Teamwork

Happy New Year!  Yes, October 1st starts a new year for BNI Chapters.  The new Leadership Teams are set to start their new term as of October 1st.  For BNI Chapters to be successful as a whole and for chapter members to be successful, it takes everyone in the chapter working together and doing their part.  It takes Teamwork.  

So what is Teamwork?  I like this definition - 'A cooperative or coordinated effort on the part of a group of persons acting together as a team in the interests of a common cause.'

 

Here are the ingredients that I believe make a good recipe for a successful Team and for a successful BNI Chapter.

Goals - Every BNI member becomes a part of a BNI Chapter to receive referrals in order to make money.  But in order for the individuals to reach their goals, the chapter has to have a set of goals and a plan to be successful, which in turn will help each individual member reach their goals and see the value in their membership. What are your chapter's goals?

Everyone doing their fair share - I believe that every member in a chapter needs to have a role/responsibility.  As the description says, 'everyone working together as a team.'  Like a football team, the water boy's role is essential to the quarterback staying hydrated in order to make a touchdown.  Every role and responsibility contributes to the success of the team.  What role/responsibility do you have in your chapter? What skills do you have that would benefit your chapter?

Communication/Feedback - BNI chapters are made up of a diverse group of people with different backgrounds and different styles of communication.  When issues are raised, it's not necessarily a complaint, but an awareness that needs attention.  Perhaps it is a lack of understanding of the process or the procedure.  How does your chapter handle feedback?  The Chapter Success Meeting provides a great place for sharing information, providing feedback and working out issues.  Does your chapter have a monthly Chapter Success Meeting that is open to all members?  Do your members know the process for handling issues?

Growth - Just like every business wants to grow to make more money, BNI chapters need to grow in order for their members to have more opportunities for referrals.  What is your chapter's plan to have more visitors and to grow the membership?

Accountability - This is a hard one for some chapters.  In BNI, members get to be friends and it is sometimes hard to tell your friend they are not doing their fair share.  But in high functioning teams, it is a necessity to provide feedback and hold members accountable.  Think about if you were part of a rowing team and one member was not doing their fair share of rowing or not rowing in the right direction, what would happen?  You would be going in circles, staying in one place, or going backwards.  In order to be part of a high functioning team and reap the rewards, you have to be willing to work at the level expected of a high functioning team and give and accept feedback on ways to improve.  What are the expectations for the members of your chapter?  

Continuous Improvement - I like Maya Angelou's quote, 'Do better until you know better and then do better.'  In order for teams to be successful, they have to have goals and a plan and they need to review their progress continuously to see how they are doing.  By reviewing, analyzing, making adjustments, etc. they can keep the chapter on course to reach and exceed their goals.  What goals and mechanisms does your chapter have in place for making improvements?

Fun and Recognition - Lastly and one of the most important parts of a successful recipe of successful teams is to have fun and celebrate success.  Celebrating individual as well as group achievements gives a team a since of accomplishment.  With every accomplishment it gives encouragement to work for more.  How does your chapter have fun, celebrate, and recognize success?

Your Support Team is here to help you, i.e. Your Director Consultant, Area Director, Senior Director, and Executive Directors.  If you or your chapter needs help or have questions, reach out.

Here are some additional resources:

Creating a Great Culture

Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast

Good to Great

5 Dysfunctions of a Team

Behaviors and Credibility

For previous articles refer to my Notably Green Blog.

And join the Facebook Group - Notably Green

I encourage you to access the podcasts via BNI University so that you show up on the Leader board for your Chapter and your area.  To make it easier, you can also download the app to your smart device.  It's available from ITunes and Google.  Also, be sure and report your CEUs, 1 hour = 1 CEU.

Let me know if you have any questions and how I can be of help.  

 

To Your Success,

 

Annette Mason

Area Director Consultant

404-376-9180

Annette@BNIatl.com

  

Please let me know of other topics you would like to know about that I can add to future newsletters. 

What to do when you get a Bad Referral

From time to time we receive referrals from other members that are not good referrals.

So what is a bad referral?  Most often, the complaint I hear is, a referral that does not have valid contact information, no phone number or email.  The member states - 'I gave them your card.'  'I referred you on Facebook, Nextdoor, etc.'  I agreed, these are not valid referrals.

While giving member's business cards to prospects is good, the member should ask, 'May I have them call you.?  If yes, then you provide the contact information and that is a good referral.  If no, then send the member an email and tell them you gave someone (give their name) your card.  If they call you, let me know if they contact you so that I can turn it in as a valid referral.  Same for recommendations made on Facebook/Nextdoor.

So what do you do when you get a bad referral?  Talk to the person who gave you the bad referral. Ask questions about the referral. Ask for the contact information.  If the member says they don't have it or perfers not to give the information to you, explain that you would appreciate next time that they wait until the person is ready and willing to talk and provide their contact information before passing the referral.  Refer to Podcasts #281 and #439.

Other steps that can be taken, schedule a One to One.  Educate and discuss in detail with the member on what are good referrals for you and what are bad referrals for you.  Ensure that you are being laser specific in your weekly and featured presentations what good referrals are for you.  So are you receiving bad referrals because you are being to general in your Ask?

When you give a bad referral you are damadging your credibility.  From podcast #303 Dr. Misner says, 'The first time I give a poor referral, it's my fault.  But the second time I give a poor referral, it's probably the receiver's fault.  Why?  Because they didn't provide me feedback the first time or they aren't educating me on how to find good referrals for them.'

If you have given feedback to the person who is giving you bad referrals and it continues to happen, go to your membership committee with examples.  Chapter Membership Committees can set rules in regards to what is a valid referral.  Chapter are also encouraged to have 'Referral Reality' checks each week.

What is a 'Referral Reality' check?  The Membership Committee pulls a couple of referrals from previous week's slips and asks the receiver if the referral was a good referral.  Typically if it was a good referral, they call on the member who received the referral and ask them to tell about it at the next meeting.  If it was not a good referral, then the Membership Committee needs to explain to the giver of the referral the parameters of what defines a good referral.  Refer to blog post - 'Definition of a Good Referral' for what is considered a good referral.

Let me know if you have any questions and how I can be of help.  

 

To Your Success,

 

Definition of a Good Referral

"A Referral is an opportunity to do business with someone in the market to buy your product or service."

It is not a guaranteed sale, but an opportunity to discuss the possibility of doing business.

In BNI we are all about Referrals and Lead is considered a four letter word.  What most people sign up for is to give and receive qualified referrals, not leads.

What is the difference in a Referral and Lead?  

- A Lead - The prospect is not expecting a call and it's really not much better than a cold call.
- A Referral - You've been given the prospect's contact information.  The prospect knows who you are and what you do.  The prospect has talked to your mutual acquaintance and is generally expecting your call.  They know you'll be calling and they know what the topic will be.

There are three people involved in a referral - 

-  Referer or the Qualifier - This is the member who is giving the referral.  The member who is asking the questions to qualify the referral.
- The Receiver - Is the member who will be receiving the referral and is expecting the referral to be qualified.
- The Referral - The person is wanting/needing the product or service.

There are Three Key Ingredients of a Quality Referral - 

1. You talked to the prospect about your fellow BNI Member
     - Bonus - You gave a testimonial about your fellow BNI Member.
2. You asked permission for the BNI Member to call/contact the prospect
     - You gave them the BNI Member's card/contact information
3. You gave ALL the pertinent information, i.e. Name, phone number, email, details of the referral, and level of interest to your fellow BNI Member.
     - via BNIConnect in a timely manner.

Anything short of the description above, send an email to your fellow BNI member and tell them that you passed their card or information to someone (give their name) and if they contact them, to please let you know so you can turn it in as a true referral.

Remember the philosophy of BNI is Givers Gain.  You receive what you give.  By giving quality referrals, you will receive quality referrals.

So what do you do if you get what you consider to be a bad referral?  Read the blog post - 'What to do when you get a bad referral.'

Let me know if you have any questions and how I can be of help.  

To Your Success,