Unsolicited Advice Is Rarely Appreciated

Here’s an excerpt from Dr. Misner’s podcast that I think is terrific. As BNI members we can all apply this advice.

Every contact you have with someone is a chance to either construct or de-construct a relationship. Be sparing about the way you criticize people, especially if you don’t know them well. Before you either press the “Send” button or open your mouth to criticize, ask yourself

1. Is your criticism unsolicited? Unsolicited advice, especially from people you don’t know, is rarely appreciated.
2. Do you know the person to whom you’re sending the criticism? If not, why are you really sending it?
3. Is it your intention to give constructive suggestions, or just to vent? If it’s to vent, tell a friend who loves you instead.
4. Does this communication help construct a relationship? Remember what your mother said: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

More than £111,000 in Business in 4 Years

This is a story I read in BNI SuccessNet and I think that it succinctly describes the value of BNI.

Submitted by Alan Johnson (SuccessNet April 1, 2012)

I applied to join BNI at my very first meeting in November 2007 thinking, Why on earth didn’t I know about this earlier?
By Christmas, with not a single decent referral and not a penny invoiced, my mind was now racing: What have I done?
But luckily the relative peace and quiet between Christmas and New Years gave me some time to listen to the CD, read the manual and the book. In one of those eureka moments, I realized I had the whole concept wrong.

The people in the room weren't potential customers; they were my potential sales force. It seems so obvious now.

So I changed tack, rewrote my 60-seconds, and resolved to "train" these sales people in how to sell Teknicare; 1-to-1s frantically followed.

The results?

I've never looked back. January saw BNI related sales of £1,778 and February £10,208. In 2008 I made £27,832, in 2009 £23,571, in 2010 £25,250. And last year, (with all the doom and gloom, I hardly expected to do well) I made £34,949. This year is already looking good with over £3,000 invoiced.

Loving numbers as I do here are some more for you:
Total Invoices 303. Average Invoice Value £368.32. Number of weeks attended 208. Invoice value per week £518.53 (after costs).

So every Thursday morning I'm sitting in my van driving to meet a great bunch of friends and getting paid over £500 for the privilege.

Monetary benefit after four years: £111,603; personal benefit after four years: priceless.

 

25+ Equals $31,000 (a year… for you)

At BNI Leadership Team training in March, we shared the recent BNI stats indicating that a chapter with an overall average of 20 or fewer members exchanged a referral value of $9,500 per member per year.  A chapter with an overall average of 25 or more members exchanged a referral value of $31,000 per member per year.

That’s a huge difference.

Our mission is to have all chapters in the Golden Horseshoe Region exceed 25 referral partners because chapters with more than 25 members make more money for their members and have a higher retention rate which means the business model is sustainable long term.

To work toward this mission we shared the BNI Traffic Lights Agendas at Leadership Team training. We defined each chapter based upon the phase it is currently in and we distributed a customized Traffic Lights Agenda representing each phase.

The BNI Agenda has not changed, but the areas of weekly emphasis have. We have done this to better support every chapter in achieving their next phase. Over the next few weeks your Leadership Team will be presenting the agenda at your weekly meeting; because in BNI GH our goal is more referrals for you.

Would you like more details?