Sunday, July 7, 2019

What did I sign up for?

From July 2019

Why did you sign up to be a part of BNI?  Different people have different reasons.  Some are looking for more business, more referrals.  Some are looking to build relationships and meet referral partners.  Some are looking for training to become a better business person.

Those are all great reasons, but none of this comes overnight.  It takes time and for some it takes more time than others.  It's more of a marathon than a sprint.

Last Thursday I participated in my 6th Peachtree Road Race.  Each year has been a different race.  The first year it was cool.  There were people sitting along Peachtree Street wrapped in blankets.  One year it was raining and they flagged some of the late corrals and stopped the runners for awhile because of lightning.  The other years, it's been a typical Peachtree Road Race - hot and humid - with this being the hottest on record.  By the time we crossed the finish line it was at a red alert.

And why am I telling you this?  As we were heading up Peachtree getting ready to make the turn to head towards the finish line and Piedmont Park I saw a man holding up a sign similar to the one above, it did make me smile.  This year was a hard one.  First because it was so hot and humid and I had not quite trained as hard as I had in past years.  And instead of doing my run/walk intervals, we walked the majority of the course.  You would think that by walking, it would have been easier, but my legs are still screaming with soreness.  I'm still questioning why I'm so sore.  Was it the conditions, my lack of training, or because I walked instead of run/walk?  I think it was that I did something different than what I trained for.  I trained to run/walk, but walked the majority of the time, thus using different muscles.  I finished standing up and for that I am grateful.

Again what does this have to do with BNI?  Over the last couple of days, as I've thought about what topic to write about, that sign keeps coming to mind.  As I've been on Facebook and saw many of my friends and of the many BNI members I know post their photos of the Peachtree, it brought to mind the relationships I have with these individuals and their commitment to most everything they do.  They signed up and paid their money to participate in the Peachtree Road Race.  They trained.  They participated.  They crossed the finish line and they got the T-Shirt.  Because the Peachtree Road Race is the only race where you don't get the T-Shirt until after the race.  They committed and they accomplished their goal.  Isn't that what BNI is all about?  You don't get the results until you do the work required?

I believe BNI is a lot like the Peachtree Road Race, in that you're not going to reach the goal you want to achieve and get the t-shirt, unless you make the time and commitment to put forth the effort to do what it takes.  It takes the commitment of making the time to do the activities, i.e. training, one to ones, meetings, etc.  And it's also about putting forth the effort to not just do the activities, but to learn to do the activities effectively.  It is true, what you put in, you get out.  

So what did you sign up for?  To immediately start getting referrals and business?  Without putting in the time and training?  Like going from the couch to a 10K, it's not likely there will be a good finish.  And even if we did the initial training, we have to keep training and sometimes do different training to keep up with the times and the conditions.  Like, if I'm going to walk the course in 90 degree heat and humidity, then that's the way I have to train.  BNI is the same.  In order to stay competitive and up to date, we have to learn new ways of doing things if we want better results.

I'm the type of person that it takes me a while to make a decision and make the commitment, especially when it comes to putting my hard earned cash down.  But once I do, I'm all in.  I'm going to set a goal and do my best to learn what I need to learn to do what I need to do to recoup my investment.  So if you paid to do this, what are you doing to get the most value from your investment?

Here are some of those people who made the commitment, did the training, and got the T-Shirt for the 50th running of the Peachtree Road Race. If you were one of them, please let us know.



Congratulations!!

Karren Amidon - Record Busters 
Jeff Cavender - BAG 
Rodney Davis - BLAZE 
Susan Geaslen - Success Alliance 
Tracy Jardine - Success Alliance 
Annette Mason - BNI Director

Happy Networking,
 



Annette Mason
Area Director Consultant
  
Please let me know of other topics you would like to know about that I can add to future newsletters. 
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Excellence or Mediocrity

From May 2019

So what is the difference between excellence and mediocrity?  Excellence is passion, commitment, midnight oil, and elbow grease.  Excellence doesn't come easy.  Mediocrity is getting by.  Excellence is about striving to be the best. Mediocrity is about performing the minimum requirements. Excellence is about going the extra mile.

Midnight Oil 

Excellence can't be achieved by doing the minimum requirements.  We receive what we give.  The dreamers and the doers who change the world put in extra hours thinking, planning, and working towards their goals.  It is believed that those who think, dream, and reflect on their actions are the ones working towards excellence.  Rather than just taking whatever is thrown their way and settling for the average.  

Yes, average tends to be easy while excellence is somewhat hard.

Mediocrity is performing the minimum requirements. Excellence is going above and beyond what is required sometimes in unexpected ways.

A life of excellence can't be achieved in an 8-to-5 window. This isn't a call to workaholism, but rather a challenge to realize that dreamers and doers who change the world put in extra hours thinking, planning, and working toward their goals. Our minds and bodies obviously need an appropriate amount of rest, but our spirits need time to cultivate a vision for excellence.

Practice makes perfect, right? Maybe close. The point is, people who do things well have usually spent a lot of time doing those things poorly, learning, and improving. This takes time. It takes years. Excellence is only possible when we're willing to transition from dreaming to doing. We have to be willing to devote time, energy, and resources toward our big goals.

Every day is a brand new chance to decide to reject passivity and mediocrity and choose intentionality and excellence. So which do you choose, mediocrity or excellence?  What do you expect from your team?  From yourself?

Remember the phrase - 'If it's to be, it's up to me.'  Sometimes if things aren't going the way we think they should, it's time to take a proactive approach and step up and take action.  Perhaps taking on a Leadership role to make a difference.  'Be the change you want to see in the world' or in your BNI chapter.  Instead of settling, strive for the best results.

Remember the story about the Little Red Hen.  Everyone wanted to eat, but no one wanted to do the work.  

What are some things you have tried/changed?  What was your experience?

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Trying Something New

From April 2019


 I am a creature of habit, I'll admit, and I am not a fan of change. As I started out for my run on Saturday, I couldn't go my usual way. We live on a street that circles around and blends into the main street for the neighborhood. I couldn't go my usual way because my neighbor had the road blocked with his truck and trailer. So rather than waiting for him to clear the road, I decided to just go the other way. Gosh, did that feel strange. Although this is the same road, it just seemed so different to go the other way. It took getting back on the regular route before I felt comfortable again. Although I was doing the same thing, my walk/run routine, just starting out in a different direction made it seem so strange.

Have you ever started something new? Or tried doing something a different way? Did it feel uncomfortable to start with? Did you continue with the new way or revert back to the same old way you've always done things?


This makes me think of all those motivational seminars I've been to and the speaker asking you to fold your arms a certain way that was comfortable and then asking you to fold them a different way. The different way was not uncomfortable per se, it just felt different. That's kind of how it is when we want something to change, but we want it to be comfortable. Or we want to change, and we want to get it right the first time, so that the process or the new thing will be easy. Nope, it just doesn't work that way usually. Typically, when 
we try or attempt to do something new, it's going to feel uncomfortable and/or at least different until we get used to it. Until we train it to muscle memory and make it a habit.

So how can we make change more comfortable? How can we establish the habits/routines we need to make? Here are my thoughts.....

-        I think one of the first ways is, we have to commit to the change. Sometimes that means doing some research, reading some articles, watching some videos, talking to people, etc. to see how other people are doing the thing we want to do. Learning what has worked for others and figuring out what we feel will work best for us. However, while research is a good thing to do, some people suffer from analysis paralysis in that they can't start anything new until they've done all the research in the world and have everything down to a science before they start. These are the folks that will give you every excuse there is for why they can't or won't start something new.
- Secondly, I think we have to commit to a start date. Most people start new things at the beginning of a new year - by making their new year's resolutions. Some start on a Monday. The point is, you must decide and start and also commit to give the change time. Most say it takes doing something 40 times or 40 days to commit it to habit.

-        Third - Realize we're not going to be perfect the first couple of times we try our new thing. We are going to stumble and mumble, but that's OK, as we learn to do the thing the correct way. Think in terms of a ball player practicing their craft. They spend hours swinging a bat or throwing a ball in order to get better and better. We will get better the more we do the thing.

-        Fourth - Track our progress. How are we going to get better if we don't have some sort of measurement? Progress is progress regardless of how small. How do we eat an elephant? One small bite at a time.
Fifth - Critique, adjust, and stay on track and if we get off track, even starting over. Ask for help. If it's important enough to us, we'll keep on keeping on in order to make the positive changes and develop the positive habits we want to make in our lives.

Often, we are presented with new ways of doing things, i.e. new concepts, new ideas, new procedures, etc. While we hear that others may have tried the new thing and had success, we resist and give reasons as to why we don't think it will work. The 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' mentality. Yes, I'm guilty and must rationalize as to why it would be beneficial to give the new way a try. Kind of like my scenario of doing my running routine in a different direction. It felt a little strange, but sometimes a change adds new life and vitality to a regular routine. Perhaps doing the same routine a different way will net better results.

Do you remember Mikey? 'Try it, you'll like it.' If we never try it, how do we know if the new way will work better or not?'

What are some things you have tried/changed?  What was your experience?

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Getting More Referrals - Having Effective One to Ones

From March 2019

 The purpose of having One to Ones is get to know your fellow members in order to build relationships which build credibility and lead to profitability, i.e. to give and receive more referrals.  Statistics show that members who are having 3 or more one to ones per month receive twice as many referrals.

So where are you with your fellow members?  

- Visibility - I remember you and I may know your name and what you do.

- Credibility - There are two parts of Credibility
- Early Credibility - I know more about you and I like you
- Deep Credibility - I trust you and I may pass referrals to you. 

- Profitability - I refer you consistently because I trust you and know your business so well.  When I win a client, you win a client.
 
So how do we move the relationships with fellow members from Visibility to Profitability?  By having more effective One to Ones. i.e. Getting to know your fellow chapter members at a deeper level, getting to know more about their business, what good referrals are for them, and who are good referrals partners are for them.  So how do you do that?

Most One to Ones are more 'coffee talks' and are not effective one to ones.  

An effective One to One takes planning.  Here are the steps:

1.  Schedule ahead of time allowing at least an hour especially for the first One to One.
2. Start first with the members who are in your contact sphere because 70% of your referrals will come from your contact sphere.
3.  Complete the GAINS profile sheets.  This step is extremely important.  (GAINS stands for Goals, Accomplishments, Interests, Networks, Skills)
a. The GAINS profile sheets include a list of your last 10 clients. The sheet has areas for notes about one. All of this information helps your fellow member understand the type of work you do. Rank your last ten clients on a scale of 1 to 10 (#1 being the best) according to good, better, best. Make notes as to why the top 5 are the type of clients you're looking for. Share this list as it will help your fellow members understand the type of clients you are seeking. Even letting your fellow member know what are NOT good referrals is good information.
b. Also, part of the GAINS profile sheets is Contact Spheres. Contact Spheres are businesses or professionals that provide a source of referrals for one another. They are good Referral Partners/Sources. For example: A good referral source for a chiropractor would be a Personal Injury Attorney. A good referral source for a pressure washer would be a painter. A good referral source for a home inspector would be a Realtor. Don't just think of who you can get business from, but who can refer business to you. Share this list also. (You can also use the Referral Hub for this). Many times an introduction to a Referral source will lead to a referral that just keeps on giving. And guess who gets the credit for TYFCB.
4. Send your completed GAINS profile sheets and your bio to the person you have a One to One scheduled with.  Send these a couple of days ahead of time to give each other time to review and make notes for questions, discussion points, etc. you would like to have.
5. Plan to meet at a location that is not loud and you won't be interrupted.  Meeting at a fellow member's office/work is always good.
6. Time for a One to One - Typically a good One to One can be done in an hour.  This gives each member 30 minutes to explain their business and answer questions.  Please be considerate and don't monopolize the time.
7.  
THE PURPOSE of a One to One is to learn about the other person's business so that You can identify and find referrals and referral sources for them.  
 
IT IS NOT to try and sell them your product or service. Your fellow referral partners will be turned off by this tactic. By asking who do they know who would be interested in your product or service, they may refer themselves. But NEVER try to SELL to your fellow BNI Members. You will receive 0 to no referrals by doing so.
8. Questions to ask: (Remember you are there to find out how to refer business, find referral sources for this person, and to strategize as to who else you need to invite to be part of your referral team, so ask questions that will help you understand who to look for.)
  1. From your review of the other member's GAINS profile, you may have questions for clarification.
  2. Ask what you should listen for?
  3. Ask what questions you should ask a potential prospective client for them?
  4. What are good conversation starters?
  5. Ask who are their 'bread and butter' clients?
  6. Ask what would be their dream referral?
  7. Who are good referral sources?
  8. Who else would they want as a member of their Power Team?
9. Agree on a plan of action. For example, that could be an introduction to a potential referral partner and/or inviting a potential referral partner to your BNI meeting for an introduction.
10.  Schedule a time to follow-up and your next One to One.  Things change in a person's life and business.  It's good to have One to One's with your fellow members on a regular basis to get to know your referral partners better and to strengthen the relationship, especially your Power Team members as well as find out what's new with their business.

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Rolling Out the Red Carpet

From February 2019
How was your first experience with BNI?
Did you feel welcomed?

In last month's newsletter we talked about the Value of a Visitor.  Inviting Visitors is part of the 'Givers Gain' philosophy of BNI.  It is a way to give to your fellow BNI members.  Your fellow members offer products and services that visitors may be looking for.  So by inviting visitors, you are bringing potential referrals to your fellow members.


So how was your first visit to BNI?  
Did you feel welcomed? 

BNI Chapters have a whole process to help ensure Visitors feel welcome.  

Here are the steps that are recommended to ensure every visitor gets the red carpet treatment:

 
  • When a visitor registers to attend, they receive an email from BNI, thanking them for registering.
  • Another email is sent to the Chapter Leadership Team and to the Visitor Hosts to alert them that they have Visitors registered to attend the upcoming meeting.
  • The best practice is for the Visitor to receive a phone call from the president or designated Visitor Host to find out a little bit about the Visitor so that they may make the right introductions to their prospective referral partners at the meeting.
  • The member who invited the Visitor, also follows up with the Visitor the day before to ensure they know the time and location of the meeting.
  • Followed by the phone call, an email with the directions and other information the Visitor needs to know, is also suggested to be sent by a Visitor host.
  • The Visitor Host prepares the Visitor name badges the night before thus letting the Visitor know when they arrive, that they were expected.
  • The morning of the meeting, the member who invited the Visitor needs to arrive early to greet their Visitor.  
  • The morning of the meeting, the Visitor Hosts arrive early to set up the Visitor registration table with all necessary material so that all the Visitors feel welcome.
  • A Visitor hosts meets and welcomes the Visitors, helps them get signed in, and introduces them to someone in their contact sphere.
  • (Great Chapters train their members, that ALL members are Visitor Hosts and they fill in and help out wherever it's needed.  After all, Visitors are potential business for all members.).
  •  The Visitor is given a Visitor Information packet, i.e. BNI brochure, agenda, Chapter Member information/roster, etc.
  • During the meeting, the member who invited the member, sits with their Visitor and answers questions and helps them through the agenda.  If there are any orphaned Visitors, a Visitor Host sits with them.  A Visitor should never be left alone.
  • After the meeting, Visitor Orientation is held and the Visitors are given information about the benefits of BNI membership.  
  • The Visitor Hosts helps the Visitors who have questions and assist those ready to complete an application.
  • After the meeting, the Visitor Host follows up with the Visitors with a phone call, thanking them for attending and answers any questions they may have.
  • The member who invited the Visitor should also follow up with their Visitor.
  • Power Team members of the Visitor should follow up with the Visitor.  This could be the start of a referral partner relationship even if the Visitor doesn't join the chapter.
  • The Visitor's information is verified in the system and their attendance is marked, so that they will become part of the BNI engagement process and receive periodic emails.
  • It is recommended that Chapters keep in touch with past Visitors.  They are great resources for subs.  They may be able to fill open seats should they become available.  Invite them back for a second visit and/or for Focused Visitor Days, i.e. for a featured speaker, stack days, Power Team Days, etc.
Visitors who feel welcomed are more apt to do business with the Chapter members and quite possibly consider membership.  It's important to help them feel welcome from the time they register, at the meeting, after the meeting, and beyond.  They are potential sources of business whether they become members of not.  

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You're Invited to Get More Referrals & Make More Money

From January 2019
 
How did you find out about BNI?  
Were you invited to a BNI meeting?
Why did you want to become part of BNI?  
To get more referrals and make more money?

BNI's philosophy is 'Giver's Gain.'  If we give more, we will receive more.  We typically think of that in the context of giving referrals, but inviting is also a way of giving.  So let's examine the benefits and value of inviting visitors so that we understand 'Why' we should invite.

Let's start with the Value of a Visitor - Did you know that each visitor brings an additional $1000 to $1500 to the chapter in TYFCB even if they don't join.  Your fellow members offer products and services that visitors may be looking for.  Plus the visitors you bring to your meeting also get to see and hear about why you do.  So by inviting visitors, you are bringing potential referrals to your fellow members.

Here are some statistics from a couple of local chapters and the TYFCB they have reported from their Visitors:

Jul - Dec - 2018
Chapter A - $49,300
Chapter B - $29,900

Benefits of Inviting - In addition to bringing potential referrals to the other members, there are other benefits of having visitors at your meetings.  They add energy to the meetings.  Have you ever noticed that when visitors are present, the meeting is more energized?  Members tend to want to do a better infomercial when visitors are in the room.  They have the opportunity to meet new people who might be interested in their products and services or may be a potential referral partner for them.  Every person knows between 250 and 500 people.  That's the potential of introductions when you have visitors as explained by Tim Roberts in his podcast on 'Inviting.'

And -  Yes, Visitors often times become Members of BNI.  How did you find out about BNI?  Did someone invite you?  Did they give you a reason, a benefit, for attending a meeting?  Think about, when inviting, giving a benefit as to why a person should attend.  By doing this, they are more apt to attend.  This simple script is an easy way to invite.

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Showing up is 80% of Success!

From December 2018

The more you show up, the more money you make and There's hard data to back this up.
 
In podcast #490 - Dr. Misner presents statistics which support that the more members show up the more money members make.  The members who have the fewest absences close the most business. Fewer absences = more referrals. Three absences in six months (the maximum) lead to 73% less business.  I would say then the clique 'Out of sight, Out of mind' is true then when it comes to Showing Up at your BNI meeting every week.

Your BNI Meeting is like meeting with your Best Client!
  • Put it on your Calendar - If you had a meeting scheduled with your best client, would you bump them if a new prospect called?
  • Schedule around your BNI meeting
best_practices.jpg
But Is just showing up enough? 

It's true that showing up at BNI meetings increases the number of referrals you get, but showing up is just the beginning.   
 
There is another podcast #329 called "Did Woody Allen get it Right?"
 
He told the story of a BNI member who said to him, 'You know, I've been showing up to meetings every week and I'm not getting any referrals.' Dr. Misner's response was that showing up to meetings is only one ingredient in the BNI Attendance Success Formula.

The other Success Ingredients are - Show up Early, Be Prepared, and Be Engaged
  • Show up early (15 minutes early) to network - Ever heard this -  
    'If you're on time, you're Late.'
    • Every BNI meeting has 15 minutes built into the beginning of the agenda for Open Networking.  Why?  To engage with your fellow BNI members.  To meet the visitors.  Remember visitors are a potential source of business and possible future members.
  • Be Prepared -  
    Create a weekly presentation that changes every week and focuses on a small element of your business.   Keep it fresh. Tell your chapter members about all aspects of your business one week at a time.  
  • Invite Visitors to introduce to your referral organization.  This builds credibility with your fellow BNI members.
  • Bring referrals to other members. Remember this is about giver's gain.
  • Be Engaged in the meeting - not watching your phone, not texting, etc.  Turn your phone off and put it away unless you're expecting an emergency call from a family member.  Would you have your phone out if you were meeting with your best client.
And if you Really Want to be Successful - Go the Extra Mile - Go All In  
 
It is not enough just to show up at the meeting each week. You have to do the extras outside the weekly meetings.
  • Schedule 1-2-1 meetings with a different person every week. Get to know all the members so you can be a good referral source.  Don't just meet with them one time.  Keep meeting with them on a regular basis to get to know them and their business.  Another good podcast is one by Tim Roberts, BNI US National Director - Power of One to Ones.
  • Immerse yourself in education. If you want to do anything well, you need to always be in a learning mode. 'The more you learn, the more you earn.'  Most people have to do some sort of training to keep up to date with their business.  The same applies to BNI.  Learn to be the best networker you can be.  It's part of what you paid for with your BNI membership.
  • Say yes to becoming a part of your chapter's Leadership/Support team. It's a great way to increase your visibility and, if you do your job well, it increases your credibility - which leads to Profitability.
So, here's my take away. Yes, showing up every week for your chapter meeting is important. However, There is a formula for success that has been perfected over the many years that BNI has been around.   Learn it, understand it and create your own success.

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Are You in Profitability?

From November 2018

VCP - Visibility + Credibility = Profitability
 
What is this formula and what does it mean?
 
Visibility is pretty self-explanatory. People know who you are and may know what you do.

 
 
Credibility means that people know who you are and understand that you do a good job at what you do. They may use your products and/or services.

 
Profitability is when someone knows, likes, and trust you, uses your products/services, and gives you referrals.  You will know you are in 'profitability' when you are getting tier 3, 4, and 5 referrals that resulted from your involvement with BNI.  

 
We all became a part of BNI to increase our business, get referrals, and make more money. Depending on a person's industry and how well they follow the BNI formula for success will depend on how long it takes them to get to Profitability.

VCP is a referral process, not a sales process. If the majority of your clients aren't giving you referrals, then you are only at Credibility with your clients, not at Profitability. It's possible that you can have a lot of Visibility and a lot of Credibility, but NOT have Profitability. Rather than a formula, VCP is a continuum. Profitability does not result automatically from Visibility and Credibility.

Getting to Profitability takes time and work. Here is one BNI member's story when asked does BNI work.

A member was asked about the investment and how much money he made in BNI as a member.  The member responded with... "In my first year in BNI, I made 4 times my membership fees investment.  It wasn't until my second year where I saw the real difference.  This year I have already made over 20X my investment and the year is only half way through.  It took me a year to learn how to talk about my business effectively, learn how to give and get qualified referrals, and conduct enough 1-2-1's to understand the other members in the room.  See BNI takes time.  There are no quick fixes and fast results here.  It takes time and work to do anything worthwhile and to build strong lasting relationships.  The VCP model takes time to move from visibility to credibility and it took longer to move from credibility to profitability.  I am now in profitability with my best referral partners."
 
Mike Barbieri, Executive Director adds - There is "WORK" in Networking.  We have many 90-minute members in BNI.  Where some of our members are present for the 90 minutes during our weekly meeting and forget about their BNI team until next week's meeting.  We are all busy.  That is not an alibi nor excuse.  I hear people say, "I do not have time to work on BNI."  What I hear is... "I do not have time to work on my business."  No matter what excuse you are telling yourself, you should not be working on BNI in the first place.  You should be working ON YOUR business.  Do you tell people that you are working on your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system?  No, because that is a business software tool.  Why do you say I am working on BNI?  Isn't BNI a framework, a platform or a tool to help you and your business be accountable and generate more money for you and your team?  Maybe we should change how we think about BNI.  So, block some time each week in your busy schedule and work on your business.  Go out and network, meet new people make new friends, develop new relationships, invite new visitors, learn more, and generate more money.  They say that your net worth and your network is the new currency.  It is not always what you know, but who you know and sometimes how well you know them.

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Is Your Chapter On Fire, On Hold, or In a Hole?

From September 2018
    
On October 1st each chapter will welcome a new Leadership and Support Team.  By then they will have completed their training, set their goals, and mechanisms to achieve their goals for their upcoming term.  Their goals will be the things they want to accomplish for the upcoming year.  The mechanisms will be how they will  accomplish those goals.


I like to ask each new incoming Leadership Team, how do you want to be remembered a year from now?  What do you want to accomplish?  Where is your chapter now and where do you want it to be a year from now?  What do you want your legacy to be?  Set your Chapter's goals accordingly?

 

Support Team Members and Chapter Members need to consider these questions also and determine how they need to contribute to the overall goals of the chapter.

So where is your chapter now?  In Dr. Misner's podcast #480 - 'Is Your Chapter On Fire, On Hold, or In a Hole?,' he describes these stages.  (Below is a summary of the podcast.  I recommend listening or reading it in it's entirety). 

On Fire
These chapters are energized, goal-oriented, and thriving. They're generating a lot of referrals with a high value. They're the biggest groups-or on their way to being it. Members of the leadership team attend all the required trainings, and more. BNI members in these chapters have completed their BNI Connect profiles and pass referrals every week. They conduct effective one-to-ones. And they have fun together.  The majority of the members have a green or yellow for their Power of One Report.

On Hold
These chapters are still generating referrals and revenue, but they're just going through the motions. They do the minimum and get average results. Sometimes these groups have been on fire in the past, but became complacent and started to slide. They've often given up on growth, and don't follow all the suggestions of their regional directors and the BNI policies.

In a Hole
These chapters are struggling with attendance. They're not holding members accountable. They have difficulty retaining members. These chapters focus on problems rather than solutions. They don't follow the agenda and policies of BNI very well, and they often regard their regional director as an outsider rather than a resource.

Where does your group stand right now? If your group is on fire, congratulations. That's how BNI is supposed to be. If your group is on hold, it's not that hard to transition to being on fire. Even if you're in a hole, you can break out of that, as long as the leadership team and the membership are committed to change.

The key to improvement is being very honest with yourself, recognizing where you are, and want to make improvements to be more successful and productive. 

Why settle for mediocrity when excellence is an option?  Excellence is an option in all BNI chapters all around the world. 

It was Jim Collins in Good to Great who said, "What is the enemy of good?" People would say, well, bad. That is not the answer.  The question is "What is the enemy of great?" and most people answer "bad". The answer to what is the enemy of great is good. Not bad. Good is the enemy of great.

You have heard people say it. "That is good enough." "That will work." Oftentimes, and certainly in BNI, good is the enemy of great. On hold is often good, but on fire is great.
One way to determine which stage your chapter is in, is have all of the members complete the 'Rate Your Chapter worksheet which can be downloaded from this link.  This is a great assessment tool.  Ask your members to be very honest with their answers.  Evaluate the ratings and take action accordingly moving forward.  Build your goals to take your chapter from good to GREAT!!

I will close with some quotes for Leadership Teams, Support Team Members, as well as all Chapter Members. 
 
The Leadership team sets the tone for the chapter.  
As quoted by Mark Kay Ash - 'The speed of the Leader is the speed of the Team.'  

Charles Lauer - 'Leaders don't force people to follow, they invite them on a journey.'

Leaders are developers, team builders, imaginers, cultural caretakers, roadblock removers and inspirers.  Their success depends on enabling the success of others.

The Entire Team is important.

T.E.A.M. Definition - 'Together Each Achieves More.'

Henry Ford said 'Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success.'

Mother Teresa - 'I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot, but together we can do great things.'

So what contributions are you making to the success of Your team/to the chapter?  There are many tasks that need to be done.  Talk to your Leadership Team as to your skill set and what you can do to contribute.  By becoming more involved, you increase you Visibility which increases your Creditability.

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What is the Real Secret of Successful Chapters?

From August 2018

Imagine that you got into an airplane and learned that the pilot didn't complete his training. How comfortable would you be?  The leadership team are your pilots and copilots of your chapter.  In podcast #464, Dr. Misner talks about what the real secret is for Successful Chapters.


This time of the year chapters have selected their Leadership and Support Teams for the upcoming term.  The LT and Support Teams are asked to complete training so that they understand their roles and responsibilities for their new positions as well as understand how all the parts of BNI work together.  

BNI also wants to ensure that chapters aren't suffering from the 'leaky bucket syndrome.'  The 'leaky bucket syndrome' is explained in Podcast #510.  Have you ever played the 'Telephone Game?'  It's basically when information gets passed down for several generations and sometimes gets misinterpreted or some information 'leaks out' and doesn't get passed down.


For instance, have you ever gone back through some sort of training and had those Ah-ha moments when certain material was presented?  And you remembered you had forgot about that and say to yourself you need to remember that.  This is why BNI asks that the LT and Support Teams take the necessary training.  It's a refresher/re-certification for some and a brand new experience for others. It's to ensure everyone is on the same page.

BNI is successful today with over 8,500 chapters in more than 80 countries- because they really believe in lifelong learning and training and education.  It is one of the Core Values of BNI.

Every member is invited to attend Leadership Training whether or not you're serving in a Leadership or Support role.  Please register on BNIATL.com.  The 3 trainings in September are 9/10 in Smyrna, 9/18 in Newnan, and 9/26 in Buford.  There will also be an Networking Expo following each training.  See below for more information.

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