Building your Referral Team

Surrounding yourself with the right referral partners ensures a long term, sustainable referral network. In order to find the right referral partners we must be on the watch – all the time. Meeting good, solid, trustworthy business professionals is an ongoing activity. It never stops. It becomes a habit.

If you’re in a structured referral network like BNI, you’re always on the lookout for excellent business professionals. Those people who exemplify Givers Gain without even knowing it. Here’s the trick, though, the only way to find those people is to be consistently asking your contacts, and the people you meet, who they know.

That’s the only way.

Here’s the really good news…it’s easy.

Every time you’re on the phone

Ask the person you’re talking to “Who do you know who is a ____________?” I know that it feels awkward. If you phase the question exactly like that, you’ll get an answer. But you have to actually ask the question, and most importantly, you have to remember to ask the question. I put a post-it note on the phone to help me remember. Writing down the question will help you remember.

Every time you’re in a meeting

Ask the person you’re meeting with “Who do you know who _______________?” In a meeting this is a great question since the person will probably ask you why and you’ll be able to share your BNI members. Again, you must remember to do it. (I find writing it down helpsJ)

Every time you send an email (to someone you know)

Ask the recipient, “Who do you know who___________?” And you could let the recipient know that your referral network has business for that person. The hardest part? Remembering to do it.

Using these techniques allows you to easily leverage your contacts without investing additional time. And it benefits your referral network.

All it takes is remembering to do the activity.

Let us know how it worked.

Keep Your Referral Partners Top of Mind

Participation in a referral network means that you agree to do your best to recognize referral opportunities for your referral partners. And they will do the same for you. To work most effectively, this approach is best defined as Givers Gain. And more than just the slogan for your referral organization – it’s actually a business style.

Not everyone does business on the premise of “what goes around comes around”. It’s an unique attitude and those business people who have it are those who enjoy connecting two people who can offer mutual benefit to each others’ businesses. It’s kind of like being a matchmaker.

In order to be a successful matchmaker we must have our referral partners in mind all the time. Because you never know when an opportunity will arise.

So how do we do that? We all have hundreds of things going on in our lives all the time. How do we add “remember referral partners” to the list?

Here are a few techniques that might help.

Every Monday morning check your weekly schedule

Take just a couple of minutes to see who you’ll be meeting with this week. Can you connect any of those people to a referral partner? If you can, make a note to do so. This technique alone may provide 2 or 3 opportunities to promote a referral partner.

Take notes at your referral meeting this week.

At www.bnigh.com you can print a list of all your members with a space allocated to each for note taking. Print it and take notes. Not necessarily copious notes about every single member, but jot down a couple of things that you can do for a member based on what they’ve asked for in their infomercial. Then refer back to those notes when you get to your office and do what you jotted down.

Book BNI time.

Every successful marketing program takes implementation. Your BNI referral network is no different. Schedule 30 minutes every week (actually block the time on your calendar), look through your BNI card caddy and think about who you can help. Decide what you can do for that person – and then do it. A last tip is to transfer your weekly speaker’s business card to the first, top sleeve in your card caddy to help you think about that person in particular.

Referral opportunities don’t happen magically. (Boy, I wish they did!) They take planning and doing. But when you find them – they sure can create magic.

Share your best “how I think about my members” tip with us.

Letting Folks Know About Your Referral Partners

There are a number of great ways to let people know about your referral network. I’ve been working with referral groups for 15 years and these activities get results. They're designed to make it easy for you to open conversations about your referral partners. See if one, or two, might work for you.

If you have a retail/office/reception space:

Display your BNI colleagues’ business cards with an invitation to your clients or patients to have a look through them. The display could be a simple binder or an elaborate wall-mounted card holder – whichever is most appropriate in your space.

If you complete paperwork while your clients wait:

Give you client your BNI card caddy and invite them to look through it in case they need the services/products of any of your colleagues. Let them know you’d be pleased to make the connection.

If you send invoices to your clients:

Include a list of your referral partners with the invoice. You can print a simple listing from the website as http://www.bnigh.com/. With a note, let your clients know that this is a list of your preferred referral partners and you’d be happy to introduce them.

 If you communicate with your clients by email:

Add a link to your BNI chapter website or your chapter listing at http://www.bnigh.com/ to your signature. Let you clients know that you would be happy to connect them to your trusted referral partners.

If you have a website:

Set up a page highlighting your preferred referral partners, or link to their pages.

If you use online networking sites like LinkedIn or Facebook:

Share testimonials about your BNI referral partners. Link to their sites.

These are just a few examples of how you can keep your referral partners actively top of mind with your contacts. After all, success in any referral network relies on consistent, proactive word of mouth.

Let us know which one you’ll try.

Truly Effective Business Building Interviews (BBIs)

The biggest challenge with Business Building Interviews (besides actually getting both parties to show upJ) is the length of time they can take. I’ve heard stories about BBIs that have lasted 2 and 3 hours. No matter how enjoyable they may have been – that’s just too long. Let me explain.

BBIs are meant to be business meetings, but because BNIers know and like each other, BBIs can become very social. Social is fine, as long as the business aspect is dealt with because the business side is where you’ll find the referral opportunities.

There are a number of great guidelines for BBIs. I’ll share a few here.

If you’re having your first BBI with a BNI colleague, I recommend using:

1. the GAINS Profile and One-to-one BBI Worksheet (pgs. 15 and 16 in the MSP manual).
2. Also, the BBI guidelines, on page 13 of the MSP manual, offer terrific suggestions.
3. In preparation for the BBI ask your partner to bring her GAINS profile and BBI worksheet as well.

Using these tools makes it easier for you to stay on track and begin to get the information you need to recognize referrals.

If you’ve already had one BBI with a BNI colleague are you finished?

No. One BBI isn’t enough to learn what you need to know.

The BBI worksheet is an excellent tool for continuous BBIs.

In my opinion every BNI member should have at least one completed BBI worksheet for every one of their members. And that worksheet should be updated regularly. The only goal for BBIs is to find out how you can give referrals to your fellow member and vice versa. BBIs are where the referrals are. If you’re feeling that you’re not getting enough business, check out your BBI activity (you can track it easily online at http://www.bnigh.com/).

Another suggestion about BBIs. I’ve heard that sometimes it’s difficult to book BBIs with certain members. Either they won’t commit to a time and date, or when they do, they don’t show up. My advice is to give it a second chance (there may have been an acceptable reason) and if the same thing happens again – move on. I don’t have time to chase people in order to help them. If one person doesn’t want my help and support I move on to find someone who does. Don’t let one negative experience stop you from creating successful referral relationships

One last thought about BBIs – you’ll only remember to schedule them regularly if you make it a habit. The easiest way to make it a habit is to book one every week during the Open Networking part of the BNI meeting. You have 15 minutes every week to coordinate a one-to-one BBI with at least one member. You don’t have to book it for the next week, you can book it 2 to 3 weeks out – but at least you’ve got it on your calendar.

Start your new habit this week. And share some of your best BBI tips here.