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Welcome back to BNI and the Power of One. Thank you for joining me again today. Back with questions, topics submitted@bnipower of1.com Today's question, like many that come in now, which is Perfectly Fine, has been asked to be kept anonymous, which again if that makes you more comfortable, but you still need to get the answer Perfectly Fine so says hi, I'd like to keep this anonymous as it mentions other people. Not a problem. I've recently joined BNI for the first time with some experience in networking before and really like a lot of the systems in it. I've educated myself with the MSP podcasts like yours and the official BNI1 topics in BNI Academy and articles in SuccessNet. My chapter is newer and I feel like even with my limited time with BNI, I've managed to learn more than 80% of the members through these methods. Doesn't bother me except it seems like it shows in my chapter's performance. First of all, I'd say it's gonna bother you a little bit because that's why we're asking the question and it should bother you a little bit. There is a lack of one to ones referrals, low thank you for closed business, weekly presentations are weak, etc. Leadership team has instituted mandatory requirements for members through baseline metrics for each member having a certain number of one to ones visitors, referrals, et cetera without much success. For a chapter like this, what do you normally recommend Leadership do and what can I do as a new member? Okay, there's a lot here, a lot to unpack. Let's start with what you can do and as a new member I would suggest two things. Keep doing what you're doing. Okay, you can only control your activity at the end of the day and the worst thing you could do is and many do this is say well, my other members aren't doing the training so I'm not going to do it either because it will only hold you back 100%. Your results will be held back to Some degree by their skill sets as well. But the solution is, well, let's all there's not to it then. So keep, keep searching for the training, keep digging, keep working on your own skill sets because that's what you can control first and foremost. Second, the best method is through suggestion as a member. So you know, if you hear really good podcast, you know, Ivan does an amazing podcast on the official BNI podcast. Share it. Hey, you know, I just heard this podcast I think you should listen to. It was really good. Tell me what you think about it. You know, kind of that method instead of complaining like nobody else is doing it, start sharing it. Start suggesting it. Start sharing, hey, this is what I got out of this. Or this was really helpful for me. I think it could help you. Or hey, do you do to the whole chapter like hey guys, you know, I just listened to this podcast. I think it's really pertinent to what's going on in our chapter or you know, blah, blah, blah, will everybody listen to it? No, but you'll get a few more. And again, as people start finding things and they get hits of value, they're more likely to, to continue on with it. Sometimes it's just a matter of, you might say, like how do they not know it's there? A lot just don't. And you know, the challenge with networking in any format is most don't seek to get better at it. Most don't seek education because networking is kind of paradoxical in the sense that we all know we need to do it, so everybody just kind of assumes we know how to do it. So and frankly it's, it's not a sexy topic. It's not like hey man, I really wish there was a podcast around network. And the funny thing is there's, there's many of them now but you know, it's just not going to be, it's necessarily a desirable form of entertainment or you know, something that's like top of mind for people in terms of what do they need to learn and improve on. They might be listening to podcasts. If they listen to podcasts at all. They're probably listening to either entertainment formats, you know, your, your Joe Rogan talk show type like ones, you know, the, the mystery ones, all those, there's a million different types or they could be listening to more industry specific ones for their industry and profession because that would be the natural thought process of, you know, improving our skill sets. So it really, I, I think even ours, this podcast has only grown because you know, the, the the top 1% or less of members who seek to really learn more about BNI and, and et cetera, have shared it. And, you know, we're still in the small, very small percentage of, of all BNI members around the world, you know, a very small percentage, Very, very, very, very small percentage of them listen to this podcast and there's probably more, but I would still bet it's a very, very, very, very small percentage. Listen to the BNI Pod, the official BNI podcast. And so that just shows you that it's more common than not to not seek the training like you are, right? MSP training. They're forced to go to once and then they kind of check that box and like, okay, I've done that, right? It's one of. We do our MSP trainings every single week in my region and when I was training it last week, I told everybody, you know, listen, I know you're here because you're told you have to be here, but I hope this is not the last time you're here, right? Like, really encourage you to take it often. Every member should be taking at least once a year. I think a new member, minimum twice your first year. I mean, I would really push you to do it quarterly your first year, twice your second year, once a year from there. Because we just cover a ton of information and it's impossible to really, you know, get a full grasp on all parts of it one time. So lifelong learning is a core value for a reason. This is something that we have to continuously learn, practice, master, etc. So keep doing that for yourself and you can encourage your fellow members by sharing it. You know, if. Probably not this podcast episode in particular, but if there's one on whatever it is inviting or whatever one that you might, I mean, between just the BNI official one and ours, I mean, we are well over 1800 episodes deep now of content and you add in others. I mean, there's multiple thousands of episodes of BNI specific type podcasts to share a plethora of information. Okay, one thing you said is chapter's newer. You got to remember that that plays a factor into a lot of things. Newer chapter means a lot of newer members that is going to dictate the timeline for things like thank you for closed business and referrals, depending on how new this is. And because everybody's newer, it's newer relationships, right? We are building the foundation to the ultimate success. Right? BNI and all your networking really is about capturing the power of compounding interest of time. If you're a newer chapter, you're just making that initial investment in time. So it's going to be lower than a long standing chapter to begin with. So that might not be too much of my concern. But if there's a lack of one to ones, and again, weekly presentations are weak, quote unquote, that's cultural. And what again happens in BNI is it's a monkey see, monkey do organization. We all become like what we see. So kudos on the leadership team to try to solve that. Just setting baseline metrics as a mandatory requirement comes with its challenges. If you just said it, but you have no accountability behind it, meaning there's no teeth to that man, it's completely useless. And it will be found out to be pretty useless pretty quickly. So you have to be willing as a chapter to say, hey, these are our expectations as a, as a membership to be a member of this chapter. These are our minimum expectations. But there has to be actual consequences to those not meeting those minimum expectations. And those consequences need to be shared. When the minimum expectations are rolled out, it's, this is what it is. And if you're not meeting these at this timeline, this is what's going to happen, right? So at renewal we're not going to renew you or we're going to put you on probation. And if you don't meet it from there, this is what's going to happen. Most chapters will say this is what we expect of each other and then there's nothing behind it. And then we start again being monkey see monkey do. We start seeing our fellow members not doing it so well. What are they going to do? Kick us all out and it just becomes a complete mess. So also, so if you want to do this, let's just go with that as a chapter. You can set minimum expectations as a chapter. But before or in that presentation, you really better very clearly explain why. Why are these the minimum? Why are they expected? What does it mean for me? What does it mean for me when you say, hey, our expectations, you're going to be doing at least 1, 1 to 1 a week on average. We know you're going to be on vacation so you can make it up on others, but you're going to be, you know, in the power of one report, you're going to get full points because you average one on one a week. Okay, why do I have to do that? Have some data, have some statistics, have some purpose. Because this is how, you know, this is how we're going to build the relationships and this is what We've learned from bni, you know, that a one one to one a week does and means et cetera. You can get all kinds of data and stuff from your directors and stuff in your area and explain like this is why it's so important. In order for us all to increase our thank you for closed business, we have to be referring to each other. In order to be referring to each other, we really have to have a deeper understanding of how to do that and what to, you know, what to be looking for and where the opportunities are and all the amazing things that come out of one to ones. But most important thing you could do and. But in order to get the one to ones we need to all commit to doing it. It can't just be three of us all running around doing all the one to ones like with each other and just the three people doing one to ones with each other. We all have to be doing it. And so this is the expectation and have a conversation around. Does anybody have any concerns about this expectation? No. Okay, great. Then this is the expectation and this is the consequence for those on our team who are not willing or unable to do that and then follow that. Right. So typically we change leadership, I know in our regions and most of the US I believe change leadership teams in October. So I would be. One thing you can do is get yourself in a leadership position, be a part of that team and as that new team comes in, you can kind of reset what the expectations are. But again, really hammering. Why? Why are those the expectations? Because if you just blankly go out like this is the minimum requirements. It's it's going to be met with a bunch of, you know, middle fingers in the air at you kind of thing because we're all. These are all entrepreneurs, sales professionals also and I go to chapters all the time and I'll ask them like, you know, how many of you like rules and regulations and two hands will go up and I'll be like, you must be the accountant or lawyer. And most don't. Most don't. That's why they are drawn to being entrepreneurs and sales professionals. They don't like these kind of minimum expectations necessarily. So you got to really explain to them why it matters to the benefit of everybody. You know, a lot of members don't think about how when they are not doing one to ones they might think about like, okay, yeah, you know, I know I'm not maximizing my return because I'm not doing all these one to ones. Well, it's not just your return that you're not maximizing, right weekly presentations. If you don't prepare your weekly presentation, it's not just your returns you're affecting, it's everybody else's. Because while they're talking, you're not listening because you're trying to figure out what you're going to say that week, etc. When you don't do one to ones, that means you're not helping somebody else. At the same time, when you don't do training to make yourself more effective, that means you're holding back the results of everybody else in that group. So again, you can do some educational moments, you can play podcasts to talk about this as a group, to start getting people to think about their membership from a little bit different angle in that we're not all just individual members. You're a part of a team, you're a part of that success team. And when you make decisions to do something or not do something, go to the training, not go to the training. Schedule one to ones, not schedule one to ones. Work on your weekly presentation, not work on your weekly presentation. You don't just affect your results, you affect everybody's results. And so if we can shift that mindset, I think it's more encouraging to then do those activities right? When we realize there's way more on the line than my own result. Because it's very easy to be like, yes, I know if I don't do the one to one, I'm probably not going to get as many referrals, but I'm okay with that right now because I'm busy. I'm okay with that right now because, you know, I'm tired. I'm okay with that right now because it's just internalized. Like, yes, I get it, but whatever, I don't need it or I don't want it. I don't want to do that right now. You know another way to look at it? I use the health examples all the time. It's a lot harder to eat right and exercise when the only point of value to it is how I, you know, my own personal feelings. Because I, I will make up, like, yeah, I know if I work out, I'll feel better, but I really got a headache or I'm really tired, I'm really stressed out or whatever. And do I really, I don't really want this look, I don't really want that. But when we look at it is, yeah, but if I don't work out and I don't eat right, I won't be here for my kid, I won't be able to do this for this person, I won't be able to see this part of my kid's life or this part of it changes perspective a little bit. And that's again, why when people have a major health scare, they do get in better shape often, or they do do those types of things all of a sudden, Right? Because now their internal purpose is a lot bigger, but it gets them to see even bigger than that. Right. It's a sad thing to think about, but it's, you know, it's after the heart attack that they suddenly are focused on what they're eating. And it's of course, selfish in the sense of like, I don't want to have a heart attack again or I almost died or whatever. But it's also, I think for a lot of them, they look at like, if I died, this affects everybody else. That we don't often think about day to day. Right. We don't think about going to the gym as a benefit to my family. Right. We don't think about if I exercise regularly and keep myself healthy, I add this value or avoid this potential downside to my kids and my wife and to my family. We just think internally. BNI is no different. Most members are thinking internally, what does this do for me? Yes, I understand. If I don't do that, blah, blah, blah, they don't tend to think about, well, if I do more one to ones, I'm helping more people. If I take the training, I'm more valuable to the team. If I show up more regularly, I'm more valuable to the team. Those kind of things. So without that talk, that training, that conversation as a success team of what do these things really matter and why? And the impact they make is very hard to set those minimum mandatory requirements. So you can use stats from like the Power of One. And we got to update some of the data on this. But when we originally ran the report, and I was just talking to somebody about this the other day, we created the Power of one report in 2000. It was either 2011 or 2012, I think, because the BNI podcast, which we named after it, started in 2013. So I know it was before that. So, you know, we're talking 15 years of using this back. You know, in the first early years, we quickly realized, like the people in the green we're passing because we couldn't even. We don't see how much money you're making. We can now, as an organization, members don't meet back then. We Couldn't. We could only see the thank you for closed business. And we know that that number is not even accurate because it's, it's lower than the real because of how many people don't enter it. But even with that, the people in the green were passing 8 times more referrals and thank you for closed business 8x what the people in the red were doing, never mind the gray. Right. So eight times. So you know again, how many members are making decent money, money that they're comfortable making from bni, right? They're getting results that they're, they like and are in the red who will push on? Like, well, I'm doing because I've literally had this conversations with people in chapters like, well, I don't care that I'm in the red, I'm, I'm getting the return I want. Well, it's like, okay, that's great but you're leaving eight times the results for others on the table by not being in the green. And so again it just highlights this very natural. I'm not blaming them, not calling them bad people, nothing like that. It's just kind of natural how it is that they're not thinking about oh, what does this mean for the rest of my team? And so as a newer chapter, the good advantage is you can start setting that culture a little bit earlier on and that comes from the leadership team and it's going to come from not coming to a meeting and being like this is what we expect from you. It's going to come from many meetings of education and discussion around why are we here, what are we doing, what impacts that result, you know, getting the members all on board to understand and then explaining again, hey, we're having this conversation and everybody's agreeing that we need to do a one to one a week. You have to understand that it's not just selfishly for you, it impacts all of us. So we're really going to hold people accountable to this and this, this is our plan to do so. So yeah, I don't know, hopefully that helps. And congratulations on, on finding all the training. I mean you're, you listed all the different areas you're doing and that's again more than, more than most. What you're seeing in your chapter is not unusual at all. I would say the two real big differentiators of BNI to any BNI, like organization or group or whatever, which is, you know, somebody who takes the BNI agenda and like, we can do this, let's just go do it on our own is are the. The two. Two of the biggest differentiators are the two least utilized opportunities, that is training and coaching. So you, you have access to all this training and 40 something years of experience, right? We assume 42 years of experience in that training and all of the experience and skill sets that your local director teams have that are available to you to take or reach out and learn from at any time as part of your membership. And most will do one training one time and they'll never ask for help. So do those things. Right? That's really the differentiator. It's not the agenda. It's all the history, knowledge, experience, you know, testing behind it. It's not the the org chart of a chapter. It's all that history knowledge testing behind it that you have access to so that you don't have to struggle through it and guess and try to figure it out and all those kind of things. So utilize all of your resources. You're doing that, which is fantastic. Encourage your fellow members to just share. This is what I'm getting out of it. This is why I find a value. You should check this out. Hey, this was a really good episode, this really helpful thing. And over time you'll get people more engaged through that suggestion than, you know, just telling people they have to because somebody said they had to. So hopefully that's helpful for everybody. As always, love to hear from you. Leave a review, comment, all that stuff, submit your questions and share it. Share it. Have it help impact others. Help me impact others by sharing any episodes in the podcast. Appreciate you all. Have a great day.
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