Lifelong Learning in Business: How We Keep Growing at Kwik Dry

By Robert Mitchell

Over the last two years, I’ve spent about 400 hours reading and listening to self-help books. Leadership, goal setting, communication, personal growth, I love learning about all of it.

Those books challenge me. They help me recognize where I need to grow and give me ideas I can use in my business and my life.

And after all those hours, I still turn to the BNI Podcast and BNI Academy to learn how to become a better referral partner.

There’s a reason for that: referral marketing is a skill that deserves its own study and practice.

Make Room for Referral Marketing

One of BNI’s core values is lifelong learning. That’s something I believe in deeply. Whether you’re starting your first business or have been running one for decades, there’s always room to grow.

Our regional leadership has encouraged us to include self-help books in our Chapter Education Units, or CEUs. I appreciate that encouragement. Growing as a person can influence how we lead, communicate, and serve others.

My encouragement is to make sure referral marketing stays part of that learning.

A leadership book can help you build a stronger team. A book about goals can help you choose a direction and follow through. A sales book can help you understand a customer’s needs.

But how do you help another business owner recognize an opportunity for you when you aren’t in the room?

And how do you learn to recognize opportunities for them?

Those questions deserve our attention, too.

Give People Something They Can Recognize

Imagine a member standing up and saying, “I’m looking for anybody who needs my services.”

We may want to help, but that request gives us very little direction.

Now imagine that same person describing a particular customer, a problem that customer faces, and something we might hear them say in conversation.

Suddenly, we have something to recognize.

In restoration, for example, “Keep me in mind if someone needs restoration” is a broad request. Teaching someone to listen for, “Every time it rains, that corner of the basement gets wet,” gives them a specific situation they may encounter.

That’s a skill we can develop: helping our referral partners understand when an introduction would be useful.

It also means listening closely when other members teach us about their businesses. Their next referral may be hidden in a conversation we would otherwise overlook.

Learn to Find Your “Golden Goose”

Another valuable part of referral marketing is understanding your “golden goose”— a person who regularly serves the same customers you do and could become an ongoing referral partner.

For Kwik Dry, that could be a professional who regularly encounters homeowners dealing with property problems.

Building that relationship takes more than exchanging business cards. We need to understand each other’s customers, recognize where our services connect, and build enough trust to make a confident introduction.

And I need to ask myself an equally important question:

How can I become that kind of resource for them?

That question changes how I approach a one-to-one. I come prepared to understand their business, listen for what they need, and look for ways to help.

Put the Learning to Work

Most of us weren’t taught in school how to build a referral partnership. Many excellent business books don’t explore it in much depth, either.

That’s why I continue using BNI’s educational resources. Even after years in business and hundreds of hours of personal development, I still have things to learn about making my requests clearer, recognizing opportunities, and helping other members succeed.

The next step is application.

After listening to a podcast or completing a BNI Academy course, take one idea into your next one-to-one. Ask a better question. Get clearer about someone’s ideal customer. Learn what situation should make you think of them.

Then pay attention during the week.

Lifelong learning becomes especially valuable when someone else benefits from what we’ve learned.

So keep reading the books that challenge and inspire you. Keep developing your leadership, communication, and character. And make regular time to study the skills that help you become a stronger referral partner.

Here’s the question I’m asking myself:

What am I learning this week that will help me create an opportunity for someone else?