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
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