Synopsis

A member recently asked why it’s important to complete the PALMS report.

You can’t hit a target that you aren’t aiming at. If you track performance and you track progress, you’re on the road to success.

The PALMS report is like a chapter GPS.It lets you know when you’re off track. If your chapter is struggling and you’re not sure why, chances are good that you’re not really on top of your numbers.

You get out of life what you put into it. The PALMS report helps your BNI chapter adjust course on the road to success.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcription of Episode 446 –

Priscilla:

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Official BNI Podcast, brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and the Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello, Ivan. How are you today?

Ivan:

I am doing fantastic and I am actually in town, Priscilla- not only at home in Austin, not only this week but for almost five or six weeks in a row. I think that is the first time in three or four years that I have been home for five or six weeks in a row.

Priscilla:

That is great. It is a good time to be home. It is beautiful.

Ivan:

It is good, but it is also great for me to go out and visit members and visit regions. I am usually out there, but I am taking a little break from the travel for a few weeks. This is the first week.

Priscilla:

Good. What do you have to share with us?

Ivan:

Well, you know, I had someone ask not long ago- I have been doing an Ask Ivan, where if you have some question you send me the question via the podcast. Thomas asked why is it important to complete the PALMS report?

Now, the PALMS report is a report that is completed at your chapter level. It is a report that says where you present? Were you absent? Were you late? Were you out on medical leave? Did you have a substitute? It is a way of tracking these kinds of activities.

He was sending a legitimate question. Why is it important?

So here is my answer to it:

You can’t hit a target that you are not aiming at. The only way that you can hit goals that you set are to track your performance. When it comes to business, knowledge truly is power. If you track performance and you track progress, you are on the road to success. The idea, then, is that you make nominal changes as you go along.

In a way, PALMS report is your chapter GPS system. You put on your GPS. You are driving along. Let’s say you take the wrong turn. It says, “Make a U turn. Turn around. Go here.” The PALMS report is in fact your GPS. It tells you there is a problem here. You know, you have been absent too much. You are not present. Too many subs. It is a way of tracking that plus, of course, the number of referrals given or received.

These are the kinds of things that track performance and progress and put you on the road to success. I am such a believer in this concept of tracking numbers, that you may not know this Priscilla, and I have never talked about it on my podcast. I actually get a daily report, daily report, on the number of members in the organization.

Priscilla:

Really? Wow.

Ivan:

And the number of chapters we have.

Priscilla:

Can you tell us right now what that is?

Ivan:

Yeah. I can tell you as of the recording- I have it sitting right here in front of me. It came in this morning. As of this recording, we have 193,138 members worldwide.

Priscilla:

Wow. That is a lot.

Ivan:

It is a lot. We have 7,351 chapters worldwide.