Summary: Synopsis Lately Dr. Misner has seen a lot of people who have been using VCP like it's a formula: Visibility + Credibility = Profitability. VCP is a referral process, not a sales process. If the majority of your clients aren't giving you referrals, then you are only at Credibility with your clients, not at Profitability. It's possible that you can have a lot of Visibility and a lot of Credibility, but NOT have Profitability. Rather than a formula, VCP is a continuum. Once you achieve Credibility (and not before), you have to start asking for referrals in order to achieve Profitability. Profitability does not result automatically from Visibility and Profitability. Brought to you by <a href="http://networkingnow.com">Networking Now</a>. Complete Transcript of Episode 420 - Priscilla: Hello everyone and welcome back to the Official BNI Podcast, brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and the Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello, Ivan. How are you today? Ivan: I am doing great, Priscilla. I have, I think, an interesting topic for today. Priscilla: Yeah. What does that mean? Ivan: V+C does not equal P. It is about the VCP process. Before you go, oh gosh, Ivan is talking about VCP, hear me out. I have been seeing a lot of people- members and Director Consultants who have been using VCP like it is a formula. "Visibility plus credibility equals profitability." Let me give you 30 seconds, no more than 60 seconds, of what VCP is just in case you are listening and you are new member and you haven;t heard me talk about this. VCP is the foundation of everything that I teach. If you don't get this right, nothing else you do in BNI will work. VCP stands for visibility, credibility, and profitability. You first have to be visible in the community. That is when people know who you are and what you do. Over time, you establish credibility. Credibility is when people know who you are, what you do, and they know that you are good at it. And then and only then can you get to profitability. People know who you are, what you do, that you are good at it, and they are willing to pass you referrals on an ongoing reciprocal basis. Now it is important to note that it is a referral process, not a sales. process. When I ask audiences, "Where are you with your clients?" They almost always say, " I am at profitability because they are my clients." Not true. Not true at all because it is a referral process. Are the majority of your clients giving you referrals? Most people will be honest and say no, not a majority of them. Well, you are only at credibility with your own clients because this is a referral process, not a sales process. Alright. You have just gotten a one minute lesson on the VCP process. What I want to talk about is the fact that VCP is not a formula. VCP is not a formula. It is a process. VCP is a continium. A process is a systematic series of actions that are directed to some end. A continuous action or operation or a series of changes. That is different from a formula. You know, one plus two equals three. Well, in VCP, even if it were a mathematical formula, that wouldn't be the formula. One plus two equals three. No, actually, with VCP, if it were a mathematical formula, it would be more like one plus two equals 10 because the return on investment of time really kicks in when you get to the profitability. It is not about visibility and then adding credibility. And then when you add credibility, you get profitability. It doesn't work that way. You can have a lot visibility and a lot of credibility and have no profitability at the end of that. For example, your clients, just as we were saying. You have visibility with your clients.
