How often have you come home from a large networking event with a huge stack of business cards and wondered, “Now what?” Here are some tips for sorting out your potential prospects and referral partners from the rest.

1. Make a note of something you discussed on the back of the business card right after you talk to the person. If this is not appropriate in your culture, keep a small notebook handy to jot down a few words next to the person’s name.
2. Divide the most immediate prospects into one pile and the less immediate prospects into another.
3. Enter the first group into your contact database and send a quick note by either e-mail or snail mail. Try to set up a meeting for coffee or some other fairly immediate follow-up meeting to find out how you can help them.
4. Send another message to your less immediate prospects, even if you don’t set up a meeting.

Next week’s podcast will provide some specific examples of follow-up notes to these two groups of contacts.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcript of BNI Podcast Episode 199 -

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

Ivan:
Hi. I am great.

Priscilla:
Before we start, I just wanted to comment about last week’s podcast with Dan Romero. I think that was 198. I really, really admire what he did when a new member joined the chapter. It seemed to me that it really paid off for him, and I can understand why. He was very generous.

Ivan:
Yeah. It really did. You bring up a great point. I think it just keeps coming back again and again to people who participate in BNI and really practice the philosophy of givers gain. It comes back to them many times over. We’ve done podcasts with a number of people and we see it consistently. I’ve certainly seen it consistently over the last five years.

Priscilla:
Well, I just want to say that as a financial consultant, which is what he is, he understood that he needed to gain credibility, so he approached it as if having a good response was in finding referrals for other people. I think that is so neat.

Ivan:
That’s exactly what he did. So if you are listening to this podcast and haven’t listened to last week’s podcast, go back and listen to it because it really is a great podcast. So this week, Priscilla, we are going to be talking about sorting out who’s who. We are going to change things up a little bit and we’re going to be talking about attending a big networking event. Not usually a BNI-;like event, although certainly in networking, you’ll meet new people and visitors. It will really be relevant when you go to a large networking event of some kind, maybe a chamber. You meet a lot of new people and now you have a pocket full of new business cards. How many times has that happened, Priscilla, right?

Priscilla:
So many times you can’t imagine.

Ivan:
A pocket full of business cards. And you are not sure what to do with it. So what is your first order of business? There are a lot of things that you can do and if you’re listening to this podcast, apply the ideas that work for you. I think the first order of business is to sort out who’s who, to take a look at the business cards.

I like writing on the back of business cards- now, you can’t always do this in all cultures. In some cultures, writing on the back of business cards is bad culture, so be aware of cultural differences. But that being said, in most environments, if you said, “Do you mind if I write a note of the back of your card?” most people would say it’s fine. It’s perfectly acceptable in most cultures.

I like to do that just to remind me of something that was said when I talk to somebody. Now you need to separate out people who you think might become new clients or referral partners. Remember, networking is more about farming than hunting. You are not out there trying to bag the big one and get clients from it. But these are prospective people who you want to build a relationship with who might become clients down the road- or referral partners. You want to do that right now from the stack that you have. You want to separate the ones who might be valuable contacts from the ones who are maybe a little more long term, a little farther away.

So let’s call the one term, the people who want to be clients or referral partners now, let’s call that List A and the rest, List B, people who might be something in the future. You’ve got a contact database, which you should have, what you want to do is take a look at your B list, the people that are going to be down the road a little bit. You want these folks to know you enjoyed meeting with then. So in other words you want to follow up with them. You want to keep the door open to doing business with them later.

You do this with a quick note, either by snail mail or email. If you do this by snail mail, you know, postal service, if you find that you need to reconnect with one of these people at a late time, at least you will have some traction in starting a relationship simply because you have followed up with a quick note thanking them for connecting with them.

I just went to an event last week. It was a smaller group, but very impressed with how the people at that event followed up effectively and dropped me an email and talked about our meeting. That’s a very good connection to make when meeting somebody.

Now what do you do with the A list? These are people who have immediate potential as a referral partner or potential client, maybe, down the road. You need to follow up with them quickly, I recommend within a few days, before you drop off their radar. What you want to do is, I think, initiate a coffee connection of some kind. I don’t drink coffee but you get what I mean. You sit down with someone and have a cup of coffee or tea, whatever, soda, with these contacts. So you want to do a follow up meeting where you get to know him or how and follow up with a meeting on how they can help you and how you can help them. That’s really the important thing. How you can help them. Anything short of you finding ways to help them will generally be treated as a sales call instead of a relationship building contact.

So as for this first contact- a handwritten note, or even an email is acceptable, but the focus should be that you would like to know more about them. Then you have to play it that way. Otherwise, it’s going to feel just like a sales call.

At this point, you may be asking what about those people I meet that aren’t potential clients and aren’t in a field that can refer business to me? Should I follow up with them anyway? They are not really in an A or B list, but the bottom line is that you never know who other people know. Even a quick little “nice to meet you” email is enough to get these people to remember you later, when you discover you may need something or have a referral for them.

So I do recommend following up with something, if possible, real simple as a response to most of the people that I meet.

Now you know how to sort out the who’s who, the A list, the B List and the follow up.

You want to make sure that you do this each and every time that you get business cards from your daily networking activities. I can guarantee you that you will start to see greater results from your networking efforts if you start to do this.

Now, next week’s podcast, what you are going to hear on next week’s podcast are some specific examples of what you follow up notes should be to group A and B contacts, what you should say and how you should say it. I am going to give you a script that you can use in next weeks podcast that you can play with, put in your own words, that you apply when you follow up with people that you meet in large networking events. That’s my material for today, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
I have something to talk about. I know Brian Bouffant who is a big real estate coach that we’ve had on the program really believes in the personal hand written notes because that makes you stand out as email is so commonly used. But one thing is that when people hand you cards now, often they don’t have a street address. When you send them an email, you have kind of a record of what you said.

In a way, even though it’s not as emotionally effective, I think it’s easier to keep track of an email correspondence. What do you think?

Ivan:
I think that a handwritten note is almost always better if you want to really stand out from the crowd. I am horrible at handwritten notes. I am much better than email for a number of reasons. I self edit myself. My handwriting’s not that good. So when I am writing, I really don’t want to say that; I want to say that. When you’re writing, you really can’t scratch it. You start over. I just find handwritten notes a little frustrating. I like programs like Send Out Cards, where you can send out an actual card to somebody.

I kind of think that the mail, Hallmark-like card or Send Out Cards are probably better, but the problem is if you don’t do it, it’s not better. So if you are not going to do that, email is fine and it certainly is the way I use most. I agree with Brian that, theoretically, a handwritten note is better if you can actually do it.

Priscilla:
Yeah, he’s big on that.

Ivan:
Yeah, So you want them to remember who you are. You want to invite them to something. Those are the people who you probably want to do that with.

Priscilla:
Yeah, that is a good idea. Okay, well, I think we have come to the end of this podcast.

Ivan:
That’s everything for this week. Next week we are going to talk about what is your excuse for not following up? I am going to give you some scripts that will make it easy for you in BNI and as a networked to be able to follow up more effectively. Thanks, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
Okay great. Thank you, Dr. Misner. Well, I would 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. Thank you so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we hope you will join us again next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.

Today Dr. Misner is joined by BNI Hall of Fame Director Dawn Lyons from Northern California. Dawn trains people how to be proactive rather than reactive about making referrals.

Here’s the technique:

• Toward the end of a meeting with a new client, tell them that you’re part of a referral network that allows you to offer additional services.
• Then offer them your card file and walk away.
• When you come back, ask whether the client needs the services of any of these people.
• If they do, provide specific recommendations for that persons.

To make this work, you have to know your fellow BNI members and their work well.

Card File Challenge

Run a contest in your chapter to see who can do “The Card File Thingy” the most in a month, and what results you get. Leave a comment here on the blog to let us know what you think of the idea and how your chapter’s Card File Challenge turned out.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 135 -

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. How are you?

Ivan:
Hi, Priscilla. I’m doing great. It was really nice meeting you at our International Directors Conference last month. We’ve done these podcasts all these many months now, a year-and-a-half, and it was a pleasure to finally meet you.

Priscilla:
I know. I just enjoyed it so much; it was just great! Thank you for inviting me.

Ivan:
Yeah. Listen, talking about directors, I have with us today an executive director who’s going to be doing this podcast with me. Her name is Dawn Lyons. She is a BNI executive director up in Northern California, and she’s been an executive director since 2000. She’s also a partner in the Referral Institute, and I think most notably, she’s a Hall of Fame director for BNI, having opened up a large number of chapters in one year, 20 chapters in one year. And she’s one of only five or six directors in the world who’ve ever done that, the only woman who has done it, so I’m really pleased to have on the podcast with us Dawn Lyon.

Hi, Dawn.

Dawn:
Hi, Ivan. Hi, Priscilla. How are you?

Priscilla:
Very good, thank you.

Ivan:
You’re on the podcast today to talk about the card file thingy that BNI has and really how to use the BNI card file, and you train your members to do referrals proactively instead of reactively. And I thought maybe this would be great material for our BNI members, so let me turn it over to you.

Dawn:
Okay. One of the things that we see a lot is that people actually are in a reactive mode when they’re trying to generate a referral. Someone will literally say, “Gosh, I’m having problems with my Web site. Do you know a Web site designer?” And they will literally ask you and, therefore, now, all of a sudden, you’re excited because you have a referral.

Well, what we want to train people on is how to do referrals proactively, literally being out there working on our chapter members’ behalf so that we can generate more referrals for the entire chapter. And Priscilla knows this because we actually train this in our region. Our members all across the world have the tool that they can be using more effectively.

We haven’t come up with a very fancy name, so we do call it The Card File Thingy because it’s just this approach that if we use this approach, we had one gentleman, whose name is Brian Johnson, he got seven referrals from one person in about five to eight minutes.

Priscilla:
Wow!

Ivan:
That’s amazing!

Dawn:
Yeah, just using this technique. So if I can, I’ll just kind of role play it a little bit and have people understand a little script that we utilize, because the script is actually very, very crucial to the success of the outcome of using The Card File Thingy. So we all have our burgundy card file holders, we all have our members’ cards in there, but if we carry it around with us and we use it at our appointments, this is when it become proactive referral marketing.

So let’s say that I am in Web site development and I’m working with one of my clients or I’m on a customer service call, I may be out and about, I may be meeting with friends or even working with co-workers, but if I say something to a client that’s really specific, this is the script that we find, used well, works incredibly well.

I do my appointments, and towards the end of the appointment, I’m going to say something to the effect of, “You know, I don’t know if you know this or not, but as an added service to all of my clients, I actually belong to a referral organization which allows me to help you with more than just your Web site needs. I happen to know 35 or more local business people that I know, like, and trust would do a great job for you if you ever needed any of their services. So I’ll tell you what, I have some paperwork that I need to go grab. Why don’t you look through here, and I’ll be right back.”

Well, what do you think happens as soon as you walk away?

Ivan:
They always open up the card file.

Dawn:
Yeah, they’re always going to open up the card file. And here I am sitting there asking them questions about their Web site needs, I have no idea if they want to get their carpets cleaned or if they’ve been thinking about doing some landscaping or they want to get some new blinds in their home. I don’t ask questions about that type of stuff, but I definitely have members in my chapter that are looking for those kinds of client referrals. And so the key is, and there’s a couple secrets to this technique, you absolutely have to walk away from the person that has the card file in their hands. Could you imagine if you were standing over their shoulder watching them?

Ivan:
Yeah. No, that doesn’t work. But what are they going to do? Open it up.

Dawn:
Yeah, you just want them to open it up and then they flip through it and they know what services they might be needing in the next couple of months.

When you come back, there’s another key step. So when you come back, you simply say something like, “So, gosh, do you or your family need any of the services of all these folks that I know?” They’re either going to say yes or no, and either one is okay. And the reason for that is, as a business person, you just made yourself more likeable and more appropriate to them as far as them wanting to come back to you later, because you have shown them that you know these 35-plus local business people.

So if they say, “Yes, you know, gosh, I didn’t know that you knew someone who was in financial advising, or “Gosh, we were looking for a new chiropractor.”

The key here is you’ve got to be able to promote your member really, really well. You can’t just say, “Oh, you should go see Joe because he’s a really nice guy.” You need more information than that. For instance, if someone came back to my card holder and said, “Well, I was really looking at this CPA; we’re not real happy with our CPA,” I would want to be able to say, “My CPA, Tim, has literally saved two of my dear friends; one of them $1200 and the other one over $6,000, and he only looked at their tax returns for less than ten minutes.”

Ivan:
Wow, that’s amazing! And this is similar conceptually to what I’ve talked about in a previous podcast as being a gatekeeper, that you want to be in a position where you’re referring people, particularly to your clients and customers and associates because it builds your credibility with them as well as enabling you to pass referrals.

Dawn:
Yeah, absolutely. And I think the real key is compelling the person to want to take the members’ phone call, and just letting them know that they’re a nice guy or they have a great personality is kind of like the blind date. If they have a great personality, what do you normally think of?

Priscilla:
They don’t look good.

Ivan:
I don’t want to say!

Dawn:
So here, you really want some really good information, so always have a couple of your BNI members’ best stories, how have they helped someone. Because now the person is looking for those services, you tell a great story about your member and say, “Is this the kind of expert you’d like to talk with? I can get you that personal introduction.”

Priscilla:
Right.

Ivan:
That’s great. What kind of results? You mentioned one, but can you give us a couple of other examples of results people have had using this technique.

Dawn:
Yeah, absolutely. My first ever experience with this was probably four or so years ago. I had a gal come up to me at a Members Success Program, and she said, “You know what? This is my second time through Members Success, and the reason why is because I am the lowest referral giver in the chapter, and I want to do something about it.” We showed her this technique. It was kind of off to the side, it wasn’t even in the big presentation, and she e-mailed me the following weeks and said, “By the way, just be using that technique, I generated 11 referrals for my chapter members this week.”

Ivan:
Wow!

Dawn:
In one week’s time, just by doing The Card File Thingy, walking away from her clients or anyone that she had that appointment with, letting them look through the book and see what services they needed, she was able to do that.

I also just had a gal by the name of Mylie Colmer, who is a Realtor, she showed the book 29 times and got 16 referrals.

Ivan:
Wow, that’s amazing! It’s amazing how simple techniques like this can really make a difference. I tell people all the time, a lot of what we talk about is simple but not easy. If it were easy, everyone would do it. And the hard part about this is remembering to do it consistently. And if you do it consistently, it’s a simple idea that can make you one of the top referral givers in the chapter, can’t it?

Dawn:
Um-hmm, absolutely.

Priscilla:
I have a question.

Ivan:
Sure, go ahead, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
In my chapter, we have a brochure that’s written, it’s a handout really, with everybody’s name and information and Web sites on it, telephone numbers. Do you think it’s as effective to give them the brochure as it is to show them the card file?

Dawn:
Personally, I don’t, and here’s why. Even though the cards have all of the person’s information on it, I think the brochure is almost a way that they could just contact the person alone. And what we always want to do in referrals is make the connection.

Priscilla:
Um-hmm, right.

Dawn:
We want to make sure that the BNI member has the availability and the expectation that they can make that phone call and talk to that prospect.

Ivan:
You know, I agree. I certainly don’t think it’s a bad idea to have some kind of flyer with the different businesses on it, but to be honest with you, nothing beats the person’s business card. I think it’s more effective, and that card file is a great way to get people to do that. I saw it done many, many years ago with somebody who would take orders. He would be filling out the paperwork, and he would hand the file to them. Now, he didn’t leave the room, but he was busy filling out paperwork. His head was down and he’s writing stuff out while the person was going through it, and it was a effective way to generate referrals. That was the first time I ever saw.

Well, we’re just about out of time, Dawn. I think you’ve got an assignment for everyone, don’t you?

Dawn:
Well, you know, we were thinking that it would be kind of fun to have people in the chapters actually create a challenge around this. Who could just do The Card File Thingy approach however many times in maybe a month? And so if all the chapters want to get on board with this and really proactively market their chapter members, this would be the easiest way to create a habit. It makes them look good, and they’re offering an additional service to their clients to really be that contact person that can connect them with anyone they need to in the community.

So my challenge is why not run a challenge in the chapter and see who can do The Card File Thingy the most amount of times in a month!

Ivan:
I love it! So there’s the challenge. Everyone listening to this podcast, take it back to your chapter, explain the program, and let’s see what kind of results your chapter can get. And by all means, leave a message here on this podcast where you can leave comments about what you think of the idea and how it worked out, if you did it.

Dawn, thank you so much. You’re a great director for BNI, and we appreciate your idea here today.

Back to you, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
Okay, great! Thank you, Dawn, and thank you, Ivan.

I think that’s it for this week. 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. Thank you 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.

A referral relationship is more than just doing business. You need to find common ground on a personal level.

One exercise that can help accomplish this in a BNI chapter is the GAINS Exchange, discussed in Episode 5 of this podcast.

Even though many members are reluctant to do this exercise, it has tremendous results.

Two guys who had barely spoken to each other in their first year in one chapter formed a relationship over their shared interest in soccer and began passing business to each other as a result.

Ivan encourages Priscilla to go back to her BNI chapter and propose a new GAINS Exchange exercise.

See Business by Referral for more on this topic.

Brought to you by Networking Now. Enter “freesixmonths” for a six-month free trial and get access to live teleconferences with Dr. Misner.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 126 -

Priscilla:
Hello everyone, and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast which is 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.

Ivan:
Hi, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
What’s going on? How are you?

Ivan:
I’m doing great. Today we’re going to be talking about, I think, a subject that, when I started BNI, I don’t think I fully understood how important this was.

Priscilla:
Great. What is it you’re going to share with us, then?

Ivan:
Well, the fact that networking is more than just talking business, and when I started BNI, my primary focus was, “Hey, it’s all about business; let’s focus on business.” I mean, even in the introduction of the weekly speaker, I talked about the fact that I trained people to talk about their education, talk about their background, talk about their experience. And I really didn’t suggest that you talk about some of your personal interests. And that, I found over the years, was a mistake. People often think that networking is talking about business and exchanging cards, and that’s definitely part of it, but it’s not all of it.

In a networking group, you should talk about more than just business with people. A referral relationship is more than just, “I do business; you do business; let’s do business.” A much better approach is when you find common ground on a personal level and then make these connections and build business with other people.

I think the longer I’ve been involved in networking, the more I’ve seen the power of those personal interests making connections with others. Networking is really about building those personal relationships, and if you remove the personal from the equation, you limit that amount of business that can happen.

I talk about this at length in a podcast a long time ago. The listeners might want to go back to that podcast. It’s podcast number 5, podcast number 5, 005, and I talk about the gains exchange. One BNI group that I worked with, I introduced the GAINS Exchange before it came out in my book, Business by Referral. The GAINS Exchange is an exercise that’s available in BNI. Any member can get it. It’s in Business by Referral, but go to your director and get the form if you want to try it out. It stands for Goals, Accomplishments, Interests, Networks, and Skills. The idea is that you have people share their personal and professional information about themselves in those areas, Goals, Accomplishments, Interests, Networks, and Skills.

Well, two of the participants, when I tested this out years ago, had not done any business with each other, and they’d been in the chapter for a year, hadn’t done any business with each other, really didn’t make a connection at all. It wasn’t that they didn’t like each other; they just didn’t have anything in common; their businesses were really different. And they found out by doing this GAINS Exchange – which, by the way, they dragged their feet, kicking and screaming into this exercise, did not want to do it. Once they did it, they found out that they were both coaches for their sons’ soccer teams, or football teams, as it’s called in some countries. And they quickly became close friends and started helping each other conduct certain aspects of the soccer practices. And they would share coaching techniques with each other, and eventually, they began to scout other teams for each other, so that they would scout the other team and report back what a team was like.

Guess what? After they started doing this for each other on a personal level, within a few months, they started passing business to each other. They began referring business to each other. Two guys who had barely spoken to each other in the first year, because they had so little in common, ended up doing business with each other because they built a relationship over soccer, over football. Go figure! Who would have thought that? I certainly didn’t. But when I saw that done, that nailed it for me, and I knew that that technique had to be put in Business by Referral, and that’s where it was first introduced, was in Business by Referral.

Priscilla:
Yeah, I think that’s a tremendous tool. I mean, knowing the other person on a personal level is exactly what’s it’s all about, I think.

Ivan:
That’s where you kind of make connections with people. If you can find a common interest and start with that, we can make connections and have a very good chance at turning into business. And I really recommend that BNI members experiment with this. I’ve seen chapters where they’ve had every single member complete a GAINS Exchange and come back to the chapter with 30 copies, or however many members were in the chapter, and hand that out to everybody.

I’ve even seen some chapters that have a running three-ring binder so that when a new member joins, they get a binder of all of the members GAINS Exchange, so they, at a glance, get information about that person’s Goals, Accomplishments, Interests, Networks, and Skills. I’ve even seen where maybe they don’t do it to that level of detail; I’ve seen chapters where that week’s speaker also completes a GAINS Exchange. Besides the speaker information for the secretary/treasurer, they also complete a GAINS Exchange. And the member makes 30 copies, or however many for the members, and passes that out at the beginning of the meeting to say, “Hey, here’s who our speaker is going to be later today. Glance at it so you have a little bit of background about this person when he or she speaks.” And it’s really interesting to see how personal interests, whether it be something like soccer or sewing or cooking or wine or chess or anything, between two people makes a personal connection, which makes them feel closer and more connected, which leads to business.

Priscilla:
That’s totally true. I remember when I had to fill mine out, because that was a requirement of our chapter, it doesn’t seem to be right, but it was when I first joined, and I was so stressed about it.

Ivan:
Why so? Why were you stressed out about it?

Priscilla:
Well, it seemed like it just took forever, and I was just agonizing over the format and putting it together. And I remember I stayed up really late doing it and getting it to print right. And it was just like a job, but it was a good thing. I was glad I’d done it.

Ivan:
Well, certainly, spending time and effort in doing it accurately is important, but I’m a real believer of the concept of – Tom Peters talked about it in In Search of Excellency – do it, fix it, try it. Do it, fix it, try it. Do something, lap it around a little bit, see how it works out in the marketplace, fix it, and then try it again. So take that GAINS Exchange that you write and put it out there, see what kind of response you get from people. And then bring it back in and redo it, hang onto it. Redo it; maybe do it digitally. And then every year or so, you revise it and redistribute it. And as you get it out there and you see what seems to connect with people and what doesn’t, then you emphasize some of those things and try it again.

It’s not a one-of-a-kind of deal; it’s a thing that the chapter should do regularly. So one of the things I’d suggest is go back to your chapter and say, “Hey, we haven’t done this for a while. Let’s listen to this podcast, and then let’s all incorporate the GAINS Exchange in some way that makes sense for us over the next two months.”

Priscilla:
Okay.

Ivan:
All right. So are you going to report back and let me know how that goes in a couple months?

Priscilla:
Okay. I just had an idea where if you had the person next to you with your GAINS Exchange and then they announce to the group some unusual fact or some unusual thing you were involved with, and then you kind of went around the table, that might make it fun.

Ivan:
It does make it fun. I’ve seen that done. I’ve also seen it where members had to do a one-to-one with somebody else, and they gave them two or three weeks to do it. You’ve got to do it one to one; you’ve got to take a half hour, do a one-to-one with somebody else, minimum half hour one-to-one with somebody else. And then, four weeks from now, everybody is going to stand up and they’re going to do a 60 second presentation on the other person and what they really found interesting about them from the GAINS Exchange.

Priscilla:
Okay. There’s a great idea.

Ivan:
Yeah, yeah. I love it. Give them enough time; give them three weeks or so. That gives everybody a chance to meet; they do their one-to-one; and then they meet four weeks from then. And I would stand up and I would say what I had learned that was really interesting about you from what you did in the GAINS Exchange and what I read. It’s a great technique. I highly recommend it, and it’s a great way to implement this concept.

Priscilla:
Okay. I’m going to take that one back.

Ivan:
Okay. And you’re going to report back in a few months as to how it’s gone, right?

Priscilla:
That’s right!

Ivan:
Okay, good.

Priscilla:
All right. Well, thank you, Dr. Misner. I think we’re kind of out of time today.

Ivan:
Yup! I do have a special offer on NetworkingNow.

Priscilla:
Oh, okay.

Ivan:
At the end of all of these podcasts, we talk about NetworkingNow and the downloadables. If you’re a BNI member and you would like to be involved in telebridges with me, every month I do a telebridge called the Networking Café, which is part of the NetworkingNow program. And NetworkingNow has tons of downloadable material, videos, audios, PDFs; there’s even some of my books. And so I’m going to give you a password right now that you can type in this password and get six months free in NetworkingNow, which is worth almost $70.

So the password is – it’s one word – freesixmonths. Spell it out; no number. So it’s F-R-E-E-S-I-X-M-O-N-T-H-S, freesixmonths, no spaces. That’s the password.

So when you go to NetworkingNow, you sign up, you punch that in, and you absolutely, positively, unequivocally will get six months free. And if you want to renew, then you can renew; or you can cancel it at six months, and you’ll never be charged anything.

But you’ll have access to tons of downloadable content, and you’ll get an e-mail from us every month saying, “Here’s when the Networking Café next one is, and you’re welcome to join Ivan, and here’s the subject.”

Priscilla:
And how does that work? I know we’re almost out of time, but what does it mean that you’re on this telebridge?

Ivan:
Well, I do a telebridge on subjects that – imagine that I did this topic that networking is more about talking business, but this is a podcast that is one-way communication. You can post a message, which is great. But what if you had a question? The same with the telebridge is that we open them up; we open up the lines and say, “Okay, what questions do you have?” And so it’s really a dialog with anybody as opposed to just a podcast or a one-way communication. If you have questions, you can chat with me directly on these telebridges which are done through NetworkingNow.

Priscilla:
That sounds great. Okay, well, thank you, Dr. Misner.

Ivan:
Thank you, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
I just want 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.

This week Dr. Misner brings us a great metaphor from a BNI director in South Dakota and a BNI member named Bill:

Networking will never work if you’re here for yourself. You need to take off your bib, put on your apron, and learn to serve other people.

Here are 12 ways to do that.

1. Provide referrals.
2. Make introductions.
3. Arrange a meeting.
4. Invite people to meetings.
5. Endorse people’s products and services.
6. Display their literature in your office.
7. Distribute their information.
8. Announce their events.
9. Nominate people for awards.
10. Follow-up on any referrals they give you.
11. Serve as a sponsor.
12. Publish information.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 125 -

Priscilla:
Hello everyone, and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast which is 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 the beautiful 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.

Ivan:
Hi, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
What do you have to share with us today?

Ivan:
Oh, I’ve got a great metaphor. I just love this. A few weeks ago, I received a message from a BNI director in the United States, and it read, “Ivan, I’m working on a chapter kick-off in South Dakota, and I had a salesman named Bill sit through the whole meeting, then not get up to leave when I ended it. And he sat there gazing into space.” He said, “Bill’s a 30-year veteran in the sales business.” And I asked him if I could help him, and he said, “You know, this whole networking thing will never work if I’m here for myself.”

Now, he just sat through, basically, a kick-off introduction, this is what it takes to kick off a successful BNI chapter. And he watches this meeting, and he tells the director, “This networking thing will never work if I’m here for myself. I need to take off my bib and put on my apron and learn to serve these people.”

I thought wow! Wow! If that’s not the concept of Givers Gain, an incredible summary of the concept of Givers Gain, I don’t know what is. Take off your bib and put on your apron. Stop coming to networking events looking for ways to feed yourself and look for ways to help others, to serve others.

Priscilla:
Yeah.

Ivan:
There’s really not much I add to that sentiment. I think truly effective networking is about taking off your bib and putting on your apron. It’s about helping other people succeed through the activities that go along with that process and you build your business and you prosper.

I just want to thank the director and the member. I think it’s an incredible metaphor to live by in BNI.

Priscilla:
I agree, and I was wondering, do you have any ideas on how to implement that?

Ivan:
Absolutely. I’ve written a little bit about ways that others can promote your business. And so let’s flip that on its head. Here are 12 simple ways that you can help other people in their business. I’m going to give you 12 things real quick.

Priscilla:
Okay.

Ivan:
The first, of course, is provide referrals. BNI, that’s really important, is you’ll look for referrals for other people. But there’s more than that.

You can introduce people to prospects. Make introductions to other people, number 2.

Number 3, arrange a meeting, set up a meeting where you’re not just introducing two people via e-mail, which is one way, but you actually set a meeting to connect with these people.

4, invite people to attend meetings with you. That’s a great way. You go to a meeting with somebody else and you promote them. Say, “Here’s my friend. They’re really good at such-and-such.”

Endorse people’s products and services, do a testimonial letter. I do endorsements for books every month. I probably do two or three a month, and I keep doing them because it puts my name out there as an expert, and I think doing endorsements for other people’s products or services is a great way to put your name out there, but also to help put others’.

Display their literature and products in your offices or homes, particularly offices. If you have an opportunity to display other people’s material, I think that’s great.

Distribute their information. If you’re sending out a newsletter, include some information from somebody else.

Make an announcement. If you’re attending meetings or speaking groups and, let’s say, somebody’s got an event going on, promote them. Say, “I’ve got a good friend that’s doing an event locally.”

Here’s an unusual one. Number 9, nominate people for recognition and awards.

Priscilla:
That’s a great one.

Ivan:
Nominate them for recognition and awards. A lot of times there’s local organizations that recognize business people one way or another, and I think that’s a great way. And it could even be nominating for their community service. That’s a great one.

Here’s 10. Make sure to follow up with referrals that have been given to you. You want prospects to be really, really well taken care of. So when somebody gives you a referral, you do a better job for them than you do for anyone else. Believe it or not, that serves them, because when you give a referral, you give a little bit of your reputation away. When you give a good referral, it enhances your reputation. So if somebody decides to give you a referral, you better do a better job than normal; you better to the best you possibly can, because that makes them look good.

Serve as a sponsor, if you have an opportunity. Number 11, serve as a sponsor. If you can fund or sponsor a program for somebody else, I think that’s excellent.

And one more. Publish information. If you write, if you have a newsletter, if you have a blog, do any writing at all, those people that you’ve got a relationship with, make sure to recommend them. Look at BNI SuccessNet. We have a section on SuccessNet that says “BNI Recommends.” Here are products, books, services for people that have supported me, that have supported BNI, and we try to reciprocate and do that same for them through that section.

So there’s more. This is just some real simple ideas that you can apply, 12 simple ideas on how you can take off your bib and put on your apron and serve others more effectively in BNI.

Priscilla:
Those are great. I especially like the idea of giving people recommendations on testimonials. I think they’re so powerful in the meeting. You just can’t say enough about somebody, and they can’t say it about themselves, so I think that’s a great one.

Ivan:
Well, it’s very true, and you bring up a good point. It’s never as effective, you talking about yourself as having somebody else talk about you. It’s one of the reasons why, whenever I do a speaking engagement, I never open up by giving my background. Sometimes organizations say, “Talk a little bit about yourself so we know more about you.” Never, I never ever do that. I have a set bio and somebody else reads that bio, because if somebody else says, “He’s done this; he’s done that; he’s done this,” it’s much more impressive than you talking about yourself.

Priscilla:
Right.

Ivan:
So the idea of an endorsement is, I think, really valuable. You’re right.

Priscilla:
Yeah. Well, great. I think those are wonderful ideas.

Ivan:
I do, too, and I want thank, again, the director from South Dakota and the member, because I think it’s a wonderful metaphor that we can all use, take off your bib and put on your apron. Great concept.

Priscilla:
Okay, thank you, Dr. Misner.

Ivan:
Thank you.

Priscilla:
Well, I just want 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.

Networking commandments 6-10. If you haven’t heard the first 5 commandments, go back and listen to Episode 32.

6. Give referrals whenever possible.
7. Ask each person you meet for one or two cards to pass on and one for yourself.
8. Spend no more than 10 minutes with each person.
9. Write notes on the back of business cards you collect (unless you’re in Asia).
10. Follow up!

Check out Dr. Misner’s book It’s in the Cards for ideas about business cards.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 033 -

Priscilla Rice:
Hello everybody and welcome back to the official BNI podcast, brought to you by networkingnow.com, the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I’m Priscilla Rice coming from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. I am joined on the phone today by Founder and Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner who is calling from BNI headquarters. How are you, Ivan?

Ivan Misner:
I’m doing great, Priscilla. Thank you.

Priscilla:
What do you have to share with us today?

Ivan:
Today we’re going to talk about part two of the ten commandments of networking at a mixer. They are items six through ten. They begin with giving referrals whenever possible. That is number six.

The listeners to this podcast, if they haven’t heard part one, should listen to part one and then come to this one. We’re starting with number six, which is give referrals whenever possible.

The best networkers really believe in the philosophy of givers gain which is actually based on the social capital theory of the law of reciprocity. That basically means that whenever you have an opportunity, give a referral. If you are talking to someone and they express some kind of need that they have, you want to refer them to the appropriate person.

One of the first ten commandments talks about listening and asking questions. By asking questions, people will open up and maybe tell you things. It might be something simple like a challenge that they are having. You might be able to refer them to an article or to an actual product or service that they need, where you can refer them to someone. Whenever you can help someone, that is an important aspect of networking and you should keep that in mind as part of the networking process. That is number six of the ten commandments.

Priscilla:
I just want to say that it’s really fun to give referrals. It makes you happy.

Ivan:
It does. It helps people and it feels good. It’s a great way to do business. In networking in general and BNII in particular, they are a great way to get business but they are an even better way to do business. This is an example of that.

Number seven is exchange business cards. Ask each person that you meet for one or two cards to pass on to someone and one for yourself. May I have one of your cards? Take their card and thank them and then give them your card. Generally, if you ask for their card, they will do the same.

Exchanging cards is very important and sometimes people will spend several minutes with somebody talking but they never ask for their card. They can’t follow up without that. It’s one of the least expensive and most important forms of advertising that anyone has.

If you need to work on your business card, I wrote a book with Dan Georgevich and Candace Bailly a number of years ago called It’s in the Cards. Listeners to this podcast may want to take a look at it. It’s available at Amazon.com. It talks about how to design cards. It’s a real good book.

Priscilla:
Great. I think it’s nice to ask for a card because it’s kind of a generous action. You’re not just shoving your card in somebody’s face.

Ivan:
You are absolutely correct. If you ask for somebody else’s card, that is usually the way that I approach it to give somebody a card. I ask them for theirs first, which makes it easier then for me to give my card to them.

The eighth of the ten commandments is to spend ten minutes or less with each person that you meet. Don’t linger with friends and associates. I’ve gone to so many meetings where I see people stand there and talk to people that they already know for an hour. I remember going to one event and there were the same two bankers talking to each other in this corner. They were with the same bank. A little while later, I walked by and saw that there was a third person, and I thought they are finally networking. I noticed it was a woman who was also with the same branch of the same bank!

On our way out the door, these two guys were in front of me and I actually heard one turn to the other and say, “I don’t know why the boss keeps sending us to these mixers. I didn’t get any business out of it, did you?” It’s like if you snooze, you lose. These two guys were in the corner for an hour talking to each other and they couldn’t figure out why they didn’t get any business.

It’s not called net-eating or net-talking. It’s called networking. You have to work the organization. Get around in the people. Don’t spend the whole evening with just a handful of people.

The ninth of the ten commandments is an interesting one at first glance, it looks pretty clear-cut, but it can actually be little more complex. That is write notes on the back of business cards that you collect. Record things that you think may be useful in remembering them.

For example, when I go to an event, I may meet 20 to 40 people. Some of those people, I want to reconnect with or I have promised them something. I flip the card over and write on the back. I always ask them if they mind if I write this on the back of their card. They always say yes. I have never had some anyone say no.

There is something really important if you travel. Don’t even ask to write on the back of a business card throughout most of Asia because it is not considered good form to write on the card. It’s a different kind of thing. In North America, where I am from, you can toss somebody a business card from the corner. You can almost toss it to them and it’s no big deal.

But in Asia, they have a whole ritual in handing out cards. I don’t know if you have ever seen it before or not, but in Japan, it’s called the meishi ritual, where you literally hold it by the corners, present it to someone and bow. Someone is supposed to accept it, comment on the card, bow and thank them. It is a little ritual, so writing on the card is bad form.

Use this technique only where appropriate and do not do it where it’s not appropriate. I have a little note pad with me when I’m in Asia and I write on that rather than on the card.

Priscilla:
Did you ever make that mistake?

Ivan:
Luckily, I did not. Mind you, we could have a whole podcast or two on all of the mistakes that I have made- and I have made some good ones internationally- but luckily, I have learned to ask people in advance before I do this. You bring up a good point. I think we should have a podcast in the not too distant future about doing business worldwide because I have a lot of recommendations, this being one example.

Priscilla:
I think that would be really fun. I would love to hear it. Okay, so what is your last one?

Ivan:
The tenth of the ten commandments of networking at mixers is follow up. You can follow the previous nine commandments religiously, but if you don’t follow up effectively, you’ve wasted your time. You have to drop a note, give a call or e-mail.

A lot of people ask me what the best form to follow up is. Well, I would have to say that a handwritten note is probably best, but I am horrible at doing handwritten notes. Conceptually, a handwritten note is best, but if you know that you’re not going to do it, is it really best for you? The answer would be no.

It’s one of the reasons why in one of my books, Truth or Delusion, I recommended sendoutcards.com which is a good strategic alliance partner with BNI. We recommend them often because it looks like a handwritten note but you can do it right from your computer. It’s a great service and I highly recommend it.

No matter which way you are going to do it, you have to follow up with those people that you promised to follow up with and that you have an interest in. Otherwise, you have completely wasted your time at the mixer. With those five, those are the total ten commandments of networking between part one in part two of these podcasts.

Priscilla:
That’s great information. Thank you, Dr. Ivan Misner. I think that’s all we have time for this week. Thanks for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we will see you next week on the official BNI podcast which has been brought to you by networkingnow.com.