BNI Minnesota & N. Wisconsin Blog

LuAnn Buechler, CMP, PMC Events & Travel

Have you ever thought about the parallel between Customer Service and networking? This might help some of you who hesitate to speak to current customers regarding referrals for your chapter members and referral partners. It also speaks to something called “touch point marketing”.

Exceptional customer service is about good communication with our valued customers. We need to have regular contact with our current customers to keep them as customers. We need to show them how much we C.A.R.E. about them…because Customers Are Really Everything to our business. So, how many times do you “touch” your customer in the service experience?

Do you just wait for them to come to you? Do you follow-up with them after they have made a purchase or even an inquiry? If they are on a regular service program, do you contact them in between service calls or invoices to see if they are happy with the service you are providing? Do you call them up on occasion randomly just to ask them how can I help you?

They all have businesses too (in most cases these days). Pick up the phone and call them to ask how their business is doing; what are their challenges or opportunities. How can you help them be more successful, solve any problems they are facing, etc. You may find in your conversation a referral for one of your members.

More importantly you have touched your customer with sincere caring and concern. You have called them to see what it is they need, rather than to sell them your product. Think about it. It’s simply Givers Gain yet very powerful customer service. If you can connect them with the person, products, or services to help them succeed outside of what you provide. They will think of you – the next time they need help solving a problem. They will think of you first - the next time they need your specific product or service. A few calls like this over the course of the year, accompanied by your usual touch points and your customers will think of you first the next time they hear of someone else who needs your service. You will be top of mind because you CARE! and because now - they care about you, too.

Remember, people could care less about how much you know, until they know how much you CARE!

Have you ever gone to a networking event, reception or mixer and felt uncomfortable? Did you wonder who you should talk to and what you should talk about? Everyone has those feelings! But, here are some ideas to make your next networking event more comfortable and more effective for you.

Act like a host, not like a guest!

When you host a party at your home you would naturally engage everyone in conversation and make an effort to make them feel comfortable. This same concept applies at receptions or networking events. Remember that many other people are wondering what to do and would welcome the opportunity to talk with you. Take the initiative and act like the host or hostess at the next event you attend.

Bring your networking tools!

It is absolutely necessary to bring your business cards, a pen and possibly a few small brochures that fit easily in your purse or pocket. If you want the people you meet to remember you the following day, make sure you have business cards to present to them. Do not push your business cards on anyone. But, when appropriate exchange business cards and use your pen to write a few comments on the back. Then you can easily recall the people you met and communicate with them to set a follow-up appointment. It is important to treat business cards you receive from others with respect. Don’t just drop it in your pocket or purse. Take a few moments to look at the card, comment (favorably) on it or ask a follow-up question.

It’s all about the numbers!

Before you attend your networking event set a goal for the number of people you will meet. It is not just a smile or a nod, it is engaging someone is conversation and creating an opportunity to discuss your business and theirs. Because you want to talk with as many people as possible, try to spend ten minutes or less with each person. Setting a goal may keep you moving around the room and not just talking with your friends and associates.

Just the Facts!

When you are engaging someone in conversation, remember to act like a newspaper reporter and ask those five “W” questions: who what, where, when and why. People love to talk about themselves and asking them these five “W” questions will give them opportunity to do exactly that. Hopefully, the people you meet will reciprocate and ask you the same questions. If not, volunteer the information and describe your product or service. It is important to have a 30 second “elevator” speech so you can quickly and easily describe your business. As a result of your conversations with people at the mixer you should try to give them a suggestion, a lead or a referral whenever possible. Remember that “Giver’s Gain” and they will be eager to reciprocate and find a referral for you.

Whenever I am at a networking event I try to talk to as many people as possible. But, I feel the networking event is valuable if I can make one useful contact, one that will be worthwhile developing into a relationship. Remember that your efforts at networking will be wasted if you do not follow-up with these people. It is your actions in the following days that determine your success at any networking event.

Inviting.

Bringing visitors is the lifeblood of your chapter.  Even if the visitor doesn’t join, on average a visitor will spend around $1000 with members in your chapter.

But for some reason this word generates the same response from some BNI members that the word telemarketing or cold calling does for some outside sales people, a giant groan of dread.

But inviting visitors doesn’t have to be a dreaded chore that causes one to procrastinate until a week has passed and it is time for your meeting again.  It can be a very easy task if you follow some simple rules.

1.  Invite people that you know.

The best place to find people is by opening up your checkbook or looking at your credit card.  Who are you spending money with?  Who is spending money with you?

These people already have a level of trust established with you so it makes it easier to invite them.  The technique I use to invite a client is to NOT invite them when I am calling or meeting them to talk about their business.  I make a special phone call to them just to invite them to our meeting.  If they are in a profession that one of my members is looking for as a member of their contact sphere I say something like this:

“Hi Bill.  One of my friends mentioned this morning that he was looking for a <insert profession> to pass business to and I immediately thought of you.  Are you looking to grow your business?

You are? Great!  Would you be able to come with me to meet him next Tuesday morning at 7:30? I would like to introduce you to him and 20 other local business people that could use your services.”

2. Focus on inviting them to VISIT.

The biggest mistake members make when inviting is they try to tell to much information hoping that it will make the person more excited to say yes.  In fact it usually has the opposite reaction.  Your BNI meeting is designed to give your visitors all the info they need to make a decision about BNI and how it can help them grow their business.  Answer questions but remember the goal is just to get them to say yes to visiting. So when inviting the key word to use is visit not join.

3.  Make inviting a regular part of your workday.

The more often you invite the easier it becomes to do and it becomes top of mind so you actually end up doing it more often!  When i joined BNI many many years ago I put a note up in my office where I would see it all the time that said “Remember to invite to BNI”. Invite one person a day to start then as you get better at inviting and you have developed the inviting habit you will recognize people to invite that you hadn’t considered before.

4. Follow up with people that have said yes.

I recommend a personal phone call the day before to remind them about the meeting.  Here is a technique that one of my very successful chapters shared with me and it has worked in all the chapters that I then gave it to.

Send and email to the entire chapter and copy the visitor on.  In the email let the chapter know who is coming to the meeting and how excited your are to introduce them all to your visitor.  When the visitor reads the email he will realize that there are 20-30 people that are now expecting him at the meeting.  It will reduce the chance that they won’t show up.

5. No is not a bad answer.

Just like telemarketing the part of the activity that is perceived as the worst part is when someone tells you no.  Getting told no for telemarketing or inviting just means you are that much closer to getting a yes.

A few years ago we had a jeweler visit one of my chapters.  During the “I have” portion of the meeting he stood up and said that different people in the chapter had been inviting him off and on for the past three years and that he wished he would have listened to them three years ago and actually visited then.  He was inducted the following week.

Just because the say no once doesn’t mean they won’t visit.  It just means they won’t visit now.

Inviting can be an easy and successful activity if you make it simple. Find out who the most successful inviters are in your chapter and ask them how they do it.  Becoming a successful inviter can be the fastest way to make your chapter even more successful.

By B. Scott Binion

If you were outside in two feet of snow with temperatures below zero, would you take off your boots to shovel the driveway?  Of course not!  But did you know that a lot of business owners do that very thing, maybe not literally, but in how they operate their business?  They remove or change something as a pure reaction instead of thinking it through like they should. 

Here are a few examples:

• Let go of your “star” sales person due to a bad couple of months
• Spend needed funds on non essential things, such as that fancy new red sportscar
• Stopping what’s working like your networking activities because it takes too much time

I’m sure there are a thousand other examples of “when the boots come off in the cold” you can think of.  To put it bluntly, you most likely will sacrifice future gains for a so-called urgent course of action.  Which usually leads to unfavorable results.

Before you take those boots off, think about how cold it will be.  Same with your networking, count the cost before making drastic business-changing decisions.  It may cost you more than you think.

If you have cold feet right now, call one of us at BNI Minnesota and let’s see what can be done to get your networking activities ready for the New Year.

This past weekend I had the honor and opportunity to attend and present 2 workshops at Get Connected 2010. The crowd was small and conversations were poignant. One-to-ones were meaningful and focused. Connections were made and relationships strengthened.

Before leaving for the conference, I pondered on what referrals and introductions I should ask for. I was going to be bold in my “ask”! I knew that if I chickened out and didn’t ask, the answer was definitely a “no”. I decided to ignore the little voice that told me to be “realistic” because my passion was stronger than my fear.

Jeff Stay provided insights into a deeper level of referrals. He asked us to participate in an exercise where we met each person in the room and asked how we could help them. In my “boldness” I asked for personal introductions to someone connected with any of the home shopping networks for my Tiara Experiment Journal. I only got to meet about 10 people (we talked too long) but here’s what happened:

I didn’t get find anyone who could give me an introduction to someone connected with a home shopping network. I got something even BETTER!

I met someone who knew a program director (or something similar) for Dr. Phil. She said she’d make sure she made the connection after the conference was over. Yesterday I received the introduction!

To be honest, I don’t know if anything is going to come from the introduction. Time will tell. But if I hadn’t been bold and specific in my ask, the answer would have automatically been “no”!

It Only Takes One – Anything Can Happen if you Just Show Up!

by LuAnn Buechler, CMP, PMC Events & Travel

It just takes one good connection to make a huge impact in your business. If you just show up and participate you might very well find that one perfect contact or connection that will take your business to the next level. Having just returned from the international networking conference Get Connected 2010, I can give you plenty of evidence that when you participate in networking events the opportunities to “get connected” are very powerful.

Gordy Pillar owner of Dreamhouse Interiors,  a BNI member from Wisconsin came away with three potential business deals that he said will more than pay for the expense of being at the event. In addition, he received intensive networking education that he will apply to his business throughout the year which will further increase his success. Sue Henry of SueHenryTalks.com, an Area Director for BNI Minnesota made a contact to the Dr. Phil show to promote her Tiara Experiment. James Russell, an entrepreneur from France, made connections that will help him open a new BNI Region. These are just a few examples; you will be hearing more testimonials in the weeks and months to come.

The point is you must be present to make those connections. You also must be able to “articulate” what it is your looking for, what is the connection you need to make to take your business to the next level.

Mike Macedonio of the Referral Institute works with the conference speakers and sponsors prior to the event to coach them on how to get the return on investment they would like out of the conference. These same principles apply to the participants. In advance of attending any conference set goals for what you would like to achieve. How many contacts/connections would make the conference a success for you? Rather than merely collecting business cards, be sure to identify the type of person you are looking for. Be able to describe them to other participants. Then seek out those individuals and connect to them. Be able to describe what a good referral is for you or better yet a good referral partner. Bring other members of your team to spread your message, and be able to edify you and your business to the other participants who may be looking for you…

As I write this I realize, that many of the presentations spoke to developing these very skills. So, whether you need work on these skills or would like to “get connected” in a more powerful way through networking. Show up to networking events prepared to participate. It just takes one strong connection as a result to make the time spent well worth it for your business success!

By Linda Aasen

When our BNI chapters have special days for visitors often members ask why they are requested to send our 40 letters or invitations.  I wondered that myself every time we had a Visitor Day.  Well, here is the answer: it is called the Rule of ½ of ½ of ½…

If you send out forty letters and follow up with a phone call to each of the 40 recipients you will actually make contact with one half of the people to whom you sent letters (½ of 40 = 20).

One half of the people you talk to will commit to attending your Visitor Day (½ of 20 = 10).

Unfortunately, only half of the people who say they will come will actually show up (½ of 10 = 5).

Now you have 5 people of your original 40 invitations at your meeting.  Approximately one half of those people who attend will submit an application (½ of 5 = 2 or 3).  After the Membership Committee reviews those 2-3 applications only 1-2 will be accepted. 

So, 40 invitations will result in 1 or 2 new members.  Can you imagine the results if you send 10 or 20 letters?  The result it would probably be no new members. 

Some BNI members are at a loss when trying to make a list of 40 people to invite to their Visitor Day.  Here are some suggestions of where you could look:

Review you business cards, roll-a-dex, phone contact list, etc.

Who sells you products for use in your business?

What businesses are complementary to yours?

Who contacts you with offers to advertise your business?

What about your clients with businesses of their own?

Who comes to your house to repair or enhance your home and yard?

Who do you purchase services from outside your home?

Who have you invited to attend Visitor Day in the past who said they would attend, but did not?

Who have you invited previously who could not be there?

Who have you invited preciously who did attend but did not submit an application?

Who sends or stuffs your mailbox with advertisements?

Who is driving around in a car or trunk with advertising on the back or the sides??? 

These people are looking for more business…invite them to BNI!!!

Remember these ideas when you are asked to create 40 invitations for your upcoming Visitor Day!!!

While I was driving home from the holidays at the end of December I was radio surfing and stopped on a station where a minister was promoting a new education series his church was offering.  He was talking about the story from the Bible where Nicodemus visited Jesus during passover.  One of the verses he read was John 3:8, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Now it may say something about my state of mind that I heard this and thought about networking. But I think this verse really describes how many people network.

They go to a networking event or a trade show or some other opportunity to meet people and when they meet someone new they immediately judge them based on their ability to BUY their product or service.  They don’t look past the immediate gratification of making a sale and look at the persons ability to introduce them to potential clients or referral partners. These people we meet are like the wind, we don’t know where they came from (who they know) or where they are going (who they will meet in the future). We here them talk but instead of truly listening to them, we think about “How long are they going to talk to me?” And how “I would rather be talking to that person over there.” Or “How do I get out of this conversation?”

The best referral I received while I was selling cellular phones and data applications a few years ago was to the facilities manager at the local IBM facility.  I had talked about how the company I was working for at the time had a data application that worked on BlackBerry phones that allowed facility managers to send jobs to their service techs and track the status of the jobs.  Since it was technology based, one would think that I would have received that referral from someone in technology, computer networking or something of that sort.  But that isn’t who passed me the referral.  The lady that makes gift baskets is the one who made the introduction!

Little did I know that she had worked for IBM in the facilities management department at the IBM headquarters. She knew ALL the facilities managers and was able to make a personal introduction to him for me.

If I hadn’t taken the time to build a relationship with her, and instead wrote her off as someone who couldn’t help me, I would not have had that opportunity presented to me.

When we meet people, we can never know what is going to come of that meeting.  If we don’t make the effort to learn about them and how we can help them we may be losing the chance to meet our next client.  Now not all the people we are going to meet will be able to help us like that, but until we make the effort none of them will be able to help us.

So the next time you meet someone who doesn’t have what you think is the right title or job to be able to use your services or be a referral partner, take time to find out more about them.  It will keep you from just blowing in the wind.

By B. Scott Binion, CPA

You hear it from your accountant.  Your financial planner keeps asking for it.  Your banker really wants to know.  Asking for what?  They want to know that you are keeping track of your business and personal financial affairs.  Are you asking yourself the same question?

Imagine if your bills were paid without knowing what the account balance was!  What if you overpaid the bank loan or your copier lease - again?  A $49 dollar late fee for paying a credit card late!!!!!

The following tips are for those that this has happened before.  Keeping track of where you are is more important than that next deal or sale, no matter how big the deal may be.  These may be simple on the outside, but pack a huge return over time.  We’d all be surprised of how many are not even given a second thought.

1. Keep a physical list or ledger of your checking account – even if you have an accounting system
2. Always have envelopes available for expenses paid for using your own cash
3. Reconcile your accounts shortly after receiving your bank statement
4. Create an accounting of ALL of your transactions
5. If you are too busy, don’t know how, or just don’t want to mess with it, hire a bookkeeper
6. Outsourcing may be a lot less than you actually expect

So listen to your CPA.  Take the advice of your financial planner.  Take notes when your banker makes this request.  Next time they ask, you can say YES, I keep very good track of my financial affairs – Want to see my books? 

Creating and maintaining an effective social media presence doesn’t need to be a labor-intensive time trap. When you know what your goals are and why, the “how” becomes simple. Here are my top 5 tips to creating social media success in 15 minutes a day:

1. What do you want from your social media presence? Many people in my classes say that they want to educate readers, build visibility and credibility, become known as “the expert”, etc. While this is great, isn’t your real purpose to gain new clients/customers and make more money? It’s important you recognize what you want your end result to be because if you don’t, you won’t position yourself in a way that helps you achieve your goals.

2. Who is your target market? Identify the top 5 clients or customers you would clone if you could. What similarities do they share? Why do you like working with them? What problems do they have? What solutions do you provide? How do they benefit?

3. Now that you know who your target market is, how do you find them? 

• First, look for groups of people who have the same background, interests, etc., as you do. If you graduated from a college, you should have received an inquiry when filling out your profile, asking if you would like to find and connect with anyone with the same info. Do it!
• What other organizaitons do you belong to? Toastmasters? BNI? Rotary? ABWA? Search for online groups and join.
• What organizations, groups, colleges, or industries does your target market(s) belong to? Identify at least one group in each category and join. I look at the number of members and how recent and how often there are group updates when determing which group to choose. I want to be in an “active” group. If you join a group and it’s not what you thought, just click on “leave group. It’s that easy!

4. Read the group discussions and comments. Get a feel for how the conversaitons flow, what seems to be acceptable, and make appropriate comments. The more you share helpful tips, ideas, etc., the sooner others will respect what you say. How can you help? This is about building credibility - it’s NOT PITCHING your product. However, you can share short stories of your clients or customers, what their problem was, the solution you provided, and the end result for them. We relate to stories. Stories sell.

5. Connect with all the people you know. It doesn’t matter how you know them: high school, previous employment, social activities, past clients/customers, etc. You are already at the visibility, credibility, or profitability stage with some of these people, so use social media to renew these friendships and associations. Connect with them, read what they post, and make appropriate and sincere comments.

Social networking isn’t about how many people you are connected to, it’s about how deep your connections with these people are. People do business with people they like, know, and trust. You CAN build meaningful relationships in 15 minutes a day when you show sincere interest in others and offer helpful tips, ideas, suggestions, and yes, products and services.