Synopsis
If you’re new to the Get Connected–Stay Connected campaign, read about it on SuccessNet. You can find all the podcasts in this series under the tag “Get Connected Stay Connected.” (Punctuation isn’t allowed in tags.) They come out on the first Wednesday of the month. The first topic of the day is Why thank you for closed business is reported on BNI Connect. There are three main reasons for TYCB reporting.
To acknowledge the referral-generators in the chapters.
What gets measured gets done. The purpose of BNI is to generate business by referral.
It encourages members to develop a giving plan for themselves.
How is TYCB reported in BNI Connect? Just click the link that says “Submit TYCB slip.” It will look just like the familiar paper slip you’ve been using for years. The slips are anonymous–only you will be able to see the comments. What else can you track with BNI Connect? With BNI Connect, BNI can now track a new number: revenue received by your business. This can only be input electronically. Should you still report at the meeting? Yes, absolutely. Your fellow members, guests, and visitors need to know the details of your successes and celebrate them with you. Brought to you by Networking Now.
Complete Transcript of BNI Podcast Episode 342 -
Priscilla:
Hello everyone and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio, in Berkeley, CA. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan. How are you today?
Ivan:
I am doing great. This week is International Networking Week. I mentioned it in the podcast last week. International Networking Week is an initiative of BNI’s. We are right in the middle of it this week, and today, I am going to be talking about the Get Connected Stay Connected Series Part 5, thanking a referral source. I have two guests with me. Both have been on the podcast in the past.
The first guest is Jeremy Walsh. Jeremy is BNI Connect’s support guru. I think that is the title that I am going to start calling you, Jeremy, the guru- the support guru.
We also have Tom Fleming. Tom is one of BNI’s top Executive Directors in the world and he is in the Tampa, Florida area.
We are going to talk a little bit about Get Connected, Stay Connected first, and it is a campaign that was put together a few months ago. I would recommend that if you have a chance, go to bnisuccessnet.com and take a look at the Get Connected, Stay Connected series in BNI SuccessNet. It lists all of the months and everything that we are going to be covering.
So this week we are going to be talking about thanking a referral source, which is part of the Get Connected, Stay Connected campaign for February. The first thing I want to talk about is why the thank you for closed business is reported in BNI Connect. For that answer, Tom, I would love for you to jump in and talk about why the TYFCB is so important.
Tom:
Absolutely. Absolutely. Good to be here. You know, tracking thank you for closed business, reporting thank you for closed business- the purpose of the program is for us to measure completed business generated from referrals, from fellow members because that is why we are all members to begin with- to generate business for our businesses.
The thank you for closed business program acknowledges the member that gave the referral that resulted in thank you for closed business. Really, I think there are three reasons why the program exists. First reason, numbero uno, is to acknowledge the referral generators in the chapters. Let’s show appreciation and acknowledge the members that gave the referral that generated business. I think the referral program also acknowledges the members that are passing quality referrals.
The second reason I think this program is so imperative is under the philosophy of what gets measured gets done. Thank you for closed business is a tracking tool that calculates the dollar amount of the business each member is given and really offers members a structure so they can maybe even decide, hey, let me track the referrals I’ve received that have turned into thank you for closed business for me.
Ivan:
And the amount of business that is generated is really a primary focus for BNI- it’s to generate business for people and this helps track that, right?
Tom:
Absolutely. Absolutely. That is the purpose of the program. The be all and end all, if you will.
The third reason I think the program exists is under the philosophy of just givers gain. You know, thank you for closed business is about acknowledging the members that are giving the business and so it encourages members to generate a giving plan for themselves. Everyone knows they want to gain from BNI, but what’s your giving plan? I think thank you for closed business is an area for people to be conscious about for that.
Ivan:
Thank you, Tom. Jeremy, how is it reported in BNI Connect?
Jeremy:
As you know, BNI introduced a way to report all of our activity online through the BNI Connect system. There is a number of advantages to doing this. Reporting it in BNI Connect is really, really easy. As soon as you log in, your homepage will have on it four options for submitting different types of slips. All you need to do is click on the link that says “Submit TYFCB Slips”. It will pull up a slip that looks just like the paper slip that we have been turning in for years at the chapter meeting.
Pick somebody from your chapter, put in the amount, whether or not it is new or repeat business, the type of referral it is, any comments that you would like to make about this- keep in mind that the referral slips, the TYFCB slips are anonymous. So you can write whatever you like in the comments and only you will be able to see those. That’s very helpful for going back and tracking the slips that you’ve entered online going into the future.
Ivan:
Tell them why is it anonymous? Why is that important?
Jeremy:
Well, I think there are some professions out there that feel that some confidentiality with regards to how much money they are generating from a particular business transaction- they feel that is a private concern.
Ivan:
Yeah. Fair enough. And in some professions, you really can’t talk about the business that you have gotten. Ethical reasons in terms of the professions.
BNI Connect can now report given and received and still be done anonymously and it need to be done electronically. Do you want to talk about it for a moment, Jeremy?
Jeremy:
Sure. When you log into BNI Connect, right at the top of the screen, you will have your My BNI Business Report. That is really your personal PALMS report for the last 24 months and your lifetime in BNI, so you can track all of the numbers. When you submit the thank you for closed business electronically, we can still anonymously track a new number that we have never been able to track before. That is revenue received to your business.
So as you submit those thank you for closed business slips, it will anonymously be put into the giver’s column for the person that generated the referral, but it will also on My BNI Business Report, it will have the revenue received to your business.
Now, you can still continue to generate slips on paper if you would like to, but that number can only be input by you electronically. If you are submitting by paper, you are only missing out on that one important statistic.
Ivan:
Well, we are running out of time, but I have to ask you, Tom, should we still be reporting at the meeting, now that we can do it on BNI Connect and you can just punch it in and we are all good? Should we still report verbally this information at the meeting?
Tom:
Absolutely. It’s so imperative for your guests, your visitors, your fellow members to know that you are turning in two thank you for closed business slips this week, three referral slips, two one to tone slips. Whatever it might be. I have seen members that are getting in the habit of standing up and saying they have turned their slips in online this week. We really need to know the details. Your fellow members are excited to celebrate whether it is two, three, or five thank you for closed business slips this week.
Ivan:
You are absolutely correct. I don’t know whey there is so much confusion on that. I mean, think about it. For almost 29 years, we have been passing referrals, and many times people passed the referral before the meeting. You have seen that before, Tom, or somebody will call and say, “Hey. I have a referral for you.”
Tom:
Absolutely. Absolutely.
Ivan:
So why would they not- here instead of calling the person, you are just putting it in the system. So previous procedure would still apply- just as you would call someone. Just as you would put it in the system, you still want to hand it out during the meeting because you are right. We want to celebrate the successes and we want people to hear how many referrals are being given. So everyone listening to this podcast, even though you put it in BNI Connect, we want you to report it at the meeting because it is a real opportunity to celebrate all of the successes of a chapter.
Tom:
And for members to promote themselves positively by standing up, getting loud, getting proud versus just sheepishly saying, “I turned in my referral slips online this weekend.”
Ivan:
You know, years ago, I have a chapter that did not pass referrals during the meeting. They said it kind of puts people on the spot and they didn’t want to do that. A lot of referrals that they passed after a month was only half of what they passed, just because they stopped doing it publicly. It really has an impact on people thinking about each other by doing it publicly. I urge all of the members to continue doing that.
We are out of time. Any final comments, Tom and Jeremy? Let’s start with Jeremy. Any final comments, Jeremy?
Jeremy:
Just remember to submit those slips online as well. Again, it allows you that tracking mechanism. It allows you to celebrate those thank you for closed business. There is nothing like that round of applause at a meeting when somebody passes a huge number and everybody jumps up and celebrates that. So continue to do that but take advantage of the tools that are available to you at BNI Connect.
Ivan:
Great. Tom, any final comments?
Tom:
Thank you to you, Dr. Misner, Jeremy and the balance of the BNI Connect team that is really revolutionizing the way in which we do things the way we have always done them. So thank you.
Ivan:
Yes, thank you. I appreciate that. BNI Connect has certainly helped BNI change the way the world does business. It is a game changer for our organization in many, many ways. The Get Connected, Stay Connected program is all part of this development of the awareness of the software and getting people engaged in the software because this is an incredible benefit to members and the organization.
I appreciate both of you being on this podcast today. I am sure I will have you back again. You have been on my podcast more than anybody else, you two. Thanks for everything you do. We appreciate it. Back to you, Priscilla.
Priscilla:
Okay. I think that is it for this week. I want to thank you, Dr. Misner and also our guests, Tom and Jeremy. I would just like to remind the listeners that this podcast has been brought to you by networkingnow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. Thank you so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we hope you will join us next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.