Have a purpose…a strategy…a plan

Every week we come in here and we have the opportunity to share certain things that we are looking for...something that would make our business better for the week. Something that will ring the cash register...

But, are we doing it with a well thought our strategy or purpose?

Are you just coming in here and throwing something up against the wall and hoping it sticks or is it something that you have thought about, planned, prepared for and delivered with frequency...

Many of us have businesses that are seasonal or cyclical.

Are you planning this out? Making special offers? Carrying that message or offer throughout your business….

Examples:

Josh Dana…Summer driving….AC Check….Special Offer….Blog Post…Coupon to hand out at BNI…Website offer…Facebook Post…Outside advertising… Talk about it at BNI a few times in different ways….Examples….Fred was driving to Las Vegas this past weekend…Oil, coolant…air pressure…fluids etc.

Scotty: Summer pool tune up? Special Change the sand filter, Acid Wash, Paint?

Be strategic in your message that you deliver here at BNI and carry that message through to your business and the marketing channels you play in.

Today, I thought I would do something a little different?

Can all of you take out a pen and paper for a little fun quiz?

1. Dismissed from drama school with a note that read she is wasting her time, she is too shy to put her best foot forward.

• Lucille Ball

2. Turned down by the Decca recording company that said we don’t like their sound and guitar music is on the way out

• The Beatles

3. A failed soldier, farmer and real estate agent at 38 years old he went to work for his father as a handyman

• Ulysses S Grant

4. Cut from the high school Basketball team he went home and locked himself in his room and cried.

• Michael Jordan

5. A teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything and he should go in to a field that he might succeed by virtue of his pleasant personality

• Thomas Edison

6. Fired from a newspaper because he lacked imagination and had no original ideas

• Walt Disney

7. His fiancé died, he failed in business twice, he had a nervous breakdown and he was defeated in 8 elections

• Abraham Lincoln

If you have never failed you have never lived. Perseverance it is the fuel to succeed
 
"Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do." Pele

Your sixty second BNI sales moment is your opportunity to share something very specific about you or your company.

Your sales moment should address specific solutions that can solve a problem that members of your chapter, their customers, vendors, employees, family members or contacts may have.

Use an example of a previous customer of yours where you solved that specific problem.

Use real life situations that other chapter members may face.

A technique you may find helpful is using a five-bullet point plan.

• Identify the problem.
• Identify how you or your company provides a solution.
• Identify the prospects you are looking for.
• Indentify an example of who you solved the problem for.
• Indentify how people can connect with you to learn more.

But here’s the catch, you need to do it in sixty seconds. Sixty seconds is about one hundred fifty clearly spoken concise words.

By the way….that was sixty seconds and 150 words.

The whole idea of networking in any type of group really boils down to moving your relationship through a pretty specific series of phases that you will have with the others in the group.

Although we are talking about networking, the truth is that this is how relationships work in all walks of like but we just happen to be in an environment where we are focusing on building them and concentrating on them.

The message today is to reassure the newer members of the group that being in BNI will work, but it takes time and effort in order for the benefits to surface and depending upon what your profession is, the amount of time may increase as the complexity and value of your business increases.

1.     Know me…

What am I all about?
What do I do?
Where do I do it?
What else did I do?
Who do I know?
Where am I from?
What kind of family do I have?

Obviously there are hundreds of questions you can ask to get a feeling for the kind of person this is, but you must get to know them first.

2.     Like me

Am I pleasant?
Am I respectful?
Do I show up when and where I said I would?
Do we have things in common?
Do they seem to have similar values?
Are you extreme and if you are, do you realize that those view may affect the way people view you?

Are you likeable, it seems like a pretty easy question, but make sure that you are friendly and approachable.

3. Trust me

Do people believe that I know what I am doing?
Have I demonstrated my knowledge to them or the group?
Do I have behaviors and habits that instill belief in me?
Have I problem solved for anyone?

Until you have moved through these three phases of relationship building with members of the group, you may feel like this BNI thing isn’t working, but have trust and faith in the system. Work to move your relationships with everyone through these three phases and then you will begin to see the fruits of your efforts.