Episode 169: “Need Advice? Your Network Can Help.”

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Synopsis

When Dr. Misner started BNI, he didn’t really think of it as a “knowledge network,” but your fellow BNI members can be a great source of knowledge as well as referrals. Here are some tips for getting advice from your BNI network.

• Ask about something they enjoy talking about, an area they have expertise in.
• Listen carefully. Pay attention. Take it seriously. Write it down.
• Direct your questions toward what your network member says in conversation.
• Have a logical reason for wanting the information.
• Don’t ask for advice that people would otherwise charge for.
• Ask clarifying questions, but don’t debate or argue.

Priscilla’s chapter has a Yahoo! group where members share tips and information. Your group might benefit from a mailing list or forum, too.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 169 -

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’m joined on the phone today by the founder and the chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner.

Hello, Ivan. How are you doing?

Ivan:
I am doing great! I am up at Big Bear Lake at my lake house. We’ve been having meetings with BNI management teams over the last couple weeks, and we’ve been having meetings with my Referral Institute management teams. And we just had Staff Day up here. Once a year I bring up the whole BNI headquarters staff; we shut down the office and spend a day up here doing some team building. It’s all good; it’s a great place to work and have a little fun at the same time.

Priscilla:
Sounds beautiful! So our last podcast, you had as a guest, Tom Fleming.

Ivan:
Yes.

Priscilla:
And when he was talking in the introduction, he mentioned – or you mentioned that he had a chapter that was 70 members large.

Ivan:
Yes, 70 members. His average membership is 38, and he had one that was over 70.

Priscilla:
And that was really curious to me. I would love to hear more about that. Is there any chance we could do a podcast on that topic?

Ivan:
That’s a great idea, and I talked to Tom about it. He is very interested in doing one show. If you’re listening to this podcast, stay tuned, a month or so from now we’ll do another podcast, we’ll bring Tom back. And on that one, he’ll just talk about how you do chapter of 70, how do you run it when you get a group that large. So great suggestion.

One other thing I forgot to mention in that last podcast, so if you listen to the podcast on Fast Track, and that is that a percentage of all the money, because BNI does get a royalty from the CDs, we donate a percentage – I believe that percentage is 10 percent, but I’ll need to double check that – of all of the gross revenues from the CDs goes straight to the BNI Foundation. So a part of it goes to charity, and the BNI Foundation just hit its $1 million mark in charitable contributions!

Priscilla:
Wow!

Ivan:
So this is helping in a lot of ways all around the world.

Priscilla:
That’s great! So tell me, what is this topic that you’ve brought up here?

Ivan:
Today I’m going to talk about a blog I originally did; it’s called Need Advice? Your Network Can Help, and it’s really sort of a topic that was not the reason I created BNI, but I’ve learned over the years that it’s a benefit of BNI that I hadn’t thought of. And it really is about seeking advice of your BNI members, and I bet most members, in one way or another, have sought the advice from their BNI members. If not, they should definitely take advantage of the opportunity, because we all need advice at one time or another, and seeking advice from your networkers is a win-win situation.

See, people like for others to seek their advice. That’s a good thing. By inviting your fellow BNI members to talk to you about that you need some help with, you can get better acquainted with their knowledge, their decision making ability, their attitudes, but at the same time, you get some good ideas from your fellow members.

And when I started BNI, I didn’t really think of it as a knowledge network, but the truth is, there is a lot of knowledge sharing that BNI provides. And receiving someone’s advice really gives you a perfect reason to contact them again, to thank them, to let them know how it’s going. It’s a great way to keep your resources informed and, of course, get their opinions.

So I just wanted to list just a few suggestions in seeking advice from your fellow BNI members, important tips.

First, ask your BNI member for advice or opinions on something that they enjoy talking about, which you expect that they have expertise, a little bit of background or knowledge. It doesn’t necessarily have to be their profession. For example, I have business networking, but I have a background in organizational behavior. So I oftentimes talk to members, they’ll ask me questions about managing and motivating employees, that kind of thing, which was what my background was in prior to starting BNI. So you can always talk to people, not just about what their profession is but maybe what their personal interests are, as well, if you’re looking for advice in that area.

Be sure to listen carefully. If they’re going to give you some suggestions, pay attention, write it down, take it seriously.

Direct your questions – another tip is to direct your questions toward your network member says in conversation. In other words, pay attention to the kinds of things they’re talking about, particularly in peripheral areas in their area of expertise. Obviously, their area of expertise is one thing you could talk about, but we’ll talk more about that in a minute.

Have a logical reason for wanting the information. For example, I remember the first time I saw this friend in BNI, it was a member who was producing a brochure, marketing material. And he went to another member who had a great brochure, and he said, “Hey, here’s a draft of what I’m doing, and I love what you’ve done with yours. What do you think? Do you have any feedback? Can you give me any suggestions?” And it wasn’t even a marketing expert, but it was somebody who had done a great brochure, and he was seeking advice. I think that’s a great example of how to use your network, your BNI members for support.

Now, here’s something real important, really important, because it can be abused. Don’t ask your BNI member to give you advice that he or she would otherwise charge you for.

Priscilla:
Right, really important.

Ivan:
Okay? So don’t go to the attorney and start seeking substantial legal advice over issues. Now, of course, there’s nothing wrong with saying, “Hey, what direction should I take this in,” because attorneys are willing to answer basic questions, because you don’t even know of you have a case or you don’t even know where to go next. But it can be abused; make sure not to abuse that.

Don’t ask your CPA in a chapter for substantial accounting advice that they would normally charge for. It’s okay to ask them basic questions, because that can lead to doing business with them. Right? I mean, I always – before I hire an attorney, I interview them and ask them some questions, see what kind of knowledge they have.

So basic questions are okay, but you’ll know, most people know when they’re maybe crossing the line. So don’t cross that line, don’t ask for advice that people would otherwise be charging for. That’s inappropriate, and it’s misuse of the relationship.

And I think it’s really important to remember that if you’re asking for advice, once you ask for the advice, shut up, listen, pay attention, don’t debate it, don’t argue. Ask more questions, say, “I kind of had a different impression,” or “Why do you say that,” but don’t argue, don’t debate it. You’re looking for people’s advice; you don’t have to follow the advice, but acknowledge the advice. And I, again, just to wrap up, I never started BNI with this being one of the benefits of participation, however, it’s always one of the benefits that are listed when I ask members what they’re getting out of BNI, they always mention this. And I’m really glad to hear, because it means that people are developing strong relationships.

Priscilla:
Well, in our chapter, we have a Yahoo group, and people poll each other on information such as advice on advertising, if anybody’s having good response from the Yellow Pages or do they use Google Adwords or whatever, and we get information that way also.

Ivan:
I think that kind of thing is great and whenever you get small business people together, professionals, small business owners, sales people for big companies, this kind of information is invaluable, and I’m glad to see it happening in BNI.

So thanks a lot, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
Okay, great! Thank you, Dr. Misner.

That’s it for this week. I’d just like 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.