3QB

10 Minutes of Fun!

 Sounds good doesn’t it, but it does involve a little hard, physical work.

I was chatting recently with a Personal Trainer, who’s pretty much closed for business at the moment. But, she is doing lots to make sure that her business is not only better, but ready for training sessions when the lights go green and lockdown ends!

One thing she is doing is making a 10-minute training video. It’s aimed to not only keep people fit but also for them to have some fun. A real bounce! She suggests that you do it every day because it will relax you and help make the whole day better. One of my other friends actually works out, at 8.30 every morning, and it energises their day.

But, as far as her business goes, it’s even better than that, because it will be sent to every one of her customers and friends. Many of whom I’m sure will thank her for it. But, also she is going to ask them, if they enjoy the workout, if they would send it to three of their friends.

I asked her how many people she was sending it to and her answer was 43. Now not only is that fun for them but business-wise it could be a real winner. Imagine if people that are not already one of her customers, really find it stimulating; maybe they will become a new customer? But imagine if those 43 people each sent it to three of their friends; that would be another 129 people.

Now that really makes you think about the possible number of prospective customers she could have when the lights go green!

So, what could you make a 10 minute video about? Why not do it today!

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?

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?

£1,790 lost business!

Recently I have had lost communication from three BNI members. It has varied from coming to my home to look at a job - but nothing more, to one with no interest in finding out about the work, and the other, after getting a positive response to their quote, not coming back in any speed as to when the job could be done. When they finally responded the option was many weeks away – far past my requested date.

As it so happens, none of this turned out as a problem for me, as I received great work from other businesses, one of which was even at a better price.

But, that’s not my apprehension here; it’s not even that the people concerned may have been too busy, didn’t really want the work, or had no anxiety about losing money.

My worry for them is long-term because how can I refer them if that is the level of service I received? I wouldn’t risk it on the people I have a trusted relationship with. They could in fact be going to lose thousands of pounds of possible business. But, it might be worse than that. Because, is it just how they react in BNI (to me) or is it the way they run their business day-to-day? Since if it’s how they generally run their businesses then, again long-term, they could lose tens of thousands of pounds of work and many customers. Even worse, maybe they could lose their business; I know people that this has actually happened to.

So, to help you and your business really succeed, then please follow up on all the referrals and enquires that you receive. As long-term it will help you get ahead, prosper and enjoy what you do.

Have you let anyone down recently?

Trust is a major factor when it comes to people recommending you. Let’s face it, however good you think a company’s service is, would you easily recommend them if you couldn’t completely trust them?

I’m guessing that the answer is probably no – certainly I know that I would think twice.

It’s really important that we don’t raise people’s hopes by making a promise only to dash them by breaking that promise.  It wrecks our credibility and therefore any trust that person has in us and our company.

Now I not talking big events here, it’s the build up of those small broken promises that do the real damage.

For example, have you ever said to someone, ‘I’ll call you in the morning’ and not done so?  Or, ‘I’ll pop it in the post’ and forgotten?  Maybe, ‘How about coffee on Thursday?’ and totally forgotten about it.  Even, set a date for a meeting, ‘No fail’ you said, and then changed it.

The list may seem unimportant, but each is a broken promise.  Sooner or later people will stop believing you and with that goes your credibility.  And, after that goes the trust a person had in you.

The result of all these broken promises is fewer recommendations.

A client asked me recently how they could improve their image and by doing so get more recommendations and my answer was easy.  I replied, keep your promises. Only that very week I knew they had forgotten to call someone and the person concerned had stayed in all morning waiting for their call.

Okay, life happens, we all know that.  So, how can we avoid these little ‘killer’ things happening?  Here are my five top tips:

1)      Immediately make a note of anything agreed.  Put dates in your diary.  2) If it is possible, do whatever it is there and then.  3) Once a date is set, don’t break it.  What makes one meeting more important than the one you have already?  What does it say about the way you feel about the person that you are happy to break an appointment with?  4)  If you know that you are going to be pushed, don’t set a definite time.  Rather than saying 11.00am tomorrow, just say sometime tomorrow (but make sure it is tomorrow.  5)  If you do need to let someone down, because it will happen, let them know as soon as possible, don’t leave them guessing.

Follow these simple tips and you will find your credibility increases, the trust grows, and recommendations follow.

Code of Ethics 6

I wonder do you know the 6th BNI Code of Ethics without looking it up? For those of you who aren’t too sure, this is it: Number 6 - I will display a positive and supportive attitude with BNI members. It’s pretty simple but I’m always amazed at how many members fall short of this, especially when you consider that just about everything in BNI is about helping its members give and receive more referrals. And I have a couple of recent examples that illustrate what I mean.

During a 1-2-1 with a member it became clear that they were a little upset because a fellow chapter member had unsubscribed from their eNewsletter. Now I’m not suggesting that you subscribe to every eNewsletter going, although as a marketer I do because you never know where you might pick up the next great idea, but in this case it is very different.

So, what does this member unsubscribing actually mean and say? Well for openers that you are not interested in the member concerned. But it goes much deeper than that, because by reading the newsletter this member would have learnt things that would help them refer in the future. It would also have been supportive of the member concerned and certainly not upset them. In turn this may have led to getting more referrals, whereas now the likelihood is that it will lead to fewer referrals. After all, would you give referrals to someone who didn’t care about you?

My second example is of a member who wanted to be involved in what their chapter was doing but was clearly told that it was nothing to do with them. They were attempting to be supportive to the chapter but it certainly wasn’t received with any positivity. Again what does this say? Is there a clique in place? Was it just a jobsworth devoid of any common sense? That the chapter isn’t inclusive? That the chapter has so much help they don’t need anymore? (somehow I doubt this option). But again, going deeper, what is the likely outcome of this event? Again, fewer referrals being passed between the members concerned.

As if you needed any more proof, only last week I didn’t pass a referral I could have done. Why? Because the member concerned has absolutely no interest in me and little for their chapter as a whole.
So, if you would like to give and receive more referrals spend a few moments and consider how positive and supportive you are to your fellow members.

Sharpen your Axe

I was taking a tree root out of my garden recently; you can certainly wear yourself out swinging an axe. And what I discovered is that the job is so much easier and more effectively done if you use a sharp axe. Strangely, I would never think to prepare food in my kitchen without first sharpening my kitchen knives.

So what’s my tree root cutting skills (or lack of), and my cooking skills, got to do with you and your BNI chapter? Well, as it turns out, a fair amount. You see, I purchased my axe some years ago and have been using it, off and on, ever since. I swing it at mostly tree roots, now working up a good healthy sweat, as I’m having to use more and more effort, all because my axe was blunt.

And, I’ve noticed that, this is a lot like many BNI members. They attended the Member Success workshop as a new member and then maybe another skills workshop or two and that is it, they never go again. Done that!

But, like my axe, our business skills and our networking skills get ‘blunt’. We forget some of the things we know; while others we just stop doing and we don’t actually even know why.

So if you haven’t attended a workshop recently, say in the past three months, certainly if not in the past six months, I highly recommend that you attended a workshop soon. Doesn’t matter how many times you have completed the workshop before, just go along and sharpen your skills.

Because if you hone your skills, your results will improve, seemingly, without any extra effort.

Simply Brilliant!

My last blog, Super Trouper, got me thinking. Were there many 10 Minutes over the past 12 years that I remembered? Sadly, I have to say that the answer is no.

I can call to mind some that went badly wrong and a few that were pretty good, but I can’t remember who did them; so not particularly useful for any of the people concerned.

But I do remember one 10 Minute from a few years ago; pretty much in every detail.

I was at the Hogarth chapter in Chiswick. The 10 Minute Speaker was introduced and given the room and with that asked us all to stand and to please follow him as fast as we could. And with that promptly left the restaurant.

We all rushed after him. Left out of the door and left into a side road, where he had stopped and stood in front of three cars. This was a 10 Minute by Ashley Winston of Palmdale Motors – Car Finders.

Ashley said a few words of introduction and then presented the owner of each car in turn. They then told us how Palmdale had found them their dream car and at a price that they couldn’t have got it for themselves. And with a lot less hassle.

Ashley ended by adding a few words before asking us to follow him back to Carluccio’s. By the time I sat down again we had been exactly 10 minutes.

It had been the perfect 10 Minutes. Memorable, it had visuals, stories, client testimonials (in person), told us what Palmdale did and how they helped people, and exactly what sort of business they were looking for. And it took 10 minutes.

Of course I now had to email Ashley and ask him about it. In no time at all I received a reply telling me that people still talked about the morning and he also included his notes about his presentation. I think the notes are even more impressive than his 10 Minutes!

Everything is detailed, with photos, maps, and exact timings. His clients needed to get their parking slots by 6.00am (doesn’t that say something about their relationship with Ashley?), and each was asked to stand ‘…on the street-side of the car leaning against the front wing.’ What amazing attention to detail.

But I guess I should have expected nothing less knowing how Ashley runs his business.

I have to say that this is a great example of how a brilliant 10 Minute presentation can work for you for years. Just out of interest Ashley did his 10 Minute on the 27th May 2010. My favourite car? The Mustang of course!

Not the actual Mustang but one I would love

So, as I said in my last blog, what can you do in your next 10 Minutes that will get you remembered (for the right reasons) for years to come?

When you say the right thing!

I'm having some work done on my new home at the moment. This includes making new doorways and bricking up other doorways so that the layout of the house is just the way we want it.

Doing part of the work is a builder, a good friend of mine, and during one of his tea breaks we were deliberating on Arsenal (there's no need to comment!) and life in general, which of course included our respective families.

David Wimblett watching Arsenal at the Emirates

My children are all now grown up but my friend has a son who is making his GCSE choices this year. I asked if his son had any idea as to a career, as at his age I hadn't had any idea, and to my surprise he said, 'Yes. A sports lawyer'.

I have to say I was impressed, not just because he had an idea of what he wanted to do, but more so because he knew exactly what he was going to do. My friend added that the only problem was that he didn't know how to advise him as neither he, nor his son's school, had any experience of how you become a sports lawyer.

And that's when there was a 'click' in my head; I know a sports lawyer. In fact this person had been involved in some Arsenal transfers. I told my friend that I couldn't promise anything, but that I would see if my contact could give him some pointers.

Well, to cut a long story short, my friend's son has now met the sports lawyer on three occasions, been to a seminar that he was speaking at, and had lunch with him. All in all, pretty amazing.

So, why am I telling you this story? Well, if my friend had just said that his son wanted to be a lawyer that probably would have been it. I know lots of lawyers and solicitors but it was the 'sports' that was the trigger.

And it's exactly the same when you are asking for referrals, or giving a 60 Seconds; for the best results you must be specific. Because just by adding one word, as in this case, can make all the difference.

Being general, trying to cover everything you do, simply doesn't work; well, not if you want great results.

So how about this for an idea? A New Year's Resolution that not only can you keep but that will also help 2015 be a great year for you too. Be specific.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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.

My mobile rings during a meeting!

There’s nothing worse than a mobile going off in a chapter meeting – well, other than someone texting during a meeting that is. And that’s why, at every meeting, the Chapter Director reminds us to turn our mobiles off.

So, why was my mobile switched on and, more importantly, why did it ring? Well you will be pleased to hear that it was all pre-arranged; part of a very clever 60 Seconds by one of the members of the chapter. Yaro Kowalczyk of, IT company, Compcontrol Ltd. This is what happened.

As Yaro stood to do his 60 Seconds my phone rang. I answered with a “Hello”. Yaro was on the other side of the room on his mobile, he also said “Hello”. I couldn’t hear anything coming from my phone, so I tried another, “Hello”. It seemed that Yaro also couldn’t hear anything his end so he to tried another “Hello”. Still no sound my end, so I tried yet another “Hello”. We both hung up.

Yaro went on to explain that what we had just experienced on our mobiles, a bad connection, was just like having a bad computer network. And that a bad network meant that computers and peripherals had difficulty ‘talking’ to one another, leading to all sorts of problems, amongst them lost tempers and lost money.

Yaro explained that his company, Compcontrol, supplied unrivalled network services, and that if anyone in the room knew someone having a problem with their computer network it would be a perfect referral for him.

I have to say that I thought it was a brilliant way of demonstrating what Compcontrol did and because of that will forgive a  mobile being used during a meeting.

Note: Please don’t all start ringing each other at your next meeting!

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…

What’s in it for me?

Very few members bring a reasonable (in my mind ‘reasonable’ equals between six and twelve visitors each year) number of visitors to their chapter. I have covered the possible reasons as to why this might be the case before, but I now have, what I think, is the true reason.

Because, let’s face it, there cannot be a single member who doesn’t know that we need to grow our chapters and why - more business for all. The trouble is that ‘more business for all’ is too generic. What members really want to know is ‘What’s in it for me?’ Now obviously the easy answer is – more business. But as I say, that’s too abstract.

The real reason, I believe, is that most members don’t really know what they want. Therefore, they have no need to try and get it. So, it’s about having a target; or in this case not having a target. Because if you don’t have one. How can you aim for it?

You see most members, I know, are just happy to get whatever value of business that comes their way each year. But how different would it be if they had a (real) target?

Say it was something pretty low like £12,000 a year (£1,000 per month). What would they need to do in order to get that level of business? Simple answer – get a certain number of referrals. Now what’s the best way of getting lots of referrals? Answer: having lots of members. And how do you get lots of members? By having lots of visitors.

So, if every member had a target for the amount of business they wanted from their chapter each year, and had a plan for getting it (number of referrals needed), visitors would become important to them, and they would invite more.

The “What’s in it for me?” question would be answered, as visitors are the best way of reaching your business target – if you have one!

So, if your chapter is looking for more members, why not have a session (maybe the 10 Minutes) on setting a business target for every member of the chapter?

Please let me know what you think and how you get on.

Would you buy your own 60 Seconds?

If you could be another you, exactly, and be at your next chapter meeting and watch and listen to you giving your 60 Seconds, would you be tempted to buy?

It’s a serious question.  How good do you really think your 60 Seconds is?  How enthusiastic are you in the delivery?  What do you look like?

Okay, let’s run through your 60 Seconds.

It’s a bit of a struggle getting to your feet.  You’re not exactly looking happy to be there and you haven’t smiled yet.  Shirt looks like it missed the iron that morning.  Still, here we go.  “Morning” you mutter; obviously you had a late night.  It’s going to be a challenge this one.  Well guess what? You tell us exactly the same as you did last week.  You’re looking for anything really.  You can do most things, just about anywhere.  So if we know anyone, well that would be a great referral for you.  And we don’t catch the last part as you were already back in your seat.  Oh. Well, there’s always next week.

So, what did you think?  Would you buy you?  I’m guessing maybe not.  So, why would anyone else?

Well that’s what a great many 60 Seconds are like.  Don’t believe me?  Well really listen at your next meeting.

I really can’t stress enough how important your 60 seconds is to the level of success you will achieve in your chapter.  In fact, in many ways, to the success of your whole business.

You see your 60 seconds encapsulates everything there is about you and your business.  Your attitude.  Your enthusiasm for what you do.  The way you look and prepare yourself.  Your target market.  Your message.  Your credibility.  What you have to offer.  How you can help people.  It’s all there.  Everything that will bring you more, and better, business.

So, if you are looking for more referrals, more business, there’s no better place to start than by giving a great 60 Seconds every week.

Look at your numbers!

Every successful entrepreneur, in fact person in business, knows that knowing their numbers is a key component to their success.  And, as both a member and as a chapter, in BNI we are fortunate to be supplied with some great data (numbers); to name just two, our PALMS report and the Traffic Lights.

But, we have to be careful that we don’t become too ‘number’ led. What I mean is that thinking the PALMS report and the Traffic Lights are the only things that matter. BNI is a people business and we must always remember that.

Now I’m not suggesting for one moment that a member’s PALMS report and Traffic Light score shouldn’t be good; of course it should.  For one thing I believe that all members should be ‘Green’.  But, that’s not my point.

My point is that we shouldn’t just get caught up in the numbers; we must be careful that the numbers don’t become all-consuming.  The numbers should be the result of our actions.  In my opinion it’s far better to be in the green because you are a good member, than to be in the green because you are ‘encouraged’ to do the right things.  It’s a slight difference but, to my mind, a very important distinction.

In one of his books, Steve Jobs explains that he didn’t set out to be super-rich, he set out to change the world. He just got super-rich doing it.  And that’s what I think a BNI member should be like and encouraged to be like.  We should all want to be great members, because that’s how we benefit most from our membership.  And the result will be great PALMS data and ‘green’ in the Traffic Lights.

So, what do you want to change that will make a difference to your BNI membership?  It might not have the same effect that Steve Jobs did, but you might just find it improves your numbers.

Do you listen?

Something that Ivan Misner, the BNI Founder, recommends, and something that you will hear a lot in the BNI workshops, is that you should listen more than talk.  And that is why we have two ears and only one mouth.

But listening is not nearly enough, because you then need to act upon what you have heard.  Otherwise you may in fact have just talked.

Now it can be very simple.  For example, the plumber in your chapter stands up to do his 60 Seconds.  As usual he talks about central heating and boilers; you know all that.  However, if you had really listened, you would have heard that he had a special offer on for this week only.  But, even then, as I said earlier, you then have to do something with that knowledge; it’s no point just listening.  Who are you going to tell?

But, there is another type of listening.  One that is very easy to overlook because we are so wrapped up in what we are doing.  Listening to your customers.  Worse still is listening and then carrying on just as you were.  And this one really worries me.  Because sooner or later, if customers aren’t listened to, and feel as if they are being listened to, they have a nasty habit of becoming ex-customers! 

So, what’s my point?  Well simply, are you giving your customers what they want, or just what you want to give them?  There’s a big difference and a big difference in your reward if you can get it right.

What’s the point of email?

I sometimes wonder why some members have an email address.  After all, what is the point of having an email address if you aren’t going to check it or, worse still, answer it.

Now as a business mentor I’m the first to say that you mustn’t be ruled by your email, but there is a big difference to being a slave to your email box and not looking at it at all.

Over the last two days I have sent three emails to three different members with the potential of work.  One is a definite job.  But I’ve not heard back from any of them.

Now it’s possible that an email hasn’t been delivered; but all three?  And of course I could pick up the phone and call them.  Often far better than an email or text in fact.  But that’s not the point.  Especially when I’ve been told by someone who knows one of the members that he never answers his emails.

So I guess that’s my point.  If you don’t want to communicate by email, don’t publish your email address.  And, if you do publish your email address, you have to appreciate that people will use it, and you will need to check your inbox and answer any emails.  Because, believe me, you will be losing business and maybe, in the long term, even customers.

Rant over.  I’m going to check my inbox!

Does it add up?

There are many reasons why people join BNI but obviously, by far, the most important is business; after all we are a referral organisation.  So it surprises me how few members keep any record of how much business they get from being a member.

And this fact has never been more sharply brought to my attention than in these past few weeks when three members, from different chapters, all asked me for 1-2-1s to discuss if it was worth them renewing their membership.  All three didn’t think that they were getting much business from their chapters.

Having met with the three members I discovered a common theme.  They had no records of how much business they received from BNI. But, more importantly, when we really looked into where each got their business from, a great deal was in fact from BNI. And in one case, almost 90% of their business came from BNI.  So the big question?  Why didn’t they know?

Well, the first reason was obviously lack of record keeping, but it went much further than that.  You see they focused on their weekly referrals.  And in all three cases, they were not getting as many referrals from their chapters as they used to. (They all need to find out why.) In fact, one of the members hadn’t received a referral from their chapter in over two months.  However, they had all missed out the business they were in actual fact getting.  So, where was this business coming from?

The answer to this was from all sorts of places: other chapters, workshops, online.  But, the two main sources, they had all overlooked were repeat business. One had a repeat monthly order that they didn’t even think about anymore, and third party recommendations.  Third party recommendations can be huge.  You know the sort of thing; someone in your chapter gives you a referral, you do a great job, and that person recommends you to one of their friends, you do a great job for them and they recommend you to one of their friends.  And so on.  Now by the third of fourth recommendation you might be thinking “what’s that got to do with BNI?” Well, the big thing is you wouldn’t have got the recommendation (any of the recommendations) without BNI.  So I would suggest  - everything.

So, even if you are extremely happy with your BNI membership, I would advise that if you don’t already, keep a record of all business, and I mean all business, you receive from BNI, that you do so from today.  You might just be surprised!

Note: All three members renewed.

Did you say Thank You this week?

Saying thank you can pay big dividends in life and nowhere is this more the case than in business and your BNI chapter.

We all like to be thanked for things; it makes us feel good, and certainly in my case it makes me happy.  It also annoys me when people don’t say thank you; like when I hold a door open for someone or pull in to let a car pass on a narrow road.  But that’s another story.

Saying thank you can really make you stand out from those around you and, if done well, will bring you more opportunities and more business.  A very simple example is in the giving and receiving of referrals.  I’ve seen a referral received with barely an acknowledgement from the member receiving the white copy.  What incentive is that member giving the person who is giving the referral to look for another?  Almost none!

But that, as I say, is just a very simple case.  There are many, many more.  And of course lots of ways to say thank you.  I have some specially printed ‘Thank You’ cards.  They have a lovely picture on the front and on the back my company logo and a motivational statement.  I don’t know about you but I love getting cards in the post.  And I always keep them.  Imagine if that was happening with the cards you send out.  What might the results be?

So, what can we thank members for?

Well, obviously a great referral.  But how about when that referral becomes business, a testimonial, repeat business, for being given good advice, for being given exposure online, for being given a great contact, if you win a really useful door prize (might be a business book that helped you).  What else can you think of?

Saying thank you will make a big difference to your business, and your life, why not try it and let me know how you get on?