Is anybody listening?

Statistically it is shown that most people only listen to something for about 30 seconds before their minds begin to wonder. They begin to think about things like; what's on their to do list; when is lunch served; what issues they are having back at the office and so forth and so on.

Companies spend millions of dollars to fashion commercial sound bites that will be heard by the public in 30 seconds or less with the hope that they well be remembered tomorrow.

Every week BNI members do exactly the same thing. They stand in front of a room full of business professionals and give a 30-60 second sound bite, teaching their members how to find business for them, how to recognize a good referral or who they are looking for a connection with. But, is anyone listening to those request? Here are three reasons that many people don't listen to the person asking for the referral.

1. Lack of preparation. Members don't bother to plan what they are going to ask for or what they are going to say. They WING IT!

2. Lack of clarity. members do not know what what it is that they really want.
So they stand and say things like, anybody who needs my services, somebody who wants to do business with me, everybody is a good referral for me.

3. Asking for the same thing every week, until members begin to tune them out.

If you see yourself in any of these 3, you may want to talk to your local director about helping you. Tools such as the networking funnel are a great way to get focused.

Happy networking........

Hazel M. Walker