Episode 551: Announcing One to Ones During Referrals

Synopsis A BNI member who wishes to remain anonymous asked about One to Ones during the referral portion of the BNI meeting: I’m a proud member of BNI. I’m also proud to have been chosen as the VP of this chapter. Recently we were told that the “I Have” process, which happens during the referral part of the meeting, should only include referrals and experiences of members, such as testimonials. That’s great, but we can no longer stand up and tell who we can have a One to One with? I feel it’s a part of our Traffic Light report that One to Ones should be included in the “I Have” portion, as it’s a key element in BNI’s growth of gaining trust with other members. Also, from experience of all other chapter members visiting us, when we did mention the One to Ones, all of them said that when they get back to their chapters, they’ll tell our efforts in nurturing a strong bond that we’ve created. To stand up and say “Pass” is disheartening. I hope I’ve explained the situation well. The “I Have” process was created about 5 years into BNI to get people to not pass and stop apologizing if they had a testimonial instead of a referral. That is what this part of the meeting is about. The first time you stand at a BNI meeting, it’s to talk about you. The second time you stand up is to give something specific to another member. If you don’t have a referral, give a testimonial. Adding One to Ones to the “I Have” portion of the meeting is the poster child for feature creep. It minimizes the power and the focus of giving. So when do you talk about One to Ones you’ve had with other members? After you gave them a referral and they did a fantastic job. You say “I learned about what they did at a One to One and I gave them a referral–and wow, they did a fantastic job.” Always think about the unintended consequences of a seemingly good idea. Brought to you by the Networking for Success Channel on YouTube. Complete Transcript of Episode 551 – Priscilla: Hello everybody and welcome back to The Official BNI podcast brought to you by the Networking For Success Channel on YouTube which features Dr. Ivan Misner and many other networking experts. 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 of BNI, Dr Ivan Misner. Hello, Ivan! How are you and where are you? Ivan: I am at the Charlotte Global Support office in Charlotte, NC. A few years ago, we moved BNI headquarters to Charlotte. I am visiting this week, meeting all the staff, people I’ve never met before and just meeting with some of the team here to help do strategic planning. Priscilla: That sounds great! Ivan: It’s exciting to be here! Priscilla: Yeah. What do you have to share with us? Ivan: So I was asked recently by a BNI member, he asked me to keep his name anonymous – as did the last person from last week, and he asking about 1-2-1’s during the referral portion of the meeting. So here is his question to me: “I’m a proud member of BNI. I am also a proud to have been chosen to be VP of this chapter. Recently, we were told that the I Have process, which happens during the referral part of the meeting, should only include referral and experiences of members such as testimonials. That’s great, but we can no longer stand up and tell who we have a 1-2-1’s with? I feel that it’s a part of our traffic light report, that 1-2-1’s should be included in the I Have portion as it’s a key element in BNI’s growth of gaining trust with other members. Also, from experience, other chapters visit us when we did mention the 1-2-1’s,...