J25 BNI Derby Business Networking

No matter how good a job your fellow chapter members do asking for
referrals, how you listen is key to how much you are going to be able to help.
Be in the Moment
What are you doing while your fellow chapter members are asking for referrals?

• Are you talking to other members?
• Are you filling out referral slips?
• Are you thinking what you are going to say when it is your turn?
• ARE YOU DOING WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE THEM TO BE DOING WHEN YOU ARE ASKING FOR REFERRALS? ARE YOU PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION?

Here are some things you can do to focus your attention on what your fellow
members are saying:

• Take notes.
• Arrive at the meeting with your weeks referral slips already
  complete.
• Prepare for your infomercial before you get to the meeting.
  Look at the person who is speaking.

Listening to Specific Requests
Let’s say someone asks for a referral to Allen Riggs, the chief operations officer
at Ace Pest Control.
If you don’t know Allen, what are some other ways you can help? Here are some
possible ways you can MEET OR EXCEED this specific referral request:

• If you know someone else in the same company.
• If you have a relationship with someone in the same role with one of their competitors.

Obviously, meeting the specific referral request is ideal. But the real power of the
specific referral request comes from making it easy for you to refer to others
because of the mental picture the specific referral request created.
The idea behind specific referral requests is not to generate just one referral, but
to start a process that leads to many.

Bringing it Full Circle
Specific referral requests are easy to listen to and they are designed to make it
easier for us to refer business to our fellow chapter members.
To review what we are looking for in a strong referral request…
Specific requests contain:

• Company name
• Individual name or title/position

They do not contain the following words (or variations of these words):

• Some
• Every
• Any

REMEMBER: BE SPECIFIC TO BE TERRIFIC.
Prepared By:
Colin Chapman
BNI Northern Virginia Assistant Director
cchapman@spamfixer.com