All teams can fall into a rut, even BNI chapters. One of the more common ruts is the 80/20 rule – where, for a BNI chapter, 20 percent of the people give 80 percent of the referrals.
Not anymore for the BNI Strategic Alliance chapter in BNI Houston East. They have turned the 80/20 rule upside down. You may remember this chapter because we wrote about them in the October 2009 edition of SuccessNet.
“When we started Fast Track”, says Jim Butcher, the chapter’s retiring president, “we thought we were successful. We had 45 members and passing about 180 referrals per month. But really we had 20 percent of the people doing all the work. Since Fast Track, everyone is carrying the load. Today we have 50 members and we are passing about 360 + referrals per month and these are good, solid, TRACKED referrals!
“Now every six months our chapter sets a new goal. We’ve just finished focusing on 1-to-1s and doing the BNI Networking Secrets curriculum all over again. When we did the Fast Track program the first time our goal was four referrals per week per person. We knew this was a stretch, but it worked because we got every member giving at least two per week. How can you grow if you aren’t always stretching your own networking skills?
“As far as retention goes, members will renew if they are making enough business to justify the means. Retention is definitely a benefit for any chapter that does Fast Track. We know from our experience, that members who understand, embrace and practice the fundamentals stick around for a long time.
“The biggest difference in our chapter since Fast Track is our 60 second commercials. They are incredible now – laser specific and the results are phenomenal. The next best thing about the program is what it does for our new members. They get up to speed in weeks—instead of months—because our chapter has a better way. No more ‘anybody, somebody’ for us!
“We listen to the CDs over and over again -- we have way outgrown the 80/20 rule.”
For more information on the Fast Track Program, go to www.delfuego.com/bni.
Turning the 80/20 Rule Upside Down
How Fast Track breaks Chapter Rut Syndrome.
http://successnet.czcommunity.com/on-the-fast-track/turning-the-8020-rule-upside-down/6434/
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