26/2/11
Something that I am asked from time to time is why we hold our meetings every week. After all, I am told, other networking groups don’t and it’s a big commitment having to come weekly. Surely every other week would be better?
For some people this type of networking may be ideal, it may be all that they can manage for a number of reasons, but BNI chapters meet weekly because we build strong relationships.We know that to get to trust someone, to know them, to like them, takes time and this can’t be achieved by seeing each other sporadically. After all, would you just want to see one of your best friends every few weeks and, furthermore, not even know if they were going to turn up for a meeting that you had arranged?
BNI is all about strong relationships. Relationships that are strong enough so that we can recommend our very best contacts to fellow members. I for one would certainly not risk my reputation on someone I hardly knew.
But, how about this for an even more compelling reason?
BNI have tried and tested most things over the years and give us the very best of what they have learnt works. Recently I was listening to a CD by Ivan Misner and was interested to learn that early on BNI tried fortnightly meetings: members thought that they might be better. However, they soon changed their minds! Why? Because, they discovered that a chapter that meet fortnightly passed 52% less referrals than a chapter that met weekly. So, if you want just one good reason for meeting weekly I don’t think you need to look any further than more than double the amount of business passed in the group.
One last thing. How often when a member is absent for a week, or a chapter is closed for a week, are twice the number of referrals passed the following week? Never – in my experience!
Saturday 26 February 2011
Friday 4 February 2011
Only present to visitors!
4/2/11
Every week we should have visitors at our chapters: business people we have never met before.
Our 60 Seconds may be the only opportunity we have at the meeting to let these visitors know who we are and what we do, how we can help them and their contacts. We need to impress!
But, how do we do this? Well, for a start, not by cramming everything we do into our 60 Seconds, that is just a certain way to make sure a visitor forgets us for good. In fact, it will have exactly the same effect on our fellow members.
So, how do we do it?
I guess like me, you have been at your meeting and a member stands up and they say exactly what they said last week, and the week before that, and the week before that, and you just switch off – it’s boring! They themselves are bored. Then, there is the member who stands and says, ‘like I said last week’ and sits down again after 28 seconds. There are countless examples of wasted 60 Seconds. However, if you forget your fellow members (and the fact that you think they know exactly what you do) and only think about the visitors, about making them want to talk to you after the meeting, for maximum results your 60 Seconds will be planned, specific, and a full one minute.
This will then have two major benefits: 1) the visitors will be more likely to want to meet up with you later, and 2), and, far more importantly, your fellow members will learn a great deal more about you and find it easier to refer you.
So, concentrate on presenting to your chapter visitors and you will reap the rewards of your fellow members being both better educated and motivated to help you!
Every week we should have visitors at our chapters: business people we have never met before.
Our 60 Seconds may be the only opportunity we have at the meeting to let these visitors know who we are and what we do, how we can help them and their contacts. We need to impress!
But, how do we do this? Well, for a start, not by cramming everything we do into our 60 Seconds, that is just a certain way to make sure a visitor forgets us for good. In fact, it will have exactly the same effect on our fellow members.
So, how do we do it?
I guess like me, you have been at your meeting and a member stands up and they say exactly what they said last week, and the week before that, and the week before that, and you just switch off – it’s boring! They themselves are bored. Then, there is the member who stands and says, ‘like I said last week’ and sits down again after 28 seconds. There are countless examples of wasted 60 Seconds. However, if you forget your fellow members (and the fact that you think they know exactly what you do) and only think about the visitors, about making them want to talk to you after the meeting, for maximum results your 60 Seconds will be planned, specific, and a full one minute.
This will then have two major benefits: 1) the visitors will be more likely to want to meet up with you later, and 2), and, far more importantly, your fellow members will learn a great deal more about you and find it easier to refer you.
So, concentrate on presenting to your chapter visitors and you will reap the rewards of your fellow members being both better educated and motivated to help you!
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