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Synopsis

Dr. Misner is joined today by BNI Executive Director and Referral Institute Master Trainer Paula Frazier. Paula shares tips from her article, “You Shouldn’t Have to Sell to Your Referral Sources!”

1. First, build your network. Recognize that everyone you meet has the potential to be a valuable member of your network.
2. Educate your network. Make sure everyone in your network knows your clear, repeatable, memorable message and when to share it.
3. Motivate your network. Host an event with a purpose. Follow up. Show your appreciation. Help your referral partners achieve their goals.
4. Activate your network—ask for something. You’ll know you’ve succeeded when they say yes.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 098 -

Priscilla:
Hello everyone, 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’m Priscilla Rice, and I’m coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkley, California, and I am joined on the phone today by the founder and the chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner.

Hello, Ivan. I hear you have a guest today. Would you like to introduce her to us?

Ivan:
Yes, I do have a guest. I’d like to introduce the Executive Director for BNI, Paula Frazier. She is an award winning BNI Director and has been selected for the Elite Founders Circle of BNI, which advises and consults directly with me several times year. Paula is also a part of a select team of Master Trainers for the Referral Institute, and she operates a successful Referral Institute franchise. Her day every day is all about helping people create referrals for life.

Welcome to the podcast today, Paula. It’s great to have you on.

Paula:
Thanks, Ivan. I’m excited to be here.

Ivan:
Well, you recently wrote an article that I saw. You are part of my author mentoring program. For many of the members listening to the podcast, they may not know, but I do a monthly coaching call for BNI Directors and Referral Institute franchisees helping to teach them to write and giving them venues to write articles about, networking and word-of-mouth marketing, and you are one of our more prolific contributors to that; you write a whole lot of things.

I saw a great article that you just did, and I thought it would be great to share on this podcast. And the title of the article is You Shouldn’t Have to Sell to Your Referral Sources, and you talk about four categories or topics: Build Your Networks, Educate Your Networks, Motivate Your Networks, so you can Activate Your Networks. I love the concept, and I thought maybe you would share these with everyone over the next few minutes starting with Building Your Network.

Paula:
I would love to. And the bottom line is you shouldn’t have to sell to your referral sources, whether you’re in front of one person or a hundred people, you are in a position to build your network. We get so focused on getting our “to do” list to “done” that we’re blind to some of the possibilities that are right in front of us. We attend business events and we actually abandon our attention to networks so we can go hang out with some of our favorite people, which is fine if you already have all the business you need, but most of us don’t.

We should be dialoging to discover each person’s potential that we meet instead of qualifying and disqualifying them as prospects. Sometimes you run into your competition; commiserate with them, celebrate together, but people are more than transactions, and they can supply you with information, support, referrals, and a whole lot more if you’ll just spend some time getting to know them.

Ivan:
Well, your second category was Education Your Networks, so talk about that for a minute.

Paula:
Absolutely. Once you’ve built you network, you’ve definitely got to properly educate them. Referral Institute is an international training and consulting company whose mission is to help people create referrals for life. Their clients are encouraged not to just attend workshops on a regular basis, but they’re encouraged to invite the members of their networks to attend with them. And in order for others to help you send your word-of-mouth message, they should know a few things. One of those things is: what is your clear, repeatable, memorable message. One of my top five referral partners is a techy person. I am so not a techy person. And what she’s taught me is that when I hear someone say, “I fought or wrestled with my computer today,” my response to that is, “I need to introduce you to my great friend, Ceely; she helps people take the technology they have and make it work for them.” It’s clear; it’s repeatable; it’s memorable enough for me.

Second thing that we should help our referral partners know or understand is who we need them to share our message with; who is our target market. Sometimes we don’t even have a good enough handle on the target market, so again, that’s where Referral Institute can help you out.

And then, third, how can they, our referral partners, easily introduce someone to us. Matter of fact, Ivan, last week’s podcast, you admitted, “Oh, my God; I’m an introvert.”

Ivan:
Yes, I finally shared it that with everybody, heaven forbid.

Paula:
I’ll tell you what! Sure enough, you’re going to want to listen to that because, Ivan, I’m going to let you know how even an introvert who’s not as excited about jumping down in the middle of a bunch of people can easily introduce, easily connect and refer people. Just like in those television commercials about cell phone plans, you’ve got all these people that are in your network; they know you; they like you, trust you; and if you educate them, they even understand how to effectively refer you. But then the question most of them might not ask you, though some will, what’s in it for them. And that kind of takes us to our next step.

Ivan:
And if I can just add one comment here. You’re talking about some things where you’re able to go deep with the Referral Institute to talk about these things at length, but these are just so important for BNI members, being clear, having a repeatable message, how you’d like to have people share that message, and how easily they can introduce someone to you. These are really core issues for BNI members, and I’m glad we’re able to cover it in this podcast.

Your third topic is Motivate Your Network, so talk for a minute or two about that.

Paula:
So a great way to motivate your network is to bring the members of your network together by hosting an event, and social and business settings are equally effective. It’s up to you to make them enjoyable and purposeful. As a matter of fact, I’ll say this. One of the most productive settings that I’ve been in have been those Master Trainer Retreats, Ivan, that you and Mike Macedonio have hosted. 8:00 to 5:00, we’re in our sweats, got our hair on our heads and no makeup – well, Ivan, you don’t usually wear makeup –

Ivan:
No, I don’t usually do the makeup thing.

Paula:
But you know, we get to work. After 5:00, we’re boating, we’re cooking in the kitchen, and when we get into that social mode, it almost becomes a more comfortable continuum of some very powerful conversations. Social business, I don’t know that that so much matters as long as it’s enjoyable and purposeful. As with anything, the key is follow up to connect with each individual and let them know that you appreciate them and appreciate their support. I’m talking about your referral partners, your referral sources. Get face to face and focus on their goals. Be sure you have a full understanding of how you can help them so that you can show them how great it feels to be in a giving relationship by offering them the things they need to build their businesses and enhance their lives.

Ivan:
Actually, go back on that makeup thing for just a second.

Paula:
Oh, no!

Ivan:
I’m going to go back to that. I did a television interview a few years back, and it was on a major station’s morning show, so they put makeup on you. And they put some powder, or whatever, on me, and I left and I had another interview and another interview and a speaking engagement. I was busy all day. Now it’s the evening; I’m at a mixer. I’m standing there at a mixer and never washed off, right, and I see two women standing over on the side just a few feet from me. One says to the other one, “It looks like he’s wearing makeup,” because you know how the makeup kind of goes on your collar after a few hours, so it was, “It looks like he’s wearing makeup.” And the other one looked at her and said, “Ah, he’s from Los Angeles. What do you expect?”

Paula:
You know me. I’m all about the makeup.

Ivan:
So other than for TV interviews, just to go on the record, I don’t wear makeup.

Okay, you had one more, and that is – we’ve got about one minute – Activate Your Network. Do you want to talk about that?

Paula:
Absolutely. The true strength of your network is demonstrated when you attempt to activate it, and testing your network means you’re testing your relationships, and it can be really scary and very revealing. You’ll know you’ve invested enough when you ask and they say yes.

I asked one of my clients why he thinks that people we in a relationship with just don’t eagerly say yes, and I loved his answer. He said it’s been his experience that people are very comfortable doing business the way they’ve always done it, because on some level it works, even if it doesn’t produce desirable results. They keep doing what they’ve always done; they’re resistant to change. Doing business by referral means giving in order to receive, which is definitely not the norm. His name was Bill Segura. I think Bill is on to something.

What I found is that the top two objections are time and money. Time and money are classic sales objections. You shouldn’t have to sell to your referral sources; and I don’t mean products and services; I mean you. If someone trusts in you and your abilities and they’re not willing to invest a minimal amount of time in something that will benefit you both, assuming that you properly educated them and properly motivated them, you’re probably asking the wrong person, period. That doesn’t mean that they’re not great friend material; it just means that you probably shouldn’t schedule them during your golden time, the time that you should be building your business. These people should already be sold. Your net worth is directly related to the strength of your network when you’re marketing your business by referral.

Ivan:
Well, thank you so much, Paula. This is great material. Build Your Network; Educate Your Network; Motivate Your Network so you can Activate Your Network. Paula Frazier, thank you so much for joining me on this podcast today. I really do appreciate it.

Priscilla, back to you.

Priscilla:
Okay, thank you so much, Ivan and Paula.

I just want to remind the listeners that this podcast has been brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables. Thanks so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we hope you’ll join us next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.