BNI Education - How To Invite Visitors

by BNI Skyscrapers Perth on 2022-07-21

VISITOR INVITING TIPS

Dear Member

The best advice I can give is to make visitor inviting a habit

You can do this by practicing it regularly so that it becomes automatic and unconscious.

Here is how....

Firstly. you need to justify to yourself why it is worthwhile to invite visitors to your referral networking meetings.

I remember this simple fact:

"Every business wants new customers or they want better customers"

and

BNI Referrals will deliver more customers and better customers.

Now into the how to.

Here are several examples which are rough guidelines.

These are a framework for you to put your own creative spin on.

INVITE TECHNIQUE 1

THE "I Don't Know If This is For You" Invite.

Strategy Overview:

The strategy is to

1. Ask your contact how their business is going. For example...

"I'm curious, How has business changed for you"

"How are sales going?"

"How is Business?"

2. Then to ask if they are looking to grow or find new customers. For example...

"Are you looking to grow your client base?"

"Are you looking for more work?"

"Do you have capacity to take on more work.?"

This gives you the access invite with " I Don't know If This is For You"

During your conversation you would ask a question along the lines of the following.

YOU MIGHT ASK?

"So where do you find most of your clients?" or

"Where do you get most of your clients from?" or

"How do your clients usually find you?"

LISTEN - USE YOUR EARS

By listening and clarify and let them expand on what they do.

You can often learn clever ideas or tips or subtle things you can change in your own business to get more clients for yourself.

Next you want to ask them about their capacity

SUMMARISE - ASK

"It seems like you are doing well." or "It seems like your own a growth pathway" or "It seems like you need a few more clients". (make a statement)

Then ask...

"Has your business got capacity to grow? " or

"Are you looking to grow your client base?"

NOW THE INVITE - WORD FOR WORD.

"Hey"

"Look I don’t know if this is for you." (PERFECT SETUP)

"But for me.... (pause) What I do is I sit with a group of business professionals regularly"

"We meet regularly
And refer business to each other.
They refer work to me and I try and do the same for them.
I really enjoy it
I like the camaraderie
I get loads of new clients out of it."
etc...

"Hey, Do you want to come along and take a look?"

GET ANSWER:

If you get some interest...

RESPOND

Great. I'll invite you along for next week (or the following week, or when I'm next presenting). I'll SMS the details, it's all on there.

IF ASKED TO EXPLAIN FURTHER -

Talk about the benefits you receive.

It's where I get 20-30% of my work from.
It's where I get a lot of my work from
I got a $40000 job last month from the businesses in the group.
I get some great suppliers my clients love.

I'll text you the details... (Example text at bottom of this page)

INVITE TECHNIQUE 2

THE BY THE WAY INVITE TECHNIQUE

Strategy: The strategy here is get a name from someone you know of a profession the chapter can refer work to and from. Then to contact them.

Here is how it works..

At the end of a conversation with your colleague say

"By the way, do you know of a good Real Estate Agent"

"By the way do you know of a good "Solar Installer"

You pick a category that would support your business in terms of referrals.

Get the name and call them if the person comes up with a good name.

You then make a call as follows.

Hey John, Mark Finn recommended you as a real estate agent. (CONVERSATION).

John, The reason for my call is to see if you want to meet up with 20 potential referral partners wo are looking for a good real estate agent they can trust.

Whatever the questions, unless it's a straight out no.

"Let me SMS you a link and if your keen you can register. I'll make sure I look after you and introduce to everyone. I might even see if I can get Mark to come along"

SMS the Registration Link

GOAL: Get in the habit of asking "By The Way - Would you know of a good __________ you'd recommend."

INVITE TECHNIQUE 3

INVITE TO YOUR PRESENTATION TECHNIQUE

Strategy: When you are doing your presentation, it is a perfect time to invite some clients and/or suppliers. You can even bulk email this one.

Here is an example when you call David.

Hey David, I'm presenting at a workshop/networking event next week. Would you like to come along as my guest as you'll probably meet up to 20-25 business owners which might also be good for you.

Sure.

I'll text you an invite link where you can register.

I'll send you the date and time. It's usually $30 but I'll cover you as my guest.

Look forward to seeing you.

GOAL: Bring 3-5 Clients or Suppliers to Your Next Presentation

INVITE TECHNIQUE 4

INVITE TO TRADE or PROFESSION TECHNIQUE.

Strategy: The idea is to make the meeting about a particular category of business so when you invite you are able to make it sound more relevent.

Hey Sharney, We are having a Solar Installers visitors day next week. You're my solar installer and I'd like to introduce you to my business network as it might be good for your business.

Hey Sean, We are having a Financial Planner visitor day next week. You're my FP and I'd like to introduce you to my business network as it would be good for them to know what you do and who you are.

Would you like to come along.

In answer to questions like what is it,

It's where I get a lot of my work and referrals from.

I'll send you an invite link which has date and time and registration link if your interested?

INVITE TECHNIQUE 5

INVITE FOR THE HELL OF IT TECHNIQUE.

Strategy: The strategy is to invite but mention the benefits to the potential visitor.

YOU: "Hey Shanti, I'm going to a networking gig next week. I'd like to introduce you to a few of my other clients and suppliers. You might make some good connections for your business. Do you want to come along.

Response: After they show Interest"

"It's where I get a lot of new business from. We often refer clients to each other"

YOU: Look, Ill text you the registration link which has all the details.

GOAL: Tailor the benefit to the person. e.g. There is a mortgage broker there I want you to meet. She has been able to get some great deals for her clients.

INVITE TECHNIQUE 6

INVITE FOR LOCAL BUSINESS TECHNIQUE

Strategy: Use the fact that the meeting is local to bring in a business that exists near by.

Do some ground work and get to know some businesses around you or spend a few minutes at each relevant business.

YOU: "Hey Mary, I'm going to a local business catchup next Thursday just round the corner at the Pagoda.

There are some good local businesses which should probably know about you given you're a local. The presenter next week is talking about .....

Would you like to come along as my guest as I know a few people there already?"

Them: "Sure, or what is it about?

YOU: "It's where I get a lot of new clients from and referrals. I got a great client last week worth $$$, I can text you the invite link if you like?"

Great - I'll text you the details and registration link. Let me know your number

GOAL: Engage local business owner in conversation and introduce yourself as another local.

SUMMARY

"If You Don't Ask - You Don't Get"

You have to ask someone to come along in order to invite.

It doesn't magically happen by itself.

Visitors rarely invite themselves.

Write up some simple wording you are comfortable with and TRY IT. Practice a few phrases in the car.

"I don't know if this is for you"

"It's where I get a lot of my clients from"

"Would you like to come as my guest?"

Keep adjusting your responses after each attempt if you want or just keep attempting until you get a positive response.

Failure is not Fatal so Fail Fast and Adjust Each Time

Try the different techniques

Invite daily as a quick question to everyone new you come across.

"By the way would you like me to introduce you to 20 other business owners who could use your services". No Problem, I'll send you the details by text for next week."

"Buy the way, Kirstin from LML Insurance this week is speaking on ways to cut costs in corporate insurance, do you want to come along. You might also get some work out of it."

HOW TO INVITE BY TEXT AFTER YOU HAVE DONE THE INVITE

WHAT DO YOU TEXT (SMS)

Find the link on Eventbrite by Googling Eventbrite and BNI Skyscrapers.

Here is the Link

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/bni-skyscrapers-networking-event-perth-wa-tickets-243395581737

Text them.

"Hi John, here are the details for next week. Looking forward to introducing you to some of the other business owners. Dale - (PASTE LINK)"

TARGETS

Every Member is expected to Bring 12 Visitors over 12 Months. 1 Visitor Per Month. This will grow a chapter.

You should aim to casually invite 3-5 people each week which will set you up to bring at least 1 visitor per month.

It will become a habit if you give yourself a target and mark it off.

Remember visitors benefit because they get to meet new prospective clients, better suppliers, and widen their network.

Tagged as: BNI, BNI Education