Will it make the boat go faster?

6/7/12

This week I met Ben Hunt-Davis; he was in the Eight (rowing) that won gold at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. I’m almost 6 foot 2 inches but he made me look small. He was talking at an Entrepreneur’s Circle event about his crazy goal of winning Olympic Gold at 10.30am on the 24th September 2000 and the fact that he had to do it in less than five and a half minutes. That’s some goal!

But two years earlier the crew had a history of being also-rans: sixth in the Barcelona Olympics and they didn’t even make the final in Atlanta. But all that changed when they decided on a common policy for everything they did – ‘Will it make the boat go faster?’ They also decided that if they could still stand after the race, but had not won gold, that they would never speak to one another again.

Now this is extreme; winning gold is. But what can we learn from this goal, and this crew, that would help us in our BNI chapters?

Well, for me, two things stood out from Ben’s talk.

First, ‘Will it make the boat go faster?’ Was what they were doing going to make the boat go faster? Fighting, letting personalities get in the way, not doing their absolute best in every training session, turning up for training sessions. The answer is blindingly obvious; but they were doing it. As do we all. So, in your chapter, is everything you do ‘going to make your chapter more successful?’

And second, ‘What can I do to make today better than yesterday?’ They had in earlier years put in pretty much the same effort every day, maybe working harder, but without even thinking, like most of us do. But they changed that, so that every day they tried to improve on the last in some way - however small. It didn’t always work, but every day they tried to get better. So again, how can we transfer this to our chapters?

Well, today maybe you only invited one person to your meeting next week, tomorrow you could invite two people. Perhaps your inviting technique could be improved. How could you change it tomorrow? Maybe this week you didn’t put too much effort into your 60 Seconds, well next week you can craft a really useful 60 Seconds, and then next week, improve on it again. Maybe in the last month you have only had two One2Ones, well next month you could have three.

Continuous improvement, like continuous inviting, brings big rewards. It might not win you a gold medal, but how much better would your chapter be?

Three visitors!

7/6/12

I’m sure that we all know that if, on average, we have three visitors a week our chapters will be growing, two visitors and we may just stay static, and with only an average of one visitor per week our chapter will be shrinking in number.


But, it’s not as simple as that! Those three visitors have to be eligible visitors, open to and able to apply to join the chapter.

I’ve often been told by a Leadership Team that they have, on average, the required number of visitors to grow but that they just don’t seem able to do so. And, on the face of it, they do have enough visitors. The problem is that when you analyse the visitors you discover that not all the visitors are eligible; the answer, most often, being that all visitors are potential customers and that is what being a member of BNI is all about: more business.

Now, I totally agree with this. However, and this is key, to grow your chapter you need three eligible visitors. Not three visitors! What this means is that any ‘potential customer’ visitors need to be extra to those three eligible visitors.

To illustrate my point I’ll be a bit extreme.

Say that your chapter has thirty members, and that on average you have three visitors a week, all potential customers but not a single one eligible. Now add to that say, on average, one member leaves each month. Nothing wrong with your chapter, they just do, we have all seen it: change of job, moving house, family problems, having a baby, a million and one reasons.

The result? In under 18 months the chapter would not exist!

Now as I say that’s an extreme example but it’s really important to understand that if we want to grow our chapters we must have the right visitors and not be fooled into thinking that any visitor will do, however good they may be for business.

Open at any page!

3/6/2012

Sorry but this is a bit of self-promotion so I will keep it short.

Recently, I met Gerry Grant of Tonic Business Solutions (Angus). Gerry is an expert in social media. He wanted to let me know just how useful he had found my book ‘BNI: One Bite at a Time’. Not only for himself, but also for his chapter, as if ever stuck for an Education Slot you could open the book at just about any page and have a really good, and more importantly, practical tip on how to benefit from being a member of your BNI chapter. He added that he thought that really every chapter should have a copy.

It was brilliant feedback, as my blog, I hope, is all about helping members to get the very best they can from their chapter membership, and I wanted to thank Gerry for his kind comments.

And, of course, should you wish to buy a copy of my book, I would be more than happy to sell you one! You can order at: www.7training.co.uk/book_order.html

Tonic Business Solutions – www.tonicbs.co.uk

David Wimblett: david@7training.co.uk

What did you do with your Notable Networker Certificate?

20/5/2012

I’ve talked about Notable Networker Certificates before, mainly about how they should be presented, (in a great frame, so that they are of real value), so that the person who is the Notable Networker really feels, as they should do, that what they have done is special. And that all their fellow members appreciate what they have done for their chapter, all the hard work that they have done on their behalf.


But how much value does the Notable Networker themselves put on their award? Does it just make them feel great on the day and then the certificate goes in a drawer? Or does it go onto their Facebook page? Is it talked about on Twitter? Is it put up on their office wall?

Recently I met Liz Baranov of Rickaby & Co, she says that, “not all accountants are the same…” and if you were ever to met her, or already know her, I think that you would agree with her statement. But she is also a rather notable networker, as at the last count she had eight certificates. Which is pretty notable just on its own. She is also very proud of her certificates and every one of them is on the wall in the client meeting room at her offices. What’s more, she makes sure that her clients see them and have an opportunity to find out how she got them.

To date, this has resulted in five visitors to her chapter!

So, when are you next going to be your chapter's Notable Networker and what will you be doing with your certificate?

Does your 60 Seconds say anything?

Hopefully all of our chapters use ‘Referral to Look For’ sheets.  But, just in case yours doesn’t, (and if they don’t I highly recommend they do), I will explain what such a sheet is in its most basic form.

A ‘Referral to Look For’ sheet is a list of chapter members, along with their category, contact details, and a space to write notes about the referrals they are looking for.  The best I have seen are colour coded (Power Teams), have photographs of the members, Leadership Team details, workshop dates, Top 5 Categories, Director details, birthdays, and are branded.  Anything is possible if there is a great graphic designer in the chapter.

However, the single most useful thing is the space to write down exactly what each member is looking for.  Exactly how you can help them.  Nothing is forgotten.  And, it makes finding referrals, helping people, so much easier.  Nevertheless, there is one very important point here, and it was bought home to me at a recent chapter visit I made: members must give you something to write down.

As a director I try very hard to write something for every member, but at this meeting after the 60 Seconds I had six blank spaces and others had been hard to fill.  The members concerned had told me what they did, but that was already on the sheet. What they hadn’t done was add anything - something to help me find them referrals.

This is where as a member we have to do the hard work if we are to be super successful and get more referrals.  We need to provide something useful that our fellow members can write down, something that will help them to find us referrals.

So, have a look at your next 60 Seconds and be hard on yourself.  Does it tell people anything they didn’t know before?  Does it help them?  Does it tell them the exact type of business that you are looking for?  If not, write it again, and help your fellow members help you.

Sebastian Vettel

2/4/11

We all like champions: those at the top of their game. Teams or individuals, we all like winners: those at the top of the table. The news is full of them and at the moment there are only a few things I want. Arsenal to finish in the top three, Jenson Button to win races, and the British Team to win Gold at the Olympics. And I bet if I asked you to pick three sporting greats that they would all be winners. England winning at Rugby or Cricket (assuming you are English). Andy Murray winning a Grand Slam. Luke Donald to win the golf.

It’s the same in business. Sir Richard Branson, Duncan Bannatyne, Sir Alan Sugar. Apple, Vodafone, Virgin. Businessmen (and businesswomen) and companies at the top of their game. Winners. Leaders.

And, all of this makes me wonder. Why are these same people, the ones that love winners, those at the top of the tables, content with being red and grey members in their chapter’s Traffic Lights? Why don’t they want to be a green member; even top of the Traffic Lights?

My ambition has always been to be a green member and stay a green member. Why? Well there are lots of reasons. Green members in general earn more money. Personal credibility: why would anyone want to recommend someone who’s not very good? Then there is doing my best for my team (my chapter) and my friends. Personal pride. Not wanting to be bad at anything. And, I want to be a winner!

So, I have a question for you. If you aren’t a green member (and haven’t been for some time): why are you happy not to be? Why don’t you want to be a winner? No one likes being average, let alone below average, so why not check Network Central right now and find out what you need to do to be a winner? Because going green will earn both you and your chapter more money!

If you really want to you could be a green member in the next two months. Please let me know how you get on. Don’t just talk about winners. Be one!

Do you press the button?

11/3/12

I was listening to Radio 5 Live one afternoon in the car recently and the programme on was where listeners could call in and have a bit of a rant. Members of the public explained what really annoyed them and then the presenters gave them a score: top score being the Rant of the Week!

Well, one guy explained how he couldn’t understand why people had to press buttons that he had obviously already pressed. It was quite funny really. He gave a couple of examples: waiting for a lift and at road crossing traffic lights. I have to say it amazes me when people press the button at road crossings even when there is no traffic to be seen.

But, as always, it got me thinking. And, I guess that is the point here – no thinking! Most people are programmed to press a button if they want something without thinking. And, it’s not just buttons, we all do hundreds of things every day without a moment's thought.

So, what do you do in your business, within your chapter, without thinking? Or, more importantly, what don’t you do because it would mean having to think differently?

In my last blog I wrote about spending five minutes a day to grow your business. Now I bet most of you haven’t. Why? Well, it’s not because you are lazy or don’t want to. It’s because it’s not automatic as yet. The big question is how long does it take for something to become automatic? And, like most things there is no hard and fast answer. Research shows that it can be anything from one to eight months and I bet it has a great deal to do with what sort of person you are, how old you are, but, bottom line, how much you really want to do it.

My bet is that you really want to grow your business. but that marketing your business everyday is not automatic. So, how about trying this? Write in your diary, right now, ‘Marketing’ every day for the next month. Try to make it in the morning around the same time, the earlier the better.

By the end of the month it should be becoming automatic and not something that you do in response to a note in your diary: well, that’s if you really want to that is!

Please let me know how you get on.