Finding an uninterrupted hour in a busy working week can be difficult. For financial adviser Richard Hadlow Powell, that is why the traditional approach to a BNI Power Hour doesn’t fit particularly well.

In his BNI Education Slot, Richard explains how he approaches the same commitment through smaller activities spread throughout his week. A client conversation, a follow-up call or a piece of training can all contribute to supporting fellow members and improving his own participation.

https://youtu.be/qxKtu61lnTA

His thinking comes from advice he received when he first qualified as a financial adviser. One of the founding directors of his business told him to be as active as possible. The more conversations he had, the more opportunities he would have to provide value, strengthen relationships and find referrals.

For Richard, activity includes client meetings, professional connection meetings, BNI meetings and one-to-ones. It also includes shorter tasks, such as checking in with clients, responding promptly to emails and continuing his education.

He sees a connection between that effort and the results that follow. During the talk, he explains that he had already written 171 pieces of advice and business that year, compared with 157 across the whole of the previous year. He uses this example to illustrate the importance he places on maintaining activity.

The same thinking, he suggests, applies to BNI membership.

Richard describes the Power Hour as time set aside each week to consider how to help other people in the chapter. If every member contributes an hour, the chapter benefits from a collective commitment to finding opportunities.

His difficulty is with treating that contribution as a single block. Instead, he looks for ways to make BNI activity part of his existing routine. Five minutes here and a conversation there can contribute towards the same purpose.

Richard invites the chapter to suggest what this activity might involve. Members mention following through on commitments, taking notes during meetings and acting on those notes afterwards. Another contribution highlights listening for opportunities while speaking to existing clients.

Regular one-to-ones also feature in the discussion. Richard encourages members to keep speaking with the people who may be able to refer them, giving those relationships more attention than an occasional annual catch-up.

He also talks about keeping a “radar” open when speaking with friends, family and clients. Someone mentioning that they are thinking of selling a house, for example, could create an opportunity to introduce a relevant chapter member.

Other activities include being present during meetings, taking on chapter roles, attending training and recording contributions. Richard notes that a conversation with another member had prompted them to consider whether they were overlooking business generated through BNI that should be logged.

His message is that there are many ways to contribute throughout the week. Members who find a dedicated Power Hour difficult can still make time to listen, follow up, learn and help others.

Full Transcript

0:17
Morning, everyone. Um, the committee, uh, as we were going through what we would like to speak to everybody about, uh, throughout the education slots, decided…

0:26
…one of them, uh, that we’d like to speak about is activity and how activity is important. So when I first qualified as…

0:33
…a financial adviser, one of the founding, uh, kind of directors of my business told me one thing, and he said it’s the most important thing to make myself…

0:42
…successful, and that was being as active as I possibly could. Um, the more active I was, the more likely I was to have, uh…

0:51
…good client conversations, provide good value to clients, find opportunities for referrals from existing clients, from professional connections. The more I…

0:58
…did, the more I was going to get out of my day-to-day. So, from my perspective, activity is the following things: uh, client meetings, professional connection…

1:07
…meetings, BNI meetings, one-to-ones, check-ins with clients. So whether it’s just a five, ten-minute call just to see how people are doing, if they’ve got any…

1:15
…questions, so on and so forth. Um, emails being sent, being received, following up quickly, being active on those. And again…

1:24
…completing any exams, being active in terms of my improvement, my education will follow through and get better and bigger clients. Uh, interestingly, I know…

1:33
…if I’ve had a good month or if I’ve had a good year, I’ve done more activity in the previous month or the previous year. So, for example, um, this year I’ve written…

1:42
…171 different bits of, uh, advice and business. Last year I wrote 157 in all of the year. So I know my activity’s…

1:50
…getting more and more as I go. I think this lesson can easily be carried over to everybody else’s business, uh, but also to BNI. So if I just pick you, Ray, you do a lot of social media posts.

2:01
Richard: The more you do that, the more enquiries, the more, um, kind of potential clients that you’ll find.

Chapter member: Busy next month. Really busy.

2:08
Richard: Fantastic. And you might possibly see that the more activity you put on social media, the more busier you are the next month. So how can we carry this over into BNI?

2:16
Well, quite simply, the more activity that we do within the room and outside of the room, the better that we’ll kind of make our BNI journey.

2:26
So, a BNI lesson previously has been around a BNI Power Hour. People might have heard that kind of, uh, phrase before…

2:34
…where you, uh, you’re told maybe one hour a week, sit down, see how you can help everybody else within the chapter. If everybody does that in a chapter of 16…

2:42
…17 people, there’s 17 hours being specifically, uh, uh, spent on finding referrals for everyone.

2:49
But doesn’t work very well for me, that, because it’s just, um, one hour at one stage. I think of it as a solid block…

2:58
…and I don’t particularly have the time to spend one full hour in a solid block, uh, on BNI. So the way I would look at it…

3:06
…is everything, every bit of activity goes towards that Power Hour. So, uh, and it can be spread across multiple days…

3:14
…multiple, uh, weeks and so on and so forth. So, for example, um, five minutes here, a discussion with a client there, a bit of training wherever…

3:21
…all constitutes activity, all constitutes, um, uh, towards that BNI Power Hour, improving everybody…

3:30
…else and yourself. So a little bit of, uh, contribution from everybody. What do you guys think constitutes as activity…

3:38
Richard: …within BNI? Don’t all rush.

Chapter member: Following up on what you said you’d do.

Richard: Super. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Other…

3:47
Richard: …activities people can do?

Chapter member: Taking notes in the meeting.

Richard: Yeah.

3:50
Chapter member: And then acting on your notes.

Richard: And acting on them. So the follow-up after that as well. Yeah. Great.

3:55
Anybody else? What constitutes as activity for you to make your BNI journey better?

4:01
Chapter member: I would say listening for opportunities when you’re on the phone to your own client.

Richard: Absolutely. Yeah. I noted that one down.

4:07
Other ones, one-to-ones, get more of those in. The more times that you speak to your colleagues, the people that are going to be most likely to be able to pass you a referral, the more…

4:15
…referrals you’re going to get. Um, if you do that once a year or you do it once a month, you’re going to get far more if you do it once a month than if you just checked in with them once a…

4:24
…year. Um, asking your existing clients, as you just mentioned, Charlie, um, what they’re doing, what challenges they might be facing, but also your friends…

4:31
…and family, keeping your radar up. If somebody somewhere says, “I’m thinking about selling my house.” Great. Paul’s sat there to help. Keeping that radar…

4:38
…aware of, um, of what people are saying and how we could help our members is helpful. Um, being present during the meetings, it’s activity. If you’re here…

4:47
…it’s helpful. If you’re not, it’s not so helpful. Um, joining the committee or, uh, the options of all of the different roles within the chapter, such as…

4:55
…Charlene and her social events. Uh, the more activity she’s putting in, the more visibility she gets. Attending trainings and logging everything that you do. Me…

5:04
…and Ray had a conversation the other day about what other bits can we find that would have actually generated referrals from BNI that we weren’t really thinking…

5:12
…about and that we should be putting on the app, for example. So my message for everyone is the more activity that you can do, the better. Um, think about the…

5:20
…activities that you can do and you will generate more from BNI. Thank you.