Inviting Visitors to BNI

    Over the past 6 months our BNI Chapter has grown tremendously, and it has contributed to more referrals and more business for everyone in the room. We want to keep growing, but we want to continue to add quality professionals. Over the next six months we need to focus on bringing in 1 visitor per member, per month. So that in 6 months if we initiate one of those visitors per month, we will have 50 members and 50 visitors passing at least 50 referrals each meeting.

    How do you invite visitors?

    Don't talk too much when inviting a visitor. The more you might talk them out of it. Seeing is believing, get them in, the meeting will sell itself, and if it doesn't they aren't the right fit. Never say the following things until you are asked when you invite someone:

1. 7:00 AM
   
2. Breakfast
   
3. Weekly Meetings
   
4. Networking – usually associated with MLM
   
5. JOIN – you are not getting them to join, you're asking them to attend
   
6. Meeting Agenda – just get them to come, they do not have to understand the structure before hand, they will see it for themselves.
   

What Should You Say?

The recommendation from Jeff Stay, the director for BNI Miami Dade is to say this line, verbatim:

"John (insert the real name of the person you are inviting), I am working with a group of local business people who are looking for a plumber (insert the profession of the person you are inviting) to give their business to. Would you like to come and meet some of my colleagues?"

The Dirt Lawyer, Tim Sander tells people, "How would you like 45 trained sales persons marketing your business for you for free?" Adam Levy says,

"The key thing for me is to carefully select the right people you think would really would benefit and fit in to BNI.  Selection is key.  A visitor to our meeting/ group has got to fit in to our group's personality.  You can't fit a square peg in a round hole.  Once I get someone on my mind, I don't let up.  I make a phone call, invite them to view the website and to an upcoming meeting.  If they do not attend, I call a couple more times until they tell me they are too busy or not interested.  If they don't mention either one of those reasons, I invite again and tell them that they cannot pass up this type of opportunity.  I stay on it. That is my approach."

    The 7am Objection

    For some reason a lot of people are opposed to meeting at 7am. Everyone here knows the benefits, or they just like getting up early. But reiterate it for the potential visitor.

• You beat the morning rush hour
  
• You are out of the meeting and on your way to work by 8:30
  
• You start one day of the week off enthusiastically and with a good breakfast
  

The Attendance Objection

Some people are concerned about attending a meeting each and every week. We do not want to down play attendance; we want to show them that it is important enough to make it part of your routine. If there is a legitimate reason why the person cannot attend, they probably would not be a good fit for the group. For instance, if the person is a single parent and the only person available to take the children to school each morning, this might not be a good fit. But, some people think they are busier than they really are at 7am. Get these people to the meeting, if they don't get why it's important after coming to the meeting, cross them off the list, we don't want them.

The Referral Objection

Another reoccurring object is the fear of not being able to bring in referrals each and every week. Just like attendance, we do not want to down play the importance of bringing referrals, because that is why we are here. You need to tell these people that the referrals will come when you meet with the people in the chapter on the 1 on 1s. They will tell you how to pass them a referral, and it will just come. Also, bringing in a visitor is just as good as a referral, because now that person can become a referral or give a referral, even if they never join.

Visitors are the key for our group's survival and for the growth of our businesses through BNI. Visitors that become members open up over 250 new contacts for reoccurring referrals each week. But, even visitors that do not become members provide us with a one-time shot at referring business to us from their contacts, and they themselves can become someone's best new client. The goal is 50/50/50. We need 50 visitors per month, from 50 members, passing 50 referrals each meeting, and we need it in 6 months. It all starts with visitors.

Insurance for Internet Dating and Social Networking

Countless numbers of people have found love, friendship, and business contacts through social networking and internet dating sites. However, we also hear of the horror stories involving people that are physically harmed. You, the owners of these very profitable websites, are constantly balancing the risk vs. the reward of operating your company.

Right now you are trying to mitigate your risk by making your site as safe as possible. This is a great thing, because no one wants your clients to get hurt more than you. Social media is not a zero sum game when we're talking about assault and battery. Your client loses and you lose. One person gets hurt and it could all be over. Can your company withstand a multimillion dollar lawsuit?

Well finally there is an insurance solution for internet dating and social networking websites. It comes in the form of an endorsement to some internet liability policies for contingent bodily injury coverage. Internet liability insurance is the policy that covers a company for their internet activities. For the most part this covers invasion of privacy and intellectual property infringement. For more about internet liability insurance please read my article titled, Insurance 2.0 in Website Magazine's Issue 11.

http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/articles/internet_liability_insurance.aspx

Many internet liability policies have many specific exclusions in there for bodily injury, property damage, violations of statutes and regulations, mass communications, and other hot-button items. But, some of these exclusions can be taken out my endorsement. You need to read your policy and discuss with your agent, the full list of exclusions and endorsements. The Contingent Bodily Injury Coverage Endorsement deletes the exclusion found in many policies for claims of bodily injury brought against the insured company. So what does this mean in real life?

XYZdating.com operates like many other dating website. Users post their profiles and can chat and meet up if they choose. Two users schedule a date. On the date there is a sexual assault. The criminal proceedings take place, but the victim also decides to launch a civil suit against XYZdating.com. XYZdating.com may or may not be found liable in the suit. However, even if they are not found liable, defending the suit could cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars. This endorsement provides the duty to defend and a sublimit for any reward settlement.

This is a very basic example but it could easily take place with dating websites, social networking or business networking websites. And the endorsement can be added to some internet liability policies. There are other very important endorsements and conditions that should be taken into consideration for social media website and dating websites. I hope to have future articles going over Intellectual Property Infringement, and how it relates to User generated content. Also making sure you have coverage for regulatory action including violations of local, state and federal privacy acts. As well as cyber extortion, crisis management and public relations expense, business income for network interruption and privacy liability including paper documents.

Andrew Cohn will be giving a presentation on the topic of Bodily Injury coverage for Internet Dating and other forms of social media at the 6^th Annual Internet Dating Conference at the Miami Beach Convention Center, January 22-23, 2009. For more information please go to www.idate2008.com/innerpage-miami.php.

For more information about obtaining internet liability insurance for your company please contact me, Andrew Cohn at alcohn@wwfins.com .

 

Globalization: Insured

    A-Z Technology, Inc. is very conscious of its domestic risk exposure, and the CEO and CFO have made sure to fill every gap possible with an insurance product. They obviously have their property insurance, general liability, workers compensation, car insurance, professional liability and they even have internet liability and network security liability. They're starting to grow, but the policies keep renewing, and the premiums keep growing so they feel safe. However, now A-Z Technology has starting to grow outside of the United States.

    It was only a little bit at first. A trip to Brazil to make the sales pitch for 4 days. Then they got the account in Columbia which had their two employees over there for 3 weeks. And now they have the call center in Chile that is saving them a lot of money. The principals didn't think much about it, until the one day that they got the call.

The call center manager was in Chile and decided to rent a vehicle. He was tired of relying on the taxis and public transportation, and he knew his way around by now. Well, he got into an accident. He's a little banged up, the other driver was hurt more severely, and your employee was at-fault. What do you do now? Can you call up your car insurance to cover the accident in a rented vehicle in another country?

This is where you need to make sure your global exposures are properly insured by your global insurance. Just think about all of the obstacles of driving in another country: Jet lag, Unfamiliar roads and signs, different speed limits, rules, and regulations, and an unfamiliar vehicle.

This type of coverage is called Hired and Non-owned Automobile Liability Insurance. On top of this there are other coverages that companies need to take into consideration. For one, you need property insurance. In the example above the company actually had a physical location which could be insured for building coverage, and in addition they have equipment and other business property which can be insured as well for theft, fire, vandalism, windstorms, lightning, ect. You probably also have property-in-transit which you would want to insure including samples and equipment. You also have general liability concerns. Just like someone can fall in your office and sue you in the United States, the same can apply overseas.

In the example above your employee was hurt. You need to think about how that employee will be insured for in the recovery process. Foreign Voluntary Workers Compensation covers U.S. employees while they are working overseas. In addition to the normal workers comp coverage, foreign voluntary workers comp also pays repatriation and evacuation expenses to get your injured employee safely back into the United States. Foreign Voluntary Workers Compensation is not a regulatory benefit like Statutory Workers Comp, which is regulated by each State. However, Foreign Voluntary Workers Compensation is a promise to pay the equivalent of regulatory benefits, should the loss fall outside the state/country statutes or regulations.

Lastly, A-Z Technology, Inc. should consider having Kidnap and Ransom Insurance and Accidental Death & Dismemberment Insurance for their employee benefits. Nobody wants to think about it, and no one thinks it can happen to them, but it does happen, and it happens to someone. Kidnap and Ransom Coverage helps in the process of trying to negotiate with a person's captor in the event this would happen. The insurance can also pay requested Ransom amounts, and pay for any events that do occur.

For more information about global insurance please contact me, Andrew Cohn at (786) 382-6833 or email acohn@alcrisk.com. For more information about Global Insurance coverages and other insurance coverages visit our the ALC Risk Solutions website at www.alcrisk.com.