July 15, 2025 • 45 mins
Season 1 - Episode 11 - BNI The Perfect 100 Podcast with Tammy Zurak
🎙 GUEST: Michael Ann Dillinger - From TruAura Beauty
🌐 Website: https://michaelann.truaurabeauty.com/
Contact: https://michaelann.truaurabeauty.com/contact-us/
CliftonStrengths: Michael Ann Dillinger: Woo | Positivity | Developer | Activator | Communication
In this conversation, Tammy Zurak interviews Michael Ann Dillinger, a seasoned BNI member and chapter success coach. They discuss the importance of consistency, mindset, and accountability in networking, particularly within BNI. Michael Ann shares her unique approach to customer appreciation and how she leverages her strengths in direct sales to build relationships and drive success. The conversation also touches on the visitor experience in BNI meetings and the significance of educating new members about the networking process.
📚 Topics Covered
Longevity and leadership roles in BNI
Mentorship and chapter development
Networking and referral-building strategies
Personal growth through BNI involvement
Community impact and relationship building
Navigating challenges and chapter dynamics
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🔗 Websites: https://bnitheperfect100.com, www.tammyzurak.com
📩 Coaching Inquiries: tammy@tammyzurak.com
💡 Free Resources: www.tammyzurak.com
🎯 Book a Zoom to discuss Strengths and Coaching: Book a Strategy Chat
📸 Instagram: @zbusinesscoach
🔗 LinkedIn: Tammy Zurak on LinkedIn
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction to BNI and Michael Ann Dillinger
03:28 The Importance of Consistency in BNI
06:35 Mindset Shifts for BNI Success
09:14 The Importance of Visitor Experience in BNI
11:48 Onboarding New Members: The Passport Concept
14:02 Accountability and Performance Metrics in BNI
17:51 Navigating Direct Sales in BNI
24:28 Leveraging Strengths for Business Growth
30:37 Understanding Strengths and Their Application
37:11 Building Relationships and Networking Effectively
39:46 Personalizing Connections for Better Referrals
43:30 Future Aspirations and Customer Engagement
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:31):
Hello everyone and welcome back to the perfect 100.
I am excited today to have the.
I don't know if you're the maybe you are the longest running chapter success coach slashyou were in part of the franchise director consultant in the region, but somebody I've
known for a very long time as our guest.
(00:51):
I want to welcome Michael Ann Dillinger.
Hi Michael Ann.
How are you today?
Yeah.
Yes, we've been talking all things BNI.
We've both been to multiple chapters and all the one-to-ones, everything BNI today.
So give us a little bit more.
us what chapter you're in, how long you have been in BNI altogether, and what is the seatthat you hold.
(01:16):
I'm Bia Nidesoto and I am the only original member to the chapter.
I've been around the whole 14 and a half-ish years.
I think we're about six months away from our 15th anniversary and I've been with thechapter since day one and my role in the chapter is I'm one of the mentor, not the
coordinator, but I'm one of the ones that mentors the new people when they come in, aswell as a chapter success coach with four different chapters.
(01:45):
Awesome, yeah, so you've got your hands full there and we're gonna talk more about that ina little bit here, but we'll start off with your best 45 seconds.
So go ahead and tell us what you do.
Bye.
Lann Dillinger with True Aura Beauty.
True Aura is a line of skincare products that are very clean, they are microbiomefriendly, and they contain pre and probiotics.
(02:07):
We do have a line of body care as well, and I specialize in customer appreciationservices.
So I'm looking for people that they're in their truck all day, they don't have time to dofollow up, or they just really want to up that customer experience.
So what they can do is send me to their customers with a gift, which is how I get paidbecause they purchase
(02:27):
the gift and then I just do follow-up like hey I have a gift for you tell me about yourexperience have you had a chance to do a Google review so I take my products and make them
into gifts and I use that through a customer service program that I work with many otherbusinesses in and out of BNI.
oh
Awesome.
Yeah, you've kind of taken putting a spin on uh what you do as a uh multi-level marketeror I forget what the other thing that we were calling it is.
(02:56):
uh
Direct sales.
Yes, in the direct sales realm, you're doing something unique with what you do, which wecan maybe talk a little bit more about later.
But first I want to start with, because you've been a chapter success coach or a directorconsultant, this area has been both franchise and company owned.
So two different titles, same role, essentially.
(03:18):
And I actually had the pleasure of bringing Michael Ann back into the fold because she wasa director consultant under the franchise.
And then the franchise
sold to the company on region.
was for a little while their managing director and I asked Michael Ann to come back on theteam because I knew she had a lot of value to add.
So I would, I'm so happy to have brought you back into the fold because you offer so manywonderful things and we're going to talk about some of those today.
(03:41):
So you have coached a lot of people in a lot of chapters.
Talk to me about the habits that you see that have been.
successful for people because you've seen touched, you know, lots of different kinds ofindustries and all the things and your strong suits, which we'll get to you in a little
while in terms of your strengths, uh naturally find those things and bring them out.
(04:01):
So give me some, give me some of the habits you've seen make people successful in BNI.
Well, I
think the biggest one is consistency with all of the things.
BNI can be overwhelming, especially when you're new.
But if you're just consistent with the things that are asked, like for example, the powerof one, where you have the one on the attendance, one on the referrals, but you have to
(04:23):
kind of train yourself to look for those things.
So just taking time out of your week every week to be intentional about BNI and beingconsistent, it pays off.
It really pays off to be consistent.
it.
Okay, and what are the things you think most hold people back?
I think people hesitate because of the time commitment.
(04:44):
But I think what they don't realize is people think about, have my business and then Ihave BNI.
I have to do my business first, then if I have time, I have BNI.
But when you have a mind shift and you realize BNI is part of your business, we are themarketing team.
So if you have 30 people in your chapter, it's like you have a 30 person sales team that'sout and about working for you each week.
(05:08):
So I think people that realize that
BNI priority and they have much more success.
So instead thinking about BNI's, if I get to it I'll do my BNI stuff.
No, make it a priority because BNI is very much part of your business.
For sure, yeah, I love that you said that.
I think that for whatever the reason, and I think maybe the reason is us, we don't give onthe front end enough, what's the right words, coaching?
(05:38):
Expectations set in the expectations.
We don't when we're interviewing people, you know, it could start as soon as that, right,as we could say, look, and I think we do in some chapters say, look, it's a time
commitment, right, is you need to be here for the meeting, you need to do one to ones,etc.
But I think it almost is a mindset shift that we could start at that phase to say, talk tome about how you're marketing now.
(06:02):
You know, what is your say order your sales, like prospecting?
What does that look like?
Because this is
that, right?
Is this becomes your, if you could hire a team of people to market and sell for yourbusiness, that's what we are in BNI, right?
And if we could just say to people, know, how can we, what amount of time, what would,what amount of time would be worth getting somebody else to do all this work for you and
(06:30):
bring you business?
uh Maybe that would help impact how we move things forward.
Would you agree?
I do agree and I think too people come in and this is natural they come in thinking aboutwhat they're gonna receive from BNI and they realize like givers gain isn't just a
philosophy like that truly is it's true it's a is a truth when you are a giver you willreceive and so once you kind of learn to be a team player and not just come with your
(06:57):
handout every week but come with what you can bring every week then things begin to changeand you really get a better grasp
on how BNR works.
Yeah, and I think it's, you almost even need, I was at a chapter this morning wheresomeone was brand new, new, just opened a new business and we asked them to speak about
(07:17):
their business and he wasn't really sure what to say and he came up to me afterwards andhe heard I was business coach so he said, can I get your card, which was wonderful, that's
what we want, but he was kind of, he felt like a fish out of water a little bit because hehad no idea what we do, right?
and he stood up at the, when we go back around the room a second time and talk about whatwe've given to each other and he said, I'm just looking for leads.
(07:42):
And it's because he's never been to BNI before, he doesn't understand the concept andit's, I don't know how he got into the room, but if we can coach our visitors a little bit
and say, this is what we do and this is how this is gonna go.
that would maybe be a little less embarrassing for folks if they understood kind of theconcept and that we're here to support each other and so on and make those uh easier
(08:07):
moments for people as they're coming in and then they kind of see how it all works becausewe kind of talk about it, right?
The meeting is really designed for visitors.
And I don't know that everybody recognizes that.
And we make it.
It's actually part of if you're if you guys wherever you are in the world and B and I aredoing the passport, the passport program speaks to that.
One of the things that so in the booklet, there are all the different positions.
(08:32):
And I've been a president.
And one of the things that the president there's a sheet that goes with each of thepositions that we're supposed to be educating our new members on.
And one of the things that the president talks about is
why we do the things we do in the meeting.
And each thing serves a purpose.
And we don't say the same things over and over again for the members.
We know those things, right?
(08:52):
But we're saying them for people who are visiting in the room.
And if we have a good chapter, we should have lots of visitors because that's what we do,right?
(09:15):
I thought it was super interesting today at my meeting I was sitting next to a visitor andwe use table tents that have our names on them But we also for visitors have the wall of
them have on the front side your name or it says visitor and on the back side It has theagenda
and it's the 20, I think it's 26 points agenda.
(09:36):
And she actually elbowed me and she was like, the education coordinator was up talkingabout their piece.
And she said, she pointed out the feature presentation and she said, is that where we areright here?
And I was like, that's so interesting because I didn't really even think about it because,you know, it's just by this point, it's like wallpaper or a picture on your wall at your
(09:56):
house.
You don't see it every day.
You don't even like pay attention to it.
But she, because she'd never been to a meeting before and didn't know anything about BNI,she was following it.
So what I was saying about the passport is we as.
So for educating somebody coming in before they decide they want to join the president.
(10:16):
is talking about the hidden elements in the meeting.
And we're doing a meeting in large part for visitors that are coming to understand why itwould be valuable for them.
There's a lot of stuff that we say over and over again.
It's not for us.
We always hear it and we know about it already.
It is for the new person who's never been there to understand what we're trying to do.
(10:37):
So we're not having to, we're getting the right people, I guess is the right way.
And we're setting up, it's just like in your own business when you're.
selling something.
Everybody here is in sales, even if you're not a salesperson, you're selling something inyour business.
Somebody is selling it for you and there's a step process to get there and the meeting isfor us, the consultation if you will.
(11:00):
It's the way that we show members why it works and that's why when we, a lot of peoplehave a struggle getting visitors, but what I say to visitors is come and check it out.
don't give a lot of detail, you don't need to.
The meaning sells itself, you've probably heard somebody say that, is the meaning isdesigned to help people understand why it works.
(11:21):
um So, you know, that onboarding process is what the passport is, if you're not using thepassport in your region, wherever you are, or your chapter, because the region, our region
uses it, but not all the chapters use the passport.
But it is designed just like HR in a company or if you hired new people in your business,you would give them hopefully an onboarding and that's what that's meant to do.
(11:43):
So hopefully it would make things better.
you, what do have to add to that, Michael Ann?
I agree and also as far as visitors go you know keep in mind you're not inviting people tojoin you're inviting them to visit so if we off the bat start telling them all the
requirements about membership they haven't even agreed to come and most people it's alwayssad to me when someone decides not to come visit BNI because they're not interested in
(12:07):
joining so one thing I usually say when that's the response is I have found that it'seasier to make a decision when you have all the facts so we're just asking to come check
it out come visit if it's for you great
We'll give you information about how to join if it's not for you You're gonna get to meetsome new contacts and you're gonna get to learn a little bit about BNI and how we work So
even if someone asked me specific questions about well, you know, are there fees to joinand what are what's required?
(12:32):
I usually say well It's free to come visit and we go over all that at the end and it'sjust simply because you don't want to overwhelm people with information and then they'll
make a decision because many many times Myself included I went to a BNI meeting thinkingthere's no way I'm going to join this thing
But I might sell something that day that was a mindset I went into my first BNI meetingwith and I saw what it was all about and I saw the big picture right off the bat and I'll
(12:58):
tell you exactly what sold it for me it was when DeSoto was forming and the man who wasstarting the chapter kept he was doing accountability in the room and he had everyone who
had committed he had their names on a chart and he went around the room and asked them whoall they had invited to the meeting that week and right there I was like
these are the people that I want to hang with because these are people they're gonnaactually have to follow up and they're gonna have to, we're held accountable, we're
(13:27):
holding each other accountable and so the accountability piece is what actually sold me.
So I don't think we should ever shy back from that but at the same time that shouldn't bewhat we lead with, you know, and even if someone comes and they don't join, they learn
about BNI and you never know who they may talk to about either some of us in the room andrefer business to us.
(13:48):
or to someone else who might want to join BNI.
Maybe it wasn't a good fit for them, but they may know someone that they can send to it.
So it's always good to have new people in the room.
And you yeah, you just gotta invite them, just learn to do that in your path.
Yes, and speaking of accountability and charts, ah let's go to your PowerFund, becausethat's both, right?
It's a good segue.
(14:10):
So up on the screen, I have Michael Ann is in the green at 80, and she's got 15 points forattendance.
And looks like you've just, the only reason you didn't get the full points you've been,there's no uh absences because you just had subs.
And I know you've got some chapters that meet at the same time that you're the coach forthat also meet at the time that your chapter meets.
(14:33):
So sometimes you have to make accommodations for that.
Your referrals per week is 20 points in the green.
Visitors per week are five points in the gray.
One-to-ones are 20 points in the green and CEUs are green also at 20.
ah What about that, if anything, what's the highlight there for you?
(14:53):
What is the easiest thing and what's the hardest thing?
I mean, the visitors I typically do have, but you know, summer is a little morechallenging with vacation.
And I actually had a visitor this morning to...
one of the chapters that I manage.
just and honestly inviting people for a specific date, uh you know, hey, what are youdoing this Thursday versus is there a Thursday you can come visit?
(15:18):
So when you're more specific with inviting and if they can't come this week, what aboutnext week?
And just following up with people like that, like, I'd love to introduce you to somepeople in the room.
I'd love for you to meet them, them to meet you.
So if you can come Thursday morning, I can introduce you to 30 people.
So that's actually
easiest one, honestly that and attendance, but that's the one I was uh lacking in.
(15:43):
but the referrals, yeah the referrals tend to be to me a little harder than visitors.
So if you think about it, there's X number of people in your your chapter you can referto, but it's unlimited on visitors and I go to a lot of chamber events.
I'm always inviting people at a chamber event and matter of fact about a
Two months ago, I did a little vendor booth for a little fundraiser.
(16:07):
And there weren't a lot of shoppers that day and it was fine and I really wasn't sellingmuch at my booth.
So I started talking to people about BNI.
I think I invited four or five people to BNI that day.
And one had already been to visit and she ended up joining, not because of me, I just, youknow, in between her visiting and joining, I was able to encourage her to come back.
And then we had another who came and visited and he wants to join, he just can't do itright now.
(16:30):
uh
So anyway, just wherever you are, just have it at the forefront of your mind, because Iknow I'm-
trying I would never sell somebody something I didn't believe in and you're exactly rightwe sell even if we don't have a product so when I'm talking to somebody about that being
I'm not trying to sell them on something but I know it works and I've had success and Ihave really small ticket items like if you look at my amount that I receive it looks
(16:59):
really small but for what I do it's actually very helpful so I just it's like I've got theanswer for them and I know it's
to help and it's gonna improve their business so I'd be selfish if I didn't invite them tobe an I so yeah to me that's and you know I'll run into someone I'll invite them and then
I'll run into them a couple minutes later like you something come to be an I get you needto do that
(17:23):
Well, and again, that kind of will get to your strengths.
I always say every episode, we'll get to your strengths and that plays into them.
But I also, your strengths and mine are different and I feel very passionate because it's,I built my first business on it, that it works.
So I, when I hear that somebody is trying to build a business or they're trying to, theywould like more clients, then I want to talk about it because it's, it's worked, you know,
so I'm passionate about something that works well for people that run small businesses.
(17:46):
I coach small businesses.
So you mentioned the breakdown.
Let's look at your Palms report.
And if you've watched in previous episodes, I've shown kind of all the weeks, this timeI'm showing the summary, because it's really the same.
So this is 24 weeks.
You had 19 presents, no absences, no lates, uh no medical, uh managed, we're calling itmanaged now.
(18:08):
uh And you had four subs.
So again, that kind of rolls into no absences.
by the way, you can see on the...
uh
Power of one there, 93 % attendance.
You're 100 % attendance because you didn't miss a meeting, but because they're subs,there's a little bit of a ding for people.
I don't think we've talked about this before, but or maybe this is the first episodesomebody's listening to, but because it's not you, it's not the same.
(18:35):
So they give a little bit of a ding on the percentage point.
So you're not gonna get a hundred if you've got subs.
So just understand that's how that works.
Referrals given inside one, referrals given outside 24, referrals received inside three,referrals received outside 13.
So speak to me about that a little bit.
You've got a lot of the outside the chapter referrals given outside.
(18:59):
Is that just by virtue of being a coach?
guess so I really have not looked at this.
know, I just answered it.
Probably so.
I work with a lot of chapters and a lot of a lot of people so that that might explain it.
Well inside is well right right right okay gotcha.
(19:20):
Yeah.
Inside your chapter is RGI, RGIs outside the chapter.
And sometimes, and I've mentioned this a number of times, but again, somebody might belistening to this for the first time is the app has, if you're not tapping on one or the
other, it might get recorded improperly.
So just be mindful that if you don't switch it over to inside or outside, can't remember.
(19:42):
I think it defaults to, I can't remember which, but.
I can explain it.
So my understanding was different.
My understanding was when I'm referring inside, I'm referring to myself, to someone in mychapter.
When I'm referring outside, I'm referring someone outside of the chapter, like a friend ora family member, to someone in BNI, whether they're in my chapter or outside of my
chapter.
So I may have been recording that incorrectly, but that was my understanding of inside.
(20:07):
may have given me something I don't actually know the answer to, and I'm going to go andresearch that now.
I feel like it's inside the chapter or outside the chapter, you may be, and it may haveswitched also because of the franchise versus the company owned.
I'm going to go look it up and I'll get back to you all later.
because for example, if I refer myself to you, then that's inside, but if I refer acoworker to you, that's referral outside.
(20:33):
So I refer more other people to than myself, because, oh right, we're not in there to sellto each other, we're there to send each other business.
That's how I explain the number, but I could be wrong.
we're going to find out because I'm not entirely sure.
But you know what you bring up a really good point that should be brought up that wehaven't talked about here is that you shouldn't be selling to your chapter.
(20:57):
I hear a lot of commercials every week that where people are saying, you know, you they'readdressing the people in the room needing whatever the product or service that they're
trying to promote is.
And it isn't
That's not what we do here.
We're educating, think about it.
If these people all worked for your company, you wouldn't be selling yourself to them.
(21:18):
You'd be teaching them how to market your business and sell to others.
So that language is different than it is if we're selling to each other.
So be mindful that you're educating people what to listen for.
and how to position you.
So just as a side note there, so thanks for bringing that up.
(21:38):
All right, and then um visitors, had two, one to one's 38.
Thank you for close business given to others in your chapter's $23,275 and CEU's 37.
So and again that was 24 weeks so you're exceeding both in those one-to-ones and CEU soall things good 80 is a great score You know there's you don't anything in the green is
(22:04):
good.
So good job and in obviously you're teaching this to others so Do you feel like?
This does do these things come up when you're in the coaching conversations at all withyour the people that you're in chapters over so to speak
the things you're talking about.
m
that kind of stuff.
(22:24):
Yes, and it's just a good reminder to go over it with new members to make sure they knowwhat the expectation is and just to find a way to track it.
So I don't always remember, of course now we have the app and you can look, but I'm oldschool, I have a paper calendar, so a lot of times what I do, I try to get all of the four
referrals a month and everything else in the CEUs and they erase week after week on theapp.
(22:48):
So actually just at the bottom of my calendar each month, I just kind of make a littlehash mark.
So whatever works for you,
however you want to track it, if that's something you're aiming for, just have a way tokeep up with it.
when you're intentional like that, I mean, you're gonna get results.
Yeah, and now they didn't used to do this, at least if you're in a company owned region,they send it right to everyone now.
(23:10):
They didn't used to do that.
It used to go through a couple layers of upper management and maybe it got to you, maybeit didn't.
So now you should be receiving it, at least in our region, we're getting it monthly.
have a look at it.
I know some people have never seen it before, which is funny to me, because it's yourreport card on yourself.
For me, I...
(23:33):
kind of hold it in high value because it's what am I getting out of this?
What am I doing?
What am I getting out of it?
And what am I putting into it?
More importantly, if I'm not putting anything in, people always, not always, a lot oftimes people will get closer to the end of their, whatever the year is that they're going
to renew.
And they're like, well, I didn't get that much.
And the first place we all go is look at, as coaches, we look at the Power of One or thePalms Report to see what did you actually do?
(23:55):
You're not going to get tons out if you don't put tons in, you know, it's that equalmeasure.
If I'm doing a lot of the work.
or when I'm not in the past, I've definitely have had some times where I had less activityand I feel it.
I feel like things drop off and that I'm doing tons of activity, guess what?
I get tons of opportunities.
So it's weird, it works out that way, right?
All right, so let's zoom back a little bit out of the of the numbers and stuff.
(24:22):
have you found the hardest part of consistently building your business now becauseyou're...
direct sales.
Have there been any hard parts about building through B &R or are they easier parts?
Give me more about that.
for me personally.
to find a way to make what I do work for BNI.
So I sell skincare and for a long time I had a makeup line.
(24:45):
Most of the men, most of the people in my chapter are men.
So it would be a hard sell for me to stand up and say I'm looking for women that want totry makeup and have wrinkles that want to look younger.
And then I can't expect the men in my chapter to go find me a lead.
So I started with the gifting because men love to buy gifts.
(25:07):
especially if I can take care of everything for them, whether it's Secretary's Day or Ihave some neat things I do at Christmas time with the 12 days of Christmas, which is a lot
of fun.
And then I ended up partnering with a plumber who started using me for customerappreciation and follow-up.
So I took and I expanded that.
I've been doing that for over 10 years.
(25:29):
And that's been the way I promote myself in BNI is through customer appreciation andfollow-up.
But then I'm able to use the product.
from my Bath and Body Care line, which anybody can use, men or women, and that's the way Iget my sales is through that and I offer that service at no charge.
And there are so many people that can use that service.
(25:49):
So then it opens it up.
I can even do that through the mail.
I have done follow-up calls and then mailed gifts to people.
So I had to find a way, especially in the beginning, I've been in so long, back when Ifirst started, we still did in-home parties, which I can still do, but people have really
gotten away from that.
uh
COVID probably killed that,
(26:09):
Yeah, so you go to BNI and you're like I'm looking for people that want to have an in-homeparty or want to do this or want to do that.
So I just had to think through you know in BNI if you're not getting referrals it's onyou.
You either need to give people words to listen for, words to say, scenarios where they canrefer you and then one thing that I usually do when I do my weekly presentation is I'll
hand out an index card at the beginning and I'll have everyone to write their name onthere.
(26:34):
I don't do Q &A.
If you do Q &A you have to stop at like eight minutes and I just
don't usually factor that in.
So I tell them if they have a question during my 10 minute write it down.
If they think of someone that they think might be interested in my product or service justwrite their name down and then I will schedule a one-to-one with them and I will give them
(26:54):
words to say to that specific person in that specific instance.
So I think in BNI you just have to find a way to explain and break down what you're doing.
Like you don't have to go through step by step.
I'm not going to tell you step by step of like how products are made or any of that.
I'm gonna give you words to say and words to listen for and if we can just train ourpeople to do that then it's easier to send and receive for referrals.
(27:18):
think that you have a it's a little different as a multi-level marketing and or directsales type situation.
It's a little more challenging.
You're not allowed to talk about half your business is building through, well, and I knowyour model has changed a little bit because your company's model has changed a little bit,
but a lot of the multi-level marketing people also are building a down line and that's howthat works.
(27:42):
But we're not allowed to talk about that in BNI.
So you found unique ways around that, right?
Right, so I truly focus on just sales through V &R.
And I, know, for anyone that's listening that maybe is a higher level uh in theorganization, I found, and I'd love to get your feedback on this, is I found that people
(28:02):
that do drag sales, when I was running kind of the whole area, I found that the people,one of the reasons I reached out to Michael Ann is, well, I already knew her, but be her
work ethic and the way that she kind of builds her business is the same way she builds inBNI.
and helps others and she has, and we'll talk about her strengths in just a minute, but herstrengths were wonderful for the kind of role as a chapter success support coach person.
(28:32):
But I feel like, if we hired other people and I've seen other people, have almost half theteam, if not more at this point, have that sort of direct sales background.
Why do you think that's an asset in BNI at the coaching level?
I uh if it's to be, it's up to me.
And especially those of us that started like before social media.
(28:52):
I really don't use a lot of social media in my personal business because I grew up whereyou could call people on a landline and they would answer the phone.
So I have, I think great phone skills.
um
great one-to-one with people and I'm just more about the relationship side of it becausepeople can buy skincare anywhere truly especially online but people come back to me number
(29:14):
one the skincare is great but number two I think the customer service because we're justtaught in direct sales to kind of make that experience different and that's truly why a
lot of people have come with me from one company to another because they know I'm gonnatake care of them I'm gonna let them know when there's a sale if there's an issue I'm
gonna call the company I'm gonna remember what they use
I'm gonna have a record of it.
(29:36):
So just the little details about customer service, I think we're taught and I think thatmay be one reason why.
oh
Yeah, and for me, think it's that if you're sustainable in a direct sales type ofposition, that means you're going to be helpful to others who are trying to grow, right?
So you understand what it takes to build a business because it's a lot of heavy liftingthat most people don't have to do in their business.
(30:03):
It's a different type of, you know, I've done cold calling.
I have a whole sales, you my entire background is sales and sales management.
it's just a different thing when you're not afraid to talk to people, right?
And you're not afraid to hear no.
Not everybody has that gene, so to speak.
So, you know, people I think sometimes shy away from people that are in that, in theirchapters for various reasons.
(30:27):
And if they're new or in their business, that might be why, because maybe they haven'tkind of figured out the nuances yet.
I think there's great, um you have...
different skill sets than a lot of people do, so it's very helpful.
And speaking of different skill sets, let's talk about your strengths because yourstrengths are unique to you and they are having known you for as long as I have, has gotta
(30:51):
be in the 10 plus years now, or 10-ish years on and off.
little bit of a hiatus there, but Michael Ann, Mississippi and I'm in Tennessee, so wedidn't always cross paths all the time, but certainly enough to know each other.
and the strengths that you have, I'm gonna go ahead and read.
So, Michael Ann's number one strength is woo.
She loves the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over.
(31:14):
She drives satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection, which you may havealready heard already today, right?
Number two is positivity.
You have a contagious enthusiasm.
You're upbeat and can get others excited about what they're going to do.
Developer, you recognize and cultivate the potential in others.
You spot the signs of each small improvement and derive satisfaction from evidence ofprogress.
(31:36):
Number four is Activator.
You can make things happen by turning thoughts into action.
You want to do things now rather than simply talk about them.
And number five is Communication.
You generally find it easy to put your thoughts into words.
You are a good conversationalist and presenter.
All right, so this was your first time taking this.
What did you think when you got your results?
(31:57):
I was really impressed because some of the questions ask you two things and they're bothcorrect and you had to pick and I'm like I want to pick both.
One of them I was trying to decide and I waited too long and it went away.
I like, well, let me just pick one next time.
So I thought it was, it was scarily accurate.
(32:30):
Yeah, it's so funny because the reports, when you get them do a breakdown and theyintersperse your top five things together.
So even if I don't have woo as number one, but let's just say I did um and I had otherthings that were different behind that, then my report will read differently.
The first five are intersperse because those are the you use most often.
(32:55):
My woo is actually at the other end of things.
uh but interestingly enough, we do the same role and we get things done.
Just, we just get them done through our strengths, right?
So it is entirely up to you.
But I read your, always read through because it does take that breakdown and put all thetop five things together.
And it made me laugh.
It says, em it's very likely that you are open and honest about who you are, what you'vedone, what you can do and what you cannot do.
(33:21):
which that was like to a T you.
I mean, that was like the epitome of all things I know about Michael Ann.
And so it made me laugh because Michael Ann is very, very open about all the things sheknows and all the things she doesn't.
And she will, you know, it doesn't matter.
We had some tech issues working with the podcast and it's just things that happen.
(33:44):
She's the first one to tell you when things are not, that's not her forte and what thingsare her forte.
So I just love that that was the first thing it said and it me laugh out loud when I readit.
um what did, when you looked at those things, what popped out to you the most?
So what was the, like which one of those strengths was your favorite that you thought,yep, that's me all the time.
(34:08):
positivity because no matter what happens you can always find the bright side to it Iguess or I mean
Being positive is a habit and being negative is a habit and you just get in the habit of,yes this happened but this is gonna be a result of that.
And even looking through like when you're going through a hard time, don't look at theissue in front of you, look at, okay when I get through this, this is where I'm gonna be.
(34:34):
And if you keep your eyes focused on the future and what you're working toward, thenwhat's going on right now that might not be so great, um it puts it into a little bit
different perspective.
It's just like if you hit a wall, don't stop.
way around it, over it, under it, or through it.
You just have to figure out what works.
Yeah.
So having sat with them maybe for a little bit, I know you took that not too awful longago, but having had the chance to kind of think about it, have you thought any new ways
(35:03):
about how it might apply to what you're doing either in your business or in BNI?
I it...
it maybe helps me as a problem solver.
You know, I'll see something and you know, you've heard that story, not my circus, not mymonkeys.
It's like, if I see a problem, like I just have this something inside me that makes mewant to fix it.
um And I think that's just how I'm wired.
(35:25):
Like I am just a problem solver.
And so kind of seeing that, um that may be why, because I want things to run smoothly.
I want things to improve.
I don't really have it in me to see something and to sit back and say,
well, they'll figure it out.
I've spent hours sitting on my hands not to talk because like I know the answer and Ithink that can be a fault too because when I'm working with new people I know exactly what
(35:49):
they need to be doing but it's not as effective to just tell people what to do.
Sometimes you have to lead them to it, lead them through it, help them to realize itthemselves so that they learn it.
So it can be a negative as well um but yeah that so it was it was pretty accurate.
Yeah, and what you're referring to, at least how CliftonStrengths, how we call it is ablind spot, right?
(36:11):
Is sometimes it can be, if you don't share with people, this is me and this is why Ioperate this way, is sometimes it can be too much for people.
it's not that you mean it to be too much or it's not enough in whatever the situation is.
If you speak to it to somebody, if you've just met somebody, they're gonna kind of get...
(36:34):
the experience, I guess, of being in the room with you and have whatever, everybody, weall are humans.
We look at each other, we form opinions based on what we're looking at, hearing, seeingall of the activities.
And some worlds we call that branding.
You show up the way you show up and people make assumptions based on those things, how youshow up.
uh But developer, I thought was pretty spot on for you because that's, you're looking for,I think,
(37:01):
Would you say that BNI is appealing to you for that reason that you love to help people,you know, kind of move forward and, you know, even in your business, would you say that's
also kind of applicable?
Right, I think so and like I just had the experience of helping with a new chapter launch,which this is the second chapter I've helped with.
And so to see them going from knowing very little about BNI to becoming a functionalchapter and we're still in the training phase and we're still learning and kind of getting
(37:28):
everything going.
But I find that really rewarding to take a group of people that maybe six months agodidn't even know what BNI was and now they're a functional chapter and you know they're
growing and flourishing and they get
it.
So I've really enjoyed that process.
Yeah, agreed.
you use the words, they get it.
And we use that often.
(37:49):
And as BNI coaches, that's like, they get it or they don't get it, right?
And the ones that don't get it, it's painful because in what they don't get, it variesvastly.
It's a wide chasm between what they get and what they don't get.
And you're only hurting yourself in the world of you don't get it.
And we all can see, well, not all of us, but a lot of us can see what's working and whatisn't working.
(38:13):
I always want to direct people to look at your business and compare your business to yourchapter.
Would things that happen in your chapter happen in your business?
And if you're okay with them, great.
If you're not okay with them, be part of the change.
um And I think that developer, one of the things about developer is they like to stay withsomeone over time.
(38:34):
So again, I think that's great from a coaching perspective is.
you will stick with them even sometimes to a fault, know, that they're not maybe moving,they're not gonna move in that direction at some point.
Do you have a hard time letting people go when they're not getting where they need to begetting?
And I think one of my biggest um faults is I'm not the greatest at holding peopleaccountable I can tell you all day long the benefits of it the words to say why How I can
(39:04):
give you that all day long But ultimately it's up to that person to make that change andI'm not the greatest at holding people accountable so it's like I can train people up to a
point then they got to pick it up and do it themselves and anyway
Yeah, agreed.
So are you, if you were going to give somebody uh advice because this, you've been in,both of us been in referral building, you know, it's relationship building basically is
(39:30):
how you're, building your BNI.
What would be your advice for building stronger relationships?
Cause you're all about that.
So what would be the, whether it's in your business or from BNI, what would be, you know,a piece of advice you would give to somebody to build better relationships?
Well definitely making time to do your one-to-ones even if you stay after the meeting iftimes an issue just plan it either before or after your meeting and also go to their
(39:56):
profile on the app and see what they've got filled out.
If they haven't filled out that profile with their gains and their know their ideal clientencourage them to do that and then also I think about who I'm going to be talking to and
if that whatever business that person is in I think through
(40:16):
oh how could they refer me and then I will kind of come up with here's who you can youspecifically can look for for me and then ask them you know who can I look for for you so
it's almost like every one to one I do it's totally different but I've done two today andthey were day and night because of the different industries that they were in so
(40:42):
love that you personalized that and there's a form and I've mentioned on the previous onesand it's on uh the bni, theproper100.com if you're looking for podcasts, if you're looking
for the form, it is on that website.
But I have a very different approach as I fill out the sheet in depth and we go over that.
(41:03):
you're personalizing it based on the person, which that's great because you've taken thetime to think about that.
You're going to get a lot out of that, which is amazing.
It's just two different approaches.
which are all good.
um So what's something small but memorable that you have done in your business that helpspeople remember you more?
in my personal business?
(41:25):
I...
Or you could say BNI but...
Making sure they know that I've got them.
if there's you know, whatever like for example some of my customers have you know autoship for lack of a better word and even though they were reminded by me and by the company
they forgot to change the order and they ended up with something they didn't and I take itand swap it out.
(41:47):
I just always make sure that that customer is happy and I do whatever I need to do andjust remembering them and staying in touch and then also asking people like hey how often
would you like
be contacted, do you want to be contacted, how do you want to be contacted, and then justkind of remembering the preferences.
I think people appreciate that.
I think people want to use my product and service, but I need to make it easy for them todo so.
(42:11):
Yeah, love that.
That's perfect.
And in the style of Stephen Bartlett on his podcast, asked guests, the last guest to leavea question from, so that my last guest wrote a question for you and asked you to do the
same for the next one.
But her question for you was when attending networking events outside of BNI meetings, areyou able to figure out that somebody that you didn't know before, like through the
(42:35):
conversation that you're having that they've been a BNI member?
Does that make sense?
and one way is it's funny when I go to networking meetings I kind of use the sameprinciple like I'm not there to sell most people in the room are there to sell so I'm not
there to sell so what I typically do is I ask people if they've ever been to a BNI meetingbecause I'm helping them grow their business I'm not even telling them what I do I'm being
(43:00):
helpful to them and so it's easy to find that out because that's usually one of the thingsI ask at a networking meeting so yeah but yes and when they
half into a meeting, I mean they just automatically, yeah, it's like their face lights up,there's clarity and there's that connection there.
Yeah, and you can almost feel a difference because they get it, right?
They get it.
(43:22):
So love that.
All right.
And then lastly, what are you excited about right now?
What's coming up in your business that you're excited about that's new, you know, in thefuture?
Well, I am just looking to kind of expand my customer appreciation and just working withthat and I did get a new lead today at a meeting this morning so I'm gonna follow up.
I actually did, I got several referrals from the meeting I went to today.
(43:44):
So just those new customers that I haven't connected with and met with yet.
Okay, awesome.
And I want to remind people, well, I'll not remind them because they don't know about it,but tell people that you mentioned, and maybe you didn't because we were talking
beforehand, but Michael Ann was on a podcast with Ivan Meisner where she talked in depthabout how she kind of uniquely markets with trades and that.
(44:06):
Do you remember your podcast number with Ivan?
I was at podcast number 855.
Okay, so if you want to hear more about that, then go to podcast 855 on the BNI podcast.
And uh thank you, Michael Ann, thanks for being here.
Appreciate you.
uh Before we wrap up, if you found today's conversation helpful to you, I would love thatyou go and hit the subscribe button.
(44:31):
It will help other people find that information.
also ah that are in BNI when they're searching, it's on YouTube.
So if you've had anything that sort of, you were like, ooh, that was an aha moment.
And maybe somebody else would benefit from that with love that you would subscribe.
And also on the CliftonStrength side is knowing the information is great.
ah But it's almost maybe like if I go to a fortune teller and they tell me my fortune, Ithink that's fun.
(44:56):
But
if I got all the information that would be useful to me to apply and which is what I do asa coach, love to help you do that.
So thank you everybody for being here and we will see you next time on the Perfect 100.
Hello everyone and welcome back to the perfect 100.
I am excited today to have the.
I don't know if you're the maybe you are the longest running chapter success coach slashyou were in part of the franchise director consultant in the region, but somebody I've
known for a very long time as our guest.
(00:51):
I want to welcome Michael Ann Dillinger.
Hi Michael Ann.
How are you today?
Yeah.
Yes, we've been talking all things BNI.
We've both been to multiple chapters and all the one-to-ones, everything BNI today.
So give us a little bit more.
us what chapter you're in, how long you have been in BNI altogether, and what is the seatthat you hold.
(01:16):
I'm Bia Nidesoto and I am the only original member to the chapter.
I've been around the whole 14 and a half-ish years.
I think we're about six months away from our 15th anniversary and I've been with thechapter since day one and my role in the chapter is I'm one of the mentor, not the
coordinator, but I'm one of the ones that mentors the new people when they come in, aswell as a chapter success coach with four different chapters.
(01:45):
Awesome, yeah, so you've got your hands full there and we're gonna talk more about that ina little bit here, but we'll start off with your best 45 seconds.
So go ahead and tell us what you do.
Bye.
Lann Dillinger with True Aura Beauty.
True Aura is a line of skincare products that are very clean, they are microbiomefriendly, and they contain pre and probiotics.
(02:07):
We do have a line of body care as well, and I specialize in customer appreciationservices.
So I'm looking for people that they're in their truck all day, they don't have time to dofollow up, or they just really want to up that customer experience.
So what they can do is send me to their customers with a gift, which is how I get paidbecause they purchase
(02:27):
the gift and then I just do follow-up like hey I have a gift for you tell me about yourexperience have you had a chance to do a Google review so I take my products and make them
into gifts and I use that through a customer service program that I work with many otherbusinesses in and out of BNI.
oh
Awesome.
Yeah, you've kind of taken putting a spin on uh what you do as a uh multi-level marketeror I forget what the other thing that we were calling it is.
(02:56):
uh
Direct sales.
Yes, in the direct sales realm, you're doing something unique with what you do, which wecan maybe talk a little bit more about later.
But first I want to start with, because you've been a chapter success coach or a directorconsultant, this area has been both franchise and company owned.
So two different titles, same role, essentially.
(03:18):
And I actually had the pleasure of bringing Michael Ann back into the fold because she wasa director consultant under the franchise.
And then the franchise
sold to the company on region.
was for a little while their managing director and I asked Michael Ann to come back on theteam because I knew she had a lot of value to add.
So I would, I'm so happy to have brought you back into the fold because you offer so manywonderful things and we're going to talk about some of those today.
(03:41):
So you have coached a lot of people in a lot of chapters.
Talk to me about the habits that you see that have been.
successful for people because you've seen touched, you know, lots of different kinds ofindustries and all the things and your strong suits, which we'll get to you in a little
while in terms of your strengths, uh naturally find those things and bring them out.
(04:01):
So give me some, give me some of the habits you've seen make people successful in BNI.
Well, I
think the biggest one is consistency with all of the things.
BNI can be overwhelming, especially when you're new.
But if you're just consistent with the things that are asked, like for example, the powerof one, where you have the one on the attendance, one on the referrals, but you have to
(04:23):
kind of train yourself to look for those things.
So just taking time out of your week every week to be intentional about BNI and beingconsistent, it pays off.
It really pays off to be consistent.
it.
Okay, and what are the things you think most hold people back?
I think people hesitate because of the time commitment.
(04:44):
But I think what they don't realize is people think about, have my business and then Ihave BNI.
I have to do my business first, then if I have time, I have BNI.
But when you have a mind shift and you realize BNI is part of your business, we are themarketing team.
So if you have 30 people in your chapter, it's like you have a 30 person sales team that'sout and about working for you each week.
(05:08):
So I think people that realize that
BNI priority and they have much more success.
So instead thinking about BNI's, if I get to it I'll do my BNI stuff.
No, make it a priority because BNI is very much part of your business.
For sure, yeah, I love that you said that.
I think that for whatever the reason, and I think maybe the reason is us, we don't give onthe front end enough, what's the right words, coaching?
(05:38):
Expectations set in the expectations.
We don't when we're interviewing people, you know, it could start as soon as that, right,as we could say, look, and I think we do in some chapters say, look, it's a time
commitment, right, is you need to be here for the meeting, you need to do one to ones,etc.
But I think it almost is a mindset shift that we could start at that phase to say, talk tome about how you're marketing now.
(06:02):
You know, what is your say order your sales, like prospecting?
What does that look like?
Because this is
that, right?
Is this becomes your, if you could hire a team of people to market and sell for yourbusiness, that's what we are in BNI, right?
And if we could just say to people, know, how can we, what amount of time, what would,what amount of time would be worth getting somebody else to do all this work for you and
(06:30):
bring you business?
uh Maybe that would help impact how we move things forward.
Would you agree?
I do agree and I think too people come in and this is natural they come in thinking aboutwhat they're gonna receive from BNI and they realize like givers gain isn't just a
philosophy like that truly is it's true it's a is a truth when you are a giver you willreceive and so once you kind of learn to be a team player and not just come with your
(06:57):
handout every week but come with what you can bring every week then things begin to changeand you really get a better grasp
on how BNR works.
Yeah, and I think it's, you almost even need, I was at a chapter this morning wheresomeone was brand new, new, just opened a new business and we asked them to speak about
(07:17):
their business and he wasn't really sure what to say and he came up to me afterwards andhe heard I was business coach so he said, can I get your card, which was wonderful, that's
what we want, but he was kind of, he felt like a fish out of water a little bit because hehad no idea what we do, right?
and he stood up at the, when we go back around the room a second time and talk about whatwe've given to each other and he said, I'm just looking for leads.
(07:42):
And it's because he's never been to BNI before, he doesn't understand the concept andit's, I don't know how he got into the room, but if we can coach our visitors a little bit
and say, this is what we do and this is how this is gonna go.
that would maybe be a little less embarrassing for folks if they understood kind of theconcept and that we're here to support each other and so on and make those uh easier
(08:07):
moments for people as they're coming in and then they kind of see how it all works becausewe kind of talk about it, right?
The meeting is really designed for visitors.
And I don't know that everybody recognizes that.
And we make it.
It's actually part of if you're if you guys wherever you are in the world and B and I aredoing the passport, the passport program speaks to that.
One of the things that so in the booklet, there are all the different positions.
(08:32):
And I've been a president.
And one of the things that the president there's a sheet that goes with each of thepositions that we're supposed to be educating our new members on.
And one of the things that the president talks about is
why we do the things we do in the meeting.
And each thing serves a purpose.
And we don't say the same things over and over again for the members.
We know those things, right?
(08:52):
But we're saying them for people who are visiting in the room.
And if we have a good chapter, we should have lots of visitors because that's what we do,right?
(09:15):
I thought it was super interesting today at my meeting I was sitting next to a visitor andwe use table tents that have our names on them But we also for visitors have the wall of
them have on the front side your name or it says visitor and on the back side It has theagenda
and it's the 20, I think it's 26 points agenda.
(09:36):
And she actually elbowed me and she was like, the education coordinator was up talkingabout their piece.
And she said, she pointed out the feature presentation and she said, is that where we areright here?
And I was like, that's so interesting because I didn't really even think about it because,you know, it's just by this point, it's like wallpaper or a picture on your wall at your
(09:56):
house.
You don't see it every day.
You don't even like pay attention to it.
But she, because she'd never been to a meeting before and didn't know anything about BNI,she was following it.
So what I was saying about the passport is we as.
So for educating somebody coming in before they decide they want to join the president.
(10:16):
is talking about the hidden elements in the meeting.
And we're doing a meeting in large part for visitors that are coming to understand why itwould be valuable for them.
There's a lot of stuff that we say over and over again.
It's not for us.
We always hear it and we know about it already.
It is for the new person who's never been there to understand what we're trying to do.
(10:37):
So we're not having to, we're getting the right people, I guess is the right way.
And we're setting up, it's just like in your own business when you're.
selling something.
Everybody here is in sales, even if you're not a salesperson, you're selling something inyour business.
Somebody is selling it for you and there's a step process to get there and the meeting isfor us, the consultation if you will.
(11:00):
It's the way that we show members why it works and that's why when we, a lot of peoplehave a struggle getting visitors, but what I say to visitors is come and check it out.
don't give a lot of detail, you don't need to.
The meaning sells itself, you've probably heard somebody say that, is the meaning isdesigned to help people understand why it works.
(11:21):
um So, you know, that onboarding process is what the passport is, if you're not using thepassport in your region, wherever you are, or your chapter, because the region, our region
uses it, but not all the chapters use the passport.
But it is designed just like HR in a company or if you hired new people in your business,you would give them hopefully an onboarding and that's what that's meant to do.
(11:43):
So hopefully it would make things better.
you, what do have to add to that, Michael Ann?
I agree and also as far as visitors go you know keep in mind you're not inviting people tojoin you're inviting them to visit so if we off the bat start telling them all the
requirements about membership they haven't even agreed to come and most people it's alwayssad to me when someone decides not to come visit BNI because they're not interested in
(12:07):
joining so one thing I usually say when that's the response is I have found that it'seasier to make a decision when you have all the facts so we're just asking to come check
it out come visit if it's for you great
We'll give you information about how to join if it's not for you You're gonna get to meetsome new contacts and you're gonna get to learn a little bit about BNI and how we work So
even if someone asked me specific questions about well, you know, are there fees to joinand what are what's required?
(12:32):
I usually say well It's free to come visit and we go over all that at the end and it'sjust simply because you don't want to overwhelm people with information and then they'll
make a decision because many many times Myself included I went to a BNI meeting thinkingthere's no way I'm going to join this thing
But I might sell something that day that was a mindset I went into my first BNI meetingwith and I saw what it was all about and I saw the big picture right off the bat and I'll
(12:58):
tell you exactly what sold it for me it was when DeSoto was forming and the man who wasstarting the chapter kept he was doing accountability in the room and he had everyone who
had committed he had their names on a chart and he went around the room and asked them whoall they had invited to the meeting that week and right there I was like
these are the people that I want to hang with because these are people they're gonnaactually have to follow up and they're gonna have to, we're held accountable, we're
(13:27):
holding each other accountable and so the accountability piece is what actually sold me.
So I don't think we should ever shy back from that but at the same time that shouldn't bewhat we lead with, you know, and even if someone comes and they don't join, they learn
about BNI and you never know who they may talk to about either some of us in the room andrefer business to us.
(13:48):
or to someone else who might want to join BNI.
Maybe it wasn't a good fit for them, but they may know someone that they can send to it.
So it's always good to have new people in the room.
And you yeah, you just gotta invite them, just learn to do that in your path.
Yes, and speaking of accountability and charts, ah let's go to your PowerFund, becausethat's both, right?
It's a good segue.
(14:10):
So up on the screen, I have Michael Ann is in the green at 80, and she's got 15 points forattendance.
And looks like you've just, the only reason you didn't get the full points you've been,there's no uh absences because you just had subs.
And I know you've got some chapters that meet at the same time that you're the coach forthat also meet at the time that your chapter meets.
(14:33):
So sometimes you have to make accommodations for that.
Your referrals per week is 20 points in the green.
Visitors per week are five points in the gray.
One-to-ones are 20 points in the green and CEUs are green also at 20.
ah What about that, if anything, what's the highlight there for you?
(14:53):
What is the easiest thing and what's the hardest thing?
I mean, the visitors I typically do have, but you know, summer is a little morechallenging with vacation.
And I actually had a visitor this morning to...
one of the chapters that I manage.
just and honestly inviting people for a specific date, uh you know, hey, what are youdoing this Thursday versus is there a Thursday you can come visit?
(15:18):
So when you're more specific with inviting and if they can't come this week, what aboutnext week?
And just following up with people like that, like, I'd love to introduce you to somepeople in the room.
I'd love for you to meet them, them to meet you.
So if you can come Thursday morning, I can introduce you to 30 people.
So that's actually
easiest one, honestly that and attendance, but that's the one I was uh lacking in.
(15:43):
but the referrals, yeah the referrals tend to be to me a little harder than visitors.
So if you think about it, there's X number of people in your your chapter you can referto, but it's unlimited on visitors and I go to a lot of chamber events.
I'm always inviting people at a chamber event and matter of fact about a
Two months ago, I did a little vendor booth for a little fundraiser.
(16:07):
And there weren't a lot of shoppers that day and it was fine and I really wasn't sellingmuch at my booth.
So I started talking to people about BNI.
I think I invited four or five people to BNI that day.
And one had already been to visit and she ended up joining, not because of me, I just, youknow, in between her visiting and joining, I was able to encourage her to come back.
And then we had another who came and visited and he wants to join, he just can't do itright now.
(16:30):
uh
So anyway, just wherever you are, just have it at the forefront of your mind, because Iknow I'm-
trying I would never sell somebody something I didn't believe in and you're exactly rightwe sell even if we don't have a product so when I'm talking to somebody about that being
I'm not trying to sell them on something but I know it works and I've had success and Ihave really small ticket items like if you look at my amount that I receive it looks
(16:59):
really small but for what I do it's actually very helpful so I just it's like I've got theanswer for them and I know it's
to help and it's gonna improve their business so I'd be selfish if I didn't invite them tobe an I so yeah to me that's and you know I'll run into someone I'll invite them and then
I'll run into them a couple minutes later like you something come to be an I get you needto do that
(17:23):
Well, and again, that kind of will get to your strengths.
I always say every episode, we'll get to your strengths and that plays into them.
But I also, your strengths and mine are different and I feel very passionate because it's,I built my first business on it, that it works.
So I, when I hear that somebody is trying to build a business or they're trying to, theywould like more clients, then I want to talk about it because it's, it's worked, you know,
so I'm passionate about something that works well for people that run small businesses.
(17:46):
I coach small businesses.
So you mentioned the breakdown.
Let's look at your Palms report.
And if you've watched in previous episodes, I've shown kind of all the weeks, this timeI'm showing the summary, because it's really the same.
So this is 24 weeks.
You had 19 presents, no absences, no lates, uh no medical, uh managed, we're calling itmanaged now.
(18:08):
uh And you had four subs.
So again, that kind of rolls into no absences.
by the way, you can see on the...
uh
Power of one there, 93 % attendance.
You're 100 % attendance because you didn't miss a meeting, but because they're subs,there's a little bit of a ding for people.
I don't think we've talked about this before, but or maybe this is the first episodesomebody's listening to, but because it's not you, it's not the same.
(18:35):
So they give a little bit of a ding on the percentage point.
So you're not gonna get a hundred if you've got subs.
So just understand that's how that works.
Referrals given inside one, referrals given outside 24, referrals received inside three,referrals received outside 13.
So speak to me about that a little bit.
You've got a lot of the outside the chapter referrals given outside.
(18:59):
Is that just by virtue of being a coach?
guess so I really have not looked at this.
know, I just answered it.
Probably so.
I work with a lot of chapters and a lot of a lot of people so that that might explain it.
Well inside is well right right right okay gotcha.
(19:20):
Yeah.
Inside your chapter is RGI, RGIs outside the chapter.
And sometimes, and I've mentioned this a number of times, but again, somebody might belistening to this for the first time is the app has, if you're not tapping on one or the
other, it might get recorded improperly.
So just be mindful that if you don't switch it over to inside or outside, can't remember.
(19:42):
I think it defaults to, I can't remember which, but.
I can explain it.
So my understanding was different.
My understanding was when I'm referring inside, I'm referring to myself, to someone in mychapter.
When I'm referring outside, I'm referring someone outside of the chapter, like a friend ora family member, to someone in BNI, whether they're in my chapter or outside of my
chapter.
So I may have been recording that incorrectly, but that was my understanding of inside.
(20:07):
may have given me something I don't actually know the answer to, and I'm going to go andresearch that now.
I feel like it's inside the chapter or outside the chapter, you may be, and it may haveswitched also because of the franchise versus the company owned.
I'm going to go look it up and I'll get back to you all later.
because for example, if I refer myself to you, then that's inside, but if I refer acoworker to you, that's referral outside.
(20:33):
So I refer more other people to than myself, because, oh right, we're not in there to sellto each other, we're there to send each other business.
That's how I explain the number, but I could be wrong.
we're going to find out because I'm not entirely sure.
But you know what you bring up a really good point that should be brought up that wehaven't talked about here is that you shouldn't be selling to your chapter.
(20:57):
I hear a lot of commercials every week that where people are saying, you know, you they'readdressing the people in the room needing whatever the product or service that they're
trying to promote is.
And it isn't
That's not what we do here.
We're educating, think about it.
If these people all worked for your company, you wouldn't be selling yourself to them.
(21:18):
You'd be teaching them how to market your business and sell to others.
So that language is different than it is if we're selling to each other.
So be mindful that you're educating people what to listen for.
and how to position you.
So just as a side note there, so thanks for bringing that up.
(21:38):
All right, and then um visitors, had two, one to one's 38.
Thank you for close business given to others in your chapter's $23,275 and CEU's 37.
So and again that was 24 weeks so you're exceeding both in those one-to-ones and CEU soall things good 80 is a great score You know there's you don't anything in the green is
(22:04):
good.
So good job and in obviously you're teaching this to others so Do you feel like?
This does do these things come up when you're in the coaching conversations at all withyour the people that you're in chapters over so to speak
the things you're talking about.
m
that kind of stuff.
(22:24):
Yes, and it's just a good reminder to go over it with new members to make sure they knowwhat the expectation is and just to find a way to track it.
So I don't always remember, of course now we have the app and you can look, but I'm oldschool, I have a paper calendar, so a lot of times what I do, I try to get all of the four
referrals a month and everything else in the CEUs and they erase week after week on theapp.
(22:48):
So actually just at the bottom of my calendar each month, I just kind of make a littlehash mark.
So whatever works for you,
however you want to track it, if that's something you're aiming for, just have a way tokeep up with it.
when you're intentional like that, I mean, you're gonna get results.
Yeah, and now they didn't used to do this, at least if you're in a company owned region,they send it right to everyone now.
(23:10):
They didn't used to do that.
It used to go through a couple layers of upper management and maybe it got to you, maybeit didn't.
So now you should be receiving it, at least in our region, we're getting it monthly.
have a look at it.
I know some people have never seen it before, which is funny to me, because it's yourreport card on yourself.
For me, I...
(23:33):
kind of hold it in high value because it's what am I getting out of this?
What am I doing?
What am I getting out of it?
And what am I putting into it?
More importantly, if I'm not putting anything in, people always, not always, a lot oftimes people will get closer to the end of their, whatever the year is that they're going
to renew.
And they're like, well, I didn't get that much.
And the first place we all go is look at, as coaches, we look at the Power of One or thePalms Report to see what did you actually do?
(23:55):
You're not going to get tons out if you don't put tons in, you know, it's that equalmeasure.
If I'm doing a lot of the work.
or when I'm not in the past, I've definitely have had some times where I had less activityand I feel it.
I feel like things drop off and that I'm doing tons of activity, guess what?
I get tons of opportunities.
So it's weird, it works out that way, right?
All right, so let's zoom back a little bit out of the of the numbers and stuff.
(24:22):
have you found the hardest part of consistently building your business now becauseyou're...
direct sales.
Have there been any hard parts about building through B &R or are they easier parts?
Give me more about that.
for me personally.
to find a way to make what I do work for BNI.
So I sell skincare and for a long time I had a makeup line.
(24:45):
Most of the men, most of the people in my chapter are men.
So it would be a hard sell for me to stand up and say I'm looking for women that want totry makeup and have wrinkles that want to look younger.
And then I can't expect the men in my chapter to go find me a lead.
So I started with the gifting because men love to buy gifts.
(25:07):
especially if I can take care of everything for them, whether it's Secretary's Day or Ihave some neat things I do at Christmas time with the 12 days of Christmas, which is a lot
of fun.
And then I ended up partnering with a plumber who started using me for customerappreciation and follow-up.
So I took and I expanded that.
I've been doing that for over 10 years.
(25:29):
And that's been the way I promote myself in BNI is through customer appreciation andfollow-up.
But then I'm able to use the product.
from my Bath and Body Care line, which anybody can use, men or women, and that's the way Iget my sales is through that and I offer that service at no charge.
And there are so many people that can use that service.
(25:49):
So then it opens it up.
I can even do that through the mail.
I have done follow-up calls and then mailed gifts to people.
So I had to find a way, especially in the beginning, I've been in so long, back when Ifirst started, we still did in-home parties, which I can still do, but people have really
gotten away from that.
uh
COVID probably killed that,
(26:09):
Yeah, so you go to BNI and you're like I'm looking for people that want to have an in-homeparty or want to do this or want to do that.
So I just had to think through you know in BNI if you're not getting referrals it's onyou.
You either need to give people words to listen for, words to say, scenarios where they canrefer you and then one thing that I usually do when I do my weekly presentation is I'll
hand out an index card at the beginning and I'll have everyone to write their name onthere.
(26:34):
I don't do Q &A.
If you do Q &A you have to stop at like eight minutes and I just
don't usually factor that in.
So I tell them if they have a question during my 10 minute write it down.
If they think of someone that they think might be interested in my product or service justwrite their name down and then I will schedule a one-to-one with them and I will give them
(26:54):
words to say to that specific person in that specific instance.
So I think in BNI you just have to find a way to explain and break down what you're doing.
Like you don't have to go through step by step.
I'm not going to tell you step by step of like how products are made or any of that.
I'm gonna give you words to say and words to listen for and if we can just train ourpeople to do that then it's easier to send and receive for referrals.
(27:18):
think that you have a it's a little different as a multi-level marketing and or directsales type situation.
It's a little more challenging.
You're not allowed to talk about half your business is building through, well, and I knowyour model has changed a little bit because your company's model has changed a little bit,
but a lot of the multi-level marketing people also are building a down line and that's howthat works.
(27:42):
But we're not allowed to talk about that in BNI.
So you found unique ways around that, right?
Right, so I truly focus on just sales through V &R.
And I, know, for anyone that's listening that maybe is a higher level uh in theorganization, I found, and I'd love to get your feedback on this, is I found that people
(28:02):
that do drag sales, when I was running kind of the whole area, I found that the people,one of the reasons I reached out to Michael Ann is, well, I already knew her, but be her
work ethic and the way that she kind of builds her business is the same way she builds inBNI.
and helps others and she has, and we'll talk about her strengths in just a minute, but herstrengths were wonderful for the kind of role as a chapter success support coach person.
(28:32):
But I feel like, if we hired other people and I've seen other people, have almost half theteam, if not more at this point, have that sort of direct sales background.
Why do you think that's an asset in BNI at the coaching level?
I uh if it's to be, it's up to me.
And especially those of us that started like before social media.
(28:52):
I really don't use a lot of social media in my personal business because I grew up whereyou could call people on a landline and they would answer the phone.
So I have, I think great phone skills.
um
great one-to-one with people and I'm just more about the relationship side of it becausepeople can buy skincare anywhere truly especially online but people come back to me number
(29:14):
one the skincare is great but number two I think the customer service because we're justtaught in direct sales to kind of make that experience different and that's truly why a
lot of people have come with me from one company to another because they know I'm gonnatake care of them I'm gonna let them know when there's a sale if there's an issue I'm
gonna call the company I'm gonna remember what they use
I'm gonna have a record of it.
(29:36):
So just the little details about customer service, I think we're taught and I think thatmay be one reason why.
oh
Yeah, and for me, think it's that if you're sustainable in a direct sales type ofposition, that means you're going to be helpful to others who are trying to grow, right?
So you understand what it takes to build a business because it's a lot of heavy liftingthat most people don't have to do in their business.
(30:03):
It's a different type of, you know, I've done cold calling.
I have a whole sales, you my entire background is sales and sales management.
it's just a different thing when you're not afraid to talk to people, right?
And you're not afraid to hear no.
Not everybody has that gene, so to speak.
So, you know, people I think sometimes shy away from people that are in that, in theirchapters for various reasons.
(30:27):
And if they're new or in their business, that might be why, because maybe they haven'tkind of figured out the nuances yet.
I think there's great, um you have...
different skill sets than a lot of people do, so it's very helpful.
And speaking of different skill sets, let's talk about your strengths because yourstrengths are unique to you and they are having known you for as long as I have, has gotta
(30:51):
be in the 10 plus years now, or 10-ish years on and off.
little bit of a hiatus there, but Michael Ann, Mississippi and I'm in Tennessee, so wedidn't always cross paths all the time, but certainly enough to know each other.
and the strengths that you have, I'm gonna go ahead and read.
So, Michael Ann's number one strength is woo.
She loves the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over.
(31:14):
She drives satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection, which you may havealready heard already today, right?
Number two is positivity.
You have a contagious enthusiasm.
You're upbeat and can get others excited about what they're going to do.
Developer, you recognize and cultivate the potential in others.
You spot the signs of each small improvement and derive satisfaction from evidence ofprogress.
(31:36):
Number four is Activator.
You can make things happen by turning thoughts into action.
You want to do things now rather than simply talk about them.
And number five is Communication.
You generally find it easy to put your thoughts into words.
You are a good conversationalist and presenter.
All right, so this was your first time taking this.
What did you think when you got your results?
(31:57):
I was really impressed because some of the questions ask you two things and they're bothcorrect and you had to pick and I'm like I want to pick both.
One of them I was trying to decide and I waited too long and it went away.
I like, well, let me just pick one next time.
So I thought it was, it was scarily accurate.
(32:30):
Yeah, it's so funny because the reports, when you get them do a breakdown and theyintersperse your top five things together.
So even if I don't have woo as number one, but let's just say I did um and I had otherthings that were different behind that, then my report will read differently.
The first five are intersperse because those are the you use most often.
(32:55):
My woo is actually at the other end of things.
uh but interestingly enough, we do the same role and we get things done.
Just, we just get them done through our strengths, right?
So it is entirely up to you.
But I read your, always read through because it does take that breakdown and put all thetop five things together.
And it made me laugh.
It says, em it's very likely that you are open and honest about who you are, what you'vedone, what you can do and what you cannot do.
(33:21):
which that was like to a T you.
I mean, that was like the epitome of all things I know about Michael Ann.
And so it made me laugh because Michael Ann is very, very open about all the things sheknows and all the things she doesn't.
And she will, you know, it doesn't matter.
We had some tech issues working with the podcast and it's just things that happen.
(33:44):
She's the first one to tell you when things are not, that's not her forte and what thingsare her forte.
So I just love that that was the first thing it said and it me laugh out loud when I readit.
um what did, when you looked at those things, what popped out to you the most?
So what was the, like which one of those strengths was your favorite that you thought,yep, that's me all the time.
(34:08):
positivity because no matter what happens you can always find the bright side to it Iguess or I mean
Being positive is a habit and being negative is a habit and you just get in the habit of,yes this happened but this is gonna be a result of that.
And even looking through like when you're going through a hard time, don't look at theissue in front of you, look at, okay when I get through this, this is where I'm gonna be.
(34:34):
And if you keep your eyes focused on the future and what you're working toward, thenwhat's going on right now that might not be so great, um it puts it into a little bit
different perspective.
It's just like if you hit a wall, don't stop.
way around it, over it, under it, or through it.
You just have to figure out what works.
Yeah.
So having sat with them maybe for a little bit, I know you took that not too awful longago, but having had the chance to kind of think about it, have you thought any new ways
(35:03):
about how it might apply to what you're doing either in your business or in BNI?
I it...
it maybe helps me as a problem solver.
You know, I'll see something and you know, you've heard that story, not my circus, not mymonkeys.
It's like, if I see a problem, like I just have this something inside me that makes mewant to fix it.
um And I think that's just how I'm wired.
(35:25):
Like I am just a problem solver.
And so kind of seeing that, um that may be why, because I want things to run smoothly.
I want things to improve.
I don't really have it in me to see something and to sit back and say,
well, they'll figure it out.
I've spent hours sitting on my hands not to talk because like I know the answer and Ithink that can be a fault too because when I'm working with new people I know exactly what
(35:49):
they need to be doing but it's not as effective to just tell people what to do.
Sometimes you have to lead them to it, lead them through it, help them to realize itthemselves so that they learn it.
So it can be a negative as well um but yeah that so it was it was pretty accurate.
Yeah, and what you're referring to, at least how CliftonStrengths, how we call it is ablind spot, right?
(36:11):
Is sometimes it can be, if you don't share with people, this is me and this is why Ioperate this way, is sometimes it can be too much for people.
it's not that you mean it to be too much or it's not enough in whatever the situation is.
If you speak to it to somebody, if you've just met somebody, they're gonna kind of get...
(36:34):
the experience, I guess, of being in the room with you and have whatever, everybody, weall are humans.
We look at each other, we form opinions based on what we're looking at, hearing, seeingall of the activities.
And some worlds we call that branding.
You show up the way you show up and people make assumptions based on those things, how youshow up.
uh But developer, I thought was pretty spot on for you because that's, you're looking for,I think,
(37:01):
Would you say that BNI is appealing to you for that reason that you love to help people,you know, kind of move forward and, you know, even in your business, would you say that's
also kind of applicable?
Right, I think so and like I just had the experience of helping with a new chapter launch,which this is the second chapter I've helped with.
And so to see them going from knowing very little about BNI to becoming a functionalchapter and we're still in the training phase and we're still learning and kind of getting
(37:28):
everything going.
But I find that really rewarding to take a group of people that maybe six months agodidn't even know what BNI was and now they're a functional chapter and you know they're
growing and flourishing and they get
it.
So I've really enjoyed that process.
Yeah, agreed.
you use the words, they get it.
And we use that often.
(37:49):
And as BNI coaches, that's like, they get it or they don't get it, right?
And the ones that don't get it, it's painful because in what they don't get, it variesvastly.
It's a wide chasm between what they get and what they don't get.
And you're only hurting yourself in the world of you don't get it.
And we all can see, well, not all of us, but a lot of us can see what's working and whatisn't working.
(38:13):
I always want to direct people to look at your business and compare your business to yourchapter.
Would things that happen in your chapter happen in your business?
And if you're okay with them, great.
If you're not okay with them, be part of the change.
um And I think that developer, one of the things about developer is they like to stay withsomeone over time.
(38:34):
So again, I think that's great from a coaching perspective is.
you will stick with them even sometimes to a fault, know, that they're not maybe moving,they're not gonna move in that direction at some point.
Do you have a hard time letting people go when they're not getting where they need to begetting?
And I think one of my biggest um faults is I'm not the greatest at holding peopleaccountable I can tell you all day long the benefits of it the words to say why How I can
(39:04):
give you that all day long But ultimately it's up to that person to make that change andI'm not the greatest at holding people accountable so it's like I can train people up to a
point then they got to pick it up and do it themselves and anyway
Yeah, agreed.
So are you, if you were going to give somebody uh advice because this, you've been in,both of us been in referral building, you know, it's relationship building basically is
(39:30):
how you're, building your BNI.
What would be your advice for building stronger relationships?
Cause you're all about that.
So what would be the, whether it's in your business or from BNI, what would be, you know,a piece of advice you would give to somebody to build better relationships?
Well definitely making time to do your one-to-ones even if you stay after the meeting iftimes an issue just plan it either before or after your meeting and also go to their
(39:56):
profile on the app and see what they've got filled out.
If they haven't filled out that profile with their gains and their know their ideal clientencourage them to do that and then also I think about who I'm going to be talking to and
if that whatever business that person is in I think through
(40:16):
oh how could they refer me and then I will kind of come up with here's who you can youspecifically can look for for me and then ask them you know who can I look for for you so
it's almost like every one to one I do it's totally different but I've done two today andthey were day and night because of the different industries that they were in so
(40:42):
love that you personalized that and there's a form and I've mentioned on the previous onesand it's on uh the bni, theproper100.com if you're looking for podcasts, if you're looking
for the form, it is on that website.
But I have a very different approach as I fill out the sheet in depth and we go over that.
(41:03):
you're personalizing it based on the person, which that's great because you've taken thetime to think about that.
You're going to get a lot out of that, which is amazing.
It's just two different approaches.
which are all good.
um So what's something small but memorable that you have done in your business that helpspeople remember you more?
in my personal business?
(41:25):
I...
Or you could say BNI but...
Making sure they know that I've got them.
if there's you know, whatever like for example some of my customers have you know autoship for lack of a better word and even though they were reminded by me and by the company
they forgot to change the order and they ended up with something they didn't and I take itand swap it out.
(41:47):
I just always make sure that that customer is happy and I do whatever I need to do andjust remembering them and staying in touch and then also asking people like hey how often
would you like
be contacted, do you want to be contacted, how do you want to be contacted, and then justkind of remembering the preferences.
I think people appreciate that.
I think people want to use my product and service, but I need to make it easy for them todo so.
(42:11):
Yeah, love that.
That's perfect.
And in the style of Stephen Bartlett on his podcast, asked guests, the last guest to leavea question from, so that my last guest wrote a question for you and asked you to do the
same for the next one.
But her question for you was when attending networking events outside of BNI meetings, areyou able to figure out that somebody that you didn't know before, like through the
(42:35):
conversation that you're having that they've been a BNI member?
Does that make sense?
and one way is it's funny when I go to networking meetings I kind of use the sameprinciple like I'm not there to sell most people in the room are there to sell so I'm not
there to sell so what I typically do is I ask people if they've ever been to a BNI meetingbecause I'm helping them grow their business I'm not even telling them what I do I'm being
(43:00):
helpful to them and so it's easy to find that out because that's usually one of the thingsI ask at a networking meeting so yeah but yes and when they
half into a meeting, I mean they just automatically, yeah, it's like their face lights up,there's clarity and there's that connection there.
Yeah, and you can almost feel a difference because they get it, right?
They get it.
(43:22):
So love that.
All right.
And then lastly, what are you excited about right now?
What's coming up in your business that you're excited about that's new, you know, in thefuture?
Well, I am just looking to kind of expand my customer appreciation and just working withthat and I did get a new lead today at a meeting this morning so I'm gonna follow up.
I actually did, I got several referrals from the meeting I went to today.
(43:44):
So just those new customers that I haven't connected with and met with yet.
Okay, awesome.
And I want to remind people, well, I'll not remind them because they don't know about it,but tell people that you mentioned, and maybe you didn't because we were talking
beforehand, but Michael Ann was on a podcast with Ivan Meisner where she talked in depthabout how she kind of uniquely markets with trades and that.
(44:06):
Do you remember your podcast number with Ivan?
I was at podcast number 855.
Okay, so if you want to hear more about that, then go to podcast 855 on the BNI podcast.
And uh thank you, Michael Ann, thanks for being here.
Appreciate you.
uh Before we wrap up, if you found today's conversation helpful to you, I would love thatyou go and hit the subscribe button.
(44:31):
It will help other people find that information.
also ah that are in BNI when they're searching, it's on YouTube.
So if you've had anything that sort of, you were like, ooh, that was an aha moment.
And maybe somebody else would benefit from that with love that you would subscribe.
And also on the CliftonStrength side is knowing the information is great.
ah But it's almost maybe like if I go to a fortune teller and they tell me my fortune, Ithink that's fun.
(44:56):
But
if I got all the information that would be useful to me to apply and which is what I do asa coach, love to help you do that.
So thank you everybody for being here and we will see you next time on the Perfect 100.
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