Business Solutions by b$olutions

A contact sphere is an informal business alliance with other non-competing business professionals whose clients have similar needs.  Together, they offer their clients a complete one-stop package of goods and services. 

How you form these contact spheres is, first, to think about what occupations fit best with yours to satisfy your clients’ complete needs.  Think about your clients’ purchasing.  What purchases do they make that complement your products and services?  For instance, if you are an optometrist, you discover help issues like diabetes and high blood pressure in your examinations.  So an alliance with a general practitioner would be a good move.  In fact, if you pick a physician in a medical building, the physician can bring in his contacts!  Patients with need supplies, too.  For instance if you write a prescription for an antibiotic for an eye infection, they have to get that filled.  Contact wearers need solutions.  They go to pharmacies for these needs.  So a pharmacist makes a good partner. 

The search doesn’t end with clients, however.  You can find viable partners within your supplier base too.  For instance, your computer system person can work within the group – GP’s and pharmacists need computer systems.  And I bet that when they install a system in an office building, many times, someone complains that they are having a hard time seeing the screen.   

Unless your contact sphere is intact, then this would be the #1 priority and at contact sphere meetings, this should be discussed.  After you identify candidate occupations by looking at clients’ needs and at suppliers, next you go hunting.  First, put together a list of people each of you knows.  Create a plan.  Discuss the benefits of working together in your group versus “going it alone.”  Divide the list of candidates between you and put together a script discussing the benefits with prospects.  Have the candidates out to lunch with your contact sphere or go to their offices in pairs.  Networking events make great venues for the hunt.  If you have a core group already and need more, then go together to networking events.  For your network groups in which you have members, create a “bounty” for the members not in your contact sphere – a reward for bringing the target occupations into the group. 

Working as a team, you can recruit a great contact sphere and all will benefit. 

Effective one-on-one meetings are not events, they are part of a process.  First, you need to develop goals for one-one-one meetings.  How many meetings are you going to have during the month?  One?  Two?  Four?  Eight?  Set a goal and measure yourself against that goal.  Decide who you are going to have meetings with.  A good way to choose is look around the room and decide who you aren’t comfortable referring.  A one-on-one is your chance to find out how to give a referral for someone and also to build that trust so that all obstacles are cleared to you finding referrals.  But, trust does not build at just one meeting.  A good way to help build that trust is to have multiple planned one on ones with the same person.  Set agendas for each so that the process of trust building and information exchange progresses.  For instance, in the first meeting, exchange the Gains Profile. Be prepared to identify who (names of people and businesses please) you need to be in a relationship with. Talk about why those people make good candidates for you.  Set up a time and date for the next meeting.  At the next meeting, come prepared with a list of candidates to whom to introduce your fellow member.  Strategize the most effective way to make the introduction. Is it to let the member call them?  How about a conference all where you make the introduction?  Or better yet, how about setting up a meeting with the person and your member associate?  Your goal is an introduction, not a sales call. At the end of the second meeting, set up another meeting.  During the third meeting, switch the roles and your member partner will present you with candidates for introductions and strategize introductions.  Plan a fourth meeting.  At the forth meeting, go through your progress together and fine tune the introduction plans.  What better way to build that trust than to set joint goals and create joint projects!

I’d like Anne to read you something.  Go ahead Anne.  Mortgage Broker, Appraiser, Home Inspector, Title Company, Attorney, Insurance Agent…..

That list represents three things.  Who can tell me what they are?  OK.  First, it is a partial list of Anne’s Contact Sphere.  As we have been discussing, the Contact Sphere allows you to go to your client not only as the expert in your field, but also a knowledge broker.  You are the one who is connected in every aspect needed by your customers.  You’re the go-to guy.  A contact sphere extends your brand.  When someone hears “Financial Advisor,” establishing your brand drives and image into people’s mind to think:  Rob.  If someone says, “Contractor,” people think “Bruce.”  Your contact sphere broadens this brand so that now when people who thinks “Georgiann when they  as the “Identity Theft expert” will think of you when they hear “Health Benefits” and “group auto and home insurance.”  They think of you three times as much! 

The second thing this list represents is the categories missing from our BNI chapter.  This is Anne’s sphere.  But remember, we can all be in more than one sphere.  And therefore, each of these categories can operate in more than one sphere.  For instance, the attorney can be in a real estate sphere or a business services sphere.  There are others of us that would find an attorney useful.

The third thing this list is for Anne is her invitation list for the Visitor’s day.  Anne is using visitor’s day to build a stellar contact sphere for herself.  It’s nice to be in BNI because we all help grow each other’s business.  But, if we all had our ideal contact sphere – BNI is a GREAT place to be. 

So here’s what you do today:  Put together your idea sphere of influence.  Built a list of categories that you know would help you to generate business.  Then, think of everyone you know who fits these categories.  Send them invitations to the Visitor’s Day.  Send each of us your list and ask us to invite people we know in these categories.  Hey, it’s OK to be selfish in this!  Think of yourself.  Build our BNI chapter into your ideal sphere.  You will have an opportunity to give in helping others find their ideal sphere. 

As we all know, you have to give referrals to receive referrals.  We have three ways to learn how to give a referral for our BNI associates:  First, we have the Key Note address.  We can learn in 10 minutes quite a bit about our associates business.  Also, we can do one-on-ones and learn.  And then there’s the marketing moment. 

To give a good referral, we must know a few things.  First, we need to know what products and services our associate offers.  We need to know the features and benefits, where the products and services are used, and under what circumstances.  We also need to know which product and services the associate is focusing on out of all those that he or she may offer.  Next, we need to know what to listen for when we’re talking with people.  For instance, for life insurance, we know that she should listen for life changing events.  These are times when life insurance needs should be reviewed.   

We also need to know what we should say when we hear the trigger words.  For instance, when we hear that someone put a new addition or new siding on their house, we might say, “You know, you really should look at your house insurance policy because it may not be enough to cover the added value of your house.  I know a person who can probably give you that extra coverage and you may not even have to pay more!  May I have Jackie call you?”   

Next, we want to know who the specific targets are for our associate.  For instance, for Don, we know that an ideal customer is a dentist or doctor who takes credit cards for payment.   

Each week, as you listen to the marketing moment, write down each of these four pieces of information for each person.  Then, each morning, as you plan your day, review the sheet.  If you are going to visit or run into any of your associates’ targets, you can listen and plan what to say to obtain a referral for them.

Previously, we’ve discussed spheres of influence.  In networking, a sphere of influence is made up of those associates who together you can drive a lot of business among you through referrals.  In a sphere of influence, the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.  Together, you can bring more value to customers than individually.  We think of members of spheres of influence as associates who together can work with a single customer to complete a transaction.  For instance, suppose our customer is buying a house.  He needs an attorney, a real estate agent, a mortgage broker, a home inspector, and an insurance agent.  After the close, he will need a home remodeler, a landscaper, a flooring provider.  This group is a sphere of influence.  The traditional way to get a sphere of influence going is to meet periodically to understand each other’s business, set goals, and trade leads.  The sphere of influence agrees to promote each other’s business throughout the transaction.  By making this pact, no matter who discovers the prospect, all benefit.   

Another way to operate is to take a more active stance.  Instead of waiting for a client to come along, you can market your sphere of influence.  Target a market segment, define a joint service offering, and pick a marketing method – ads, the web, radio, joint seminars, any method that’s right for that market segment.  As an example, let’s pick startup businesses as a segment of customers.  What are their needs?  Well, they need brochures,, business cards, a website at minimum.  They may need a logo, a lawyer for incorporation, letterhead, office space, rental office furniture, a computer system, insurance, a business plan, business banking, an accountant, a business plan.  So how about putting together a Business Starter Package with options to buy all of the stuff in one spot!  We can produce a brochure or flier for this business offering, put together a website, do a pay per click ad to drive entrepreneurs to the website.  Everyone benefits -  Internet consultants, professional writers, business advisers, attorneys, printers, insurance agents, office equipment providers, computer system providers, you name it.   

This same idea can be used for many different customer segments:  For the real estate example above; car dealers, a marketing package could be created. with promotional products, ads in yellow pages or news papers, radio spots;  for the health care community, it could be a total office solution with computer systems, office equipment, stationery and business cards;…the list of ideas goes on.

Jackie, Phil and I met last Friday night at the Brickhouse for happy hour drinks.  I would have counted it as a one-on-one, but after a little, I was seeing two.  Anyway, they are great people and funny.  Jackie’s boyfriend came too – a very nice guy.  If you guys want to have some fun, give Jackie or Phil a call!  They are so fun that I bet doing business with them is fun too!  You should do business with them – they are nice and fun! 

How’s that for a testimonial?  You think that Jackie or Phil are going to pick up any business from that?  In BNI, we are here to do business.  We give testimonials and referrals to each other to help each other achieve “better net income.”  Testimonials are used to help build credibility and reduce the “mistrust” to other associates so we feel comfortable doing business or referring business to the target of the testimonial.

A good testimonial is one that talks to how our associate’s product or service completely satisfied us personally or how someone we referred to the associate was satisfied completely.  We can talk about how difficult the problem was, how quickly our associate responded, how knowledgeable our associate was and how that helped…any of these.  But, the testimonial should be about their business, not how interesting and informative the one-on-one was or how fun they were. 

If I were giving a testimony for Jackie, here’s something I might say:  As you know, Jackie is with Liberty Mutual Insurance.  I have been with Liberty Mutual for over 25 years.  My father has insured with Liberty Mutual for over 40 years.  During that time, both of us have had several claims and never a problem recovering our claim.  I have shopped around from time to time with other insurance and have never found an equivalent policy cheaper from anyone.  And Jackie in particular, well, she is the only agent I know who still does house calls.  And she goes out of her way to make sure your insurance needs are covered but not over-covered.  If you haven’t asked Jackie to quote you insurance for your car and house, you’re probably spending too much!  And she is so easy to refer!  There is no downside for someone to talk with Jackie about their insurance needs.  She will either save you money or she won’t bother you again.

Make your testimonies specific about the business and how clients can benefit.  That’s how we help our associates to better net income. 

One hour.  That’s how much time you have in front of your BNI associates to teach them who to sell to and how to do it effectively.  And almost 90% of that is with your Manager’s Minute.  That makes the 60 seconds a week crucial to your success. 

Most people learn by repetition.  Additionally, they will be “focused” only if the topic is interesting to them.  Quick retention requires a simple and direct message.  So, this means your Manager’s minute must be simple, to the point, attention-getting, and repetitive week after week.

The biggest mistake most of us do is to “wing” our message.  This causes two problems:  First, we are crafting our message while our associates are giving their messages.  We can’t learn to sell for our associates if we aren’t paying attention, now, can we?  And as we have said before, if you want referrals, you have to give referrals.  If you aren’t listening, how can you hope to give referrals?  The second issue is that your message will not be polished.  As you stumble through it, your associates become distracted by your stumbles.  You have just wasted 2% of your time available.  THE FIX:  Write your pitch ahead of time and PRACTICE!

Now, write this down!  From the MSP book, the the Manager’s Minute is:  Introduction:  18 seconds in which you say your company name, products, and services.  Then, 20 seconds you share a story of how you helped a customer or how you are better than the competition.  The next 10 seconds, you state who would be a good referral for you.  And the next five seconds is a call to action – “I would like an introduction to…”  The final seven seconds is a “memory hook” – your tag line or slogan that sums up your business and advantage to customers. 

Another way to do this is with the four P’s:  PROFILE – What type of client is most successful for you?  Who is excited by what you offer?  PROBLEM:  Describe an issue you have resolved.  PRODUCT:  What is it you did to fix the problem?  PROSPECT:  So today, who are you looking for like this profile?

One final tip:  Never use these words:  Anyone, somebody, everyone…..

Simple, direct, attention-getting, and repetitive – stay with these guidelines and your Manager’s Minute will be productive. 

Your Sphere of Influence is made up of those associates who together you can drive a lot of business among you through referrals.  In a sphere of influence, the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.  Together, you can bring more value to customers than individually.  For instance, an attorney and an accountant together can help a client to incorporate with the right structure for their business.  A real estate agent, a mortgage broker, and an insurance agent together can help a client find, buy, and insure their new home.  The common thread:  The customers and the customers’ transaction.  All are a part of it simultaneously. 

The first step in identifying your sphere of influence is to reflect on each of your customers.  Identify what fits naturally with your products and services?  If you are an office furnishings supplier, your customers need office supplies, office equipment, PC’s, networks….Now take a look at your associates.  Do you have associates who provide those other complementary products and services?  They can be part of your sphere.  If you realize you are missing key components in your sphere, this gives you a new goal for your networking events.  Make a list of those needs and seek them out. 

When you have your sphere in mind, make plans to meet.  Together, draw the picture of how you all fit together to meet more of your customers’ needs.  Brainstorm to see if there are other items you might need to add to your “basket” to become even more important to your customers.  When you come up with a list of other providers you should have in your sphere, then brainstorm if anyone in the group might know someone.  If, as a group, you know more than one, discuss each candidate and decide who might be best or if you can’t decide, set up meetings with the candidates – interview them and then decide. 

Your sphere of influence is like a virtual company.  You are in partnership with your sphere members.  Meet regularly and trade clients.  Make introductions for your partners.  Discuss additional people who might be influential in your sphere and add as needed to make your sphere stronger.  Do join marketing activities together – eMail or direct mail campaigns, brochures, sales calls, seminars…be creative and think of what you might do if you were a company.

Don’t be surprised if you belong to more than one sphere.  You may complement other groups’ capabilities.  Belonging to more spheres means more meetings to coordinate activities, but it also means more business. 

Last week, I discussed how to get referrals by giving referrals.  This week, I’m going to take it a step beyond this and suggest to you that you can’t give good referrals unless you truly understand your networking partners’ businesses.  To understand their business, you need to schedule one-on-one meetings.  Pick a convenient place where you won’t be interrupted during the conversation and where you can concentrate.  The purpose of the one-on-one meetings is two-fold:  First, you want to develop a personal relationship with the individual.  Referrals come after trust.  Trust is build on rapport.  By getting to know the person versus the business, you build that rapport.  Second, you learn about the business.  An aid for building rapport is the GAINS Profile (Goals, Accomplishments, Interests, Networks, and Skills).  For the business side, use the Launching Pad Questions (My three best customers are, Examples of referrals that work well for me are, My best contact sphere professionals are, New doors I’d like to open are).  Bring blank copies of these so you can ask these questions and record the information.  Bring these forms filled out for you and your business too so you can hand them out if you allotted time in your one-on-one meeting for both of you (however, I don’t recommend this because it dilutes the information exchange – set up another meeting to talk about you and your business!) 

In addition, put some thought into other questions you want to ask and write them down.  Think about questions like:  How do customers benefit from your products and services?  What makes your company better than the competition?  Describe an idea customer.  What problems do you solve for these customers? 

Your final preparation step is to look through your business card file.  Based on what you know about the products and services ahead of time, look for potential referrals to take with you to the meeting.  Call those contacts before the meeting and ask if they would mind if you gave your network friend their name and phone number.  And take your cards to the meeting as well, because as you learn more about that person’s business, you may think of more people to refer. 

The key to a good one-on-one meeting is preparation.  Being prepared helps you to get all the information you need to begin giving good referrals.  And giving referrals is the first step to getting referrals.

As we all know (who are BNI members), BNI is a business and professional networking organization whose primary purpose is to exchange business referrals.  The promise of BNI is “better net income” and “you will never have to cold call again.  But, for new members and for some veterans, we may feel some frustration, disappointment, or disillusionment because “we aren’t getting any referrals!”  There are four things to consider and over the next four weeks, I’m going to cover them.  They are: 

1)  Giving referrals

2)  Understanding our fellow members’ businesses

3)  Working our circles of influence

4)  What makes good marketing moment

For this week, we’ll discuss giving referrals.  You may ask how this relates to getting referrals.  Actually it’s simple.  How many of you have heard the old saying, “You have to be a friend to have a friend.”  The same holds true for referrals.  To get referrals, you have to give them.  Giving a referral to someone, and in particular, in public, you make the person to whom you give a referral “beholden” to you;  They want to “return” the favor.  Also, those of us witnessing your referral see you as “part of the team” – one of our own.  Because you belong, we want to help you. 

But, how do you give a referral?  First, you have to trust your BNI partners.  When you are in the BNI meeting, look around the room.  Think about your best customer and imagine you are recommending to them the services and products of your BNI team.  Who would cause you to hesitate?  Why?  Formulate a plan to eliminate that hesitation.  Do a one-on-one and share with each your hesitations and what you believe would help you to feel more comfortable.  Remember:  A relationship is based on genuine caring.  Showing your concerns and your willingness to work to eliminate them is a great way to strengthen that relationship. 

You prepare for your customer meetings, right?  In your planning, include some thought about what products and services this client can use from your BNI partners.  How can your BNI team help to build your client’s business?

OK, so you help your BNI partners.  And because you do that, you will gain referrals from them in return.  How else will giving referrals help you?  If you are recommending products and services that help your clients, your clients will value and trust you even more.  You become the “connected” person who can find just the right resource to help them no matter what the issue.

Giving referrals benefits just keep piling up for you!  Actively look for opportunities for giving referrals.