Synopsis

On average, the United States goes through some type of recession every five or six years. So stop worrying about whether we’re going to have a recession, because we will. (And so will every country in the world.)

That doesn’t have to stop you from having a great year, though. Recessions bring opportunities if you’re ready to take advantage of them by using the network you’ve established over time. BNI members have an advantage in a recession because they have a network in place.

You can’t control the economy, but you can control your response to the economy. Here are some tips to help you.

1. Diversify your networks. Participate in your local Chamber of Commerce and other business networks.
2. Be visible. Get out and meet people—and don’t let them bring you down.
3. Learn how to work the meetings you attend.
4. Be prepared with effective introductions and presentations.
5. Develop your contact spheres.
6. Establish a goal and reverse-engineer it.
7. Reward your top referrers.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 048 -

Priscilla Rice:
Hello everybody and welcome back to the Official BNI Podcast brought to you by networkingnow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice coming from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkley, CA. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and the Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan – how are you?

Ivan Misner:
Hi Priscilla. I am doing great. I just got back from a long training for Master Trainers at the Referral Institute up at my lodge in Big Bear. I am ready to start tackling BNI issues again. I start with a good one this week on combating a slow economy.

Priscilla:
I think a lot of people might need this particular podcast.

Ivan:
You know, I am seeing it more and more. Literally, I was just at the gas station the yesterday and heard some salesperson for a pest control center talking about bad business was and how we are in the middle of a recession. The fact is that every economy goes through cycles and business slows down for people.

If you take a look at the statistics on this, on average, the U.S. goes through some type of recession almost every five or six years. If you look at the last 100 years, we have had about 18 or 19 recessions. That is just about every six years or so. If you are listening to this podcast and you are concerned about whether we are going to go into a recession or not, don’t be. We will. It’s going to happen. When that happens, the thing to do is really learn from the past.

For a lot of us who have been in business for any length of time, this is not our first recession- assuming we are even in that. But this is not the first time that the economy has slowed down for us. So the question we ask is what did we learn from the last downturn? You know, I wrote about this for the first time in 2002 in entrepreneur.com about how one of the first recessions that I went through in business was in the early ’90s.

Right in the middle of this really nasty recession I was at a business mixer in Connecticut where I was meeting a lot of business professionals. Everyone was feeling the crunch from this economy. Through the entire event, the favorite topic of discussion was how bad the economy was and how things were getting worse and worse. You just don’t want to ask someone how is business because you are afraid they will tell you. Of course, it doesn’t do any good to tell people that things are bad because half of the people you tell don’t care and the other half are glad that you are worse off than they are. I am listening to one person after another.

I was introduced to one of the many real estate agents that were in attendance. Given the decrease in property values in the U.S. at that time, it was really bad. I was leery of asking the standard question- how is business- because I didn’t want to hear another variation of how bad business is. But he shared with me on his own that he was having a great year. I was really surprised because they were definitely in a recession and the real estate market just bottomed out in Connecticut in the early ’90s.

I was very surprised to hear him say he was having a great year. I looked at him and said, “We are in Connecticut, aren’t we?” He laughed at me and said yes. I said, “And you are having a good year.”

He said, “I am having my best year ever.”

I was shocked and said, “Wait a minute. You are having your best year ever in Connecticut right now?”

He said, “That is right.”

I said, “Is this your first year in real estate?”

He laughed and said, “No. I have been in real estate for ten years.”

I asked him, “How could you possibly be doing so well in real estate in the middle of this recession when the real estate market has bottomed out?”

He reached into his pocket – this is a true story – and pulled out a big blue and white badge that said, “I absolutely refuse to participate in the recession.”

I laughed and said, “That is your secret? You refuse to participate to the recession so business is booming?”

He said, “It is a little bit more than that, but basically that is correct. While most of my competitors are crying the blues about how bad business is, I am out drumming up a ton of business, networking with my contacts and generating referrals by talking about the great opportunities that exist right now to purchase real estate. I have a lot of clients. I have been in business for a long time. They have been with me for ten to fifteen years and I sold properties to them. A lot of them have said to me in the past during the last recession – we had a recession and lot of them said they were not going to buy any more real estate. Real estate isn’t the same. As four and five years go by and real estate goes sky rocketing, he said, I had conversations where they would say, ‘I wish I would have bought real estate back then when you told me to buy it. Now it is out of control.’ I am going back into my database and I am calling those very same people. I am saying that hey, it is six years all over again. You have a second opportunity. You have a chance to make up for what you said was a bad choice six, seven, or eight years ago. I am selling more real estate right now because it is a buyer’s market and real estate will go up again. I am using my networking that I have established over time and I am going about it in a positive way.”

It is so, so important. BNI members have a huge advantage over their competition. They are building their business through networking, through referrals, through word of mouth and their competition is just going to have to rely on increased advertising, when you have a powerful network to draw upon. If the times are tough around you, look for opportunities to market and use your network as the vehicle to do that. You can do just like this guy and refuse to participate in any recession. Be creative about working with your network.

Priscilla:
I think that is great advice.

Ivan:
You can’t control the economy. You can’t control the competition. But you can control your response to the economy and referrals can keep your business alive and strong, even during an economic downturn.

Priscilla:
Do you have any specific points or suggestions that you could offer?

Ivan:
Actually, during that last recession, I watched thousands – and the last was was in the early 2000s. As I said, it is about every six or eight years. I watched thousands of business owners grow and prosper. They were successful because they consciously made the decision to refuse to participate in the recession. I am talking from California. This is important to know. Many of our listeners are from countries all around the world, and you may not be experiencing a recession at this moment. Be prepared you will. It happens everywhere.

Just because we are taking recession here in the U.S. doesn’t mean that the rest of the world is immune. I know the rest of the economy is doing really well in a number of countries. But there tends to be a ripple effect with recessions. When one or two major economies have a downturn, it affects others. This works, I think, for anyone anywhere. Even if you are not experiencing it right now, jot this down about this podcast. Wherever you are, you are going to come back to this at some point.

There are six things that I recommend. First is to diversify your business network. You need breadth and depth. If you network is a mile wide but only an inch deep, it is no good. You need to have networks that are broad and deep. BNI is the deep part of that. That is where you go deep and work with people, but participate in your local chamber and other business organizations as well. Be out there. Be visible. Establish credibility.

Number two, refuse to be a cave-dweller. Be visible. Get out there and meet people at business events, especially during a tough economy. Don’t let them bring you down. Make up a badge that says, “I refuse to participate in the recession.” Wear it proudly and find ways to be creative and market yourself. Learn how to work the network meeting that you attend. It is not called betfetterneddie. It is called network.

Third, learn networking systems and techniques that apply to the different organizations to which you belong.

Fourth, be prepared. Prepare effective introductions and presentations to give other business professionals at other networking meetings. Find ways to use whatever is going on in the economy as a way of marketing. Make it positive for your business, not negative.

Fifth is develop your contact spheres. Now more than ever, a group of business professionals who have a symbiotic or compatible business relationship with you are more important than ever.

Sixth is really establish a goal and reverse-engineer it. Know what you want to accomplish and make sure that your networking and referral partners understand that as well. Do GAINS exchanges with people. Out of the book, Business by Referral – goals, accomplishments, interests, networks and skills. It starts with goals to tell people what you are looking for and find out what their goals are so you can help achieve that.

Don’t let a bad economy be your excuse for failure. Instead, make it an opportunity to succeed. It is not what you know or who you know. It’s how well you know that really counts. In a tough economy, it is your social capital that has value.

Priscilla:
That is great. I think I could have one more.

Ivan:
Great. What is it?

Priscilla:
You need to reward your very best referrers, the people who are your best customers and constantly talk you up to other people and bring you work.

Ivan:
I agree with that. I talk about that very thing in the World’s Best Marketing Secret, then in Business by Referral, and in Truth or Delusion. All too often, we don’t recognize and reward the people who have supported us, our referral partners. It is important that you do that.

Some businesses — like in many countries, insurance agents and real estate professionals are not allowed to give anything much in terms of dollar value. But recognition is an incredibly powerful motivator to reward people. Chiropractors get this with the signs that they do saying, “We want to thank you for the following patients that you referred this past month.” Not all chiropractors do that but many do. I think it is a great technique and response.

Priscilla:
Okay. Well, is there anything else that you would like to add?

Ivan:
I think that covers just about everything. I think if I was to say anything else, it would be that your social capital has value. Make good use of it. You can thrive while others are struggling. If you are in a good economy right now, make note of this podcast because eventually, things may slow down. Statistically that is what happens. You can come back and listen to this.

Priscilla:
Okay, great. Well, I think that is it for this week. Thank you, Dr. Misner, for all the great information. This podcast has been brought to you by networkingnow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. Thanks for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we look forward to having you join us again next week for another episode of the Official BNI Podcast.