Her mother in law is the Executive Director for the local Habitat for Humanity. They had recently opened an outlet to sell excess construction material and appliances. They were in need of a box truck with a lift gate, to pick up items for the store. Since a new box truck conversion would be too expensive, and thier budget was limited, our choices were very limited.

I met with Mrs. Debbi Crouch of habitat and we discussed thier needs, over the next several weeks I provided Debbi information concerning trucks available both by private parties, online rescources and what I could provide from sales at auctions. After 5 weeks of looking and having found only a few trucks within the price range, none of which were in the mechanical or body condition required, we were able to find a Chevrolet 4500 box truck with a lift gate at auction.

The folks at East St Tammany Parish Habitat for Humanity, were so pleased with thier “new” truck, that they decided to put our dealerships name on both sides of the box. This has resulted not only in increased awareness of our dealership, but has resulted in increased traffic on our lot.

By being willing to look a little harder, I have an entire organization referring customers to me. Had I not been a member of BNI, I would not have gotten this referral.

Jeff Cooksley

Lakeshore Chrysler Dodge Jeep

Slidell, LA

Sandy Keller announced that anyone interested in using them for an upcoming function was welcome to them.  I thought it a shame for the display to go to waste and came up with a plan…well a partial one.  But we could only pull it off with Sandy’s help.  At the end of the night I stuffed as many balloons into my Toyota Camry as would fit, which was about half of them.  Fortunately Sandy was headed the same way so we stuffed the balance in her Mazda and the Balloon Party Train was off.  Let’s say I would have had some explaining to do about my rearview had we been pulled but thankfully we made it safely.

My Children thought it was Christmas Day when they awoke.  There were huge columns of red and white balloons topped with stars in my foyer and a huge balloon arch connecting them.  There were also 6 or 7 clusters of red helium balloons peppering the stairway.  My 3 year old son, Adam, and 5 year old daughter, Aubrey, bounced out of bead and each grabbed huge handfuls of balloons that left red trailers as they streaked around the house.  And the stage was set.  On watching them I knew instantly that this was their opportunity for a lesson on BNI’s most central value-Giver’s Gain. 

I sat them both down and said something like this, “Kids.  These balloons are great and I know you love them.  And if you want, you can keep them all.  But let me ask you a question.  Look at all of the toys, clothes, and books you kids have.  And you have a beautiful home where you’re both about to get a ton of new toys for Christmas.  But, did you know that there are children who have none of this?  Not even a home?”  Both kids looked up at me with somber expressions, especially my daughter Aubrey.  “So,” I continued, “wouldn’t it be nice if you gave all of these balloons to some children who really need a little help.”  They both stared blankly back at me.  “Well, we can do that but we need to keep at least 6 balloons,” my daughter finally replied.  I smiled and gave her a hug knowing that we were all on the verge of a personal growth curve.

It seems that no happy ending comes without some good luck and this one’s no exception.  So I called around and found it tougher than I expected to find the right setting for this to work.  But, a lady named Lynn Charms from Next Step Ministries had visited my BNI chapter, The Top Producers, only a day earlier and her visit was fresh in my mind.  I got in touch with her from the visitor sheet and she recommended the Salvation Army Field Office on N. Trade St. in Winston-Salem, NC.  She told me that the site took care of some homeless families and her suggestion turned out to be a home run!  I called them on Saturday December the 12th at 11 AM and the person who answered was very happy to take the call.  They told me that they had about 50 children who were in need many of whom were homeless. 

They explained that the kids were currently on an outing with the counselors and would be back at 1 PM to participate in an annual reception of gifts organized by donors!  I confirmed that the balloons would be a welcome addition, rounded up the wife and kids, and made tracks to N. Trade St. in Winston-Salem, NC where we arrived just in time.  We set up the balloon columns and arch in the perfect location so that the children walked under it before receiving their gifts.  All of the children noticed the display and the best part was really after they got their gift bags.  Because Aubrey and Adam took turns going up to each child and offering them a balloon.  All of the kids except the teenagers took a balloon and you could see the expression of happiness this created for everyone involved, children, parents, and counselors alike. 

In fact the smaller children were more fixated on their balloons than the giant gift bags they had just received.  And in the end Aubrey and Adam gave away every single balloon they had smiling all the while.  It’s really amazing how something so small can make such an immediate difference in a child’s life, which held for both givers and receivers in this case.  The Facility staff was both surprised and delighted that we were there as well.  “…and how did you find out about this?”  The administrator asked.  And after I explained she was overjoyed.  “Well we will look forward to seeing you back next year!”  She chortled.  And for such a rewarding experience, we plan to accommodate her.  

-by Orion Stallard

This is a story about how one referral changed our business forever and how believing and living by “Givers Gain” changed two businesses, ours and the referrers. You see, I was struggling in BNI, so much that I actually changed chapters after serving as an officer for a six month term. In my new chapter, I was struggling to find that ultimate way to get my chapter members excited about our business. I was doing One to One dance cards, I was creative in my 60 second training moments, I even had clients substituting for me and telling their story about us. But, after all, it was “hard to refer to a business coaching company,” or so I thought, and so our chapter members thought.

Then two of our chapter members from very different industries hired our firm, both 1st tier referrals. Although, I was not marketing directly to our chapter members, these two chapter members really needed what our company could provide and were willing to enter into a long term relationship with our company. They began giving testimonials about our work together and would share stories with one another.

Their experience was so incredible working with our company, that each one gave us a 2nd tier referral. The 2nd tier referral in the IT industry had such a phenomenal experience with our company that they decided to get together with the original referrer (my client in my chapter) and develop a strategy to market our company to a National IT Marketing Company – a 3^rd tier referral. So jointly, they submitted a request to the National IT Marketing Company that they were members of suggesting that our company be interviewed on a monthly Tele-Seminar. They were successful after four months of lobbying and follow-up with this well respected National IT Marketing Company. Therefore, after those four months were up, I was interviewed on the monthly Tele-Seminar by the IT marketing company. And here is where it gets even better.

One of the conditions placed on our company in order to be interviewed was that we had to offer their clients (the National IT Marketing Company’s) a discount on our services. So, we did, we staffed up and manned the phone lines expecting a large windfall. Shortly after the Tele-Seminar was over, we received only two phone calls hiring our company, but at the premium level, the largest size packages we had ever signed. And, it gets even better. Almost two years after the first client had signed; we signed another client from that Tele-Seminar because they had just listened to the CD that was sent out to all of the National IT Marketing Company’s members. During that two year period, we signed nine new clients all around the world and in various parts of the United States. This was a life changing, business changing referral. Many of those clients are still with us today.

You might think this is the end of the story and it would be if we were not BNI members, but since we are BNI members, it is not the end of the story. Being a dedicated BNI member who solidly lives and breathes Givers Gain, I so wanted to give a referral to my client that had started the whole process in the first place and had helped our company grow by 200%. I did everything I could think of, took his wife and him to dinner, bought them special little goodies, gave them extra coaching, even free books. But, still no referral for the person I wanted to thank more than any other. I continued looking, scouring the business landscape and my book of clients, but I was still unable to give him a referral. I continued listening and asking if my clients needed IT services, but still no referral. I was obviously giving them to other members of my chapter, but I really wanted the ultimate thank you for my client to be a referral.

Then, nearly two years later, the magic moment happened as it does so often for BNI members. One of my newer clients said the magic words, “Our whole company network is messed up and the Vice-President doesn’t have the time to work on it the way he wants.” As you can imagine, I practically jumped out of my chair. I said the magic words we are all trained to say, “I meet regularly with a group of professionals and one of them is a terrific IT company that happens to be one of my clients. Would you like me to have them give you a call?”

My client immediately said yes, and within a week, they had a signed contract with a check in hand and the BNI Bucks started rolling in and continue rolling in to this day. Wow! I was so happy, but even more importantly, my client was so happy. It made me look like a star. That one referral generated over $100,000 each for both businesses, for ours – in the first year alone.

Little did I know about the job I was getting into. If you have never puled wires through a hot building full of insulation then I would have to strongly recommend against it. Unless you are really wanting to help somebody out. The job lasted all night. At the end he offered to pay me, which I declined.

Fast forward a month. I was just returning from vacation. I got in late and really did not want to go to my BNI meeting in the morning, but I went anyway. During the referral part of the meeting Tom gave me a signed contract (from my company) for over $50,000.00. He actually went to the trouble to have his client sign a blank contract so all I would have to do is go fill out the paperwork. This was the real start of a tremendous amount of business to be referred back an fourth between us. Relationships take time. It took me two years to move into profitability with Tom and it really paid off.