About 2 — Profits In The Park

So, you’ve been invited to a BNI meeting ….

Don’t panic! We don’t bite and it’s not a cult (I mean, we *are* enthusiastic, but that’s because this networking model works really well for so many businesses).

If you’ve received an invitation to visit a BNI meeting (or you’re just curious about checking one out) and you’re curious what it’s all about, or you’re not sure whether you should go or not, then read on.

What is BNI?

BNI stands for Business Network International – and it truly is international. It originated in the United States and has blossomed globally. There are chapter groups meeting weekly all over the world, in most major countries. These weekly meetings all have the same general agenda flow and the concept is to help people grow their businesses, create new connections and gain confidence in their networking skills.

Ok, but how does it work?

BNI works through a referral system established by the connections both in your chapter and in other neighboring chapters. First, you join a group, begin attending the regular weekly meetings and over time work to identify referrals for other members while they work to do the same for you.

A referral is a warm-ish to hot-hot-hot introduction to a connection with the change to earn the business. It is never a guarantee, though a truly hot introduction is pretty much considered sold. All warm+ referrals are welcome in which the connector referring has set the expectation that you will be reaching out.

BNI is not about cold-calling or leads. It’s 100% quality over quantity.

A unique feature of BNI is that within each chapter, only one person from each profession vertical is allowed to join or “hold the seat” in the group. So if a property manager is accepted into the chapter, then no other property managers may join the chapter (they may, however, visit or act as a sub).

What happens in the meetings?

Meetings are weekly for 90 minutes. Our chapter meets Tuesdays 9-1030a. We follow an agenda/order with a little open networking at the beginning, handle a bit of chapter business, then proceed to the bulk of the meeting which is the chance for every Member, Sub, Guest and Visitor to give their (:30-:60s) commercial.

There are chapters that meet at other times and locations, some earlier in the morning or midday/lunchtime. Different businesses and different professionals gravitate to the various times and locations to find the best fit.

By keeping to the same time and agenda each week, not only do our Members know what to expect, Guests/Visitors know what to expect but you know that anyone from anywhere in the world familiar with BNI would feel comfortable joining in the meeting.

The other big part of the meeting is a rotating Member Presentation. This is 10 minutes reserved for a Member to basically empower those in the room to become their sales team. They educate on their services, their products, ways to help bring them referrals and who they want to connect with. With this Member deep-dive, the other chapter members can feel more prepared to uncover possible referrals and warm connections.

Uhhh, I’m supposed to speak?

If you’re a member, you have to deliver a (:30-:60s) 60-second pitch where you introduce yourself, outline what you do and from where you’d like to receive referrals. It’s important to be specific. And punctual. There’ll be a bell, buzzer or other noise-making machine to remind you when you’ve reached 60 seconds, and the President will encourage you to wrap up rather promptly if you have not.

With practice, it can be a lot of fun, and over time it can really help you overcome any kind of stage fright you may have when it comes to presenting yourself and your business.

By focusing in on what it is you hope to achieve but in just :30-:60s, you will ultimately identify precisely what building block you need for business growth and success in immediacy. Many members will rotate what or who they ask for over several weeks to showcase various areas of their services or products.

For example, an electrician may ask for local builders for 8 weeks leading to spring building market. Then rotate to 6 weeks of asking for plumbers as the early summer rolls in. Then, as summer heat waves hit, ask for HVAC connections for 6 weeks. Then as fall rolls in, seek neighborhoods looking for assistance with holiday light decorations. All while always suggesting they can handle any residential or small commercial electrical need.

Are there any other commitments?

Yes but they may be a little less obvious and can be flexible. Every new member takes an pledge to commit to the BNI chapter both their time and energy. Nothing is worse that doing a group project and one person isn’t contributing; it’s the same concept. But contribution can come in many forms and many different styles.

Each Member agrees to prioritizing 1-2-1 “get to know you and your business better” meetings with the members. They also agree to invite and bring Visitors and Guests. By joining the chapter, they also agree to uphold the BNI Code of Ethics which includes an attendance policy.

We’re all grown adults with grown adult lives that intersect our business worlds. But, we commit to being present regularly so that we can reliably count on each other and work harder to learn from each other.

Our chapter encourages a suggested formula of:

(2) 1-2-1s per week
(1) Visitor per month
(1-5) Referrals passed per week
(1-2) Attend other networking events per month
Volunteer for Chapter Leadership/Lead by Example
(4) Hours of Continuing Education for your business or BNI

Remember, these are suggested so that every member has an ideal to shoot for in order to find the most success in BNI.

If you’re unable to attend a meeting, for any reason, you are highly encouraged to organize a substitute for your seat for that meeting. They’ll read your (:30-:60) second commercial as if they were you and work to represent your seat. You are allowed absences, because life happens, up to 3 per a rolling six months.

Everything is tracked from attendance to referrals passed/received to visitors invited to continuing education which can be reviewed by chapter members in the PALMS report or Traffic Light Report (more on these in a bit).

This is to help hold us all accountable and also so we can praise each other for successes.

By bringing a Visitor/Guest, they are able to not only explore the BNI meeting concept themselves incase it is a good fit for their own business needs, but they are able to be connected for to members who may find them valuable referral source connections.

By continuing your education through professional trainings, educational podcasts or any of the *numerous* BNI training opportunities both in person and virtually, a member will be able to expand their return on investment in the chapter.

The membership fee…

Prices tend to change every few years but mostly stay the same. There is a one-time application fee which is only charged if you are accepted into the chapter. Then there is the annual BNI national/regional membership fee (one amount). There is an option to pre-pay for two years at once which offers a bit of a combined discount. Lastly, this chapter also has a chapter fee that is bi-annual $100 (Apr/Oct) dues that is used to fund the meeting space, chapter events, chapter socials, and more.

Once you break these numbers down per week, it doesn’t seem so bad. If you’re working the connections and relationships to build a network of partners that reliably and consistently refer you work, the profits will outshine the investment rather quickly.

Traffic lights

As mentioned above, BNI tracks everything. The idea is to ensure everyone is contributing, be mindful of how we are all contributing and set goals for ourselves and our chapter as a whole. We’re all in sales, after all, and we’re all competitive. So, we also hold ourselves up against other regional chapters for some bragging rights.

The Traffic Light Report is published monthly by the regional BNI office on both the individual and chapter levels. It monitors attendance percentage, absences, trainings, referrals, visitors, and continuing education. It is then broken down into a score which are then colored green, yellow, red and gray. Being in the green is most ideal but any number of variances in the metrics can cause a slight shift into the yellow or even red zones. Gray is typically reserved for newer members who are working to get their footing. The purpose of this report is to be a macro view of how things feel compared to how things are going. If you’re feeling uber successful, you’re likely trending in the green zone. If you’re not, then you’re likely falling short of some or a few of these metrics and by upping these activities, should find more success.

Sounds kind of difficult, but it really is not. It’s about finesse and routine. BNI gives structure to a lot of businesses that do not already have robust sales departments or sales teams that do similar metric tracking. BNI relationships are not built in a day nor a week. They are built over time which is compounded the longer the relationships have time to let roots grow. This is why newer members are not immediately given a color on the report because it’s about showing where you’re at once you get going, not to show you are just leaving the starting line.

Alrighty, sounds decent…

BNI is a great tool for those looking for more connections. Ever played Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon? BNI is a lot like that concept that if you connect with enough people, you’ll eventually connect with who you are wishing to connect with.

The meetings can seem daunting at first, especially visiting chapters that seem to be so friendly with each other. Instead of feeling like that’s an exclusive club, think of it as a family waiting to adopt you (and your business). The right chapter will welcome your visit and if you choose to apply, welcome you into that friendly familiarity.

The trainings, mentorship and general pep-talks can be incredibly motivating and help even the most timid break out of their shell. As trust builds, more connections and more referrals will be passed leading to more profits for your business. BNI is a wonderful confidence building platform.

So, I just join and you send me referrals?

Not quite. Firstly, you apply. Then the membership takes an opportunity to get to know you as a potential member, inquire if your business and business habits are a good fit for the chapter. Most of the time, this is just a formality but it does open dialogue to ensure that the applicant also knows what they are truly applying for with the required and suggested levels of commitment.

Once a full member, it is time to re-connect with the membership again to better learn their businesses and better share your own business. These regular, re-occuring 1-2-1 conversations allow all to dive deep into getting to know each other’s businesses.

As this knowledge becomes more familiar, friendly likeness will form; the kind of friendship that leads to casual lunches or quick confidence building chats between business. As the familiarity turns to true friendship, trust will build. Trust leads to confidence in sharing contact information and warm introductions to business partners, friends and family to do business with them. Saying “Hey Ms. Electrician, I’d like you to meet my sister who needs her house re-wired” becomes a much stronger opportunity for both the electrician and the sister since there’s trust from both to the connecting referring member.

It boils down to KNOW - LIKE - TRUST which is the BNI motto.

Should I go?

Yes, absolutely. Any chance to meet new people and extend your network is worth the one-time 90 minutes of your time. This chapter of BNI has generated close to $7M in profit (so just the money we take home after expenses) for each other as members in 8+ years.

That amounts to close to $35k per member per year of pure profit.

Should I join?

That’s another question entirely, and depends on your circumstances. Don’t just go and join the first group that invites you. Speak to the person that’s invited you before you attend. Find out how many members they have, how much business they’ve passed (they’ll have these figures), which members in their group they see as working best with you. If there are companies involved that mesh with your business then your induction and initial stages will be much easier.

If you have more questions, any member can be a resource but specifically the Membership Committee is even eager to answer any questions you may have about the chapter, how this all works, and what are the next steps.

If you decide to visit….

Remember to take the following things:

Business cards (We share a digital copy of yours so you don’t have to expel dozens at a time, but some people still like collecting cards!)
An outline/notes for your :30-60 second pitch
Be on time, networking starts at 9a prompt