Episode 633: I’ve Invited Everyone I Know / 第633集：我邀請了我所認識的每一個人
第633集：我邀請了我所認識的每一個人
https://content.blubrry.com/bni/633-BNI-Podcast.mp3
- 你翻過你的Rolodex了嗎，按名字來算嗎？
- 你的名片盒裡的名片，你看過了嗎？
- 你看過你的支票簿登記冊了嗎？
第633集完整記錄
Episode 633: I’ve Invited Everyone I Know
Way back in Episode 11, Dr. Misner touched on where to find new members and how to invite people to meetings. In today’s podcast, he takes a look at three obvious but often-overlooked places to find potential visitors.
In the early days of BNI, when there were still only 20 chapters, Dr. Misner was responsible for inviting people to all the chapters. One day he was talking to another member and said “I’ve invited everybody I know. I got nobody else.”
The response was skeptical—and you can tell by the member’s questions just how long ago this was.
- Have you gone through your Rolodex, name by name?
- Have you gone through your business card box, card by card?
- Have you gone through your checkbook register?
Today, you might not have a Rolodex or a checkbook. Instead, go through all the contacts in your email client and your CRM. Go through your online banking register. People you’ve already met and done business with are the best people to invite to BNI.
What unexpected places have you found people to invite to your BNI meeting? Let us know in the comments.
Complete Transcript of Episode 633
Priscilla:
Hello everybody and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast. I’m Priscilla Rice and I’m coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, CA. I’m joined on the phone today by the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer, Dr. Ivan Misner.
Hello, Ivan! How are you and where are you?
Ivan:
This week I’m at the BNI International Convention in Warsaw, Poland. These international conventions are just amazing, Priscilla. If you’re listening to this podcast, make a note of the next convention because you’ve got to come. It’s like being at a United . There are people from all over the world. The back of the room has all of those cubicle with people that are translating different languages and there’s flags from more than 70 countries around the world, it’s an incredible experience. It’s truly a humbling experience and it really gives you a great idea of what BNI really is around the world. It’s fantastic!
Priscilla:
I went to it once and I felt the same way. I just loved it, it was amazing.
Ivan:
Yeah, it really is amazing!
So today I’m going to be talking about “I invited everyone I know”, but before I do, I just want to share something with everyone; you’ve been mentioning that we have a new sponsor called Ivan’s Inner Circle (IvansInnerCircle.com) and I have said this and it’s up on Ivan’s Inner Circle website. It’s a website where I’m just really pouring into members of the Inner Circle on topics like networking, how to scale a business, on time management and many other topics. I mentioned that I am donating all of the proceeds to the BNI Foundation and in the future to other charities. So I got my first check, Priscilla!
Priscilla:
Yay! How much?
Ivan:
This is a check that will be going directly to the BNI Foundation that is for $4974.23.
Priscilla:
Fantastic!
Ivan:
So anybody who is participating in Ivan’s Inner Circle, I want to thank you personally because it does go to support charitable causes like children and education- which is what the BNI Foundation does. Thank you to everybody that is participating!
Alright, let’s jump in! Let me tell you what his topic is. I touched upon it briefly but before your time on the podcasts, Priscilla, and you jumped on to these podcasts early on in the process. This is episode 11 and I briefly touched on this topic but I want to go into more detail. It was towards the end of 1985, I had opened about 20 chapters in BNI and I was involved in inviting people to those twenty chapters. I did to one fo the members in a chapter, “I’ve invited everybody I know. I’ve got nobody else.” And I have to tell you, this woman schooled me on whether I had actually invited everyone I know. She took me to school.
Priscilla:
How did she do that?
Ivan:
It was great because she really blew me away. She said, “Oh, Ivan. Really? You have not invited everyone you know.” I said, “Yes, I have!” She said, “Okay. Have you gone through your rolodex card by card?” Of course you and I know what rolodex is but there are a lot of millennials who might think I’m talking about an expensive watch, but I’m talking about this little device that you would turn and it had all of these cards that you would turn over and hand write the name, address, phone number and contact information of people that you have. There was even some where you slip business cards into the card and use the rolodex that way. So again, she said, “Have you gone through your rolodex card by card?” I said, “Well, no not card by card.” She said, “Have you gone through your card box?” Now in the 80’s we kept most of our contacts on a rolodex or copies of their business cards in a card box- like many chapters use the pass around to get cards out of there. Let’s put it in 21st century terms, today I would say, “Have you gone through your database name by name?”
So I said to her on both of those questions, “No, I haven’t gone through my business card box and I didn’t go through my rolodex card by card.” She said, “Well, do that and then tell me that you invited anyone.” And the. She gave me a third suggestion that I thought was absolutely brilliant. Had I really been thinking about it, I would’ve come up with the first two, but it one was a BFO for me. Have I talked about BFO’s with you, Priscilla?
Priscilla:
I don’t know.
Ivan:
BFO = Blinding Flash of the Obvious. It was a BFO and I hadn’t thought of this. She said, “Go through your checkbook register. Who are you paying?” Now, I’m the Founder of BNI and she was a member! She totally took me to school. “Because the people you are paying would be great BNI members.” I was like oh my goodness, that is so obvious! Although, I would’ve thought bout the rolodex and card box, I’m not sure I would thought about a checkbook register. Now today, you might not have a physical checkbook register. Today, everything I have is online. I pay my bills online. So go through your online register or if you’re still paying on a manual check register, look through your checkbook register. Who are you paying money to? There’s services that people are rendering and these are the perfect people to invite to BNI.
So she recommended those three things to me and I was like, “Okay. I haven’t actually done that.” And I went back and went through my rolodex card by card. I went through my card box card by card. Today I would go through my Outlook Contacts or if you have Sales Force or some database management like [inaudible] that handles Ivan’s Inner Circle. Go through your contacts on your database person by person. And I went through my check register, and Priscilla I found bunch of people I had not invited. I thought, “Oh my goodness, how could I not have thought of this person?” You know if could’ve been six months to a years since I talked to this person, but I have a relationship with these people. I know these people. They would take my call and I can invite them. After go through everything, I had a bunch of people that I go to and invite- and I did! I went back with my tail in between my legs and told this member, “Thank you. That was great advice! I found all kinds of people that I had not invited in the past.”
Priscilla:
Oh, that’s good. I do write checks, so I could look in my checkbook and find people.
Ivan:
I think it’s such a simple concept. Look, one of the ways that we invite people to go to organizations, a chamber event or some business event and you’re talking to somebody but you don’t really know them that well, that’s not the best invitation for a visitor because you don’t know if they are honest and ethical. But if you’ve done business with somebody or know somebody and have their contact information and just haven’t connected with them recently then those are the best people to invite to BNI because there is a relationship. And when there is a relationship, there is a force multiplier in a chapter because you can say to people, “I know this person and have done business with them / I’ve known them for a long time, you can trust them and I think they would make a great member.” I think that’s far better than doing that with somebody you’ve just met. Although, I do that too, but I still think this is the best approach. And this member, I wish I could remember her name because I would call her out by name but it was almost 35 years ago when she gave me this advice. “‘Look at your rolodex… Look at your card box… Look at your checkbook register.”
It’s great advice and that’s what I recommend everyone that’s in BNI go back and do.
Priscilla:
Okay. I just want to Insert here that having some visitors in the room makes all of the difference.
Ivan:
It is, isn’t it? It’s very important to always have some visitors in the room. It keeps everybody on their toes no they are making sure they follow the program properly. Visitors are the lifeblood of the chapter. They are what helps a chapter grow. So take this concept that we are talking about today and take it to the 21st century, I know I’m a old guy with grey hair over here talking about rolodex’s, but this is a completely effective technique in the 21st by changing out the rolodex for your database and your checkbook register to online. It’s the same concept.
That’s everything I’ve got for today, Priscilla.
Priscilla:
Okay! That’s terrific, Ivan. Thank you so much!
This podcast has a new sponsor! Go check out the great content available over at www.IvansInnerCircle.com where Ivan has created a wide array of topics and you’re invited to participate!
Thank you so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice and we look forward to you joining us again next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.
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