Episode 897: What Makes a Perfect Member? (Part 1)

Summary

The Official BNI Podcast: What Makes a Perfect Member? (Part 1)
Host: Dr. Ivan Misner
Guest: Greg Davies Paine
Release Date: February 12, 2025

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Introduction

In episode number 897 of The Official BNI Podcast, host Priscilla Rice delves into the essential qualities that define a perfect BNI member. Joining her is Dr. Ivan Misner, the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, alongside returning guest Greg Davies Paine, a distinguished storyteller and co-author of influential BNI literature.

Guest Introduction

Dr. Ivan Misner opens the conversation by sharing his recent endeavors, including a highly successful live BNI Brazil event on Instagram, which consistently garners significant participation. He also mentions hosting "Direct a Founder" webinars, providing BNI directors worldwide an opportunity to engage directly with him.

Priscilla Rice introduces Greg Davies Paine, highlighting his remarkable career as a best-selling author, award-winning director of BNI, and international inspirational speaker. Greg's unique approach to storytelling, coupled with his commitment to community building within BNI, positions him as an ideal guest for this insightful discussion.

The Importance of Being a Perfect Member

Dr. Ivan Misner poses a pivotal question: "Why should members care about being a perfect member?" Greg Davies Paine responds by emphasizing the profound impact that top-tier members have on the entire BNI network. He articulates a vision where elite members, who earn 100 points—a metric tracking key attributes for success—serve as catalysts for exponential growth and success within the organization.

Greg Davies Paine articulates this concept effectively:
"A rising tide lifts all boats." ([03:07])

He explains that these exemplary members do more than just pass referrals; they mentor others, foster strong networks, and enhance the overall success of the BNI community. Their influence extends beyond personal gain, creating a ripple effect that benefits all members.

Key Traits of a Perfect BNI Member

Greg Davies Paine identifies three critical traits that define a perfect BNI member:

1. They Pass Referrals

The first trait centers around the consistent and strategic passing of referrals. Greg highlights that successful members integrate referral passing seamlessly into their daily routines, treating it as a fundamental aspect of their business operations.

Key Insights:

• Integration into Daily Life: Perfect members make referral passing a natural part of every interaction. For instance, before ending a conversation with a client, they ask, "What else can I do to help you today?" ([05:51])
• Connection Expansion: They actively seek to build extensive networks, connecting with numerous local businesses to identify potential opportunities.
• Quantifiable Success: One notable respondent shared, "My reticular activating system is on all the time, hence why I hit my target of giving at least one referral per day. And I'm currently sitting on 394 for the year." ([05:51])

This proactive approach ensures that referrals are plentiful and meaningful, significantly contributing to both their success and that of their network.

2. They Have a Visitor Mindset

The second trait focuses on fostering a welcoming environment for visitors. Perfect members understand the reciprocal benefits of inviting new participants to BNI meetings, viewing it as a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Key Insights:

• Embracing Opportunities: Even if a visitor initially declines membership, the act of inviting them opens doors for future collaborations and business opportunities.
• Mutual Benefits: Visitors gain access to a community of like-minded, forward-thinking business owners, enhancing their own business prospects and networks.
• Strategic Outreach: Perfect members make visitor invitation a core part of their business strategy. As one member stated, "I make visitor inviting part of my business. It's important to broaden connections and speak to more people who can help your network." ([06:48])

By prioritizing a visitor mindset, these members ensure continuous growth and dynamism within their chapters.

3. They Follow Up on Everything

The final trait emphasizes the importance of diligent follow-up. Perfect members maintain consistent and persistent communication, ensuring that every potential opportunity is explored and nurtured.

Key Insights:

• Comprehensive Follow-Up: They follow up with visitors before and after meetings, on referral requests, and on both given and received referrals.
• Sustained Engagement: Their commitment to follow-up ensures that no opportunity slips through the cracks, significantly enhancing their effectiveness and reliability within the network.
• Long-Term Relationships: By maintaining regular contact, they build stronger, more meaningful relationships that translate into sustained business success.

Greg summarizes this trait by noting, "The fortune really does come from the follow up." ([09:48])

Conclusion and Next Steps

As the discussion draws to a close, Dr. Ivan Misner underscores the importance of the traits discussed, particularly highlighting the role of follow-up in networking success. He teases future content by referencing Episode 404, which explores the reticular activating system—a concept Greg mentioned during the conversation.

Dr. Ivan Misner encourages listeners to view these traits not just as individual attributes but as replicable behaviors that can elevate the entire BNI community.

Greg Davies Paine expresses his enthusiasm for further discussions, setting the stage for a continuation in Part 2 of this insightful series.

Final Thoughts

This episode provides a comprehensive exploration of what it takes to be a perfect member within BNI. By focusing on consistent referral passing, a visitor-centric approach, and relentless follow-up, members can significantly enhance their networking effectiveness and contribute to the collective success of their communities.

For those interested in deepening their understanding of these concepts, particularly the reticular activating system, Dr. Ivan Misner recommends tuning into Episode 404, "Standing in the Middle of a Referral," where personal anecdotes and practical applications are discussed in detail.

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Notable Quotes:

• "A rising tide lifts all boats." – Greg Davies Paine ([03:07])
• "My reticular activating system is on all the time, hence why I hit my target of giving at least one referral per day. And I'm currently sitting on 394 for the year." – Survey Respondent ([05:51])
• "I make visitor inviting part of my business. It's important to broaden connections and speak to more people who can help your network." – Greg Davies Paine ([06:48])
• "The fortune really does come from the follow up." – Greg Davies Paine ([09:48])

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Stay tuned for Part 2 of this series, where Dr. Ivan Misner and Greg Davies Paine will further dissect these traits and explore additional strategies to maximize your BNI membership.

Transcript

[Priscilla Rice]

Episode number 897. What makes a perfect member?

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

You're listening to the official BI podcast with BI 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 official B and I 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 BNI, Dr. Ivan Meisner. Hello, Ivan, how are you and where are you?

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

Well, I just did a live BNI Brazil event on Instagram and they always have a huge turnout when I do these. So that was, that was exciting. And I did at the end of last week something called Direct a Founder, which I opened it up for B and I directors anywhere in the world to do a couple of webinars with me and ask me whatever question they have. So yeah, those are great events. And I'm back in Austin.

[Priscilla Rice]

How many people were there in Brazil?

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

I don't have the final count, but I know last year is around a thousand. Oh wow. This year I'll get the final number soon.

[Priscilla Rice]

That's great.

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

So today I have as a guest somebody who's been on my podcast once before on storytelling and, and mentioned many times because Greg has done some books with me. Greg was co author of Infinite Giving and Infinite Legacy and he and I are working on another book with Julian Lewis. Greg, Greg has added something to his name. Greg Davies is now Greg Davies Paine. And I, I, I love that you added your wife's name to your, to your name, Greg. I think that's unique and pretty cool.

[Greg Davies Paine]

Thank you very much.

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

So for those of you who don't know Greg, he, he has the best job in the world. He's slightly embarrassed about calling it a job because he tells stories for a living. He's, he's known as the story fella and he uses that telling stories to help communities and individuals. Certainly in bni, you know, work. He believes that working hard sometimes is unavoidable and necessary. But if we understand why we're doing it and surround ourselves with people who inspire us to be better, it's worth the effort. I couldn't agree more. Greg is a best selling author, multi award winning director of BNI and an international inspirational speaker. Greg still finds time to drum with the Mighty Goat Patrol, which I'm assuming that's a band, right, Greg?

[Greg Davies Paine]

That is a band, yeah. It's not a collection of barnyard animals.

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

Glad to hear that. All right, Greg, we're going to talk about what makes a perfect member. So why, why should members care about being a perfect member?

[Greg Davies Paine]

So let me just give you a, a little bit of background. But before I do that, thank you so much for having me on. I feel absolutely honored to on for the second time. So really, really privileged to be on here. So thank you. We set up an event in the UK to, and it was a brilliant member called Russell Frost down in BNI Berkshire. Actually our co authors, Julian's region, he was a hundred point member. And what that means is we track all of the attributes that give you the opportunity to earn money in your membership and we put a score against them and 100 is, is the very best score get. And he approached and that's part of.

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

Traffic Lights, because we just did a podcast on this topic, Traffic Lights. And so you'd be top of the green with that number.

[Greg Davies Paine]

Absolutely, yeah. So you've maxed out every single point that, that you possibly can. And, and he came to me and said, you know, can we do anything to let the 100 point members from across the UK and Ireland get together and network? I mean, we're talking about less than 1% of the membership every single month in the UK and Ireland hit 100 points. We're talking about the elite. And so I put together an event, I hosted it. We have members of a national team. Come on, we raise some money for the foundation. And I reached out to you and asked if you wouldn't mind sending a message and you said, I'll do you one better than that, Greg, if you ask them what makes a 100 point member will record a podcast. So we've now been running that event for over 12 months. We've raised over 1500 dollars for the B and I Foundation and I have some tangible survey results. And here I am, I am, I'm back to, to tell you what they say makes a perfect member.

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

I am looking forward to hearing this. Go ahead.

[Greg Davies Paine]

So first of all, why should other members care if they're not at 100 points? Well, one of my favorite sayings by JFK, or certainly been attributed to him, is a rising tide lifts all boats. These guys that represent less than 1% of the membership aren't just passing business to the other 1 percenters. They are passing business and opportunities. They're mentoring people. They're upskilling their other members around them. They are increasing success within BNI exponentially and their success will have an impact on all the surrounding members and the surrounding BNI community. So their attributes can be easily replicated and obtained by anyone at any level. And that's why members should really care about what these guys are doing.

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

So what are the common traits?

[Greg Davies Paine]

There's three I'm going to talk about and I'm going to kind of give a very quick summary and then a quote taken directly from the survey for each one. Now, the first one you might press the podcast end button because it sounds so straightforward, you'll probably both roll your eyes. But the first one they do, Ivan, is they pass referrals. And that does sound absolutely, you know, mind numbingly simple. And yes, they're competitive and yes, they see it as gamification, but they really do integrate the referral passing process into every facet of their life. So on multiple occasions there were lines that came out in the survey such as, what's a BNI power hour? BNI is part of my day every day. And they do incredible things. Like before they put their phone down with their customers, they say, what else can I do to help you today? And when their customers say, well, what do you mean by that? They say, look, I meet with 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 local businesses. I'm connected to hundreds of local businesses in the local region. What do you need? How can I help you? I had a commercial landlord on and answered the survey. They actually go to their tenants and say, what do you need to help you grow your business? You imagine that a landlord coming to you and rather than just holding their hand out and saying give me some rent, they're saying, how can I help you earn more money so you can get a bigger office? And you know, you enjoy seeing me once a month. They're also really good connectors, are looking out not just for single referrals, but referral partners. And they do that by having an incredible one to one strategy in place and really getting to know their members so that no buying signal passes them by. And the quote for this one is my reticular activating system is on all the time, hence why I hit my target of giving at least one referral per day. And I'm currently sitting on 394 for the year. And that answer was given in November. So that's the first trait. They pass referrals and it's just a natural part of their day. The second trait is their visitor mindset. They Understand that by inviting visitors it is a win, win, win, win, win, win, win. I mean the wins just go on right away from the very initial invitation. Even if that person says no, they then struck up a dialogue and they could become their client. When they do attend, the visitor themselves gets a huge amount of benefit. They realize that they are hundreds of like minded, forward thinking business owners just like themselves in the local community. They might pick up business, they might pass business. The venues are happy because they're paying for more, for more covers than they normally would. They really understand the visitor mindset. And the great quote from this one was I make visitor inviting part of my business. It's important to broaden connections and speak to more people who can help your network. They can introduce you to potential referral partners or even become referral partners themselves. And this is why I reach out to so many people about BNI as a lead in and that allows me to get in front of them for my business and my members businesses at the same time. Incredible. And the last one, Ivan, I know you're going to love this one, is they follow up, but they follow up on everything. So they follow up with visitors before a meeting, after the meeting, they follow up on referral requests they've heard and say, can you explain a bit more about that? How do I introduce you? What do they say if they ask this question? They follow up on referrals they've passed, they follow up on referral they've received and they do it consistently and persistently over time. The fortune really does come from the follow up.

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

Yeah, the follow up is really important and I talk about it in a number of my books including Networking Like a Pro, the second edition, the 24730 follow up system. So yeah, follow up. You know, what good is going to these networking meetings if you don't follow up with people? Yeah, I listen, you've got so much content here and I know you have more. I'm going to start winding it down here and are you up to being on again next week and we'll complete, we'll continue this conversation.

[Greg Davies Paine]

I'd absolutely love to be. Yes.

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

Yeah, because I don't want to, I don't want to cut you short. So I do want to mention you, you mentioned Reticular Activating system and while you were talking I looked up on BNI podcast and if you're interested in really understanding what the Reticular Activating system is, go to episode number 404. 404 called Standing in the Middle of a Referral. And it talks about reticular activating system. And I think I tell a story there about how I slept through an accident in front of my house, but as soon as I had a baby, I woke up immediately with the when they whimpered. So, you know your reticular activating system changes when you're thinking about something else or someone else. It's a real powerful story. Episode 404 Greg, I'm going to invite you back next week to continue this conversation. We'll maybe wrap or review the common traits and then talk about traffic lights in general. Are you good with that?

[Greg Davies Paine]

I'm absolutely. What an honor. Thank you very, very much.

[Dr. Ivan Meisner]

My pleasure. Over to you, Priscilla.

[Priscilla Rice]

Okay, perfect. Well, I think that's it for this week. 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 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.