Mentoring Makes Money

Do you see your BNI Chapter numbers decreasing more than you see your chapter's TYFCB increasing?  Are members leaving the chapter because they are not getting the value for their membership?

Having a worthwhile Mentoring Program can be just the ticket to strengthening your chapter's income and Power Team numbers.  New Members frequently find BNI systems and processes confusing.  Developing a relationship of trust with a BNI Mentor is often just the thing a new member needs to become a better chapter contributor (which makes all members more money) and makes everyone's BNI membership more worthwhile.

BNI Mentors don't just strengthen their knowledge of BNI systems and processes by being a Mentor, they also have a chance to take a leadership role in their BNI Chapter to also create trust within the group which is key to bigger, better referrals.  Plus your Mentee is sure to never forget how helpful their Mentor is/was.

Being a BNI Mentor is important to both the Mentor, the New Member, but also to the entire BNI Chapter.  When you first become a Mentor you might not fully understand your role or what you can contribute to your Mentee, but whether you still feel new to BNI, or you've been there for ages - you have a lot to contribute to your Chapter (and your business) by being a BNI Mentor.

The BNI Mentoring Program works best when Mentors and Mentees meet weekly for the first few months.

Here is a list of things a Mentor might want to cover with their Mentee:

• Improving BNI Infomercial. Teach what are five key elements to an effective Weekly presentation.  Being 'specific is terrific.'
• Explanation and Preparation for “I have…” section of the meeting
• Invitee brainstorm to build list for the New Member’s Personal Visitor’s Day / Ribbon Cutting
• Feedback from Mentor and/or Chapter Members on the New Member’s most-recent-meeting contribution.
• Clarification of any BNI systems and processes. (E.g. “How do I report my CEUs, One to Ones, etc.?” Reporting TYFCB. GivingTestimonials; etc.)
• 10-minute presentation Preparation (E.g. “What should I say in my 10-minute presentation?”; “Who do I want coming to my 10-minute presentation?”; “What technology can I use?”; “How do I keep to my time limit?”; etc.)
• Work through the BNI “Passport Success Program” and “Member to Success Program" - answer questions, provide clarification, etc.  
• Why it's important to complete the Member to Success program ASAP
• Completing their online profile and the fact it is available outside of BNI.
• Completing their GAINs profile and providing it to other members prior to having a One to One

Yes, being a Mentor is extremely important to new members as well as the chapter and it's the #1 way to live the Givers Gain philosophy.  Getting new members off to a good start learning how BNI works makes them more successful and by them being contributing members it helps the entire chapter be more successful and increases the bottom line.

Additional resources:
Tim Roberts podcast - Benefits of being a Mentor 

In appreciation,

Annette

What is your Vision for the new Decade?

As we turn the page and look to the new year, what is your Vision for 2020?  It's not just a New Year, it's the beginning of a New Decade.  Time to not just set goals for the New Year, but to set BHAG Goals for the Decade!

In Podcast #445, Dr. Misner talks with John Assaraf with OneCoach.  He's also one of the teachers from the movie, The Secret, and he's the author of Having It All and The Answer.

The title of the podcast is 'How to Grow Any Business in Any Market.'  The original podcast was done in 2009 during the recession, but it covers some very good key points on our beliefs and conditioning when it comes to Goal Setting and Visioning of what we want to achieve regardless of the state of the economy.

John gives these three key points in setting a vision:

1. Number one is to set an absolute, clear new vision of what it is you want to achieve. And so let's say you want to earn $100,000 or $250,000 or $1 million, what you want to do is set an absolute, clear vision for the brain to be able to pick up, number one, on that vision, i.e. what would it look like, what would it feel like?.
2. Number two, you want to impress that part into the subconscious or implicit part of the brain.  A visualization technique would be seeing yourself playing at that level over and over and over again so that we create the new neural networks in the implicit part of the brain, which is the automatic side of the brain. Also, create affirmations or declarations that create emotion.  This will actually accelerate the neuron connections of the brain as well.  This is putting our reticular activator in motion.
3. Number three, put ourselves into meditative states through self-hypnosis and use auditory technologies, or brain-and-train technologies, that will embed these new affirmations, or declarations, into the nervous system, basically, of the brain.

Those are three simple things that anybody could do inexpensively to make sure that our brains are being rewired at the part that actually is responsible for 96 to 98 percent of our perceptions and behaviors. And over the course of 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, we're actually reprogramming our brains at the level that's going to cause all of our perceptions and behaviors to change over time thus leading us to meet our goals.

I want to share a story with you.  Many years ago, when I had my first sales position with a direct sales company and before I knew anything about these techniques and the principles of Laws of Attraction this actually worked for me.

After working for this company for about 9 months, I attended their yearly sales seminar.  First time I had flown, so I was very excited.  I was one of the winners of their Fall Sales promotion which added to my excitement.  But the frosting on the cake was when they announced what the next big sales promotion was to be for the company.  They had never offered a promotion this big.  It was a trip for two to Hawaii.  I made up my mind right then and there...I was going.  I took one of the posters from the promotion, packed it in my suitcase, brought it home and hung it on the wall of my workroom.  That was my vision.

Over the next several months, I was focused on what I needed to do to achieve my vision.  I had determined exactly what each week and months sales had to be to meet my goal.  The company had given us 18 months to meet all the criteria to win.  I achieved by goal in 10 months and was the first sales rep to win!  Was it easy, NO!  There were many obstacles to overcome and work through, but I believe that the emotion I put behind the determination and the explicit declaration of, 'I am going,' was my key to achieving my dream in even less time than given.

Later in my career when I worked in a corporate setting, I had the privileged of being exposed to this concept even more through becoming a Master Facilitator in a program called 'Investment in Excellence' which was from Pacific Institute.  It was through this program I learned about the 'Reticular Activator.'  That part of the brain that doesn't know the difference in what is real and what is imagined.  Do if we can imagine with enough emotion we can set the brain in motion to achieve the end result - our vision.  Remember #2 - 'Play at the level in our mind and seeing ourself playing at that level over and over and over again so that we create the new vision.'  The other piece is writing affirmations in the first person as if you have already achieved your goal and put the feeling and emotion into the affirmation, i.e. 'I AM sitting on the beach in Oahu listening to the beautiful Hawaiian music as I watch a gorgeous sunset.'  Can you feel that?

So what is it you want to achieve in 2020?  If it's a monetary level, what would you do with the money?  Buy a new car, buy a new house, take an exotic vacation?  How would the end result make you feel?  Write your affirmations with how the end result would make you feel.

I would love to hear what your BHAG goals are for 2020.  

FYI - On my GAINS profile under the 'What few people know about me....I have won 2 trips to Hawaii with 2 different direct sales companies.  This stuff does work.  

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, support, or have questions, reach out.

Here are some additional resources for Goal Setting:

Grow Any Business in any Market

Stay in Your Flame

Amplifying Results Using a Lens

How Building it Can Make You Fearless*

Limits Are Illusions* 

(*FYI - I am an affiliate for SOC, but I felt these last two were pertinent to the subject)

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

Why am I NOT Getting Quality Referrals?

People do business with and refer those they know, like, and trust.  With that said, how do you 'show up' and present yourself to your fellow members?  It's not so much what we say, as how we show up and what we do.  This quote about sums it up - 

'What you do thunders above your head so loudly, I cannot hear the words you speak.'  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Here are some things to think about to build trust and to be more referable:

• Attendance - Low absences equal more referrals. In podcast #436, goes deep in reviewing the attendance policy.  Did you know that all of the BNI policies were/are created by members, i.e. the International Board of Advisors made up entirely of BNI members. In this podcast, Dr. Misner talks about the results for two chapters and what happened when they started adhering to the attendance policy.  The bottom line, when people show up consistently, they are going to build relationships, they are going to get to know and trust each other better, and they are going to be more committed to giving referrals. The "why" for making sure you have regular attendance is that it has a direct and dramatic linear correlation to referrals.
• Being on time is part of showing up. If you frequently arrive late, you become less referable, because not showing up on time makes you seem less reliable. People will assume that if you show up late to your BNI meeting, you'll show up late to appointments and miss deadlines. Show up to your meeting on time. It's your credibility and your reputation-and participating in open networking leads to more referrals. Read the entire transcript of Podcast #583 with Hazel Walker, 'How late is late?'  Hazel says about people who consistently come late, "what you do some of the time is what you do all of the time. If I am going to refer you, I need to know that you are going to do all the things that you could possibly do to make me look good when I give you the referral. If I give you a referral and you are going to show up late, that does not make me look good, so the likelihood of me giving you referrals dwindles every time I see you come late, especially if you do that consistently. So it is going to impact your referrals over time because it is impacting trust and credibility."
• Presenting yourself and being referable.  In Podcast #577, Meaghan Chitwood talks about not being referable due to her appearance and not making a very good impression.  Per Meaghan, 'I always thought credibility came from knowing what you are talking about, being effective, and things like that. That's what I was focused on, was making sure I was a really good business coach and that I was effectively communicating, but I didn't look the part of a business coach. Perception is reality. So imagine that something as simple as adjusting the way you look, looking more professional to improve your first impression, can lead to more referrals.'
• Full Participation. In Podcast #545, Dr. Misner talks about full participation during the meeting. Putting your phone away. Participate 100% in the meeting. Treat whoever is speaking as if they were the biggest client you could possibly land.  You have to earn trust by showing your fellow members how professional you are and by treating them like prized clients. You wouldn't sit and text on your cell phone in front of a prized client would you?  No, you would give them your full attention. By not giving your fellow BNI members your full attention during the weekly meetings leads to the assumption this is your MO.  And they will not want to trust you with their prized customers.  In Podcast #385, tells about a visitor who didn't want to join a BNI Chapter because so many people were using their cell phones during the meeting.
• Weekly and Featured Presentations.  In Podcast #532, Tiffanie Kellog joins Dr. Misner and explains why members aren't getting more referrals based on their weekly and featured presentations.

Here are some common mistakes - 

• Weekly Presentation Mistakes
  • Reading your presentation. It's better to practice than to read, and better to have a few bullet points to remind you what you want to say than to read your whole presentation.
  • Being vague. Remember, "specific is terrific," especially if you only have 30 seconds. Focus on one product, or service. Never say "anyone" or "everyone."
  • Giving up your weekly presentation when you do a featured presentation. Your weekly presentation can be a great introduction to your featured presentation.
  Featured Presentation Mistakes
  • Focusing on your history instead of why you do what you do and how you help your clients. Remember the goal is to drive referrals.
  • Not making an emotionally charged connection. People won't do business with you if they don't know, like, and trust you.
  • Staring at the screen. Reading your slides will send your audience to sleep. Use images and a few bullet points in your slides.
  • Opening up for Q&A. This can take your presentation far off track. Instead, invite people who have questions to schedule a one-to-one with you or ask them to write it on their business card so you can answer later.
  • Saying "I haven't had time to prepare." You've had six weeks. Saying this makes you look unreliable.
  • Spewing tons of details about your business (verbal vomit). People won't remember it all anyway. Share a couple of points people can hang onto.

• Givers Gain - finding referrals for fellow members.  In Podcast #379, Dr. Misner talks about being in sync with our fellow BNI members. Holding one-to-ones with each other to learn more about one another's business, asking each other how can you help, having that Givers Gain focus is really an effective way of staying in sync and supporting your referral partners. We all need to make a commitment to maintain focus on how we can help each other in business. To look for ways to help each other and to be in sync with one another.  Relationship building is all about collaboration and cooperation and being in sync.
• One to Ones - In Podcast #570, Dr. Misner goes over the statistics that show that more one to ones equal more referrals. Those who do three or more 1-2-1s per month give and receive twice as many referrals as those who do one or fewer 1-2-1s in a month.  In Podcast #562 gives strategizing tips on how to be more effective in your one to ones and how to give and receive more referrals. Scheduling and preparation. Sending Gains profile. Interviewing fellow members to get the most information possible to help find them referrals.
• Follow up. As the old saying goes, 'The fortune is in the follow-up.'  That means following up with fellow members, referrals, clients, etc.  In Podcast #623, Dr. Misner goes over a 24/7/30 plan for follow-up.
• Always learning.  What's not working?  In Podcast #590, Dr. Misner and Meaghan Chitwood talk about if something is not working, perhaps we need to change or eliminate what we're doing. 
  - If you're doing something that works for everyone else and it's not working for you, ask yourself "How can I do this differently and get a better result?"
  - Take a look at the tasks you're engaging in-both within and outside of BNI-and eliminate the tasks that aren't getting results. If you think BNI is taking too much time, talk to your director consultant about how to work your BNI program more effectively.
  - If there's a skill you need to hone in BNI, search BNI University for that topic and you'll find tons of resources.
• Take a Leadership role - Show Up, Participate and Step Up. In Podcast #383, Dr. Misner interviews Don Romero.  'Dan estimates that he could cover 650 years of BNI dues in what he gets out of one year's membership in BNI. His business has so far gathered $25,963,639 in assets from referrals or referrals that come from referrals. For Dan, the ROI of BNI membership is impressive indeed.'
• Time - In Podcast #596, Dr. Misner talks about the time it takes to build good business relationships and when the referrals start clicking in BNI. 

Here are four questions to ask yourself to gain perspective on your efforts and results. Keep asking them until the answers become obvious.

1. Am I being realistic about the amount of time it will take in my profession to gain the critical level of confidence I need?
2. Am I regularly making stimulating, educational presentations to my fellow networkers about the value I provide my clients.
3. Am I doing business with others in my network so I can give them dynamic testimonials and steer business to them so they will return the favor?
4. Am I meeting regularly with my networking colleagues to learn about their businesses so I can confidently refer my contacts to them?

It takes time to build relationships. The best way to speed up the process is to spend time in the process.

For more information check out the videos and podcast listed below.

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, support, or have questions, reach out.

Here are some additional resources:

Show Up Make Money

The Art of Being There

Open Networking

Maximizing Your Professional Image

Collecting Business Cards is not Networking

For previous articles refer to my Notably Green Blog.

And join the Facebook Group - Notably Green

In appreciation,

Annette