President's Weekly Letter, Champions SoCal BNI

Wooooooo, CHAMPIONS!

What do Sales Manager Moments, Elevator Speeches, Lem Bucago, Profitable Introductions, Jim Sando, Tabasco, Donna Cahoon, and Educational Moments have in common? Champions...that's what! With a touch of scripting brilliance, a prediction from your faithful President (see weekly letter of last week), and a lot of butterfly herding (Mr. Sando knows what I mean), the Champions were treated to an outstanding Educational Moment by Jim Sando (SMMs), a workshop by Lem Bucago (SMMs and fifteen Champions in attendance after the meeting), the International Tabasco Award (ITA) awarded to our newest member, Donna Cahoon (SMMs). Sales Manger Moments, AKA, SMMs, Profitable Intros, Elevator Speeches, etc., etc. were today's Champion theme and the results should be amazing. Remember, an effective SMM MUST have a catchy opening, an LCD with a story or testimonial, a SPECIFIC ask, and be completed within the allotted time frame...in our case, 30 seconds. A large Champion thanks to Jim Sando for arranging the workshop, signing the participants, monitoring the payments, dealing with the venue, etc. and to our very own Lem Bucago for demonstrating why he is Director of Training (workshops) AND was trainer (before they were called workshops) of the year for 2009 and 2010! So by my count, we should have several more **** Champions after June 21st! (the date of the next workshop). Well done folks! Well done indeed!

Meeting Highlights (as if you need more):

100% attendance today!

Director Lem Bucago and Ambassadress Bernardette Lazzara (who won the Champion Spark Plug award for being a workshop maven) were in attendance as well!

EC Moment...above...film attached! Sorry Robert...not as professional as your film!

Donna Cahoon took the coveted ITA (as predicted) for the "hottest" SMM...hope that you don't need the pepper for your upcoming vacation, Donna as the Tabasco is meant to be worn...not consumed.

Carmina Perez, FIS Merchant Services, keynoted in addition to "ruling" the ITA competition today. Rumor has it that Carmina actually took the ruler to several of her clients last week. Director Lem reviewed for us the highlights of the Chapter Success Forums...Subs, Evening Among the Stars, L/T transition, BNI Connect webinars.

Review of Chapter Biz (Greg Beck, the Sheriff) and monthly leaders...the referral leaders were the stars today!(Aric Gless and Brett Adolph with 11 each and Jim Sando with 10). These three gentlemen accounted for almost 1/3 of the referrals that were given last month. Our one-to-one numbers are through the roof as we have completed 252 in this month alone!

Stand and Deliver...heart felt, compelling and tons of TYFCB! Did I hear that we are "someones" favorite chapter? Hmmm? Sorry, Jim Sando, "someone" is allowed in that context!

The GRC team reported the results with one week remaining in the Champion's contest. It is any one's game as reported by Michael Figueroa, Jody Houseman, Ela Corcoran, and Dr. Real. Fewer than 1000 points separate last from first. Tune in soon for the winner, winner, chicken dinner!

The meeting was adjourned with a quote..."wherever you are, be there!"

Make it a Champion week y'all!

Your faithful President,

Allen Buchanan

Jim Sando, Our EC on Networking

Jim Sando, from the Strategic Results Group delivers a wonderful EC Moment on that critical first 15 minutes of your BNI meeting. Are you using that time efficiently? Watch here and find out! Thanks to Robert A. Perez for his production of the video!!

Champions SoCal BNI President's Weekly Letter

Woooooooooo, CHAMPIONS!!!

The New leadership year was embraced by all who attended the meeting this week. Allen Buchanan opened the meeting with a new Champions SoCal BNI greeting, Wooooooooo, CHAMPIONS! This is reminiscent of "calling the hogs" in Allen's native Arkansas.

We welcomed three visitors and one substitute and the room was full of Champions enthusiasm.

Jim Sando, Education Coordinator, delivered his first EC Moment and based his presentation on "How to Improve Your BNI ROI". Jim's presentation encompassed four key points: use your open networking time more effectively, use your Sales Manager Moment more effectively, use the speaker's presentation time more effectively, and finally use your "Stand and Deliver" time more effectively. Great Job, Jim and we are eager to hear more education messages from you!

Allen Buchanan was the leader in one-to-one meetings and referrals for the month of September and Rosanne Grigsby invited the most visitors. Emily Davidson won the spark plug award for her diligent efforts on membership issues for the past two weeks and her skillful execution of the BNI Family Feud last week.

Greg Beck reported that the chapter participated in 209 one-to-one meetings, exchanged 112 referrals, and welcomed 10 visitors for the month of September. Additionally the Champions thanked others for $49,533 in closed business raising the BNI yearly total to $638,531! Tremendous effort Champions!!

Rosanne Grigsby introduced the speakers for this week. Dr. Hercules Real spoke about Snap on Smile and his special promotional price of $999 for cash payment or $99 per month for 12 months. Dr. Real also reviewed several images of dental issues to note when we are conducting our weekly activities. Allen Buchanan spoke about his "Spheres of Influence" and the five professionals that most small businesses rely upon for advice, CPAs, business attorneys, commercial bankers, commercial insurance brokers, and wealth advisors. Allen also demonstrated the new blog site and facebook page for the Champions SoCal BNI Chapter.

Dues for October are now due and payable. A late charge of $5 per week will be assessed on all late payments.

Emily Davisdson outlined our "Top Ten" list. They are:

1. Business Attorney

2. Hair Dresser

3. Merchant Services

4. General Contractor

5. Electrician

6. Roofer

7. Estate Attorney

8. HR Consultant

9. Personal Fitness Trainer

10. Heating & Air Conditioning Company

Emily also reserved four Stack Days for the upcoming year...November 16, February 15, May 17th, and August 16th.

Allen adjourned the meeting with a quote and asked that all of the Champions make it a Champion Week!

Welcome New Leadership Team!

The Champions Chapter of SoCal BNI began its 2010-2011 leadership year on October 1, 2010 with a new leadership team. Allen Buchanan will serve as President. Allen provides location advice to owners and occupants of industrial buildings in Southern California. Gregory Beck, CPA will serve as Vice President. Greg provides accounting, part time CFO, consulting, and forecasting services for closely held businesses that generate revenues of $1,000,000 to $10,000,000 annually. Rosanne Grigsby, Bookkeeper, will serve as Secretary Treasurer. Rosanne provides bookkeeping services to small and medium sized businesses and has extensive experience with non-profit organizations. Jim Sando will serve as our Education Coordinator, Aric Gless will head our Membership Committee, Steven Stakley will Mentor the Mentors, Emily Davidson (2009-2010) VP will coordinate Growth and Retention, and Tom Roberts will manage the Visitor Host Team. The Champions has a long history of success and I am confident that this year's leadership team will make it another Champion year!