Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening everybody,
and welcome to today's episode
of the NeverPeak Project Podcast.
I'm your host, Coach Ranger, and in today's episode,
I'm gonna be talking about referral networks
and how to really make the most of your time, effort, energy
out of being involved in a referral network.
I'll be talking mostly about BNI during this episode
and some of the big takeaways that I had
from our regional training that we had last Friday
about referrals, how to supercharge your referral network
and make the most out of the organization.
We're taking some things that we talked about
in the breakout rooms during that presentation,
as well as some of the material that we went over,
but also just some of my own thoughts, opinions,
and experiences around what I have seen work.
So as always, sit back, relax, grab a beverage of your choice
and we'll dive into today's topic.
And just as kind of a recap to really focus
on what this episode is about,
it's really about helping solopreneurs make the most
out of being in a networking referral-based organization.
So I'm a member of BNI, Dynamic Connections,
over in Daly City in the San Francisco Peninsula.
And last Friday, I was on a call with the district,
the San Francisco area, and there's about 15, 20 of us
or so on the call, and we're really just focusing
on how we can increase our own referrals
through being in BNI.
And the main takeaways that I had were around
your effectiveness of doing one-to-ones,
creating a power partner team, triangulating connections,
and also taking up leadership positions within your group.
Really, I think that my biggest takeaway
from being in referral networks
for about a year and a half or so,
I was in a different referral network
in Modesto area called Gold Star for a while,
and now I've been in BNI for about four or five months.
I think the biggest thing that I've noticed
is people that are relatively new to these organizations
kind of just join and expect referrals
to just be handed to them right away.
But I really think that people need to understand
that these are organizations that once you get into it,
you have to put in some work.
Just like any other marketing or sales aspect
of your business, it's something that's gonna take time,
energy, and a little bit of capital to make work
beyond just the dues that you have to pay every single year.
So I like to say that there is a no-like-and-trust continuum
that you really need to focus on.
Sure, when you get into a club,
people are gonna know who you are.
Your fellow members in the club that you join
are gonna know your name, your business,
and generally what you do.
But then you have to really start focusing on,
okay, well, do these people like me?
Do these people trust me with their referrals?
If I'm referring somebody out,
somebody that I care about like my mom, parents,
a friend, colleague, especially a customer,
I wanna be very confident that the people that I'm referring
are actually good at what they do.
Now, there is a level of,
you have to be good to even get into
one of these organizations to begin with,
because there is a little bit of background
and references that get checked traditionally,
but there is that human aspect of,
do I actually trust this person beyond just
you being accepted into the group?
So I think that's the biggest thing,
is that if you're a solopreneur or a part of a small team
and you join something like BNI,
you can't just expect people to hand over referrals,
hand over fist every single week.
You have to put in the work.
And the way that I kind of try to understand it
and rationalize it in my brain
is to think of everybody else in that group
as your sales team.
They are the people that are gonna go out there,
shake some hands, kiss some babies,
and help you build your business.
But you're not paying them necessarily monetarily,
so there has to be a different form of capital that you use,
which is typically your time, energy, attention.
And also, there's a little bit of that,
if you rub my back, I'll rub yours.
You also have to give referrals.
So in today's episode, I wanna talk a little bit
about the main factors and strategies that you can use
to really increase the amount that you get
by really putting in focused energy into the tasks
that you already have to do
being a part of these organizations.
So the very first thing that I wanna talk about today
is doing one-to-ones effectively.
I have been very much in this trajectory
that Alex Hermosy talks about of more, better, and new.
I have done roughly 60 one-to-ones
since I joined about three or four months ago,
and I've just been trying to meet as many people as I can,
shake as many hands, meet with people virtually.
A vast majority of mine have been over Zoom,
but I've been lucky enough to have a few in person
at coffee shops or over lunch as well.
But I think that one-to-ones are honestly pretty slept on.
I think that they are in a very, very effective way,
especially as a solopreneur,
to get the word about your business out and about.
How often as a solopreneur do you have somebody
that is sitting across from you or on a meeting with you
over Zoom that actually wants to hear about your business
and what you do to see if there's any way
for them to help you?
Before I was in BNI or any other networking group,
it's very rare that somebody will give you
even a few seconds of their day to listen.
So I think that doing one-to-ones is extremely valuable.
And like I said about the Alex Hermosy thing,
that more, better, new, I've done a ton of them.
And now my goal is to get better at doing them.
So I'm gonna give you a few strategies or ways
that I think that it can be effective
in helping you make that happen.
But to take it a step back as well,
it's really important to understand the four main ways
that people can learn about your stuff.
Alex Hermosy calls it the core four.
And the core four are the four major ways
that people can learn about your stuff.
The very first one is warm outreach.
Reaching out to people that you know, that know you,
so that you can tell them about what you're doing.
Then there's cold outreach,
where you're talking to people that you may have never heard
of or have no idea who you are
and letting them know about your stuff.
Think cold calling, cold DMing people.
Then there is posting free content online, which I do,
for example, with this podcast
or the resources I put on my blog or social media.
That is a way for you to share information with the world
so they can kind of start seeing you
as an expert in what you do.
And the fourth one is posting paid ads
that is paying for space on advertisers
like Meta for Facebook or Instagram
or Google for, well, Google and YouTube.
So those are the main ways
that you can let people know about your stuff.
Warm outreach, cold outreach, posting free content
and running paid ads.
Now, why is it important to this conversation?
It's important because when you're in BNI
or another network, you immediately go
from a ton of people being cold
to a ton of people being warm.
Now, a lot of people might know who you are.
You can kind of break the ice a lot easier.
And I've been able to have meetings with people
that never would have given me the time of day
a few months ago before I joined BNI.
So that is one of the major impact
or major benefits to being in something like BNI
is really just that fast expansion of your network.
Now, when it comes to one-to-ones
and getting to meet with people individually,
the first thing that I would say
is just do more one-to-ones.
I've done roughly 60 in the last three or four months
and I have been a part of BNI.
And I mean, it takes time, it takes a lot of energy,
but it is extremely important
in order to get your name out there.
And that's how I've been able to get a few referrals
throughout my time in the organization
is taking time to meet with these different people.
Something that my dad always told me when we were younger
is we have more time than money.
And that is especially true
when you're just starting your business.
You have a lot more time and energy than you might do money.
It may not make sense to spend a lot of time
making free content that not many people are gonna see
or even get through all the way.
It might not make sense to run paid ads
when nobody knows who you are.
So use networks like this
to really focus on that warm outreach.
That just takes time.
It takes 30 to 60 minute calls to get to know someone
for them to get to know you.
And when it comes to effectively
and being better at one-to-ones,
I would say that the number one thing to do
is to just be prepared.
In BNI or even if you aren't in BNI
and you just want to do one-to-ones with people,
come prepared with your gains sheets.
So in BNI, we have something called a gains sheet.
It's goals, accomplishments, interests, networks, and skills.
And that's something that you can send to people
just to kind of give them a quick bird's eye view
of who you are, these services that you provide,
and what it is that you do.
Before I joined BNI, I made a quick little info sheet.
It was like two pages.
I had my photo, a quick bio, some information,
keywords to look out for,
as well as some information about the packages
and types of coaching that I offer clients.
And this is just a great way to send somebody
before you even meet up with them or after the fact
to give them a reminder of who you are and what you do.
And if you're in BNI,
make sure that your BNI Connect profile is fully fleshed out
and then all your gains and info will be there as well.
In order to do one-to-ones even more effectively,
something that I'm working on putting together
is a presentation, like a little slide deck
of five to 10 slides that just go over who I am,
why I got into coaching, what it is that I do,
maybe talk about my walk across the country a little bit,
and then keywords to look out for,
whether it is somebody going through big life changes,
they're getting married, divorce, et cetera,
they're starting a business, they wanna start a business.
Just the main things that would make someone trigger
and think, oh, maybe Ranger can help you with that.
And then I would give a few examples at the end of clients
that I have worked with in the past,
making sure that I changed names
or don't give too many details for some client protection,
just because of the ethics of my personal business.
This, on a different side of the same coin,
when it comes to prepping for one-to-ones,
it's not just making sure that you have your information
put together and that you have a slide deck
and a info sheet and all of that.
It's making sure that you're doing a little bit of research
to make sure you know who you're talking to.
Make sure that you know what their name is,
what industry they're in, what club they're in,
and that you are actually,
maybe look at their actual gains profile
to see some of the things that they have done in the past.
Look them up on LinkedIn or Instagram,
kind of check out a little bit of their content.
A quick example of how this has helped me
professionally in the past is when I was applying
for the job at the county that I worked at
for a couple of years during COVID,
right before one of my panel interviews,
there was three people on the panel,
it was a Zoom conference,
I got a email that had the names of the people
that were going to be on the panel.
So what I did was I Googled every single person's name,
quickly looked at their LinkedIn, at their information,
where they went to school, et cetera, what they do.
And I noticed that two out of three of them
went to UC Davis, and that's where I went to school.
So I didn't quite mention that I looked them up beforehand,
but I did make a lot of references to being an Aggie
and how influential Davis was to my education,
and I ended up getting the job.
Do I think necessarily that that is 100% why I got the job?
No, but being able to find a quick personal connection
really helped out.
Another thing that I really love about one-to-ones
is you're really able to go what I call
beyond the boardroom.
You're really able to understand
and know more about that person
beyond just their name, category, the business that they do,
and their client avatar.
It's really about who they are as a person.
For example, I just got off of a one-to-one
with a mortgage broker in one of the areas that I serve,
and we're not very,
there's not a whole lot of opportunity
for me to necessarily help him
with the mortgage side of things,
but I found out that he is pretty high up
in one of the local radio stations.
So there is a collaboration opportunity there
that we're working on.
And the same thing with the mortgage broker in my group
is I found out that we're both into reptiles
and exotic pets, but that she also is into horses.
So she has done a little bit of training in the past,
and we're working on a program together
that involves her background of training horses
and my background, and I guess current ground,
of coaching and personal development.
So it's really about making sure that you're understanding
what they do, who they serve,
so you can refer them professionally,
but sometimes there's even more beyond that person
than just the whole business side of it.
I'm just thinking of this now.
There's another gal in my group that during our one-to-one,
we both found out that each other
are in the Lions organization as well.
So that was another easy connection
where we're able to connect on a deeper level
than just you're in my group, you're the life coach,
and you're the real estate agent, right?
So go a little bit deeper.
Something that I have read recently
in one of the books that I'm reading
is the concept of be interested, then be interesting.
And that is something that,
especially since I'm relatively new to the peninsula area
over here in San Francisco, is it's helped me a ton
in learning more about the people in the area
and my surroundings.
So when I say be interested, I mean, ask curious questions.
Really work to understand who the person
on the other side of the table or screen is.
A very simple format that I talked about before
is learn what they're currently doing now,
ask them what got them into that,
and ask them what their future plans are.
That now, past, and future method, tactic,
whatever you wanna call it,
has helped me really learn a lot about people
and some of their other interests as well.
And again, this really helps set you apart
from other people in your industry.
You know, like to the real estate agent in my group
that were both lions, I'm not just, you know,
oh, Ranger, the life coach in her group.
It's, oh, that's Ranger, a fellow lion,
a fellow entrepreneur, he also likes this, this, this,
and this, and he does life coaching.
It gives you and them a little bit more to go off of
when you're making that referral.
So be sure that you don't just keep it all professional,
keep it a little bit personal as well,
and get to know the other person.
Again, it's know, like, and trust.
Something else that we talked about in the training
that we did last Friday through BNI
is the idea of developing your power partner team.
Now, power partners are essentially people
that are in related but not competing fields
of your business.
Something that I talked about in the presentation last week
is the concept of the client journey.
Think of your client as the hero in a story.
Typically, there's some kind of call to action
or inspiration.
They meet a or several wise mentors along the way.
There's some kind of trials,
and at the end, there's an accomplishment.
So when it comes to people in your industry or field,
typically, entrepreneurs solve a specific problem.
Really think about what problem you face
and at what point during the customer journey,
they would be facing that problem.
A great example of a power partner team
is that of the real estate sphere.
Now, there is typically a real estate agent
and a mortgage broker, and they're extremely close
in these referral networks
because you can't really have one part of that journey
without the other.
In order to buy the house, you need funding,
and you typically need funding in order to buy a house.
So there is that nice symbiotic relationship
between the two of them.
But when it comes to that real estate sphere,
there might also be an aspect of credit repair.
If somebody isn't able to get a good enough of a loan,
the mortgage broker may need to refer out
a credit repair specialist.
Or maybe once they buy a house,
the real estate agent is able to recommend
a moving company to help out.
It's really about understanding that on this journey
where the client is the hero,
there's going to be different trials
that they're gonna come up against.
So think of the trials that are on the path
from your client going from, let's say,
living with their parents to being in their own house.
What trials are they going to come across
while they're going from zero to hero?
So the whole concept of this power team
is you're able to kind of form this symbiotic relationship
with other people along that journey.
And sometimes you might not get referrals
from just the people right next to you,
but it's also people in other parts of that journey as well.
They're gonna come across different people
that have different problems or needs,
and it's about being able to say,
hey, I'm in this position,
I'm able to help out this person at this specific point.
So make sure that you form your power partner teams
that you understand their business
and they understand yours
so that you're really able to say when and who you need.
And as another example, I do life and business coaching,
mostly life coaching, a little bit of business consulting,
but the people that would be in my sphere of influence
on that power partner team are things like therapists,
personal trainers, marketing professionals,
other health and wellness experts,
and honestly, even other life coaches
that may have a different focus than mine.
If somebody is specifically a divorce coach
for women in their 60s,
that may not be a specialty of mine,
but if I come across someone like that,
it would be very nice for me to be able to send them
to that other person
so that they can get the help that they really need,
and if they come across an entrepreneur
that wants to start a business
or isn't quite sure what to do
in their solopreneurship endeavor,
they would send them to me,
and then we're able to kind of refer back and forth
to one another and really help build
each other's businesses over time.
Now, that's great and all, and once you find yourself
and you find the people that are in that sphere of influence
in that power partner team,
you are decently upset, honestly,
but what about the people that aren't in that sphere,
that don't refer to you very often,
and you don't refer out to them very often at all?
Now, there's something that,
one of the members on that call talked about,
and I absolutely loved the whole metaphor behind it,
but it's about triangulating connections.
So if you've ever found yourself in BNI
or another referral network,
and there's just somebody in the group
that you cannot seem to come across referrals for,
this is the method that you're gonna wanna use.
And the idea behind it is if you can't refer them out,
find somebody that can refer to them,
help them build their power partner team.
A great example of this is there is a pest control guy
in our group that does residential, you know,
rats, roaches, he kills ants, not uncles, is his joke.
But I do life coaching,
so I don't really come across people
that are going to mention necessarily
rat or rodent problems in their homes
where he would be a good fit.
However, during my one-to-one journey
throughout the peninsula,
I came across a guy that does biohazard
and crime scene cleanups.
And he said that typically, you know,
when he is cleaning up these pretty intense situations,
there is some kind of pest problem that comes along with it.
And he mentioned that he doesn't have anybody
that he can refer to with confidence right now.
And since I have one that I trust, that I know,
and I was able to build good rapport with him
during that call that we had,
I was able to refer my pest control guy to him.
And I already know that they're working together
and that they're able to refer each other some business.
So that was a great way for me to be able
to kind of connect myself with the value of a referral
that isn't directly me doing the connecting
between him and a customer.
And I think the skill to develop there
is once you understand who is in your power partner team,
who is in your customer journey,
being able to look at somebody else
and just start kind of thinking creatively
about what would their customer journey look like,
who is on their path and then find people
that may be close to it or on that path
that you can connect them with.
Essentially, if you can't refer somebody else,
find the people that can,
because when you're able to give somebody something valuable,
they associate that value with you.
Now, the very last thing that we're gonna talk about today
is the concept of taking on a leadership role in your club.
The importance of this is an old saying that goes,
how you do anything is how you do everything.
When you take on a leadership role in a club,
it is an insanely easy way for you to build up credibility
and show the rest of the people in your club
that you are someone that can be trusted,
you can get things done,
and you're able to really just work
with a plethora of different people.
As a quick example of that,
when I was in Gold Star over in Modesto,
I was the event coordinator.
And one of my big goals for that six-month term that I have
was to do a social,
but not just a go bowling or go to a restaurant
or anything kind of simple like that.
I wanted to do something
that people would remember forever.
Thankfully, that was a little bit easier for me
because right around the time I got elected,
a gentleman that owns a gun safety
and shooting range business joined the group.
And I asked him, hey, how does it work?
Are you able to just do any kind of group events?
Like how would it work if we want to do an event together?
And he was super into it
because there's a great way for him to showcase
what he does to the rest of the group
and make a little bit of income out of it as well.
So him and I collaborated for a couple months.
I worked with the president
as well as the director for the area
to make sure that this event went off without a hitch.
And it was fantastic.
We had about 10, 15 people show up.
We all hung out for four or five hours
and got to do some things and shoot guns
that I never thought that I'd be able to.
So that's just an example of a way
to show that you know what you're doing.
Now in BNI, I am the one-to-one coordinator,
which is a little bit of a lower role
than the event coordinator
or secretary or president or whatever.
But I wanted to make sure that I took it as an opportunity
to show off some of my skills and excitement
about being in an organization like this.
So I created something called One-to-One Bingo,
which if you are in BNI
and you're interested in bringing that to your club,
let me know, I'll send you the files.
But essentially it is just a normal bingo sheet,
five by five that has all these different tasks
and missions and things to complete.
Do a one-to-one with somebody in the group,
do a one-to-one with somebody in the same category,
make a referral, get a referral, et cetera, et cetera.
And as people get bingo or blackout,
they get different awards for it.
But it's just a simple way to gamify it.
And what I really love about that
is it shows that I am taking the position seriously
and I'm actually doing something about the position.
I'm not just getting up every single week
and saying, do your one-to-ones.
I gave them a way to actually do it.
Just as a quick last example,
at our last week's meeting,
we had something where we switched the leadership roles
for the day.
So the typical secretary, president and vice president
were sitting in the regular folks area,
where us peasants sit,
and a few of us were chosen to be the president,
vice president and secretary for the day.
I was chosen to be president.
I prepped for it.
I made sure that everybody was good to go.
I communicated with the people
that were gonna be up there with me.
And I put on a little bit of a show.
I tried to be enthusiastic.
I tried to be excited.
If I made any mistakes, I'd make a joke out of it,
or I would just keep rolling with it.
And I think that that really showed
that I am somebody that can speak well in front of a group.
I do well under pressure.
And if somebody were to give me something to do,
I am able to just run with it and do the thing.
One of the members, which I thought was super sweet,
mentioned that my enthusiasm and vibe
reminded him of Anthony Robbins,
which took me a second to realize he meant Tony Robbins,
but that was just a huge confidence boost.
And I really appreciated that.
So to really close out the idea of a leadership role thing
is take a leadership role and do it well.
Don't be passive.
Be very active and honestly a little bit aggressive
in how you take it to the next level,
because when you are showing that you're capable
in one area, that in the mind, I guess,
transfers over to other areas,
especially in how other people see and view you.
So to really wrap up today's episode,
the four main takeaways are do more one-to-ones
and do them more effectively.
Build your power partner team.
Really understand the client journey.
See them as the hero in their story
and see what other experts, mentors, and advisors
you can help them figure out and find
along the way from zero to hero.
If you, once you have that figured out
for your industry and your trajectory,
help triangulate connections by working with other people
to build up their power partner team
and referral network within BNI.
And finally, take up leadership roles and do them well.
How you do anything is how you do everything.
I really hope that today's podcast was useful for you
on your BNI referral network journey,
or even if you're not in one of these organizations,
I really hope that you're able to take some of that
information and bring it into your business.
If you would like any help or some coaching around that,
please let me know.
Send me an email at ranger at within range coaching.com.
Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, et cetera.
All that information is gonna be in the show notes.
But as always, remember that the best is yet to come
as long as you are willing to make the decision
to never settle, never quit, and never peak.
I'll see you guys in the next one.