Today I met with a member of a BNI chapter that needs to invite visitors. DJ Deiter is the president of this group. He is a financial planner, but for the category he represents in the chapter is a recruiter -- a recruiter of financial planners.He wanted to have some new ideas of the types of people he personally could invite.
I first asked him to give me a description of the type of financial planner he is trying to recruit. It was pretty funny that when we completed the exercise, I looked up at him and said, "Gosh, DJ, from your profile, I think you're recruiting yourself!" The next step in this exercise was very easy. I asked DJ, "What are the kinds of people a financial planner connects with when he or she is looking to make a move?"
At first he gave me the pat answers, the estate attorney, the banker, etc. Since people just like DJ are his target I kept asking, "what do you buy?" I kept pushing him to think. At one point he said, "Debby, I'm just boring. I don't buy anything out of the ordinary." My reply was that people who sell ordinary stuff need to have a way to market it.
To make a long story, short, before long we had a list of 10 - 12 different types of businesses and business people that he could begin inviting to his chapter....including the attorney and the banker.
If you can't easily give a description of your prospect or best client, then do the work to figure it out. After that you'll know who to network with and develop a relationship. Those are the people who can refer business to you in the future.
What's been your experience when you profiled your best prospect?
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