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I know someone that does that....

I had a new customer at my workshop this morning who is an interior designer. She moved to Cypress from the valley when she married in January and is looking to grow her business in this new location. She has been looking into networking organizations, had just recently heard about BNI, and was excited to be invited to visit. She will be back for another workshop Saturday and then I will send her a reminder e-mail about BNI.

Off the top of my head I figured she would be a great power partner for Julaine, Dennis, Ken, Tony, and Gale Boyd. As we talked I thought she might personally need Dan Fowler, Dan Arteritano, Dean Hill, and Lisa Lockhart, all of whom could help her re-establish her business in her new locale.

She also enjoyed the interaction between my workshoppers and remarked that she enjoys being in groups of people because all her girlfriends are back in her old neighborhood, so I invited her to the Arbonne party Beth Bingham Georges is doing at my house on the 18th.

This is why I love being a member of High Trust BNI. It feels so good to be able to connect people who can help one another.

High Trust This Week (Hitting Stride)

INTRODUCTION
I needed a new format as I toy with how to deliver more news to our sales team. This news is exciting… Please give me feed back as you read. You might want to read from the bottom up (and that is the last time "bottom" will be in one of my emails)

EDUCATION
As you know this is an ongoing process as we strive to become better networkers. This weeks message was poignant one… TRIGGERS! All day, and all week we need to look for those TRIGGERS that give us clues to referrals. Listen and look for them as you talk with clients and listen to conversations.

KEY NOTE PRESENTATION
Wendy Austin informed us all that “insurance companies don’t just take your money!” Let all think of ways we can help refer businesses to her. Farmers’ MILK program & disaster preparedness programs should be essential to most businesses in California. Protecting our children is among the top concerns for most citizens. Let look for those preschools, daycares, hotels, motels, and schools for Wendy.

CHANGES IN OUR POLICIES
Remember we changed our policy for Basic MSP training back to 12 months. We also changed the necessity for attending Key Note & Sales Manager Moment in order to be on the speaker schedule. Fine tuning our presentations will gain us additional referrals and lead to more “Thank You for Closed Business”. (Million Dollars)

GROWTH & RETENTION
Our “Top Ten Most Wanted” has gone visual. Lets start looking for these individuals and invite them to the most exciting chapter in the land. 5 visitors today! WHAT? You guys are not only talking the talk, but we will be striding across the stage at the next “Evening Among the Stars”. Do not forget about our accountability program. Lets encourage each other on the team to reach our personal goals!

NEWS FLASH!!!! THIS JUST IN!!!! BREAKING NEWS!!!!!

GET the fanfare and the drum roll ready. OUR GOAL TO BE A MILLION DOLLAR CHAPTER…. requires dedication and focus…. WELL YOU GUYS HAVE EAGLE EYES!!!! Are ready for this? (do you hear that music too)

High Trust, today, passed $35,092 in closed business!!! Let people know! Facebook it, Twitter it, Link it in ...yell it from the mountain tops!

Our total for this month is $53,969! Holiday Slow Down ? Recession? phwaat WHAT?! Our VP just emailed me that we can hit $80k this month and I believe him… Let’s Do This

Thanks for letting me be president of a fantastic sales force! Now go get those referrals! Why? ( I hear David’s voice) “Because GIVERS GAIN !”

High Trust this week - September 28, 2010

Dear High Trust,
Thank you for another great, high energy meeting--our last meeting of the BNI year!

Linda Parra educated us about long-term care during her keynote presentation. I'm sure we'll all be listening for opportunities to refer Linda, especially this week.

Our Socal BNI Assistant Director, Lily Otieno, visited us and used her "stand and deliver" time to recognize several of our members who have outstanding statistics. Congratulations to Kim Spucces, Dan Fowler, George Papacalos, Julaine Waggoner, and Wendy Austin.

Our most important announcement of the day was that there will be no regular chapter meeting on October 5th. Instead, you are encouraged to attend the Winning Strategies for Business conference in Long Beach on October 5th. Dr. Ivan Misner, BNI Founder, will be the Keynote Presenter. This is a FREE EVENT! Even though it's free, you MUST REGISTER. Use this link:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/winningstrategies/index.html

This event is not just for BNI members - it's free for anyone, so invite your associates and clients to join you. They must register too, of course.

You can see the agenda for the conference here:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/winningstrategies/agenda.html

Your Leadership Team encourages you to take advantage of this opportunity, but we understand that not everyone will be able to attend. You will not be penalized in any way if you can't be there.

Right now we expect to resume regular chapter meetings on Tuesday, October 12th. You will hear from your new president, Jarvis Reeves, when there is a goal planning meeting scheduled.

I look forward to celebrating this past BNI year with many of you at “An Evening Among the Stars”, to be held on Friday, October 1st at the Hyatt Regency located at 17900 Jamboree Rd, Irvine, CA 92614.

Speaking of Friday night, have you seen the list of nominees? I fully expect to hear "High Trust" among the winners. Check out the list here:

http://www.socalbni.com/cgi-bin/viewnlcontent.cgi?nlarticle_id=73

Upcoming training opportunities:

MSP – Thursday, September 29th, 9 am in Capistrano Beach and Saturday, October 9th, 8 am in Placentia

Effective Keynote Presentation – 2:00 on Tuesday, October 5th, in Mission Viejo

Hidden Opportunities – 2:00 on Thursday, October 7th, in Capistrano Beach


Networking Opportunity:
Bixby Knolls Supper Club Monday, October 4, 6 pm or 8 pm at Baba Ghanouj, 4276 Atlantic. $20 per person. Our capacity is 50 each seating. RSVP to: info@bixbyknollsinfo.com

Last, but not least, I want to thank all the members of High Trust for making my year as President a smooth, fun, and rewarding experience. You are all amazing business people who exemplify the Givers Gain attitude. A special thanks to our Leadership and Support Team, who made my job easy. Kim Spucces and Dan Fowler--I relied on your expertise and good sense. This past year wouldn't have been as successful--or fun--without you.

Sincerely,
Marilee

STAND OUT AND BE REMEMBERED IN YOUR NETWORKS!

STAND OUT AND BE REMEMBERED IN ALL YOUR NETWORKS!

Ever wonder why some people get a ton of referrals, business and results with Social Networking and others don’t? If you think about it, it is quite simple. People stink at building relationships. Let’s face it….the majority of professionals today are chasing money. They are so focused on “conquering” and are all about “what is in it for me” instead of thinking “What can I do for you?”.

The concept of giving to get seems to have been lost for many. Let’s take a look at traditional networking. They say the difference between regular folks and regular folks who are millionaires is one thing….networking. If you aren’t networking, then you aren’t serious about your business.

Is it enough to just network? NO! For just a moment think about the last networking opportunity you attended. Here is what a typical situation looks like…..people show up (for the most part), they have their business cards ready, they start chatting with whomever they come across, they immediately find ways to talk about their business, they might ask the other person a few questions (just to be polite), they force their business card on them and then go onto the next person. Most professionals are more concerned about what is being served for lunch versus the people they are meeting.

So let’s try this again…..imagine this….

1.You call the organizer of the networking group ahead of time to find out who are the top professionals they recommend you connect with.

 

2.You show up with the intention of meeting 2-3 of these highly recommend professionals.

3.When you find these 2-3 people, you let them know you specifically came to meet them and ask if you can learn more about their business.

4.You then ask them 5-6 on point and targeted questions all geared around understanding how you might be able to assist them.

 

5.You then let them know (only if you can) that you would like to refer business to them. Could you schedule a one on one so you have more time to learn about them.

6.You schedule that appointment on the spot.

 

7.You thank them for their time, ask them for their card and let them know you will be confirming the appointment with them.

8.You move to find the next person.

 

9.After the meeting, you send a handwritten thank you card telling them why you are grateful you met them and what you are most looking forward to in your meeting.

 

10.You send them an email thanking them, confirm your meeting and send them a simple agenda for the meeting.

 

11.A day before you send them a reminder email along with you cell phone number.

 

12.You call them the day before to let them know how excited you are about the meeting and how wonderful it will be to refer them business.

 

13.You meet with the person and use the agenda you created to learn about their ideal client, what a good referral looks like and to generate a list of 2-3 possible connections you can make for them.

14.After the meeting you send them another handwritten thank you card telling them why you admire them and 3 things you learned in your meeting.

 

15.You send a follow up email thanking them for the meeting and provide a list of the 2-3 people you plan on connecting them to.

 

16.You then send an email to the person and the person you want to connect them to. In the email you give a brief introduction for each person and the reason why you are connecting them. You then designate one person to make it their responsibility to set up a meeting. You state what you feel the purpose of their meeting.

 

17.You then follow up with the person you originally met with and schedule another meeting to talk about what happened for them.

This may sound like a lot of steps for networking. For me, if I am going to do something then I am going to maximize my time and money. If you don’t plan on generating results and don’t care about referrals then don’t follow the 17 steps.

I am continually amazed at just how “careless” and ineffective business professionals are at networking. Time is money. It takes about 3-5 hours to attend a networking event. (You have to include drive time, preparation and the actual meeting – this does NOT include follow up – most professionals skip the follow up) For me, every professional I meet is another person for a great relationship. It is about the quality of your meeting not the quantity. Most will tell you, they never forget me if they met me at a networking event.

Social Networking is NO different than traditional networking…..it is just done online. You can do the exact same 17 steps with Social Networking. Imagine what would happen if you did.

So what are you planning on doing right now to make a difference in ALL of your networking efforts? Online and Offline. I would love to hear your thoughts.

You are invited to my next class on Social Networking and on how to build Strategies so you can leverage Social Media to grow your business. Click here for details: http://www.ourlansa.com/flyer.html