Do I have to have a Sub?

Over the years this comment has often been made to me, as well as many more, not so good, variations.

In truth, I guess the answer is ‘No’, but of course it would affect your membership.

But what’s truly important is why does BNI want you to have a great Sub?

Well, the answer is simple. And, what’s more, it’s to help your business succeed.

Now imagine this. You have booked and paid for a weekly advert in a local magazine. Why? So, that you can grow your business and get more new customers.

If one week the magazine ran a blank advert for you, what would you think? They must be mad. You are losing possible business. You want your money back. Plus, I expect, a fair bit more.

Now imagine if no one is at your meeting for you. No Substitute.

If you think, but that’s not the same, you are dead right. But I doubt that you are thinking it is far, far worse.

Of course people will miss your advert (60 Seconds), visitors will totally miss you, and of course, you will miss your fellow members' adverts, plus more.

But, the real damage is that you will be losing future business (referrals), because people will wonder if you are reliable. If they recommend you to a good contact, can they guarantee that you will turn up? And the answer is no.

Now, before you jump up and down and say that’s not true - people know me. I’m not talking about the people that know you well; I’m talking about new contacts and new business.

So, if your main reason for being a BNI member is more business, then brilliant Subs will help you very much indeed.

How to get more referrals…

 It doesn’t matter who you are, or how many referrals you receive, because getting some more would be very useful. Plus, if you are unlucky, and don’t get the number of referrals that you would like, then this would be amazing.

Now before you think, he’s going to say, ‘You've got to do lots more work’, let me stop you, because you don’t.

You have to do a little, but small changes can make a large difference to the number of referrals you get.

Just imagine improving by just 10% on the things you already do, what effect that would have combined in total. It would be massive.

Here are a few things to think about: attendance, 60 Seconds, your Feature Presentation, referrals given, visitors, workshops, One-2-Ones, testimonials, social events, your Power Team - for starters.

Just a small improvement on all of those, would have a very visible result overall. More referrals.

One of the things that you could do is to update your BNI Chapter website; certainly your part of it. What’s your presentation like on it?

I looked at some BNI Surrey chapter websites last week and many members could do a little more. In fact some members could even make a start!

More than one member, not only didn’t have a photograph of themselves, but worse still, had no copy at all. This will mean that they are losing referrals.

Trust me, it’s a fact.

This one thing will take just a few minutes. Add a photo and some text. Talk about how you help people, not about you. Try to avoid using, ‘I ….’

Doing this will improve your referral rate, as over the years I have meet many people who have ‘passed on’ when they have found a member with very little info about themselves on their BNI website.

Make a start now – it will only take a few minutes. And, you will be one step toward a better referral rate.

Have you invited a visitor this week?

It’s a simple question, and if you haven’t, why not?

Inviting visitors is probably the easiest thing that you can do in BNI; not just for BNI but, more importantly, for you; as the result is more business being passed.

So, the question is, why don’t you invite more people?

Now an answer I’m often given is because it’s hard. But, believe me, it’s not. In fact it’s so easy, I’m surprised you don’t do it every day.

But, BNI members have excuses for not inviting (some have not had a visitor for a year or more) and two reasons tend to be mentioned often.

One is that they don’t know if BNI will be good enough for them. Well there are many answers to this, but there are two very important ones. First, you joined BNI because you saw it as very promising, and second, it is up for your contact to decide; not for you to decide for them.

So, invite your contacts along.

Reason number two is often that you don’t know someone who would want to join your BNI chapter. And the answer here is very simple. You don’t need to. As all you are looking for are business people, who want more business, and can come to one meeting. That’s it, nothing more at all.

So again, invite your contacts along.

Inviting is simple, can lead to lots more business, and often comes with a BIG thank you.

I know that you could invite someone this week. So, why not do it right now? Use a text, email or phone call.

It will take you just 30 seconds.

7 Weeks!

 The start of the New Year and the beginning of your businesses extended future plan; where you hope to be in the years to come.

As with all plans, however distant they are, there are things that must be done today, if you are going to succeed.

And, a seven-week plan, for your BNI success, is a great way to start, not only for your BNI Chapter but also for you.

Often your chapter will have a goal and all the members will be given targets to meet. New targets (plans) are essential to your success, as otherwise, if you keep doing the same things, you will just get the same results.

Now chapter plans are sometimes difficult for some members and easy for others. For example, as a member you are asked to bring along five new members a year. If on average you invite 11 a year (and they attend) it’s very easy, but if last year you didn’t have one visitor, then it could be very hard.

And, that’s why I love the ‘7 Week Resolution’. It’s your commitment to your chapter, chosen by you. Signed and sealed! But, there is one condition; your commitment has to be better than your normal activity; based only on your actions.

The things to cover are: visitors, referrals, One2Ones and workshops.

So, if in seven weeks you would on average have three One2Ones, then in the next seven weeks you would commit to having, say five. With workshops you might not often attend, so your commitment would be to attend one. Referrals you might give 10, so you could commit to giving 12. And, with visitors, you may not have had one for months, so you would commit to bring one. But, if normally, you might bring two visitors, then you would commit to bringing three.

What’s great about the ‘7 Week Resolution’ is that is what you choose and commit to doing, and when every chapter member commits to doing this the results are often outstanding.

But, the best thing is that it’s part of your future business success. So, if you are truly serious about your future, then the BNI ‘7 Week Resolution’, is a must do.

Note: If you would like a '7 Week Resolution' form then let me know or ask your BNI Director.

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

Your great photo!

That’s assuming you have one and it’s good.

A fair number of BNI members don’t have their photo on their BNI Chapter Website; instead there’s just a silhouette of their head.

Then of course, some members even have a misleading photo, which, trust me, hurts their referral numbers. And, please do believe me, as I have a lot of knowledge on this, based on the experience gained from members over many, many years.

First you need a good photo; one that clearly shows who you are. It needs to be up-to-date, with a good pose, nice lighting, and, of course, in focus. Now I’m not saying it needs to be the perfect professional portrait, but it does need to be a good photo. Which means not using the first thing you find; on holiday, down the pub, blurry, from 15 years ago, just a mess.

Why? Because a good photo seen on your BNI website will save you losing referrals.

No photo of a member on your BNI website may not affect how you think about that person but, it’s how other people think that matters, not you. I know of many people that have left a BNI website because of the lack of a photo (also a bad photo) of the member they were considering.

So, if there is no photo of you on your BNI website, then I recommend you get a good one put up as soon as possible. I promise, you are more than likely to receive more business.

Five Referrals!

 A good friend of mine (he does plumbing and heating) is not only a very good BNI referral giver, but he also receives a very good number of referrals himself from members of his chapter.

He has been a member for many years and a few years ago he did some maths, which led to him getting even more referrals. Now I know that you can do the numbers, but you will require some information, and there are three things you will need on record. First, the number of referrals you give each year, second, the number of referrals that you receive each year, and third, the amount of business you receive from those referrals each year. That’s it!

Okay, so firstly, divide the amount of business you received by the number of referrals you were given. For example: you get £16,000 of work, from eight referrals, which makes each referral worth £2,000.

Then secondly, work out how many referrals you give in order to receive the number of referrals you are given.

My friend worked out that for every five referrals he gave he received one £2,000 (roughly) referral in exchange.

To drive him, he worked out that for every referral he gave it was, in effect, worth £400. But, this is the part that impressed me, he passed more and more referrals, and for every five he passed, he received about £2,000 in return!

So, if you did your maths, could you increase the number of good referrals you receive? All I can say is it’s worth a try – because it certainly worked for me!