Social Networking Skills

Having worked with a lot of different BNI chapters I’ve seen the good and the not-so-good sides of networking. I’ve seen it work when members of BNI become proactive at “making their networking work for them” and I’ve seen it fail miserably when members are standing there with their hands out wondering why there aren’t any referrals coming.

BNI is one of the best networking tools around. It can be fantastic if you decide to “work it” and it can be just as bad as the other forms of networking if you are standing there “waiting for something to happen.”

So, what does it take to make it work?

Be proactive.

First be proactive with all of the things that BNI tells you to do, have goals for every activity and work the activity to get those goals. If you are off target, then rework what you are doing. BNI works, you just have to make it work for you. Setting and waiting for something to happen, or trying something once and saying “darn that didn’t work” is accepting what you got. Use BNI as the tool it’s meant to be.

• Meet at least one member of your chapter every week. My goal is to get one referral per week from that activity and 4-5 from leveraging that meeting to the next level. As a business coach, I help businesses grow (and chapters as a side benefit). So, when I meet with a chapter member my goal is to help him increase his business during that meeting. If I’ve done that well, he’ll show up at the next meeting saying “Wow, do you know what happened to my business from setting down with Alan . . . .” Every one of the visitors I brought hear that, and about 50% of them ask to meet with me later. SUCCESS! That’s proactive.
• Bring visitors, lots of visitors. Bring THE visitors that you either want to do business with or those that are doing business with those you want to do business with. As I said above, once they hear the chapter members rant and rave about you . . . . You’ll either be getting referrals from those visitors or those visitors will be asking to meet with you. It’s proactive.
• About bringing visitors - Have you had problems making cold calls for your business? . . . Making calls to get visitors to a BNI chapter is EASIER, much easier than typical cold calling. One of the reasons is that the people you are calling don’t like salesmen to call . . . it bothers them. However, they do like to get calls from people that are helping them. If you say the right things, showing that you are offering them some help in growing their business . . . they would LOVE to take your call and meet with you. My calls to visitors showing up at a BNI meeting is 75%. And, 50% of those that show up ask to meet with me about coaching, and other ways I can help them grow their business. It’s a killer system.

Don’t accept “the NORM”

Don’t accept what everyone else accepts as “the norm.” Be the one that’s reaching further, become a leader in your group. The results will astound you!

If someone says “you can’t,” then show them how as you do it.

• If your chapter is composed of smaller business, show them how to reach big business through the tools I gave you above to bring visitors. Bigger business will bring more referrals and bigger referrals. The results everyone gets will be bigger and better.
• If your chapter has been slow to grow, be the one bringing the most visitors and making it grow . . . FAST.

When you hear “we can’t do that” be the one that shows them how to do that.;

If the norm is:

• One visitor’s day a quarter –Then show them how to bring that many visitors to EVERY meeting.
• Most visitors and members are typically $50K single proprietors –Then start bringing $100K businesses, then move up to $500K, then $1M, and even $10M. Because of their size each of those can bring 10 to 100 more referrals than the chapter has evern gotten before, and those referrals will be worth 10 to 100 times more in dollars than ever before. Keep in mind that 10 times more referrals worth 10 times more, is over 100 times more in total dollars to every member. That’s really leveraging your ROI.
• A visitor’s day process is takes 60-90 days from start to visitor’s day — Do one in 2 weeks. Everyone said, couldn’t be done, yet our chapter just did one with 100 people in less than 2 weeks. And because we did it, another chapter just brought 150 visitors (not visitors plus members . . . just VISITORS). I’ve seen chapters with only 12 members bring 60+ visitors to a visitor’s day. Don’t use the excuse that “it isn’t normal,” or “can’t be done,” or “that’s the way it’s supposed to be done.” Get out there and do it. Every one of those visitors is worth approximately 4 referrals each, or over $1,200 each. Go get ‘em.
• When someone says they can’t get visitors– Show them how to get at least one visitor a week, and then challenge the whole chapter to go to the next level, 2 each, and then higher. Help them understand WHY they will get more business easier from doing that. In fact, calling for BNI visitors is even easier than cold calling for my own business. I get about 75% calls to visitors showing up using BNI.

Be the one challenging “the norm.” Soon YOU will be seen as the one people should watch . . . you’ll develop relationships . . . and referrals. People do business with people they know, like, and trust. You just got there.

And, soon YOUR chapter will be the one out in front, referrals will go up and up, and value of the referrals given will go up . . . way up, and everyone in your region will see you as the mover and shaker. In fact, the more “out of norm” you are it’s possible to start getting referrals from other chapters.

Identify your “norm” and challenge it. You’ll find opportunities to grow your chapter, and your business that you didn’t even know was there. What does your chapter believe is “normal”?

Use BNI as a highly effective business growth tool. Be proactive at making it happen. The more the chapter thinks out of the box, the more that will come back to you in more referrals and bigger referrals.

If you’ve been in a BNI chapter and didn’t get what you wanted, this is how. Go make it happen.

If you are currently in a BNI chapter, and want more . . . this is how to get more . . . up to 10 times more according to those that are doing it.

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Do you want to learn more about how to increase your business using BNI?

How to get more referrals?

How to get more valuable referrals?

Have you been using BNI and would like to have help doing better?

Join a group of people using BNI to grow their business, who are sharing what works.

Grow Your Business Bigger and Faster Than Before With BNI

Alan Boyer coaches small business owners who want more business than they can handle, and has been applying the same principles to growing his clients’ business through BNI……The reports have been “5-10 times more clients in just a few weeks, and still growing. He’s using some of the same principles advising BNI chapters how to grow rapidly

http://www.leaders-perspective.com/grow-your-business-with-BNI.htm

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