Summary: This is a rebroadcast of Episode 104.<br> Synopsis<br> Dr. Misner developed this technique for getting referrals in the earliest days of BNI. He realized that he needed to be the “go-to” guy whenever anyone needed a referral—to anyone. He started sending the following letter to his clients three or four times a year:<br> “Dear _____,<br> I really believe in the process of referrals, so part of the service I provide is to be sure to refer my clients and associates to other qualified businesspeople in the community.<br> Attached is a list of areas in which I know very credible, ethical and outstanding professionals. If you’re looking for a professional in a specific area I’ve listed, please feel free to contact me. I will be glad to put you in touch with the people I know who provide these services.<br> Sincerely,<br> Dr. Ivan Misner<br> He didn’t include direct contact information for the professionals, because he wanted to make sure people came to him first. It worked like a charm, and people really appreciate the service.<br> <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/84230">Read Dr. Misner’s article on Entrepreneur.com.</a><br> Brought to you by <a href="http://www.networkingnow.com">Networking Now</a>.<br><br> Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 104 –<br> Priscilla:<br><br> 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.<br> I’m Priscilla Rice, and I’m coming to you from the beautiful Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkley, California, and I am joined on the phone today by the founder and the chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner.<br> Hello, Ivan. How are you?<br> Ivan:<br><br> I’m doing great, Priscilla. I’m going to be talking about a topic today that really helped me a great deal in my business many years ago.<br> Priscilla:<br><br> Okay, what would that be?<br> Ivan:<br><br> Well, we titled this, when I first wrote about it, Entrepreneur.com titled it The Networking Trick to Increase Business. When I first saw that, I was like it’s not really so much a trick. But when you think about it, it is certainly a technique that really helped me a great deal, and that’s what I’m going to be talking about in my podcast today.<br> One of the most important networking questions, and certainly one of the common networking questions I get asked is, “How do I generate referrals for other people? Because I understand that if I want to get referrals, I have to help other people. So how do I generate those referrals for other people?”<br> Well, this is the same question that I asked myself in the early ‘80s when I was just starting my consulting business before I started BNI. I came up with a technique that had a huge impact on my ability to provide quality referrals to others, which, of course, led to me getting referrals. I first did this before I started BNI, and then when I started BNI, this technique became even easier for me to employ, and I’ll explain it in a minute.<br> I realized that I needed to be the person who people came to if they needed a referral for anything, for any kind of business. I wanted to be the gatekeeper of referrals, sort of the “go to” guy. So what I did is I composed a letter that I sent out to my client list several times a year. Today you could send out a quick e-mail to your database, but you should be able to send it out – I would recommend that you send out a hard copy at least once a year as well so that you stand out from everybody else who’s doing all the e-mailings.<br> So here’s a sample of the letter. “Dear ‘Blank,’ I really believe in the process of referrals, so part of the service I provide is to be sure to refer my clients and associates to other qualified business people in the community. Attached is a list of areas in which I know very credible, ethical, and outstanding professionals.
