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Q. Who can join BRX?
A. If you are in a business/profession or you are a service provider, an individual or a company, emerging or established, BRX is for you. Do note though, only one trade or profession can belong to that Group so that there is no competition.
Q. How can I and my business/profession make the most out of the BRX membership?
A. Simple. Participate, attend diligently, listen for others, take a role in your Group, study and implement the wisdom in your
BRX literature.
Q. How can I deliver a better 60 second presentation?
A. For starters, say who you are, what you do and why you are good at what you do. Importantly, be specific about what kind of referrals you are looking for and end with a memorable slogan. Ask an experienced Member/Mentor to help you. BRX training programs will help you gain confidence for better presentations.
Complete your presentation reminding who you are, where you are based and what you do. There is quite a deal of information about the One and Ten minute presentations in the BRX Business and Personal Development Programme literature.
Q. Tell me about the format of a meeting?
A. BRX meetings are structured to give Members the maximum opportunity and benefit to build trust and understanding about each others business. Your objective is to ensure that members are confident to refer colleagues to their contacts beyond the Group and be able to recognize opportunities for each other.
After informal networking, Members have the opportunity to present their needs to each other, asking for the connections that will benefit their business, whether to clients or businesses with whom they have a synergy.
Many meetings feature a 10 minutes spotlight on one Member, enabling them to describe their business in more depth or develop understanding in other ways. At other times, Groups will brainstorm current business issues, break into smaller Groups to focus on one business or take other steps to help build relationships and understanding to a stronger level.
Each meeting ends with a referral and feedback session, where people pass their business contacts to each other, followed by more informal networking.
Further details can be found in the Business and Personal Development Programme literature.
Q. What if I belong to another networking organisation?
A. BRX encourages its Members to network who also belong to other Groups. However, BRX reserves the right to decline membership to people who have executive leadership roles in competing organisations.
Q. What if I cannot attend every week?
A. Regular attendance is imperative. It builds trust and understanding and leads to more referrals. If you cannot attend, you will need to find/appoint a substitute (not a member of the Group) to attend in your place; it can be a family member, friend or a colleague.
That substitute will represent you with your 60 second pitch. The substitute will be asked for no meeting fees, this will come from your contribution.
Q. What are the Substitute Guidelines?
A. BRX Members who can't get to a breakfast with their Group are encouraged to send someone along in their stead; i.e. a Subsitute. Having someone represent your company at a BRX breakfast meeting is a fabulous opportunity to show another side of your business and even get something that amounts to a third-party endorsement!
A sub who simply reads out something cut-and-pasted from your website could actually do more harm than good by trying to read out loud something intended for print, stumbling over words and missing the point entirely.
Solution
Talk to your sub like a 1-2-1 meeting, either in person or over the telephone. If the sub actually knows something about your business, they are perfectly likely to have a referral for you! Also if a sub reads out your script and actually KNOWS something about you, he will be more convincing and, wonder of wonders, may actually get you some referrals WITHOUT YOU BEING THERE!
What to write
Which brings us onto the point of the point of subs: To get you referrals! Having spoken to the sub, send them a script for their (your) 60 seconds presentation. Now, the script you send them needs to be more clear and focussed than if you were doing the 60 seconds yourself. Ask for a clear, specific type of referral in the script. Choose one (only ONE) type of ideal referral and put in a request for just that type. And KEEP IT SHORT!
60 seconds = 150 words
Or Less is More?
If you give your sub a three minute script (450 words) it will not all get read out and, if it is, the audience will get bored! So keep it succinct and simple.
Are you talking to me?
When you use a sub, there is simply no point trying to introduce your company to new Members and guests. They will need your sparkling personality and/or pretty face in order to remember your business, so aim your script at the other regulars: ask for very specific referrals and KEEP IT BRIEF!
Look who s talking!
One can t pretend that he/she is really you and no-one would be fooled if one tried. So write the script in the third person: go through it and change all the I, we and us to your company s name. If you do it well, it will sound like a testimonial!
If you do all the above you will get better service from your sub who will be more willing to help you!
The top points:
* Talk to your sub - it s like a 1-2-1.
* Make their script MORE focussed than your own.
* Keep it short: 60 seconds = 150 words.
* Choose only one aspect for them to talk about.
* Write the script in the third person.
Q. What if I can t bring regular referrals?
A. With BRX, there is no pressure to bring referrals every week. We prefer no referrals to bum referrals given under pressure.
If you are struggling to generate referrals speak to other Members about it, read our BRX publications or speak to your Group Partner.
Q. Is it a personal or company membership?
A. It is the company that is the BRX Member, not the individual. Your colleagues can attend meetings and other sessions in your Group without paying for another membership The meeting fee for your colleagues must be paid to the Group on the day.
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