BNI Minnesota & N. Wisconsin Blog

LuAnn Buechler, CMP and Ivan Misner, Founder, BNI

Recently I heard from Dr. Misner about the Platinum Rule, by Tony Allessandra. Most of us are familiar with the Golden Rule (”Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”), but to network effectively, you’ve got to be relationship-based, so you need to use the Platinum Rule-not only with your referral source, but also with the prospect. You need to treat others as “they” want to be treated!

There are three people involved in a referral: 1. You. You need to know how you work best and where your strengths and weaknesses lie. 2. The referral source. How does this person like to communicate? How does he like to be treated? If you want him to help you, you’ve got to treat him the way he wants to be treated. 3. The prospect. How does the prospect like to be sold to? What’s the best way to communicate with the prospect?

Strive to be adaptable and accommodate the behavioral style of your source when you’re working with him or her, and of your prospect when you’ve been put in touch with him. If you seek to find out how people want to be treated and then treat them that way, you won’t make the mistake of assuming everyone likes the same things you do. Looking for a fast way to destroy a budding relationship? Assume that your client or referral partner enjoys deep-sea fishing as avidly as you do and insist that he come along on your next Old Man and the Sea adventure. Then watch as he turns green and hugs the rail of the boat the entire day.

By learning about the other person’s goals, accomplishments, interests, networks and skills, you can establish the groundwork for a smooth-running referral relationship from the start. All of these factors together will tell you the best way to communicate and what to talk about.

Carry these concepts through to your Customer Service delivery. Serve your customers as they want to be served, not how you want to serve them. There is a Referral Institute workshop called the GEMS program, which helps to identify your customers personality type so you can serve them based on their preferences. If you have the opportunity in 2009, attend one of these programs to help you both in developing referral partners and strengthening your customer service skills. After all, the goal is to make them one in the same by customers providing you with referrals to become your referral partners.

Think about it, and learn how to apply these skills. 2009 is going to be our greatest year ever!

Did you know that BNI is the world’s leading networking organization?  In fact, earlier this year the Wall Street Journal named BNI one of top 25 performing franchises in the world!

The BNI core business model has always been “high touch” through weekly BNI meetings in 40 countries throughout the world. Now BNI will add “high tech” to our high touch by utilizing technology as an accelerator of our current momentum. The result will be that all BNI members will have a local business and the opportunity for global networking.

By the year 2010 the Baby Boomer generation will comprise less than 50% of BNI membership. Members of X and Y generations will dominate BNI. This is good news because members of the X and Y generations are well connected, on line, and have totally integrated technology into their lives.

Ivan Misner, Founder of BNI, discussed his vision for BNI with BNI Directors attending the BNI International Directors Conference in November 2008. He explained that BNI is working to integrate face-to-face networking with comprehensive online support system. This means that BNI will create online support mechanisms to address our changing demographics, connecting all members through social networks e.g. FaceBook and business networks e.g. LinkedIn. This will be the most significant and difficult project ever undertaken by BNI. This BNI project will:

Consolidate online global franchise tools, create one global database for all BNI members.

Update all BNI web sites to ensure brand consistency.

Streamline use of new communication technologies such as podcasts, blogs, bulletin boards, etc.

Improve communication among members within the “walled community” of BNI. Members (public not allowed) will have their own BNI web page. This will also utilize and enhance the international BNI brand.

The benefits for BNI members will be the opportunity for local businesses to tap into the global network and to communicate with BNI members throughout the world. Throughout 2009 and into the future BNI will, indeed, combine high touch and high tech.

by Beth Anderson

I had a BFO (blinding flash of the obvious) today regarding cold calling. Someone posted that a company who called him got all their business from LinkedIn and he was wondering if that was possible. The company was an IT recruitment firm, and the guy asking the question was an IT working at a large company. So yes, I believe their statement was true. But how did they do it?

They did it by cold calling. LinkedIn is FULL of IT people, of course. And getting on an HR person’s list of recruitment firms is simple, as is getting an IT person to agree to let you call them if there might be a job in it for them. The world of recruitment, I remember it well. I have both worked in it and been headhunted. All via cold calls. So what’s wrong with that?

Nothing, in the world of recruitment. But what about your business? If you can cold call and get a customer, what does that mean? To me it’s a BIG RED FLAG. Because if YOU can cold call them away from their current vendor, someone is sure to do it to you.

I prefer clients who come to me referred by someone else. Why? Because they are presold. They have had someone who they know & trust tell them to do business with me. So I start with a huge lead against my competition. And they are someone who asked someone else for advice. They didn’t go to a Social Network site, they didn’t go to the yellow pages, they didn’t (God forbid) Google looking for a web designer. They asked someone who to call…and I am connected to the person giving the recommendation.

If someone does cold call them - provided I am doing my job - they won’t be interested in even looking at someone else’s product. Or if they do the bar is set very high for that person to overcome a personal recommendation to me.

So go ahead and continue to cold call, but don’t be surprised when your client jumps ship the next time someone calls them with a better deal. They have no loyalty, and I don’t need them as my customer. I prefer referrals!

by B. Scott Binion

Recently I heard a great story or analogy about those who care. It could be caring about your family, your work, your hobbies, your church - doesn’t really matter about what you care about, only that you care in the right way. Since the purpose of these writings is to help you in your business or to grow personally, I want to show you just that - how to care about making you a true success.

The first way to care is to be care-FULL. What this means is that you are FULL of care. You watch everything you do, no matter how small, large, important, or just plain meaningless. You are consumed with doing it just right, no matter the cost or benefit. An example of this would be in balancing your checkbook. For some reason, you are off by only five cents. You spend over an hour trying to find where that missing five cents went. Maybe I transposed a number when adding up the balance? Did I miss some kind of debit from my account? Maybe it’s much bigger than just five cents. Not sure, but it’s driving me crazy. Still can’t find that measly five cents. Then you realize your checkbook balance will be incorrect until you find it. So you start adding and subtracting all over again.

See my point? You care too much for such an insignificant amount. You are so care-FULL that you don’t see what you have lost in trying to find the answer. Simply put, you took your eye off of the ball on this one.

The next way to care is to be care-LESS. The complete opposite of being care-FULL. Instead of taking time to find a missing check entry, even if it’s as big as a car payment, you don’t even bother with the balance. There should be enough in there to pay for my gas this morning on the way to work - or at least I hope so.

In my opinion, this mindset of being care-LESS is the most prevalent in business today. Business owners just are consumed with staying afloat or paying their bills or making some kind of profit, they simply just don’t pay attention to the right things. Sometime they do, but mostly they just glaze over and hope it will be all right. Being care-LESS is a sure way to end up where you don’t want to be.

The overwhelmingly best way to care is to be care-FREE. Don’t confuse this will not caring - actually it’s the complete opposite. You are in such a position in your personal and business life that you can handle what comes your way. If you can’t find that missing five cents in the checkbook, you adjust it and move on. But you are far from the attitude of a care-LESS person who doesn’t know what the balance is. You have made numerous decisions over the last months and years that have set you up for being care-FREE. Your finances are in order. Your business is operating well, with the normal ups and downs along the way. You are making a profit more times than not. Overall, you life is in balance and it shows in how you can live care-FREE regardless of the circumstances.

Here are a few ways to make sure you are heading toward a life of being care-FREE:

* Take care of the important things first - you will have to make this list for yourself - we all know what should be important
* If it’s not important, don’t worry about it - most likely it will take care of itself
* Care about the right things in your personal and business life - it’s not all about money, how about integrity, quality, and trustworthiness?
* Simplify your circumstances - “dumb down” the way you operate. Most often, the more simple things are, the more simple it will be to be a success
* Lastly, do the things that will make you care-FREE

Obviously this list can be greatly expanded. Each of us could add more and more to it. Why not do exactly that! Add you own ways to being care-FREE right away - no better time than the present.

Some are care-FULL. Others are care-LESS. But we need more care-FREE individuals and companies, especially in these challenging times. Make your list today of the ways you can be FREE from the things that are holding you back. And about that five cents, call or email me and I will spot you the nickel so you can become a little more care-FREE.

If I can help in any way, feel free to call me at (952) 270-1800.

One of the most notable differences I’ve seen in great leaders is how they influence those around them. Great leaders do more than just “talk a good work”. They do more than deliver results consistently.

Instead of pointing a finger and blaming someone or some other circumstance for their situation, they learn from their own mistakes and the mistakes of others. They extend their hand to others who show potential and give them opportunities to grow and develop. Great leaders mentor others because they know it’s good for everyone. Instead of feeling threatened, great leaders are strengthened as they  help develop other people. Think about the great leaders you have been fortunate to know and learn from. How did you feel because of the confidence they had in you? How did it affect your attitude? Your work? Your life in general?

Great leaders see others for what they CAN be, and then provide opportunities for them to develop and grow into their potential. Great leadership is a choice.  Are you ready to take your place as a great leader?

Sue Henry

by LuAnn Buechler, CMP

There is a Silver Lining in every LCD…

The importance and yet simplicity of things we have learned or are learning through BNI are so painfully obvious at times – I have to laugh. The importance of the LCD (Lowest Common Denominator) and our ability to articulate that to our fellow members is so important; it is the silver lining in every cloud or haze of information. It is amazing to me  that every business person in the world is not keenly keyed in to the importance of LCDs as they market their business to their consumers.

Let me give you an example…

I get this e-mail one day that informs me of the built in efficiency of a household product: Aluminum Foil. Did you know that every box of aluminum foil, not just the brand named product, but every brand available, comes with a little tab at each end of the box that you push in to secure the roll when you pull out the foil? These little tabs create the spindle necessary to pull on the roll and make it roll, without pulling the whole thing out of the box. Come on now, we have all done it… pulled the roll of foil right out of the box and then complained (in explatives) that the thing never works right. So tell me, have you ever heard about the little tabs on the end of the box? Because many of the e-mail correspondents on that e-mail had not – including me.

Those little tabs at the end of the box are one LCD for that product – aluminum foil. Reynolds apparently has instructions at the end of their aluminum foil box to tell consumers how to use it. Obviously I do not read the ends of boxes. Even more interesting is that the generic aluminum foil that I use at home today also has these tabs (I checked), yet with no explanation. They apparently have made the assumption that we all once used Reynolds Aluminum Foil and so we know the system. Therefore, accepting their “generic” affiliate status and riding on the marketing (albeit not effective) tails of the brand name product. WHEN the reality is we didn’t know anything about it.

What if the marketing team at Reynolds developed a commercial around that one LCD resolving all of our conflicts and personal frustrations with aluminum foil. What if one of their competitors developed a commercial around this feature to set themselves apart from the others? Who would have sold more product if we only knew about this feature?

The greater point is that in all the years that Reynolds and all other aluminum foil packages have existed and been used by millions of Americans, and even though mothers around the world have worked with their children, and we have shown us how aluminum foil is used in everyday cooking, millions of people have absolutely no idea that those little tabs exist.

Breaking your business down into its smallest parts can help you identify the silver lining or slivers of information your customers need to distinguish you from your competitors. Do not assume that the consumer understands your product or service as you do. “Do not assume they read the end of the box.” Remember to describe the smallest things that you do to set your company apart.

Every little thing you do makes a difference. Identify those unique differences or benefits in your company. Create a commercial around each of those LCDs to inform your sales team and your consumer of all you do to serve them in great detail. Never assume that because your competitor does it or even if it is an industry standard that the consumer knows it.

Identify and describe the LCDs of your products and services to your greatest sales force – your BNI chapter members, so they can tell their referrals about it – your potential clients.

by Linda Aasen

Well, it looks to me that we are in a recession. Now is the time to remember that the more you focus on doom and gloom the less you are focusing on your business.  A recession means fewer, but stronger competitors, longer sales cycles while our potential clients gather and compare multiple quotations.  Business people with better and stronger networks will win in this difficult business climate.

Now is the time to diversify your networks.  If you surround yourself with people who are similar to you with contacts similar to them you have limited your business possibilities.  Instead, surround yourself with people who can lead you to other clusters of people…people who are different from you.  This means diversity beyond age, creed and color. Find people who can lead you to groups of people who don’t look like you, sound like you, or share your background, education or history.  There are untapped networks beyond the comfort of your circle of close contacts.  The more of these contacts you can make, the stronger your networks will be and the broader your opportunities.  The important thing that you need to have in common is that they are good at what they do.  Create networks like that and you will have networks that can succeed at anything.  For successful networkers success is all that matters!!!

by Beth M. Anderson

While I was at the BNI International Conference last week I was fortunate enough to have breakfast with one of the best speakers I have ever had the privilege of meeting - Frank De Raffele. Among other things, Frank has a radio show each week that is syndicated in 10 markets across the country. If you don’t live in one of them, you can listen to it on the web.

I have known Frank for years, always select to hear him speak over anyone else at conference, and he is a speaker at our International Networking Week event in Florida in February 2009. I have some visibility of what Frank does for a living, and know that he does a radio show, but I’ve never actually passed him a referral.

After talking with Frank last week (that’s him in the picture!) I realized that I could help him and help the BNI members in my area by promoting his radio show. So here it is, www.eeradioshow.com. Each Monday Frank has great guests to help you learn more about networking. Dr. Misner, founder of BNI, has a spot each week, as well as 9 other business professionals teaching you everything from taxes to marketing. Go to his website, sign up to receive notifications on the show each week, and then check it out on the air or on the web next Monday and let me know what you think. Or let Frank know!

So what are you doing this week to help your referral partners in a proactive way? If you do a newsletter, can you have others write tips to include. How about on your website? Do you list the people you refer on your website? Do you have your members’ marketing materials in your office, your waiting room, on a sheet that you include with every invoice? There are dozens of ways to be proactive in helping your partners get more business.

Click the comment button below and let us know what you are doing to be proactive in finding referrals!

By B. Scott Binion

We are always running somewhere.  We take our kids to their many sports practices.  We run to the store for the last minute ingredients for a family dinner.  We rush to the bank to make a customer deposit.  We run here and we run there!  Running leads to busyness.  Simply put, we run too much! 

Recently in a business leadership meeting with some of my peers, the concept of running was brought up.  We heard story after story of how busy we are now with more to come.  It’s hard to believe how we even managed everything without our Blackberry’s or PDA’s!  Every business owner knows the topic of being busy or as the old adage says “running to and fro.”  Before we take a look at how we can manage our “running,” let’s look at what happens if we pay no attention and just keep at the outrageous pace of our personal and business lives.

A construction company owner is running everywhere.  His demands are overwhelming.  The bank is calling wondering where the monthly loan payment is and why the account is near zero.  His suppliers want to get paid before they release the next shipment of lumber.  Subcontractors are calling daily wanting to know when their payments will be ready.  His wife wonders if Dad will be home for supper tonight or will it be just like the past several months.  His kids hope he remembers their school function tonight, the science fair.

And then there’s the owner himself and his thoughts.  He says how can I do this anymore?  I build great homes, but why can’t I just get things together?  The business should support itself.  I just can’t put in personal money anymore – there’s not much left anyway!  Everyone wants my attention – the bank, vendors, subcontractors, family, friends, etc.  I’m having a hard enough time with managing myself, how can I manage all this?

His situation is not unique.  In fact, we all can see some portion of this in our everyday lives.  What is happening and what will happen soon if things don’t change will drastically alter his life, both in business and personally.  He most likely will lose his business, affecting his employees and their families.  His wife and kids are already seeing the affects of being out of control and running everywhere.  All this and not to mention his personal well being. 

Running without a purpose or end-goal is like running without a destination.  If we don’t know where we’re going, how do we know when we get there?  Saying it another way – we need to know what we’re running from or running toward!

We can be running from a variety of things.  Maybe it’s getting away from past failures or business relationships.  Running from the unknown or even expected consequences from our decisions.  No matter what we are running from, getting caught up in what is in the past will detour your efforts in getting to where you want to be.  Busyness doesn’t help at all.  If we concentrate most of our efforts on just doing this or that, getting off course is easy and most of the time we can’t even tell when we are going the wrong way.  It’s easy to run from something.  It’s much harder to run toward something.

So how do we run toward a goal or objective without getting caught up in running everywhere else?  Here are a few simple yet effective steps:

1. First decide where you want to end up
2. Determine where you are right now
3. The gap will most likely be large, but knowing what you’re up against is a start
4. Brainstorm on what it will take just to get started and keep your momentum
5. Outline the building blocks that will start filling the large gap
6. Start with the easier tasks first – you will see things getting done as it builds confidence
7. Ask yourself questions along the way – does this get me closer or further away from the end-goal?
8. The filling of the gaps is where most insight is gained – the journey
9. Celebrate when you reach milestones
10. Imagine the day when you actually get there

So how does this apply to our owner’s situation?  He alluded to where he wanted to be in his business.  He makes great homes and wants the reputation to follow along with it.  But right now he is paralyzed with all of the other things going on – his running or busyness.  He knows where he wants to be and where he is – now its time to work on the gaps.  He obviously is trying to do too much in his business.  Either he doesn’t see it or he just wants control.  He needs help.  Here are a few observations from this brief example – he needs a go-to person.  He needs an assistant to manage his calendar.  He needs a proactive accounting staff to manage the bank, vendor, and subcontractor day-to-day relationship. He needs a personal coach to help with aligning his priorities with business and family.  He needs to schedule everything, including time to just reflect on how things are going.  Lastly, he needs accountability to follow-through on these changes.

He has a great deal of work ahead of him.  So do we!  Put yourself in the place where you need help.  If you are like most business owners, you are running too much.  Make sure you are not running from the past and are running toward your end-goal.  That’s a much better direction.  Remember take as many along with you on the ride.  Might as well have a few running partners along with way.

Make the old adage “Running To and Fro” a thing of the past.  Run with direction and a noble purpose for all you come into contact with.

For more information about the author, go to www.InsightCos.com.

by Sue Henry, www.suehenrytalks.com

Like most of you, I have a list of things I want, and intend, to accomplish.  I am self-motivated and will do what is necessary to achieve my goals.  However, occasionally I run into roadblocks.  Some I have more control over than others.

Over the past couple of months, I have faced a roadblock. While helping in our dairy barn, I inhaled some hydrogenated calcium that went into the air when the cow moved her leg. Hyrogenated calcium is the consistency of powdered sugar. It’s not a dangerous substance - except to someone like me who deals with chronic asthma.  I was basically unable to live my normal life. I actually learned how to use the remote because I spent so much time watching TV!  If I tried to move around, walk around the house, or talk very much, I would end up coughing and wheezing.

Because I’ve dealt with asthma for several decades, I just assumed I could “wait it out” using the same remedies in the past.  When those weren’t working very well, I became angry and frustrated at all the things I wasn’t able to do anymore.  I felt “trapped” in a box I had created.

After spending several days in a pity-party, I decided to look at my situation from a different angle.  Instead of looking at all the things I couldn’t do at that time, what things could I do while I was waiting for the new medications to start working?

So how does this relate to you?  We all create “boxes” that we live in.  Do you focus on the things you can’t do or don’t have? Or do you focus on what you can do and what you already have? It’s your choice.

Celebrate who you are and the journey you are on.  Be grateful for all you have and share generously with others. You’ll be amazed at how big your “box” will grow!