Spruiking BNI (Which Has Nothing To Do With Small Fish)
It feels a bit strange to write a story about another business, one which has many flaws and frustrations (bureaucracy, anyone?) and to be telling you all how helpful it's been for our business.
It has, though and this despite its flaws.
BNI is a global franchise, thousands of chapters and millions of dollars of referrals passed. I sound like a brochure, already, don't I. Anyway, if you get business because people decide to trust you (who doesn't?) then networking with other businesses might be a good idea. BNI is not the only way to network by any means but it does work and it's working for Small Fish. So consider this a personal testimonial from me, for business networking generally and for BNI in particular.
I've been in the Byron Bay BNI group since it started, about 18 months ago. I've had four customers from it (I would generally work with a small number of high-value customers) and I am in discussions with another two. This is a significant contributor to my personal revenues. In our group, we have 16 business coaches and 8 BNI members, all of whom have been in their chapters for a shorter time than I. BNI has contributed more than 20% of our total customers in less than 2 years.
This makes it a significant contributor to our group revenues, too. Word of mouth, or referrals business is something you get if you do a good job - people tell their friends about you and, slowly, your business grows. BNI and being active about networking and asking for referrals accelerates the process of people getting to know you and how you operate, so they can decide whether they want to refer people to you. You meet every week with the primary purpose of doing precisely this - thinking about finding referrals for the members of your group who you've decided are good enough to work with your friends.
I don't want to sound like a salesman for BNI, because I'm not one, but I do honestly think that if you're in business and you want to grow it, joining a referrals group like BNI is worth considering.
www.bni.com.au
Other, similar groups exist and some of my colleagues are as enthusiastic about theirs as I am about BNI. They include
Schmooze in Canberra, Business Chicks and Swap.
Why don't you let us know about your business group (only if you are enthusiastic about, of course)
Jon Dale
Small Fish Business Coaching Byron Bay
www.smallfish.com.au
Phillip Jones 18-Aug-2011 10:47 AM
Hello Jon Whilst I can appreciate where you're coming from and your mention of my company Schmooze, I wouldn't call them similar in anyway. Our philosophies, culture and approach to using the tools of networking to create business opportunities are quite
different (to the extent that we don't accept BNI members at our events or as members). Each business person has to make an assessment about which model will work for them, and assess the value accordingly, and we're not for everyone either, and as with all
things, the old warning of caveat emptor applies.
Kim Wight 18-Aug-2011 11:23 AM
Your blog was timely. I have been a member of a BNI group since April and while at first I enjoyed the weekly meeting I am now finding the bureaucracy and reporting really annoying. Don’t get me wrong I am always above the 5 line so it is not as though
I have a problem with my own performance. I don’t like how it is such a structured meeting that no group discussion can ever happen. I also have a problem with the expectation of spending my time cold calling and inviting unknown business to the meetings.
BNI is very cult like in it’s approach. I am a member of other groups who get together to learn about each other’s businesses and while referrals do happen it is not the basis of whether you are allowed to stay in the group. I have got business from the group
but I am very much undecided whether BNI is for me. Maybe if someone reads this within my group the decision for me to stay will be taken out of my hands.
Debra Fraser 19-Aug-2011 08:52 AM
Hi Jon What networking groups you join I think depends on where you are in you business life cycle. When I was first starting out I really benefited from being part of a networking group that had an emphasis on learning 1st & referrals as a natural progression
from there. This was BRG (Business Referral Group) I'd also like to recommend Converge Business networks. They operate on a weekly basis again with a strong emphasis on education & discussing problems you are having in your business
Jon Dale 19-Aug-2011 02:56 PM
Hi guys, thanks for the comments. Phillip, I appreciate that Schmooze and BNI are different and people should choose and Richard loves being in Schmooze. Kim, you sound frustrated and that's a shame. BNI is a bit cult-like (you mean the pledge, I guess,
I don't like it either) but they use the structure for a reason - because it gets referrals passed. Like many things in life, it's a trade-off - you live with the bad to get the good. It reminds me of marriage, no I think about it. Part of the trade off with
BNI is the way you can lock your competitors out - that demands that you are participating and contributing properly. It's not fair on the other members to have a member who isn't bringing referrals when someone else might or who doesn't show up or participate
properly. Maybe you should raise your concerns with someone in your group or try a different group and see if you like it better. I liked my second one better than my first - maybe I fit in better here.
Frederick Marcoux, BNI Australia 21-Aug-2011 07:58 PM
Hi Jon - Great to hear about the success of your group through BNI. Let me know how we can help and thanks for your spruiking. PS Kim if you feel pressure to cold call for visitors, that's just not right. BNI recommends strongly against cold calling.
