A very special club

Time to update you of my experiences with the ubiquitous networking group - the BNI. Givers Gain!

I have been enjoying watching others describe and present their businesses in the mornings. I also have found the time to research and present my own 60 second pitch, several times so far. I have my good mornings and my bad ones. I do however feel a lot better about the public speaking now though. Really happy about that.

My observations to date are that if you follow the rules, take on-board the training and listen to the advice given by the longer standing members and your mentor - then you won't go far wrong. After a few weeks or perhaps months, you should start to receive positive referrals from other members - as they begin to understand more about what it is that you do... and who you are.

The 'who you are' is a very important part of that equation. It is essential that you take time to communicate effectively with your network buddies. Why? My opinion is that the 'who' in the equation is the first thing which is called into question - especially when you begin to introduce the other members into your circle of friends and family.

In truth, an almost unanswerable question hangs over the act of 'selling' the services of other members to your friends and family; and this is never properly addressed. This 'not so minor' linchpin to being a successful referrer could well be causing some confusion for some new members. So how exactly do we resolve this rather important issue? Let me share with you my experience and the conclusions which I have drawn from them [please note! I am a beginner in the affairs of the BNI and do not believe that the more experienced members will suffer from the same confusion as someone like myself]:

The BNI approach [not a unified approach from what I have seen]
The advice given to me was this - trust is an important factor when you begin referring out your networking colleagues, without so much as a "hey" or "how you doing". It would appear on the face of it, the current system means that you may need to recommend others services before you feel 100% comfortable. Therefore you must blindly have faith that the BNI system works, and that everyone in the chapter are true to their words. Business men and women of substance.

My Interpretation  [from experience and joining several dots]
I do not believe that this is how the BNI wishes you to proceed AND most importantly, I do not believe that this is how things are carried out [in the most part]. The reason being is that quite simply this behaviour would not be sustainable. Word would quickly get out that anyone who is a member of the BNI gives poor referrals - and this creates severe problems for everyone involved.

Now, just because I don't think that it happens, it doesn't mean that it doesn't happen! My eyes are cast towards the newer members of chapters. How do we know when we are not crossing that blurry line by referring our BNI colleagues without fully understanding them? It is a serious business when a friend or family member asks you to refer to them a trusted service provider.

Another quite interesting connotation here is this; if you had invested a lot of time and energy into a network group, you wouldn't want new members throwing scrappy introductions your way or indeed, giving referrals to those of us who may have been so unavoidably busy, that they cannot respond in a timely fashion - thus shaking confidence. This kind of behaviour, if left to run rampant and unchecked could very well rock the foundations of a quality networking team. Bad news for every person involved.

So again, I must ask a question for you. What can be done? Well, luck has smiled sweetly upon you, I am an Engineer with a crazy bag of tricks. One of my favourite tricks is ideas generation. Try these on for size;

Problem: new members are to hit the ground running and produce results as if they were a seasoned BNIer. This possibly leads on to poor quality leads, and potentially shake the confidence of those outside of the networking group. It's like an invisible rot.
Answer: remove certain networking responsibilities from newbies, until they have been properly trained or even until they have given their 4 minute launchpad presentation. I found the Member Success Training incredibly helpful, but even after that, I would have been grateful for a few weeks of respite. Just so that I could sign up for some more training and chase some essential 1-2-1 meetings with certain members of my chapter; before I began giving referrals. [if the truth be told... I couldn't wait to get started actually ;-)]
Likely Effect: this could slow the transition from newbie to productive member of the group. During the transition, it could also become painfully obvious that some new members may not up to the challenge and will probably drop-out rather than pass-out.
Answer: ask new applicants to only pay the start-up fee and training fees up front. Then pay the yearly membership once they have passed onto member status. This keeps the member quality high and creates a feeling of ascension to something special...

Now, the above suggestions may result in a slower take up of applicants ascending to full membership - but it does demonstrate quite a reassuring set of standards to those outside and inside of the BNI fold. I suspect that you may see more guests willing to take a punt at the membership if they felt that they had only a modest deposit to make, and in turn they gathered up a few new connections and a chance at becoming a member of a very special club.

Finally I would like to add that new members may wish to partake in a very mindful strategy of only referring those who they have managed to have 1-2-1 conversations with OR keep the referrals very small to begin with. My advice is to choose a few smaller, less expensive service providers, and go to town on them until you have found your confidence.

Happy to be part of the BNI.


Engine[er]