Education Slots

I started delivering the Education Slots in April 2012 for the Solihull BNI Foundation Chapter.  Like most people taking on this role, the thought of delivering an input every week of use for other members was initially quite daunting; however, I hope I have succeeded in giving other BNI members, substitutes and visitors some food for thought each week.

I plan to upload many of the inputs over the next few weeks as well as uploading many of the inputs delivered since April.

Andy Gregory
BNI Foundation Member
Senior Team Leader with the Utility Warehouse Discount Club
www.saveyoumoney.org.uk

BNI Quiz

Part one

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five BBC Sports personality of the year trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss UK contest.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade's worth of Premiership football winners.

How did you do?


Here's another quiz:

Part two - See how you do on this one:

1. List three teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time. 

3 Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with .

Easier?

Part Three - in respect of BNI

What has BNI achieved for me?

What do I want to achieve in my career/business with BNI?

How am I going to make this happen?

What’s my commitment to my fellow BNI-ers?

What are my BNI goals?

Part One:

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Part Two:

The lesson:

The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.” 
~ Charles Schultze (Adapted by me)

Part Three:

If this was an interview for a new post – we’d have to prove we wanted the job …. I’m interviewing shortly for a new post in my day job ….

Why you?  Why should you be accepted into the BNI Foundation Chapter?

What can you bring to the table/team?

What’s your commitment to others?

Write down as an affirmation – My commitment to the BNI Foundation Chapter is:

Training – Why do we bother?

  

Many of you will know that I am what’s known as a Senior Team Leader with my Utility Warehouse Business (www.saveyoumoney.org.uk ) and through my training I have followed a brilliant business mentor called Jim Rohn.  I have often quoted Jim Rohn here at BNI meetings …. One of his favourite quotes (and no doubt he ‘borrowed’ it from elsewhere) is “The more I practice, the luckier I become”.

We have all recently marvelled at the feats of our Olympic athletes, but I wonder how many people were watching the TV or various events and said “He was lucky to win” or “She was lucky to win that event” etc etc etc …..   Most of the athletes attending the Olympic games from all the countries participating will have had to have qualified via a variety of qualifying events etc …..   I am sure none us think that Mo Farah or Jessica Ennis won their gold medals by pure luck …. nor Seb Coe when he won his medals in the 1980s.

For some people training can be an emotive topic and enjoy attending training events, while others probably question why they have to attend and what they’ll actually derive from the training session (be that in their own business or for BNI training). Whatever your thoughts, let’s look at why training might actually be a good or attractive option to consider.

Some key benefits:

-         You will learn how to give and receive quality referrals; how to present your business to others and how to get the best out of your membership,

-         You will meet other members from across the region – some you may know and others you will not have met before or only see occasionally. They CAN be VALUABLE new members of YOUR network,

-         Opportunities for you to GAIN BUSINESS before, during or after the training,

-         You will earn credibility from your colleagues and fellow members in our chapter. They will see you as someone committed to not only the growth of the chapter, the growth of your business but also their business.

-         The above are a few reasons, but I’m sure you can all think of a few more.

If you ever needed surgery, how would you feel about being operated on by an untrained surgeon? …. Or what if you were in court accused of a crime you did not commit, would you prefer to be defended by a trained lawyer or someone who only thinks they know the law?

But that’s different I hear you say – “Of course we’d want a trained professional in situations like these” ….. So my question to you right now is “If my BNI chapter is indeed the economic group I depend on to refer me and grow my business, would I want them all to be trained on how to do it better … or not”?

We know from statistics that if no-one in the chapter attends training then a chapter will pass 0.6 referrals per week per member.  If 40% of the chapter attends training then it rises to 1.1 referrals per week per member…… while if 90% of the chapter attend regular training and are well-trained then the figure rockets to 1.8 referrals per member per week …. Three times the amount of referrals than a chapter where only 40% attend training.  So armed with that data – is it worthwhile attending training?

Remember – BNI is not an add-on to your day to day work … it’s a central ingredient. If you want to gain more business, get more from our BNI membership and win more opportunities for yourself and fellow members, then we should all attend more training. It makes complete sense for us all to fine-tune our skills and become better equipped to help each other.

In conclusion – I suggest that training is like everything else in life; what you get out of it is in proportion to the time, energy and enthusiasm that you put into it. I have been to many training sessions in my life – some great, some not so great …. but always with an open mind to learn something new…..

Some people may say I have been lucky in business …. However, to build on the opening comments ….. I’d like to think it’s this:-

“The harder I work, the more training I attend, the more I practice ….. the luckier I become”!

Delivered 5 September 2012

The Hour of Power or 'Power Hour'

Ok - (this is where I ask two or three members of the group) "what percentage of your business do you get from BNI"? 

Gather the answers and say to the group ......  we should all be able to analyse how much of our business is generated from our BNI chapter..... 

Various answers will come out of the Q and A session .....  but let's assume a minimalistic figure of around 20%. 

Then taking a working week of 5 days – can we assume that if BNI gives you 20% of your business, you spend 20% of your time (ie one day) on BNI???

No – I hear you say?  So how long should you spend on BNI outside the meeting?

Get answers from the group – settle on one hour.  Let’s call it the “BNI Hour of Power” and the results it can produce can be truly extraordinary.

Successful leadership teams encourage members to set aside one hour a week in which they focus solely on BNI activity. Think about it: If you stopped everything in your day and decided just to focus on BNI for one hour, what would you do? Would you be at a loss to fill the time?

Or would you have a number of different activities that you could immediately pursue to give you a tremendous impetus in developing business for chapter colleagues, whilst also giving your own business a major boost at the same time?

Break the “Hour of Power” down into three distinct and easily identifiable groups of activity. Give the members the three main options (referrals, visitors, 1-2-1's), then in small groups (if this is a ten minute slot - or deliver from the front for a large group).....  let them brainstorm ideas within each category. Then get members to shout out their answers.

1.                          Focus on generating referrals:

-  Work on referrals for the previous week’s 10 minute speaker

- Review each member’s “most wanted referral” from the previous week (this ensures that you are carefully recording what each of your colleagues are looking for at each meeting),

- Follow up on possible referrals, to turn them into certainties,

- Review your contacts list to see what introductions can be made for fellow members,

- Review your diary of upcoming customer/client meetings to see what opportunities there might be to introduce other members’ businesses or services at each meeting.

2.                          Focus on inviting visitors:

- Follow up with previously invited visitors to see if they are ready to join,

- Review the list of trade/professional categories that your chapter most wants to fill, and check your own customer and contacts lists to see if you can identify suitable visitors,

- Make invitation calls,

- Send invitation cards and e-mails confirming venue details for visitors,

-  Make reminder follow-up calls to visitors the day before the meeting.

3.                          Focus on your one-to-ones:

- Plan, diarise and prepare for your one-to-one meetings with other members,

- Follow up on actions arising from previous one-to-one meetings.

We would all like our BNI Foundation Team to be doing considerably more BNI things throughout their working day, but everyone that has adopted the Hour of Power has found that it can transform any member’s experience within BNI, almost instantaneously increasing the value of business generated and received by over ten-fold.

None of the benefits of BNI membership are guaranteed, just as success in life is never a matter of luck.  It is always the result of working and developing a carefully honed and fine tuned system of success.  Applying and incorporating the Hour of Power into your weekly schedule will take you a long way towards receiving the best possible return on your membership.

Delivered 30 August 2012

The Olympics

Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937)  (French Educator, primarily responsible for the revival of the Olympic Games in 1894)

quotes:

“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.”

So how does that link to BNI?    Well I’m sure you can guess …. That it’s the taking part that counts.  The fact that we get here every Friday morning and participate …. clearly puts us ahead of the crowd.    The quote on the banner outside that we see every week is so true ….

So few people and businesses have a plan... 

So few people and businesses set goals…

So few people train …

So few people have any form of continuing professional development…

Watching people like Sir Chris Hoy, (hopefully Sir) Bradley Wiggins and Michael Phelps etc... this last few weeks must I am sure inspire all of us …. but they haven’t achieved their dreams overnight …. It’s been years and years of early starts and sacrifices to get where they have in life…..

Some of their events may have ‘sprint’ in the title …. but none of their journeys have been ‘sprints’   … most have been a hard slog ….  and at times seemed like a marathon….. but it has been the compound effect of little steps and little actions that have pushed them to new heights throughout their lives.

So for us in business, I am not suggesting that we need to sleep in our back bedrooms in an oxygen tent (like Bradley Wiggins) or live on top of a mountain for months on end, training at altitude (like Sir Steve Redgrave) …. I am just suggesting that we take regular small steps to develop our business …. set goals …. and most importantly embrace the opportunities we have through BNI.

Think about it for a moment … and then think about your own business…..  Has Gary become successful overnight? No……  Has Karl …. No? …. Has Julie? No (a long hard slog, particularly taking on a new print shop recently in Walsall) …. Has Brian (how many other people would want to turn their hand to a new profession as a florist and open a number of other stalls) … what about Mike (travelling 160 miles+ every day to work…..

So what are the small steps we can take….. think about BNI every day….. referrals, visitors, new members, one to ones, training etc.....  all give us the great opportunities to be ahead of the competition out there.

Traffic Lights Scores For Each Section

As we know, all BNI members are tracked to see how they perform.  We are all part of BNI to promote our own businesses, but also to assist other businesses in our chapter. With the philosophy of 'Givers Gain', BNI membership is measured on various aspects ... and the more we put into the chapter, the more it will develop and the more business we will all generate.  So I thought this week I would discuss how the (grey, red, amber, green) 'Traffic Lights' system works and how we are scored for each section.....

Each section scores between 0 and 20 points and the scores for each section are as follows:-

Absenteeism               <1=15 ,            1=10,                2=5                 >2=0

Referrals per week      <0.5=0,                  <0.75=5,               <1=10,               <1.2=15,             >=1.2=20

Thank you for the business    <£1000=0,             <£2500=5,            <£5000=10,             >£5000=15

Average visitors per week      <0.083=0,               <0.167=5,                  <0.25=10,            <0.5=15,              >0.5=20

Testimonials per week             <0=0,                    <0.075=5,                 >0.075=10

Arriving on time                          >1=0  (i.e., late more than once)                    =0=5  (never late = 5 points)

Attended BNI Training                      0=0,                         1=5,                         2=10,                      3=15

All are scored over the past 6 months.

Delivered 19th April 2012

List Building

Here’s a way to build a list of prospective BNI guests as well as customer referral opportunities. Use this form along with your ‘Personal Prospect List’ in the BNI Member Success Training Manual.

The system uses the FROGS matrix… contacts that you know that fall into various categories  – Friends, Relatives, Occupational, Geographical and Social…… additionally, I have now added LinkedIn, other Social Networking contacts and other Networking Groups you may have attended.. 

Contacts:	F	R	O	G	S		L	SN	NG
Friends
Relatives
Occupational
Geographical
Social
LinkedIn
Social Networking
Other Networking Groups

On the rear of this sheet – start by writing a list of 20 names in each of the categories e.g., twenty friends, twenty relatives and so on ….. then using the grid, try and add to the list – e.g. friends down the left column and using the columns along the top try and recall other people you know – friends of friends; friends of relatives; friends of people you have worked with (occupational contacts) etc …..  Then use this list to generate customers for your BNI contacts AND invite as guests.

Friends: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20	Relatives: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20	Occupational Contacts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Geographical Contacts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20	Social Contacts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20	LinkedIn / Other Contacts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Delivered 12/04/2012