Honestly speaking -- do you like to be sold to on any products or services?
Ask the following 2 questions in your education sessions and note the responses.
First question: How many of you came to the meeting today hoping to
sell your products or services?
Second question: How many of you came to the meeting today wanting to
buy some products or services?
I believe that you will get far fewer affirmative response to the second question compared to the first question. This is the phenomenon meant by BNI Founder Dr Ivan Misner in his column -- "
Networking Disconnect".
Most people join networking functions with the intention to sell their products or services while almost no one go with the intention to buy. No wonder most people say that networking doesn't help!
As a BNI member, if you understand that networking is all about developing relationship and not selling, you will understand the essence of Weekly Presentation (
a.k.a 30-second infomercial) in the BNI meeting agenda.
One of the most common mistakes a member commits is to regard the weekly presentation as "selling time". Thus, the session is filled with lots of selling and promotional information. It’s like everyone is trying to sell products and services to his or her own sales team!
In a mature BNI chapter, members act as sales manager for one another. Therefore, the weekly presentation is for you to
educate your sales force about your business, and to give them easy-to-remember messages that they can duplicate to their contacts!
Every time you prepare your presentation, ask yourself the following questions.
#1. Can my members learn some useful knowledge from my message?
Did I deliver useful and relevant tips and information from my field professionally to help my members and their contacts? Was my message simple and memorable enough to be duplicated?
#2. Can my infomercial help build my professional image?
Did I quote a success story or relate a scenario on how I helped my clients solved their problems specifically?
#3. Can my members identify my target referrals easily?
Did I state clearly and specifically who I’m looking for and what I can do for them?
Remember that your participation in BNI is to seek cooperation of other members to expand your network, and open closed doors for you. It is definitely not for you to hard sell them with your products and services.
By understanding this, you will see new horizons in your BNI journey.
Special thanks to BNI Executive Director Susan Choo for editing this article.
