Episode 884: I Can’t Refer You

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Official BNI Podcast – Episode 884: "I Can’t Refer You"

Introduction

In Episode 884 of The Official BNI Podcast, host Priscilla Rice engages in a compelling conversation with Dr. Ivan Misner, the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of BNI (Business Network International). Released on October 30, 2024, this episode delves into the challenges professionals face in generating referrals within networking groups and underscores the pivotal role of testimonials in overcoming these hurdles.

Main Topic: Struggling to Generate Referrals

The episode centers around an email Dr. Misner received from a dentist in India who expressed difficulty in competing for referrals within a large BNI chapter. The dentist, despite delivering strong 30-second presentations and being active in a substantial chapter, felt overshadowed by other members in the race for referrals.

Dr. Misner’s Insights on Referral Strategies

Dr. Misner emphasizes the importance of not solely comparing referral numbers across different professions. He states:

"You can't compare all professions... some professions, a referral is worth a lot more. A referral for a dentist could be worth a lot more than say a referral to a florist." (02:15)

He advises that while average referral numbers are useful metrics, understanding the value each referral brings is crucial. Dr. Misner explains that certain professions inherently carry more weight in referrals due to the nature and value of their services.

Story of the BNI Dentist and the Power of Testimonials

To illustrate his point, Dr. Misner shares a success story from the early days of BNI involving a dentist who struggled similarly. Initially, the dentist faced resistance from chapter members who were loyal to their long-time dentists. Dr. Misner advised the dentist to openly communicate his availability and assure members that he could step in when their regular dentist was unavailable.

"Just keep saying that... within six months, there was a BNI member who had a filling that fell out, called his dentist. His dentist was on vacation... dentist got me in that day." (05:45)

This approach led to increased trust and visibility, culminating in the dentist receiving numerous referrals. The turning point was a powerful testimonial from a satisfied member:

"You're all crazy if you don't take him up on this offer." (09:20)

This testimonial not only boosted the dentist's credibility but also significantly increased his referral flow, demonstrating how a single positive endorsement can amplify referral opportunities.

Priscilla’s Personal Story: The Impact of Testimonials

Priscilla Rice contributes to the discussion by sharing her own experience with chiropractic care. After switching to a new chiropractor despite initial hesitations, she experienced remarkable relief and became an enthusiastic advocate:

"I was absolutely shocked. It's the same kind of thing... he took care of most of our chapter." (07:11)

Her story mirrors the dentist’s experience, highlighting how personal testimonials can effectively drive referrals and build trust within a professional network.

Testimonials vs. Direct Referrals

Dr. Misner underscores the superior impact of testimonials over direct referrals:

"A testimonial can be even more powerful than a referral because the testimonial could get multiple referrals." (10:34)

He recounts how Dr. Rubin, a chiropractor in the founding chapter of BNI, leveraged testimonials to overcome skepticism and generate a steady stream of referrals. By offering free consultations and showcasing his expertise, Dr. Rubin earned glowing testimonials that translated into numerous referrals, proving that personal endorsements resonate more deeply than mere referrals alone.

Conclusion

Episode 884 of The Official BNI Podcast effectively highlights the nuances of referral marketing within professional networking groups. Dr. Ivan Misner and Priscilla Rice provide valuable insights into overcoming referral challenges by focusing on the quality and value of referrals and leveraging the power of testimonials. Their stories serve as practical examples for professionals seeking to enhance their networking strategies and build a robust referral base within BNI or similar organizations.

Key Takeaways:

• Referral Quality Over Quantity: Understand that the value of a referral can vary significantly across professions.
• Leverage Testimonials: Personal endorsements can have a multiplicative effect on generating referrals.
• Visibility and Trust: Actively communicate your availability and value to build trust within your network.
• Consistency is Key: Long-term commitment to networking practices, as demonstrated by the 25-year BNI membership of the dentist, leads to sustained referral success.

Listeners are encouraged to apply these strategies to maximize their BNI membership benefits and foster meaningful professional relationships that drive business growth.

Transcript

[Priscilla Rice]

Episode number 884. I can't refer you.

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

You're listening to the official BNI Podcast with BNI Founder and Chief Visionary Officer Dr. Ivan Meisner. Stay tuned for networking and referral marketing tips from the man who's been called the father of modern networking, along with suggestions and insights into getting the most from your membership in the world's largest networking organization, bni.

[Priscilla Rice]

Hello everybody and welcome back to the BNI Podcast. I'm Priscilla Rice and I'm coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. And I'm joined on the phone today by the founder and the Chief Visionary officer of B and I, Dr. Ivan Meisner. Hello Ivan, how are you and where are you?

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

I am in Charlotte this week at BNI Global Headquarters. It's always great to see headquarters. It has really grown in the last six months or year or so. Fun to be here.

[Priscilla Rice]

Oh great. And so what is this podcast about?

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

Well, it's based on an email that I received from a dentist in India. And I'm going to read his email.

[Priscilla Rice]

Okay.

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

To you and then I'm going to tell you a story. He said, it's great connecting with you. I'm a dentist. I joined BNI for exposure and visibility. I do get noticed by our behind I'm members a lot. I've got many really good 32nd presentations. He's in a large chapter, so they do 32nd weekly presentations. But he says, but still, as a dentist, I can't compete with the other members in the race for referrals. You know, like he says, whatever I do to generate referrals, I'm not getting anything compared to other members. And so he's asking for help. He says I'm, I'm lagging somewhere. I want to learn what can I do. So there's a couple things. First of all, it's really important to remember that you can't, you can't compare all professions. You know, we, we oftentimes talk about the average number of referrals in a chapter, the average amount of thank you for closed business in a chapter. An average is a valuable number to understand. But also remember that if your head is in the oven and your feeder in the freezer, on average you should be okay, and you're not. So there's a range. And the professions really differ. And certainly some professions, you know, a referral is worth a lot more. A referral for a dentist could be worth a lot more than say a referral to a florist. So do remember that the number of referrals alone is not the factor. The value of the referrals is an important factor. Now, that aside, let's talk about the dentist issue. Because when people are going to see a dentist and they're okay with their dentist, they don't even have to be totally crazy about their dentist. But if they're okay, they're hesitant to leave their dentist. So, years ago, in one of the first four or five chapters of bni, we had a dentist who joined, and he'd been a member. He was a member for 20, 25 years before he retired. And I remember talking to him and. And he said, you know, there are people who've come up to me in the chapter. And they said, well, I'm seeing a dentist. And, you know, I've seen him a long time, and I'm not sure I can switch over. It's not that easy for me to switch over. And he asked me, what do I do? And I said, well, I can understand that. And so what you want to do is just tell the chapter, I know some of you already have a dentist. I get it. But at some point, you may have an opportunity to refer me to someone else, or you may be in a situation where your dentist isn't available. And I promise you, I will bring you in ASAP if your dentist isn't available for some problem. And I said, just keep saying that. And sure enough, within six months, there was a BNI member who had a filling that fell out, called his dentist. His dentist was on vacation. They were going to refer him to another dentist at the office. And he said, well, let me call you back. And he thought, why should I go see another dentist when I have this dentist in my chapter? And this is exactly what he'd been talking about. If I can't see my dentist, just call him. So he said, I called him, I spoke to this member, and he said, I called him, and boom, dentist got me in that day. He found a spot, brought me in. He said, I have never had the kind of welcome in a dentist's office that I had there. He showed me around his offices, he introduced me to his staff. He want. He clearly wanted me to understand the kind of operation that he ran and that if I were to refer people, kind of care that he would give them. And then, and this is the great thing, he said, I liked my dentist, but. But our member dentist gave the closest thing to a completely painless shot I have ever had in my entire life. It was like, no big deal. And he, you know, did the filling. We talked about what else might need to be done down the road. And he said, that day I switched dentists and I went to the BNI dentist from then on. He said, I'm committed to going to the BNI dentist from now on. And I talked to the dentist about it. And he said, yeah, it was amazing how that worked. But he said, that's not the great thing. I said, well, what's the great thing? Said at the next meeting, the member stood up and said, oh, you're all crazy if you don't go to our dentist. He said, I was really hesitant because I'd been seeing a dentist for a long time, but I had this, you know, the. The filling fell out. So I. I figured, what the heck, I'll see, you know, our doctor here. And I went to see him and he said, he gives the closest thing to a painless shot I've ever had. It was truly amazing. He's a fantastic dentist, I'm telling you. Go see his office. He'll walk you around, he'll show you around, even if it's just a cleaning. Go see your office. His office, so you can become familiar with what he does from that day on. He started getting a boatload of referrals. Members at first going in to check him out, but then other people that the members knew after that. And he ended up being a member, Priscilla, for almost 25 years. And he stuck it out until that first member referred him or went to him, actually, and then did a testimonial. This is why. This is the power of testimonials. This is why testimonials are so incredibly important.

[Priscilla Rice]

Yeah, well, I have a story like that.

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

Tell me.

[Priscilla Rice]

I've been under chiropractic care since I was 26 years old. And I hurt my back doing construction and. And my chiropractor retired and we had another chiropractor in my group, and then she left. And I was so hesitant to try the new chiropractor in my group, but finally I decided to do it. I was tired of driving really far away to use the other chiropractor. Right. He is so talented. I was absolutely shocked. It's the same kind of thing. I had my first adjustment, and afterwards I was, like, painless. It was like, what happened? So I've been just so excited to tell everybody. And he's ending up taking care of most of our. Of our. Most of our chapter. So it's the same kind of thing. I was like, I was just shocked.

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

You know, testimonials came about because of chiropractors. Really. I think I've said this in a podcast, but I'm not sure I remember vividly. Dr. Rubin, chiropractor in the founding chapter of BNI, was. He came to me and he said, I'm not getting any referrals. And you got to think back. This is 1985, and chiropractors. Yeah, in 1985. Yeah, they, you know, a lot of people didn't think they were real medical professionals, and of course they. They are. And. And my late wife was a chiropractic assistant, and I. I met her while she was a chiropractic assistant. So I know how valuable chiropractic is, but Certainly in the mid-80s, a lot of people didn't. And. And he said, nobody's, you know, even talking to me about chiropractic, which makes me think that nobody's used a chiropractor. And so I said to him, why don't you do a free initial consultation so that people can use you and see what you, you know, what it's like? And so he did, and he included an X ray. And that was back in the day where it wasn't digital. You know, he had to have a processing center in his office where he could process the X rays and look at them. Right? Yeah, he had. And. And he. He did. He had it all right there. So, you know, someone said, okay, what the heck, you know, I'll. I'll come in. Free consultation. What the heck. He came in, he got a tour just like the dentist did. He got. He gave a tour of the offices, showed everything that he did, and he adjusted him, and he said, come on back in two or three days. Adjusted him again. And. And this member came in and. And he said to the members, he stood up and. And this was back when, When I first started running bni. It was like if. If you had a referral, give it, and if you didn't pass, that was the process. If you have a referral, give it. If you don't pass. Well, this member stood up. He said, well, I don't have a referral, but I don't want to pass, Ivan. I said, okay, what do you want to do? He said, I want to say something. He said, okay, what do you want to say? He said, well, I want to talk about Dr. Rubin. I said. He said, I just went to see him. I want to talk about it. I said, okay. And so he just had the glowing terms about how he'd always had this lower back problem. And after just a few adjustments, his lower back didn't hurt nearly as much. And then he told the chapter, you're all crazy if you don't take him up on this offer. And I look around the room, and this is back when we all had referral slips. And all kinds of people are filling out referral slips for the chiropractor. And that's when it hit me that a testimonial.

[Priscilla Rice]

Yeah.

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

Can be even more powerful than a referral.

[Priscilla Rice]

Right.

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

Because the testimonial could get multiple referrals.

[Priscilla Rice]

Right.

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

And that's what happened with this dentist that I told the story about. And that's certainly what happened with the chiropractor that I told the story about. So for the dentist who sent me that message from email, get somebody to use you once and then have them talk about their experience. And that's a great way to get more referrals. I'm glad you shared your story, Priscilla.

[Priscilla Rice]

Yeah. Thank you.

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

That's all I have for today.

[Priscilla Rice]

Okay, well, thank you for the great information. I think that's a really special podcast. This podcast is sponsored by MeisnerAudioPrograms.com these audio programs will provide you with the tools and the inspiration to powerfully enhance your BNI experience. So check out the great material that's available to [e-mail] and then use the promo code IVAN5O for 50% off of everything. All of the proceeds go to the B and I Foundation. Thank you so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we look forward to having you join us again next week for another exciting episode of the official B and I Podcast.