BNI 897: Weekly Presentation Coaching 158 - Philip Nixon - Explainer Videos - BNI & The Power of One

Episode Overview

Podcast: BNI & The Power of One
Host: Tim Roberts
Episode: 897 – Weekly Presentation Coaching 158: Philip Nixon – Explainer Videos
Date: May 8, 2026

In this episode, Tim Roberts reviews and coaches a submitted BNI weekly presentation by Philip Nixon from York, UK. The focus is on critiquing Philip's approach to pitching explainer videos for Software as a Service (SaaS) clients within the context of BNI meetings. Tim provides tactical advice on crafting effective weekly presentations that empower fellow BNI members to generate referrals successfully.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: The Importance of Weekly Presentations

Tim underscores that the weekly presentation is "the number one skill set we use each and every week at our BNI meetings" (01:00).
Emphasizes that coaching these presentations helps maximize referral potential and BNI engagement.

2. Philip Nixon’s Submitted Presentation

Target: SaaS founders, directors, and agencies with tech clients struggling to explain their product value.
Core Argument: Most SaaS companies have a clarity problem rather than a product issue; explainer videos as solutions.
Ask: Seeks connections with specific individuals, like Mandy Huntington, CCO at iFinity in York.

Memorable Quote by Philip Nixon (as read by Tim):

“Most software as a service companies don’t have a product problem. They have a clarity problem. If your software needs a sales call to explain what it does, you’re leaking opportunities...” (02:50)

3. Tim’s Critique: What Worked and What Didn’t

Strengths

Clarity on Product Value: Philip clearly articulates what explainer videos accomplish for SaaS businesses.
Specific Ask: Inclusion of a named individual and company (albeit late in the pitch).

Areas for Improvement

Target Audience Clarity: Feedback that the audience (“founders, directors, or agencies”) is too broad and only specified at the end.
- Quote: “You didn’t do any of that. In fact, the only who you’re looking for came at the very end...” (04:31)
Overly Salesy & Technical: The pitch feels like a direct sales pitch to a SaaS founder, not guidance for BNI members to find referrals.
- “A lot of just kind of, it turns into what you would normally be saying and talking about and how you would sell your product... not training the people in the room how to identify these people and how to bring you up.” (05:32)
Lack of Referral Triggers: No clear “trigger events” or signals that help others identify opportunities.
- Example: “Give them a trigger, give them some questions to ask, you know, and just teach people how to start bringing you up.” (06:28)
No Conversation Starters: Absent are scripts or suggested language for members to use when speaking with potential referrals.
- “What do I say to Mandy? Like, how do I bring you up?” (07:18)
Muddled Who and How: The presentation doesn't teach members “how to know” when someone needs Philip’s service or “how to talk about it” if they meet someone like Mandy.
- “If I’m a painter, how the heck do I know?” (06:39)

4. Tim’s Recommendations for an Improved Presentation

Start With the Specific ‘Who’: Immediately state the type of person/company you want to be introduced to.
- Example Reframe: “I’m looking to meet the CCOs of agencies, such as Mandy Huntington at iFinity in York.” (07:00)
Define Referral Triggers: Offer language about “what you’ll hear,” “what they’ll say,” or “questions you can ask” to uncover a need for explainer videos.
- “How do I know that they might be leaking leads? ...What kind of things should I be listening for?” (06:51)
Teach Referral Conversations: Provide a “what to say” script so any BNI member in any profession—be it painter, real estate agent, or contractor—can easily refer you.

5. Broader Teaching Moment

Tim reflects that this is a common trap: using expert or sales team language instead of referral-focused language.
- Notable Quote: “It has to be... I gotta train, you know, the real estate agent, I got to train, the insurance broker, I got to train the painter... on how to identify opportunities for me. And that’s the same for all of us.” (08:01)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On SaaS Companies’ Challenge:
“Most software as a service companies don’t have a product problem. They have a clarity problem. If your software needs a sales call to explain what it does, you’re leaking opportunities...” – Tim reading Philip Nixon’s pitch, 02:50
On Referral Training:
“You can’t give them the information and language you would give to those types of people [your sales team]. It has to be... I gotta train ... on how to identify opportunities for me.”
– Tim Roberts, 08:01
The Irony of Clarity:
“I think this creates a clarity issue for your members on how to actually refer you. So I really appreciate you submitting it. I hope this was helpful.”
– Tim Roberts, 09:14

Timestamps for Important Segments

[01:00] – Introduction to weekly presentation coaching and guidelines for this episode.
[02:00-03:50] – Tim reads Philip Nixon's submitted pitch, pausing to clarify “SaaS” and comment on tone.
[04:10] – Initial critique: importance of stating “who” early and narrowing the ask.
[05:30-08:45] – In-depth breakdown: common pitfalls, need for referral triggers, BNI-suitable language, and practical examples.
[09:15] – Closing summary and encouragement to resubmit refined presentations.

Summary Takeaways

Your BNI weekly presentation should:
- Be crystal clear about whom you want to be introduced to
- Teach others the triggers or signals that identify an ideal prospect
- Equip fellow members with simple scripts to start referral conversations
- Use everyday rather than expert/sales team language

Tim’s approachable coaching style and laser focus on referral mechanics make this an instructive and practical episode for anyone looking to up their BNI presentation game.

Transcript

A (0:00)

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B (0:31)

Sam. Foreign. Welcome back to BNI and the Power of One. Back with our weekly presentation coaching episode where we review your submitted weekly presentations, try to give feedback, make them as effective as possible. This again being the number one skill set we use each and every week at our B and I meetings. Before we jump into today's just a real quick I did have one person, Tara from South Carolina, leave it at that. Submit a full presentation, like a eight minute featured presentation that we cannot review on the podcast. I don't think anybody wants to listen to all of that. So if you have any questions about your featured presentation strategy, that kind of stuff, definitely submit those questions. We'll answer on the regular podcast, but unfortunately not able to review that in this style. So, Tara, if you want to send our. If you know, if you meant to send the weekly one, just sent the wrong one. But if you send the weekly, we'll, we'll definitely make sure to get to it. Today's comes all the way from the uk Philip Nixon York in the United Kingdom. All right, here we go. It's titled 60 seconds. So we're going to do 60 seconds. All right, we're going to time this again just to give you a point of reference. Obviously you and I will do it at different speeds, but pull up my timer here. And here we go. Good morning, everyone. This week I'm looking to connect with SAS founders. I believe this is. Hold on, let's see. I got to make sure I remember what exactly because I want to explain. We're going to start this over in a second. I think it's subscription as a service or software as a service. Okay, so software as a service. Let's start over. Hold on a second. This is where Tim doesn't know abbreviations. Here we go. Good morning, everybody. This week I'm looking to connect with software as a service founders, directors or agencies working with tech clients who struggle to explain what they do. Clearly, most software as a service companies do don't have a product problem. They have a clarity problem. If your software needs a sales call to explain what it does, you're leaking opportunities. Software as a service platforms are complex and tangible and often overloaded with features. And prospects don't have time to decode dashboards or read long landing pages. And when a buyer's don't instantly understand the value, they don't book the demo. That's why explainer videos matter so much. They don't just list features, they tell a story. They show the problem. They show the moment of relief. They show how life gets easier on the other side when you do that well, complex products suddenly feel approachable. I can help software service companies simplify their message, build trust faster and convert attention into action using high impact explainer animations. So again this week I'm looking to connect with software as a service. Founders, directors or agencies. Specifically Mandy Huntington, the CCO at ifinity based in York. Okay, all along took me a minute and seven seconds and salesy, salesy on the product a little too much. Your product may not be overly complicated, but the, the, the end user that you're looking for and all the benefits to it is overly complicated. And you're going to lose a ton of people, just too many because you're not going to have these people in your chapter. If you do, you have one. So you're either targeting that one. But that wouldn't even really be effective. Right. What we want to do is get people to understand who we're looking for. How do we identify that they might have a problem or need and how do we bring you up? You didn't do any of that. In fact, the only who you're looking for came at the very end, which you did have a good specific person with title at the company, but you also were not specific in the ask and sense of I want founders, directors or agencies as a whole. So pick one of those. Start right from the beginning with it. All right, if you're looking for I don't even know who Mandy Huntington really fits into. I'm assuming it's a director, because cco, I have no idea. But, and again, if I have no idea, this just shows you again a little bit of the, the, the muddiness of it. Is she a founder? Is she a director? She's definitely not an agency, but she's at an agency. So which one are we looking for? So I'd start right from the beginning. Look, I'm looking to meet the CCOs of agencies, software as service agencies, such as Mandy Huntington, the CCO at iFinity, based here in York. Here's where you're going to know they might have an issue. They're going to say something, you're going to see something, you're going to most likely hear them complain about something, what have you. Give them a trigger, give them some questions to ask, you know, and just teach people how to start bringing you up. The whole part about what the comp. The software. The service companies have a clarity problem. And then once you went in after that, the next line is, if your software needs. That's now we're targeting the people in the room. You are leaking opportunities. If buyers don't instantly say, in the valley, they book the demo, there was another U in here somewhere, I remember. But yeah, a lot of just kind of, it turns into what you would normally be saying and talking about and how you would sell your product to a software as a service company and not training the people in the room how to identify these people and how to bring you up. So I think it needs to start over again. Have the who, but you wait to the very end. I would start right out of the gate with the who. We don't have the how meaning how do I know somebody might need your product and service, Right. So how do I know that they have a clarity problem? How do I know that they might be leaking leads? How do I know, like, all of these things. Now, if I'm friends with Mandy and I am a painter, I always use painter as an example. I just realized that. But if I'm a painter, how the heck do I know, right? What kind of questions could I ask to maybe find out what kind of things should I be listening for? That might clue me in. None of that's in here. And then what else is missing is the, okay, let's say I know Mandy. What do I say to Mandy? Like, how do I bring you up? How do I get into the conversation? How do I get them to see if they're interested in talking to you? All this stuff you gave me will never come out of my mouth as a fellow member. The only people that will talk like this to Mandy are your sales team. Your legit sales team. I know there's the whole, you know, you hear it in B and I all the time. It's, these are our sales teams. And. And it's one way to look at it. But they're not your actual tangible sales team selling your product every moment of every day. So you can't give them the information and language you would give to those Types of people it has to be. I gotta train, you know, the real estate agent, I got to train, the insurance broker, I got to train the painter, I got to train the, the general contractor, I got to train the whatever on how to identify opportunities for me. And that's the same for all of us. And this is very common for all of us is to just start giving the language that we use all the time. Because it's natural, it's what you talk about all day. Um, it's simple to you, but it's not to everybody else in this room. So I, I just think that this one would be really complicated, which is kind of funny because you're talking about how you know these, these software as a service companies have a clarity issue. I think this creates a clarity issue for your members on how to actually refer you. So I really appreciate you submitting it. I hope this was helpful. I hope it gives you, Philip, a new way of looking at things and maybe a different approach. And if you take a different approach, definitely write, submit it back. We'll review that as well. And same for everybody. Be brave, right? The only way to really start learning if your weekly presentations are super effective is sometimes you got to hear them. You got to have somebody else kind of read it to you and talk about it because we're in our own little bubbles in our own little worlds. And I guarantee this is the most simple, basic stuff to fill up. But it's not to me. And if I was a fellow member, I would be confused. And that's what you need to know is are you causing confusion and challenges for people to find you referrals? As always, submit them at BNI Power of one. If you're finding this helpful, leave a review. More importantly, share it with another member. I really appreciate everybody who continues to do that so that we can impact more members. Have a great day.