Episode 977: The Willing Conversation (Classic)

Note: This is a rebroadcast of Episode 748, first published on March 9, 2022. Some links and offers may no longer be valid.

Synopsis

To receive more effective referrals from the members of your BNI group, it’s really important to help them understand your business and your target market enough to identify a good referral. To do that, you need to make sure they know these four things.

1. The Needs Assessment
2. Your Unique Selling Proposition
3. Why Are You in Business?
4. What’s Your Emotionally Charged Connection?

Listen to Episode 451 and read “Why You Do What You Do Is Your Key to Success” for more about Emotionally Charged Connections.

What have you shared with your network that has helped you gain willing conversations with prospective customers? Share your answers in the comments.

The Official BNI Podcast is sponsored by Misner Audio Programs.

Complete Transcript of Episode 748

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, California. And I’m joined on the phone today by the Founder and the Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan, how are you and where are you?

Ivan: I am at home in Austin, Texas this week. And, you know, most of our podcasts, almost all of our podcasts, land a post on Wednesday morning. And many of you may not know this, but for the last couple of years, every Wednesday, I have Sam Horn come over in the morning. Sam wrote the book, “POP!” where she mentioned BNI, and that was before I knew Sam. And she also wrote the book, “Someday is Not a Day in the Week.” I talk about Sam and quote her in a number of places. She comes over every Wednesday morning after this podcast goes live. And we do what we call “Writing Wednesday.” But honestly, Priscilla, it’s oftentimes ‘talking’ Wednesday. We talk. We talk a lot about writing, but we talk a lot. And today’s topic is The Willing Conversation.

Priscilla:Uh huh.

Ivan:And so it’s about talking to people. Do you remember, Priscilla, when you were a kid how fun magnets were to play with?

Priscilla:Yes.

Ivan:Yeah, I loved magnets. And depending on which way you turn the magnet, they were either attracted or repelled by one another. And as an adult, we may find ourselves feeling six years old again when we make a phone call to a referral, who turns out to not be a referral at all. And similar to a magnet that’s turned the wrong direction, you’re not being embraced in that conversation, you’re being resisted. So the referral you were