Episode 12
with Simone Douglas
In this episode of Confident Networker, Simone sits down with Craig Parry from BNI Storm.
Connect with Craig here:
https://www.crownmoneymanagement.com.au/
@CrownMoneyManagement – https://www.facebook.com/CrownMoneyManagement/
@craigparrycrown – https://www.facebook.com/craigparrycrown/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/parry-craig/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/crown-money/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmyMxSdsr_T41wYj5AnDsLA
If you’d like to attend a Chapter meeting, you can book your spot here: https://bnian.com.au/chapter/bni-storm/
Chris Irving 0:00
Welcome to the confident networker with your host Simone Douglas. In each insightful episode, she chats with one of the leading people from the BNI and business world.
Simone Douglas 0:10
This week on the confident networker podcast, I am joined by the tall and somewhat legendary Craig Perry from Crown Money.
Craig Parry 0:21
I’m going to slash to get down to your level. Yeah,
Simone Douglas 0:23
I think both of us in the shot is a little bit awkward, I must say. But So Craig, thanks for joining me
Craig Parry 0:29
Your welcome, Thanks for having me.
Simone Douglas 0:31
You have been in BNI for a little while you’re a member of BNI storm who meets on a Wednesday? How long have you been in BNI for?
Craig Parry 0:39
I think itss coming up to five years now. So I think five years in October, so very excited to to get my five year pin. And it’s been a great journey for me. I’ve had a lot of a lot of my visitors become members. Yeah, I’ve put a few people on board to join the group as well along the way. So it’s a great group, very good culture. And we’ve worked really hard on that.
Simone Douglas 1:03
So five years is a long time in business to How is your business changed and evolved over the last five years? Can you tell us a bit about what you guys do? And he is not quite?
Craig Parry 1:13
Sure? Sure. Yeah, the business, our mortgage broking business. So we hold the residential mortgage broking seat in BNI storm. Like any other mortgage broker, we’ve got a panel of lenders, but we have a heavy focus on debt reduction for our clients. And I think that’s really what sort of suits apart from, you know, a lot of the other mortgage brokers in in BNI. And, you know, we’re really big on providing education, and I think the members of BNI storm see that, which is really great. So they see a different perspective of what we’re trying to do to help our clients to move forward financially, and help them pay off their debts as quickly as possible. So it’s been it’s been a great journey with with BNI. And I’ve really enjoyed my time there. And, you know, it’s given me a lot of friendships possible. So business, and it’s, it would be hard for me to give it up. I use BNI as my marketing arm. We don’t market our business really whatsoever, because we’re 100% referral based business referral partners and from our current clients, so BNI has been a fantastic source of revenue. Plus also, I guess, referral partner leads for our business to ensure that we can continue to grow, which we are doing now. And we’re looking to put on 10 brokers nationally across the country. We’ve got three here now in South Australia. So yeah, our business has evolved from, you know, my brother myself, and then now it’s progressing up and yeah, we’re going through a national expansion.
Simone Douglas 2:37
You guys took out an award not that long ago, am I right?
Craig Parry 2:40
Did Yeah, I was lucky enough. Last year, I was lucky enough to do the 2020 essay broke over the year for Fincher, which is aggregator firm. This year, we were finalists for four so best mortgage broker in South Australia, best customer service and the best independent office, my apologies three in South Australia, and we were lucky enough to take out the best independent mortgage broking office in South Australia under five staff. So yeah, yeah, we’re very, very happy the team put a lot of work in and I guess, yeah, just giving back to our clients as much as we can. And we know it’s a service based industry. So we try and do as much as we can to educate our clients and giving back the information they need to make better financial decisions.
Simone Douglas 3:22
So you’re saying you’re 100% referral based business? Do you know how what percentage of your new business comes from BNI?
Craig Parry 3:30
We did this statistic actually. So I do know, I do know this. So for South Australian, or the national business, but for South Australia alone, 67% of my business comes through BNI which is Yeah, and it’s and you’ve really got to track it, because it’s, you know, it’s not only the initial referral, you get, you know, there’s tier two tier threes, and that continues to build and that actually compounds in our business and it has, it’s really, I’ve looked at it the four year mark, and I thought you know, let’s break this break down the numbers, because I’m in finance, let’s see what it’s actually really doing. And I was I was truly amazed, as opposed to, you know, how much revenue is actually coming through the door, but you’ve really got to measure it to to make sure that you understand exactly how much benefit you are getting from from your membership. So it’s yeah, it’s been it’s been a great journey. I feel year 4 year 5 I’ve just sort of it’s almost like doubled Yeah, crazy. So I think the longer you stay there the more committed you are you really solidify those relationships with your members, you’ve got new members coming in the membership base is growing as well and I just feel from year 4 year 5 have really sort of doubled what I used to be doing and it’s really working quite well.
Simone Douglas 4:37
Do you think so part of that is that you you so understand this system and how to make it work for you at that point.
Craig Parry 4:44
I think you know you over time you do you understand the BNI you know policies procedures and how to get I guess the most out of it, there’s a lot of education. We’ve got the obviously university now for BNI. So I think you know you’re there’s a lot more being put back came to BNI, which I really appreciate. There’s a lot more money being spent to invest to to ensure that it’s obviously one of the best networking businesses around the globe.
Simone Douglas 5:09
Yeah, absolutely. What Why is networking important to your business?
Craig Parry 5:14
Well, yeah, for going back on what I was saying previously, it’s the only part of our business marketing. So it’s a huge part of our business. I mean, we’re all about warm referrals. And as we know, in BNI, that was what happens in BNI, is a warm referral, it’s not a lead, you know, our industry you’ve got, there’s got to be a lot of trust that you’re dealing with the biggest debt in people’s lives financially, it is a burden on them. So you know, there’s got to be a lot of trust there. So I feel, you know, marketing is, is really a key to our business, because we’re not marketing out there in the marketplace. So BNI sort of fills that void, and really, you know, provides the marketing that we need, and, again, consistent referrals that come through and they warm leads, right, that’s the trusted leads, yeah, most leads that I get from BNI, the deal is pretty much done, because trust is there, they’ve understand that potentially help their clients or family and friends before?
Simone Douglas 6:10
Absolutely. What’s the best piece of networking advice you’ve ever been given?
Craig Parry 6:16
The best piece of networking advice I’ve ever been given is, don’t ask don’t get, which sort of relates to givers gain a little bit, essentially. So I’m always a big believer, if you’re not, asking people, whether that’d be for the work or for potential referral, you know, making yourself known, then I don’t feel you’re gonna get the work. So that was probably the one line that I consistently remember.
Simone Douglas 6:42
It’s good advice.
Craig Parry 6:43
Correct. If you don’t say anything, and you’re not gonna ask, then you’re not gonna get the work. I always
Simone Douglas 6:47
ask for what I want most of the time. That’s right. That’s correct. And even when I don’t I get half of it sometimes. Wow. So what has been the best introduction or referral that you’ve received? Or the most surprising source of an introduction? Yeah, it
Craig Parry 7:05
was actually from a photographer, I get a lot of business from visitors, which is, mean, I know, we talked about in BNI, that, you know, visitors do bring value to the group, which they do. And one of my, one of the visitors that, that came in and had been, I just wasn’t paying me wasn’t an early morning person. I said, you know, this afternoon. So still try to obviously get him involved. But he came to, he came to a one of our meetings about three years ago, he’s been a client of mine ever since. But what he’s been able to do to introduce me to his networks, which he had a huge amount of networks, yeah, has just been on top. So I’ve really looked at looked after him over serviced him as a client. And he’s, in turn, then been able to introduce me to a whole network of people, which have also consistently given me business. So that one visitor that came that I spent some time with, he obviously, you know, I think 60 or 60 seconds, like hit home to him, because there’s probably more about education, you know, has now turned into, you know, many, many hundreds of clients, which, which is amazing, all from a visitor.
Simone Douglas 8:05
Yeah. You raise another good point, though. Not every visitor joins my chapter. And we don’t expect them to what, why don’t why do you enjoy having visitors come in the room outside of the fact that, you know, potentially there might be work, but what are the other reasons that you enjoy
Craig Parry 8:25
the chapter, this is a certain level of energy to the room, you know, we’ve had, we’ve had, we’ve had 70 visitors in a room at one point in time, you know, we’ve had three visitors in a room at one point in time, and you can just really sort of see the energy difference, it’s a much more vibrant meeting, you know, everyone’s really excited, because, you know, the visitors want to know, what we do as members, the members want to know, the visitors do so I think it’s I think, if anything, I think the visitors, you know, add a lot of value, not only if they want to turn into a membership and, and continue to grow their business or start that journey, but also add a lot of value to the room in the energy, which is really, you know, what grows BNI?
Simone Douglas 9:05
Is there value that the members add to visitors outside of just being able to service their needs?
Craig Parry 9:13
Yeah. We’ve had constant feedback from visitors that have stood up when we say, Hey, how was your how’s the experience? What did you feel? Did you like it? The number of visitors that have stood up in our, in our chapter and have said, This is great, I’ve now got 30 people that I can actually go run in electrician. And so they’re actually using people within the group because they haven’t had that network involved. But the like the group, they’ve liked the culture that we’ve created, so they instantly you know, have a list of trusted people that they can go to so yeah, but as I said, it’s not for everyone. Again, there’s a lot of value for visitors to come not only from their perspective, but also from the members.
Simone Douglas 9:54
Well, and I think also if you I’ve had a lot of people visit chapters who have relocated for me to say That’s particularly now pandemic, South Australia, we’re in a good place. I won’t touch the woods. But yeah, it’s um, I think, you know, if you’re brand new to town or brand new to business, visiting a BNI chapter is a great opportunity just to create the beginnings of a network, even if you join or don’t
Craig Parry 10:19
correct and you know, I’m from WA originally been here about 16 years now. But, you know, I love if I’m interstate, I will try and get to a chapter just to see the difference between the states because I mean, every chapter is different, they got a different culture, of course, there’s a different size of groups. So if I’ve got the opportunity when I’m traveling, which is not a lot now, but hopefully go back to normality. It’s always good to get along to other states.
Simone Douglas 10:45
If you were speaking to someone who was in the finance industry, or a broker who said that they’d been invited to this BNI thing, you know, there’s an event and they’re not sure. And maybe they’re not morning people. And you know, they’re not sure. What advice would you give them
Craig Parry 11:04
speak to Simone. If you’re in South Australia, we’re actually trying to fill a seat right now, for one of our brokers. It is, look, it’s a highly regarded seat in BNI. There’s a lot of value that comes from it, that we’ve found anyway, as a business. And we’re now looking to, you know, feel like brokers in other states, which is, it’s hard to come by, but I think anyone that’s looking especially from the finance industry, mortgage broking industry, they’re high credit category sites, you just need to get in, go to a meeting visit. See what you feel, you know, there’s not only morning meetings, we have afternoon meetings, lunchtime meeting centers. Yeah. If you if you’re a mortgage broker, I would suggest that this is going to be the best thing for you that really scale your business quite quickly. develop the relationships, and then you’ll be on your way.
Simone Douglas 11:49
Yeah, Do mortgage broking seats open up very often in chapters?
Craig Parry 11:54
can I tell you my story, personally, because when I was trying to get into BNI, nearly five years ago, again, lack of seats, of course, even back then. And so I went to three or four chapters, just to get a feel for the culture, I think that’s really important. You need to understand which group you’re trying to go into. And if you’ve, if it’s the right vibe for you. I found BNI storm, they had a mortgage broker already, unfortunately. But you know, they were opening that seat up. And so I think 26 mortgage brokers came that visitor day, and they shortlisted to six, and then they said to the six, whoever’s got kind of bring the most value over the next couple of weeks, you know, will obtain the seat and that was fair enough. And I just thought I can’t miss this opportunity. I think I had 19 visitors in a two to three week period. So I just thought I’d like I’ve got to show this, this group, my networks, you know, and I really sort of put myself out there and, and want to say thank God, and here we are 5 years later.
Simone Douglas 12:53
Yeah, that makes sense. Now, it wouldn’t be much of a BNI podcast, if I didn’t ask you who your ideal referral was. So if there was somebody listening today, who could help you take your business to the next level by just you know, having a conversation having coffee with them. Who would you love to sit down? Have coffee with
Craig Parry 13:16
I’ve got three? Very quickly. Yeah. So first, the people we actually want to help like if we’re talking business to consumer here, anyone that’s looking to help pay down their mortgage debt, if they feel like they’re spinning the wheels, they continue to keep refinancing every three to four years like the average Australian does. Thanks for resetting the clock. So anyone that feels like their debts not coming down quick enough, and they’ve got a home loan, they want to pay down quicker, please come and see us and we’re debt reduction specialist. We’ve been doing this for 19 years. From a b2b accountants. It’s a really great from us, they’ve got a trusted network of clients. And then essentially, any real estate agents, property managers, financial planners. I had a third one didn’t I? third one sorry, my apologies. We’re looking to grow business ofcourse, we’re looking to put on more brokers so any, I guess, HR managers or any anyone that’s out there recruitment agencies that feel that they’ve got, you know, the right candidates that they would love to reach out to me please do so.
Simone Douglas 14:20
Okay, well, great. Thanks very much for joining us. If you have been listening and you are local and in Adelaide and you fit any of those people that we’ve just described. BNI storm meets on a Wednesday morning Craig would love to host you over breakfast so the link will be in the information about podcast Alternatively, if you are national by all means, reach out and I can put you in touch with Craig for a virtual coffee. So yeah,
Craig Parry 14:50
thanks thanks for having me Simone I’m really appreciate it.
Chris Irving 14:54
Thank you for listening to the confident networker. You can find more episodes and information at bnian.com.au/podcast
Transcribed by https://otter.ai