Highland Chapter Adds Another

Congratulations to the Greater Highland Chapter for adding their fifth new member since October 1. Chapter President Dan Dugan is pictured here swearing in their newest member, Dave Lepper of Tarrant Appraisal. Dave refers to himself as the tallest appraiser in Southern Illinois.

The Future is Here

Check out this video to see the future of computers.

International Networking Week Video

Check out this video from Dr. Misner about International Networking Week.

Thoughts About Infomercials

A out-of-state BNI Director trains his members to think about infomercials like this:

When designing your 60 second commercial, do so in a fashion used well by radio and television professionals.

The first key is repetition.
The second key is focus.
The third key is continuity.
The fourth is preparedness.

If you were doing a radio ad for your business what would you do? Many business owners would hire a PR firm to write copy. The copywriter would focus on one aspect of the business with each advertisement.The ad would play over and over again until a degree of brand recognition is obtained. Last, the PR firm/copywriter would design the advertising campaign to be run over a set period of time (I.E. a week, month, quarter, seasonally or longer).

In BNI we have 52 opportunities to deliver a 60 second commercial and one or two opportunities to deliver a 10 minute per year. The 10 minute should be designed to recap the previous six 60 second commericials that were given. As we all should know by now, a 60 second commercial is broken into several parts:

1. The open (Name, company name)
2. What is it you do (I'm this chapter's financial planner)
3. Deliver one LCD (Least Common Denominator. That is, break your business into its smallest logical parts)
4. The Ask
5. The close, which includes your name, company name and memory hook.

To mix it up, a commercial could start with a quote, a fact or a memory hook. One of mine goes like this: (I have them written out and saved in Word on my hard drive). I recycle the commercials about every 8 weeks or so.

"In a recent study put together by the American Center on Retirement it was found that 43% of Adult Americans spend more than they earn. Another 43%, for a total of 86% of Adult Americans are one paycheck away from becoming bankrupt. I'm Steve West of Missouri Wealth Management. I'm this chapter's Financial Planner. We are a fee-based comprehensive financial planning firm. We put dreams and wishes to paper. They then become goals."

"This week I am looking for your neighbor. You know the one. He is talking about retiring in about five years and he's scared. He's scared because he's bought lots of toys but has put away little into his retirement plan. Worse, he's afraid because it looks like after he retires, he's gonna spend 24/7 hanging out with his wife. He'd rather be bass fishing."

"I'd like to spend some time with your neighbor to help him avoid spending 24/7 with his wife and to help him live a retirement more to his liking. Steve West, Missouri Wealth Management. You make it FIRST. We make it last....a long time."

The only items that change are the quote or fact (and where I put it) and the Ask. The rest is the same, unless we do a meeting stimulant which forces a change. Notice that I didn't talk about all of the things we do (life insurance, fee-based accounts, asset management, financial coaching, debt management, mortgages, long term care, disability insurance, mutual funds, stocks, etf's, uit's, bonds, etc.). We don't need to tell our chapter everything that we do every week. Keep your commercial specific and focused.

A ten minute is that same as a commercial exept that we string two or three LCD's and two or three asks together in the same infomercial. Do it like this or do it like 60% of BNI members do it and wing it each week. But if you do it the way you've always done it, you'll get the same results you have always gotten.

Ask Me Who I Know Letter

Joe Harnist of the Business Income Generators chapter in Belleville has a unique approach to generating referrals. We talk about this approach on Page 4, item #9 in the MSP training manual, but this is the first sample I know of that is currently in use. He sends the following letter to selected customers:

Dear __________:

Have you ever needed a service but did not know who to call? Well, as part of my service to you, I retain a network of professional’s in their respective fields that I can recommend to you. These individuals take great pride in providing excellent service and products to their current clients. I know them and have used many personally and trust they will provide fair and competent service to you as well.

I can refer you to one or several contacts in the following fields…..

Plumbing
Heating and Air Conditioning
Electrician
Realtor (residential
or commercial)
Florist
Attorney (wills, estates,
trusts)
Security System
Accountant, CPA
Eye Care
Cleaning service
(residential, commercial, or restoration)
Mortgage lender (residential, home
equity, consolidation, or commercial)
Home remodeling (painting, wallpaper,
woodwork)
Window coverings
Flooring
Estate Planning / money
management
Chiropractic
Title insurance service

If you are in need of any of these services, please feel free to give me a call. I can provide the name, and contact information for the above professions, and possibly others not shown.

I’d like to thank you for your continued trust and confidence in the Harnist Insurance Agency for your insurance needs. If I can ever be of service to you, please do not hesitate to call.

Sincerely,


Joseph E. Harnist

Leaders Council Chapter Leads December Production

I told the guys in the Leaders Council chapter: "If you are going to be so bold as to call yourselves "Leaders Council", you had better be prepared to LEAD."

So it is with great pleasure that I congratulate the Leaders Council chapter for their top performance in the month of December. Seven of the top ten chapters for the month were from this region, so give yourselves a much deserved pat on the back. December's report, also available for download on the BNI web site, includes activity from 62 chapters in the region.

Coming in at #2 was the Glen-Ed chapter (November's top chapter overall), and the Belleville chapter (October's top chapter overall) was ranked #3.

Other notables include:
#5 Business Builders Central
#7 Mid America Partners
#8 St. Louis South
#9 Metro East

Congratulations also to the chapters from our region that reported the most closed sales for the month of December. Those chapters include:

#3 Metro East: $961,232
#5 Belleville: $669,766
#9 Sunset Hills/Crestwood: $295,346
#13 Mid America Partners: $239,460
#15 St. Clair County: $168,817

If your chapter wants to improve its production and/or sales output, let me know and we can talk about some steps you can take today to create a thriving chapter tomorrow.

Attitude

"Our attitudes control our lives. Attitudes are a secret power working twenty-four hours a day, for good or bad. It is of paramount importance that we know how to harness and control this great force."

Tom Blandi

7 Ways to Generate More Referrals

Bill Cates call himself the Referral Coach. He specializes in helping financial service professionals build their referral business, but many of his strategies apply to people in all professions. According to Cates, here are seven specific things you can do to generate more
referrals. He stressses that these are not just theoretical concepts, but "best practices" gleaned from successful referral gatherers. Let me know if you try any of these and they work for you.

1. Call clients 2-3 weeks before their birthday and offer to
take them and 2-3 of their friends to lunch.
2. Valentines Lunch with Widows, Divorced, Single, or any
women. Start planning this today!
3. Print business cards for your retired clients. They no
longer have business cards, but could probably use them from
time to time. You can put a graphic on it that reflects one
of their hobbies.
4. Host events just for singles - clients and their
referrals. Do it more than once per year. Quarterly if it
really starts working. You can give a very brief
introduction of yourself at each event, but the rest of the
time is just for fun and monkey business.
5. Invite women to a "High Tea" at a fancy hotel.
6. Become a Resource Center for your clients. Gather the
names of CPAs, attorneys, painters, HVAC, plumbers, handymen
(who actually return your call and show up on time), etc. Be
a resource for your clients. Pay attention to all service
providers who are worthy of referring to others.
7. When your client is in your office, have your assistant
take their car for a wash. BUT, be careful. Brushless!
Some people are VERY particular about how their car is
washed.

Planning for Success in 2007

Some people in 2007 will get another year of BNI experience. Others will simply repeat last year's experience with different people. Your choice.

I recommend BNI members do some kind of planning for the year. In MSP, we walk very quickly through an exercise that might help.

1) How much money do you want to make from BNI referrals this year? (think "gross")
2) What is your average dollar amount per sale? (also think "gross")
3) What is your closing percentage on referrals?
4) How many referrals will it take this year to reach your goal? (divide your answer to #1 by your answer to #2, then divide again by your answer to #3)
5) How many referrals will it take each week to reach your goal? (divide your answer to #4 by 52)

This little math formula will give you the number of referrals you need to RECEIVE each week to reach your goal for question #1. Since the game we are playing is called GIVERS GAIN, that same number reveals the number of referrals or visitors you should probably try to GIVE each to jump start the mechanism of reciprocity. Share your goals with the members of your chapter...after all, they are the ones who, with your training, are going to help you reach your goals.

Target your MOM's strategically with those you feel are in the best position to GIVE and RECEIVE your referrals.

This is the WORK part of "networking", which is why it is so often overlooked. But the potential payoff is huge. Accidental success happens much less frequently then planned success, and this is where planned success starts.

First Quarter Goal Leaders

All BNI chapters are trying to reach certain productivity goals. Congratulations to the following chapters for their first quarter performance (October, November, and December) based on actual versus projected revenue goals:

• Diamond (>200%): MidAmerica Partners, Glen Ed, Alton AM, Greater Highland, Business Builders Central
• Platinum (>100%): Edwardsville, St. Louis Hills, Sunset Hills Crestwood, High Ridge, St. Louis South, Gateway
• Gold (>90%): SW Illinois, Metro East, Metro South
• Silver (>80%): Monroe County, Belleville