As a Mortgage Maven located in the Land of Enchantment, I am often called upon as a Resource Directory of sorts, or as my friend Nicolle calls me, The Citywide Concierge - lol. The reason people call on me for a referral is because business networking is my life's passion. I provide residential mortgage financing for my Realtor customers and clients, but I get a kick out of making connections for other people. Malcolm Gladwell recognizes "Connectors" in his books; "The Tipping Point" and "Outliers". Bob Burg does also in his book; "The Go-Giver". Connectors have intrinsic value to our local and global communities.
Part of being a referral resource for customers and clients is testing businesses and professionals prior to referring them to people you know and trust. I often say, riches may come and go, but my reputation is everything to me. The easiest way I have found of testing referral partners is through my affiliation with BNI (Business Network Int'l). BNI is a non-compete word of mouth referral organization, in fact, BNI is the world's largest networking organization! (See http://www.bni.com/) If you are in BNI, you have been accepted by a Chapter's membership committee, your business references have been checked, and you have been properly trained in how to network effectively and follow up on referrals that you receive.
BNI actually has a code of ethics that members solemnly swear to uphold as well - it goes a little something like this;
Upon acceptance to BNI, I agree to abide by the following Code of Ethics during the tenure of my participation in the organization:
- I will provide the quality of services at the prices that I have quoted.
- I will be truthful with the members and their referrals.
- I will build goodwill and trust among members and their referrals.
- I will take responsibility for following up on the referrals I receive.
- I will display a positive and supportive attitude with BNI members.
- I will live up to the ethical standards of my profession.
NOTE: Professional standards outlined in a formal code of ethics, supersede the above standards. (This means that a member belonging to a profession that has a more stringent standard must adhere to that standard. An example of this is the state bar association standards for attorneys licensed to practice law in that state. It should be noted that no professional standards outlined in a formal code of ethics may lower BNI ethical standards, or avoid compliance with BNI policies.)
I can rest assured that my referral partners in BNI always have my back - we believe in the spirit of teamwork, and in many cases, our client sharing engages us to work as a transaction team; Realtor, Mortgage, Insurance, Inspector, Handyman, Financial Advisor and so on, where customers and clients have a network of resources surrounding a real estate transaction of buying a home.
Melinda Potcher’s company is Divine Mortgage, LLC. Through the mentorship of BNI founder, Dr. Ivan Misner, Ms. Potcher is also a published author with an article published in Dr. Misner’s blog on http://networking.entrepreneur.com and you can reach her at (505) 550-6813, or by email melinda@yourdivineteam.com. You may also follow her on her facebook fan page, “Musings of a Mortgage Maven”.
BNI
With over 5,500 active chapters, and over 100,000 members throughout every populated continent worldwide, BNI is the largest and most successful business referral organization in the world. BNI was founded in 1985 by Dr. Ivan Misner and the organization, which allows only one person from each profession to join a chapter, offers members the opportunity to share ideas, contacts, and most importantly, referrals. Last year alone, members of BNI passed 6.2 million referrals, generating 2.6 billion dollars’ worth of business.
For more information on BNI, please visit http://www.bni.com/ or call BNI Headquarters at 909.608.7575.
Links:
~ BNI Store - http://store.bni.com/
~ Blog - http://www.networkingnowblog.com/
~ BNI SuccessNet Newsletter - http://www.bnisuccessnet.com/
~ BNI Twitter page - http://twitter.com/BNI_Official_Pg
~ BNI Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/BNIOfficialPage
~ NetworkingNow - http://www.networkingnow.com/
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