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BNI & The Power of One
BNI 808: Getting Referrals From Others Outside Our Chapter
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In this week's Power of One we answer your submitted question! This week it is how do we expand our network with professions who are already represented in our chapter?
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Foreign welcome back to BNI and the Power of One podcast. We are back with your show. Submissions Topics Questions submitted@bni powerofone.com I really appreciate everybody who continues to do so and encourage you all to continue to do so as we want to make this show yours. Today we are hearing from Jen Hill and oh by the way, before we go and Jen, thank you for submitting. Special treat at the end, something I'm super excited to share. Hopefully we'll be able to share it more often, but I'm going to share at least one time so stay tuned. At the end I'll explain it more but I'm excited for that. Let's get to the topic. Jen Hill so from Toledo says Hey Tim, not sure if this is a BNI topic or business topic. Here's the scenario. I'm a professional organizer and I've found that having relationships with house cleaners are a wonderful referral partners. My clients need them often and their clients need me. We have an excellent cleaner in our group and it's who I refer my clients to, but I'm trying to connect with other cleaners too. How do you recommend building a good relationship with other cleaners without being able to reciprocate referrals? So it's a really good question and it's much like if you think of Mortgage brokers can't always live off one real estate agent. One real estate agent can obviously live off one mortgage broker or insurance broker and everything else. But there are ways to add value and what you really want to be doing is using your BNI chapter to build these relationship based referrals. So one thing is when you're meeting with them is what do you offer them in return to the relationship? Outside of referrals, there are other value points that you're going to have to other cleaners, right? You're going to be an additional resource that they can offer to their clients that makes them more valuable to their clients. You're going to be able to maybe help their clients be more organized, which makes the cleaning job even easier on their part. And there are also referrals to potential cleaning clients that might be out of the scope for the one that's in your group. Meaning maybe that potential client for a cleaner is outside the range of service the cleaner in your chapter wants to work with. Maybe it is a different size house than they want to work with that the other does, right? So you might be able to find cleaners as well where you can give referrals. I would have this conversation, even with the cleaner in your group saying, you know, listen, you're my cleaner, I've been referring you, I want to, I'm going to continue to refer you, but tell me the areas that you don't want referrals in, right? Is it, Tell me the types of clients you don't want referrals in, tell me the scope of or the radius of service you don't want to be outside of and then try to make connections in those areas so that you can have a reciprocal relationship without feeling like you're holding something back from the cleaner in your group or you're being shady or secretive or what have you. So that would be my two two prong approach. First, I would use BNI to get more cleaners because they are a referral source for you, they are golden gooses. So you can ask for them, you can ask your cleaner for they often know other people in the industry as well. Who else can they connect you with to get a, a network of them around you who can feed you referrals? Each one of them will probably feed you less referrals than the one in your chapter because you're not going to have the same depth of relationship, you're not going to have the same consistency of meeting with them with a purpose of passing referrals, but so they're not going to be as valuable. But in total they could be extremely valuable. Ask your current cleaner, where the areas, what are the types of clients, what are the types of things that you don't want to do, don't like doing, don't want to go to? Because there even could be different types of cleanings. You know, they don't want the customer who's only going to be spring and fall, they want week to week or a bi weekly cleanings or maybe they only want the spring and fall versus the other. So figure out where are they really enjoying, what do they really like so that you pass them more referrals of what they really like, but also learn the areas they don't and then try to connect with cleaners in those areas that service the type of clients your current cleaner doesn't want to service, areas they don't want to go to, serve, do different types of services they don't want to do and build your network out that way so that it can be reciprocal. Again, it won't be to the same volume or in quantity that the ones are going to the cleaner in your chapter, but it can be somewhat reciprocal and even if it's not even if it is another cleaner right in the area doing the same types of clients you're your clean current cleaner is doing, doesn't mean you can add value and have a somewhat profitable relationship with that cleaner. Yeah, maybe you're not passing them a ton of referrals, but you're providing value to the services that they're doing and thus making them more valuable to their current clients and future clients. And so there's a give there too, and that's okay. I, I think it's a great question because I think a lot of people think, you know, that when we join BNI that we sign some kind of agreement or drink some kind of Kool Aid that says, you know, all other relationships outside of this group are null and void. That's it's not true. It's not how it works and nor how should should it work. You should be looking for people in the industries that are going to pass you or have the opportunity to pass you consistent referrals, your contacts for your professions. The one in your chapter again will be the deeper relationship. It will be the most profitable relation ideally anyways, the most profitable relationship, the one with the most consistency and commitment to one another. But even if they're amazing, it's not likely that you can live off just one of them depending on again, real estate agents and mortgage brokers, and vice versa, insurance reps. So this is a great question to be thinking about. How do I expand that network knowing that I only have so many referrals to give that can only go to so many places? I do have this level of commitment in relationship with somebody in my BNI chapter. Ask yourself, okay, well where else can I provide value? Where else can I help them that isn't going to be taking away for what I'm currently doing with somebody in my chapter. You might even be able to refer them to other organizers or other professions that again are going to feed them referrals. So yeah, you're cleaning clients to go into the cleaner in your chapter, but you might be able to make other introductions to people in your chapter that they work with and stuff. So there's a lot of other ways to provide value than the one tangible, you know, client based referral. I teach in member success program. And just when we're talking, the direct referral to the next customer is extremely valuable obviously, but is only one point of value we can add to somebody. It's only, it's one example of value we can add it unfortunately at times is the only one we think about. So Again, your chapter can be giving you extreme, really providing you a lot of value by connecting you with more cleaners because those be will, you know, keep referring you on and vice versa for those cleaners. You might be able to make great connections with other members in your chapter who will get referrals from them or be able to provide them value, et cetera, et cetera and et cetera. So it's not an uncommon concern. And so I really appreciate you sharing because I, I would bet there's a lot of people who are very. Who are thinking much like you are or have the same kind of concern based on their professions because we could think of a lot of them. So start there. I hope this provided some value for you to think about and some strategies to implement to be able to expand that network for yourself. But, and in a true giver's game way, help those other people in return. All right, so Jen, thank you so much for submitting that. Everybody else, again who's continued to submit, I really appreciate it. Want to continue to make this show for you guys. We, we do have a very special ending here. So just the other day we got back from National Conference and got an email from my managing director in Central Florida with a song that was written and produced by one of our BNI members in Central Florida. His name is Steve White. He's in our B and I Legacy Partners chapter. If you want to look him up in BNI Connect, I would encourage you to do so. Let him know what you think of this song that I want to share with you. I think it's amazing. I think it's truly amazing. I know our team's reaching out to Steve to see if we can maybe even use it weekly on the podcast or share it around. I've already sent it out to the CEO of bni, the US President of BNI told them to share it because I think it's really, really well done. And so, Steve, if you're listening, thank you for your time and effort in putting this together for your chapter and for bni. Thank you for sharing it and I hope you don't mind me sharing it here, but I wanted to play it for everybody. So here is Together We Rise by Steve White.
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We rise with the sun Ready for the day with hard work and passion we pave the way Every little task it builds and it grows in this world of business it's the heart that shows Dedication Shines in everything we do Together we climb it's me and it's you we all work hard to make our dreams alive with strength of spirit we leave the average behind the power of giving lifts us high and wide that's why we are proud to be a part of B and I From early mornings to late at night Night we hustle and we strive Keep our vision bright through every challenge we stand tall and strong Together as a family we can't go wrong the bonds we're building they take us far in the game of business we're shining like a star are we all work hard to make our dreams come true with strength of spirit we all pull through the power of giving lifts us high and wide that's why we are proud to stand side by side Being as the place where connections thrive Uniting our hopes Keeping dreams alive Together we network inspire and share with every referral we show that we care we all work hard to make our dreams align with strength of spirit we're truly on the grind the power of giving lifts us high and wide that's why we are proud to stand side by side so here we are Lifting each other high with dedication and pride we're ready to fly Together we'll grow through every stormy night in this journey of ours we're shining bright.