BNI

Hennybug

I've been invited to come along to a meeting as there will be an opening in my field shortly. I've gotten a bit of the spiel from the person who suggested it to me but was just wondering if others have found it beneficial? Did it get you new business? Also what is the registration fee or does that vary from chapter to chapter?

Would like to find out if a 5am alarm call to get to a weekly meeting is worth it

bungler

I have went to 2 of these with different chapters.

Got invited to them and got to meet everyone and give a 60 second intro to who i am and what i do.

to be honest i didnt find them any good because they were looking for i think around 500 blips and spoke to a number of the guy off the record who said they regretted paying the money becuase it just seems to be breakfast meetings where they all have a waffle about business and they received no referals what so ever so ths put me off the idea big time

that and getting up at 5 nearly killed me

Kent Brockman

I am against these on principle- it seems to me the members are paying (who?) to make sure they get any work/referral work in their particular area, from the group.There is only 1 member allowed from each business/profession.

But more importantly they are paying to have their competition excluded from being used by anyone in the group. (Correct me if I am wrong, because this is mainly what has turned me against this sort of thing).

I know it apparently worked great for certain types of businesses/trades in the boom times, but would those people have been any less busy if they were not members of these groups?

TBH, if I am in one of these groups and i need e.g. a plumber, and again e.g My best mate/ brother/ relative is a plumber but not a paying member of the group, who am I going to get to do the job???

Just my 2c.

waits for propaganda merchants to attack........

bungler

The other issue i have with BNI is if you are looking for work done lets just say a carpenter to put down floors. As there is only one carpernter allowed in the group he might be half as good as the carpenter that was refused becuase there was already a member and he might be twice the price.

So i feel there is no shopping around there is just one person from each sector so you dont know if you are really being looked after

HellFireClub

Kent Brockman wrote: »

I am against these on principle- it seems to me the members are paying (who?) to make sure they get any work/referral work in their particular area, from the group.There is only 1 member allowed from each business/profession.

But more importantly they are paying to have their competition excluded from being used by anyone in the group. (Correct me if I am wrong, because this is mainly what has turned me against this sort of thing).

I know it apparently worked great for certain types of businesses/trades in the boom times, but would those people have been any less busy if they were not members of these groups?

TBH, if I am in one of these groups and i need e.g. a plumber, and again e.g My best mate/ brother/ relative is a plumber but not a paying member of the group, who am I going to get to do the job???

Just my 2c.

waits for propaganda merchants to attack........

+1, one of the things that wrecked my head about BNI is this mantra that was pushed out all the time, "lock out your competitors by registering your business/profession with the chapter now"... Your competitors are out there anyway and stupidly telling folks that you can "lock out your competitors", is treating serious business owners like absolute gullies. This kind of cringy threat-fear tactic I didn't fall for and I didn't appreciate one bit.

BNI can work for certain businesses, but there is a very heavy American culture to the organisation that I could only describe as cult like that made meetings for me particularly insufferable.

At the end of the day, BNI is a franchise business, the "directors" are paid, although they present themselves as vounteers within the business. They turn up at chapter meetings and start pouring out this US corporate bullshít at the end, with stuff like:

"we don't want users, givers gain"

"lock out your competitors now"...

Blah blah blah...

Good luck!

Hennybug

I think you've confirmed my own thoughts - not for me

robinph

I've been along to a couple of meetings as a stand in for one of our clients, and the guy who was running my company before me used to go to them all the time until he decided he'd had enough of the early mornings. We still get business from it though, there are several chapters around our location and I think the previous guy went along to all of them at various points as although there are other companies in our field in the area, none of them get involved with BNI.

I'll be going along to different one in a couple of weeks as one of our clients was called and had apparently been asked by someone else in their chapter if they knew of us. I'll go along for the once off, hand out a few cards, chat to a few people, have some food...then I'll avoid the idea of having to get up at stupid o'clock again for as long as possible.

HellFireClub

There is one element to it that I did find very positive, and that is that first of all it get's you up very early, which isn't a bad thing if you are "half man-half matress" as I can be, but sure you don't need BNI for that...

Another more positive thing I found is more to do with what goes on at the edges of the meetings rather than the meetings themselves. Before and after, you get to chat to people who are all in the very same boat as you, positive people, most of them struggling like fúck at the moment to get a wage out of their businesses.

It's a bit of a relief sometimes to be in the company of those who are making the same sacrifices as yourself and to find yourself in the company of people that you can identify with.

Having said that, this isn't something that is exclusive to a BNI meeting, I'm sure there are many small business organisations such as Chamber of Commerce meetings, etc, where you would find a very similar group dynamic emerging.

Hennybug

Thanks HFC, to be honest i have a good few friends who are self employed so we tend to keep each other going when things get tough! It does help though to know you're not the only one struggling to make ends meet or pay the bills that seem to mushroom when you're broke :P

I'll go along to a meeting since i've been invited and see what i think but gut instinct is it's not going to be for me and i'll be sticking with my early morning bootcamp instead

RUDOLF289

Hennybug wrote: »

I've been invited to come along to a meeting as there will be an opening in my field shortly. I've gotten a bit of the spiel from the person who suggested it to me but was just wondering if others have found it beneficial? Did it get you new business? Also what is the registration fee or does that vary from chapter to chapter?

Would like to find out if a 5am alarm call to get to a weekly meeting is worth it

Hi Hennybug,

I won't bore you with "the bit of a spiel" as you call it. I am a member of BNI in the Cork City Chapter for the last 2 years. At this stage over 30% of my business is generated from BNI and the percentage is still growing.

I have found it very beneficial on several levels. Apart from the positive impact it has on my bottomline, it has helped me to focus on my unique selling proposition. I have met a lot of interesting, positive people and yes, the early (Friday) morning start is definitely worth it for me.

I am not what you would call a "mainstream" type of business. But having educated my fellow chapter members of the type of business I am looking for and how they can introduce me to their contacts, it is paying off.

It is important to get involved in a good chapter. Look at the energy in the room and how the members interact with each other. Maybe set up a few meetings (1-2-1's) with some of the people in the chapter outside of the chapter meeting and get a feel for what is going on. I think it is a great system and if you can buy into the philosophy it is likely to work for you.

Best of luck

Cheers,
Rudolf289

bobbytables

I have been plagued by several people I know in various chapters to join. These people would be more business acquaintances than friends. The baseline concept always seemed flawed to me, not to mention the aggressive sales tactics employed by members to get more on board. Whether or not (it's irrelevant), it screamed pyramid scheme to me.

As other posters have stated, the fundamental process is flawed. I wouldn't blindly put my reputation on the line and refer person A to person B, knowing little about person A's ability to satisfy the needs of person B and offer them value for money, all because Person A "might" be able to send work my way. Also I am bloody certain that person A (considering they couldn't have a background similar to mine) would have the patience to understand the in's and out's of what I do. I know this because when you meet people to have a chat, and they ask you what you do, your short answer is generally fine to satisfy their curiosity, but when you want that person to be a front-man for possible future work, you need them to really know. I wouldn't have sales or customer service people on board like that.

If I ask a friend to recommend a plumber; I do so because I know they have nothing to gain other than a chance to tell me who they honestly think is good. With someone from BNI, there is a better chance the ideal candidate is not a member of their group, yet that's who you'll get because they have another agenda.

So from that perspective, I don't think the whole thing was that well thought through. The guy that has being trying to (for the last 2 years) pull be in to his chapter is finding business very challenging himself.

So my bottom line is that I'm not completely slating the existence of such groups, I just think they need to account for reality a little better and innovate.

Edit
@RUDOLF289 I'm delighted it's working for you. I've heard similar stories from others. As a matter of interest, what is BNI specifically doing for you, because what you are describing is a few business people who have decided to meet weekly. Surely the same thing could be organized for free, or is its success based purely on the fact that people must pay money in order to create the incentive for them to remain loyal/involved.

RUDOLF289

[/QUOTE]
@RUDOLF289 I'm delighted it's working for you. I've heard similar stories from others. As a matter of interest, what is BNI specifically doing for you, because what you are describing is a few business people who have decided to meet weekly. Surely the same thing could be organized for free, or is its success based purely on the fact that people must pay money in order to create the incentive for them to remain loyal/involved.[/QUOTE]

Hello Bobbytables,

BNI is giving me an edge over my competition. I am not an out and out sales guy. I really dont like soing cold calls. The time, effort and rejection rate makes it very difficult to motivate myself. If I get a referral through the BNI 75% of the salesprocess is done. I dont expect to automatically get the business because of the referral but I am talking to the decission maker at that stage. It is then down to me but to get to that stage takes a lot longer through the cold calling route. Being a small company it is a simple matter of
resources.

I don't expect my fellow chapter members to sell my services. After all I know my own business best. I do train my fellow members to listen out for opportunities to introduce me. I have a number of opportunities to do that. I have 60 seconds every week and twice a year I have a 10 minute slot. I further meet at least two of mg fellow members for 1-2-1's to further educate them about my business and learn more about theirs.

Some of the posters queried the fact why they would recommemd somebody from the chapter over somebody in their circle of family or friends. It would depend on the relationahips you create in the chapter. After all, if somebody givea you business opportunities woukd you not want to reciprocate that.

BNI is about credibility. It would be impossible for me to get a constant stream of referrals if I provided expensive or bad service. I need to work on my relationships. I am much easier to refer if my fellow chapter members know me, like me and trust me.

BNI is a franchise, so yes, there are people making money out of the annual subscription I pay. What I get back is opportunities to hone my networking skills in other forums/groups. There are about 7 training sessions per annum about vafious aspects of networking. BNI is a tried and tested process. As I said, if you can buy into the philosophy it can have its rewards. It works for all types of businesses

Finally, I enjoy the social aspects of being involved in the chapter. The events being organised by the events coordinators are fun and help to get to know people better.

Hope that gives you some idea

chwers
Rudolf289

HellFireClub

RUDOLF289 wrote: »

As I said, if you can buy into the philosophy it can have its rewards. It works for all types of businesses

The culture though is extremely heavy, to the point where I think it could be described as cult like in terms of what is clearly a process of indoctrination/assimilation in relation to new members. I personally find this to be very unhealthy in any organisation, having worked in a corporate environment in the past where the same degree of brainwashing went on to keep staff within the organisation.

Also, BNI doesn't necessarily give you "an edge on your competitors". This is another one of the famous BNI soundbytes that get's completely overused during the assimilation stage of the process for new members, when BNI Director's start turning up at meetings to brainwash people with this kind of language.

One thing that never fails to amaze me is how small business folks who often will admit to having some difficulties with frontline sales activities, (as is the case here with the poster I'm replying to), seem to suddenly come into a league of their own when an opportunity arises to sell BNI to someone...

Kinetic^

Before I reply, I should mention that I've been a member for about 1 year. My accountant (also a very good friend) was a member of another chapter and mentioned it to me. He made me aware of the hard sell before attending a meeting so I knew what was going to happen. I looked upon it as a form of marketing that I would give a shot so I took the fee out of my marketing budget. It was a slow burner at first but I've gotten some good work out of it and it's certainly paid for itself. I do enjoy the meetings and the people in my particular group are a great bunch. The early mornings are great as it doesn't disrupt the rest of the work day.

bungler wrote: »

to be honest i didnt find them any good because they were looking for i think around 500 blips and spoke to a number of the guy off the record who said they regretted paying the money becuase it just seems to be breakfast meetings where they all have a waffle about business and they received no referals what so ever so ths put me off the idea big time

There are a 1/2 people in our group that it doesn't work for. It can be down to what they're doing, how they present themselves or perhaps a bad job was carried out for another member or on a referral. It either works for you or it doesn't.

Kent Brockman wrote: »

I am against these on principle- it seems to me the members are paying (who?) to make sure they get any work/referral work in their particular area, from the group.There is only 1 member allowed from each business/profession.

But more importantly they are paying to have their competition excluded from being used by anyone in the group. (Correct me if I am wrong, because this is mainly what has turned me against this sort of thing).

I know it apparently worked great for certain types of businesses/trades in the boom times, but would those people have been any less busy if they were not members of these groups?

TBH, if I am in one of these groups and i need e.g. a plumber, and again e.g My best mate/ brother/ relative is a plumber but not a paying member of the group, who am I going to get to do the job??

Completely agree with you on the last part. I do have some friends who would carry out the same jobs as some of the lads in my group and within the group, people are going to be the same. There are some people whom you will give work to a lot and others you might not ever get a referral. from you.

bungler wrote: »

The other issue i have with BNI is if you are looking for work done lets just say a carpenter to put down floors. As there is only one carpernter allowed in the group he might be half as good as the carpenter that was refused becuase there was already a member and he might be twice the price.

So i feel there is no shopping around there is just one person from each sector so you dont know if you are really being looked after

You're giving a person a chance to do business, not guaranteeing that they will get the job. Allowing someone to get a lead or provide a quote means that you're putting in their hands to close the deal. If they don't close, it's not like you're frowned upon.

HellFireClub wrote: »

+1, one of the things that wrecked my head about BNI is this mantra that was pushed out all the time, "lock out your competitors by registering your business/profession with the chapter now"... Your competitors are out there anyway and stupidly telling folks that you can "lock out your competitors", is treating serious business owners like absolute gullies. This kind of cringy threat-fear tactic I didn't fall for and I didn't appreciate one bit.

BNI can work for certain businesses, but there is a very heavy American culture to the organisation that I could only describe as cult like that made meetings for me particularly insufferable.

At the end of the day, BNI is a franchise business, the "directors" are paid, although they present themselves as vounteers within the business. They turn up at chapter meetings and start pouring out this US corporate bullshít at the end, with stuff like:

"we don't want users, givers gain"

"lock out your competitors now"...

Blah blah blah...

Good luck!

I'm not a fan of some of the catch lines and some of the spiel is quite Americanised.

bobbytables wrote: »

As other posters have stated, the fundamental process is flawed. I wouldn't blindly put my reputation on the line and refer person A to person B, knowing little about person A's ability to satisfy the needs of person B and offer them value for money, all because Person A "might" be able to send work my way. Also I am bloody certain that person A (considering they couldn't have a background similar to mine) would have the patience to understand the in's and out's of what I do. I know this because when you meet people to have a chat, and they ask you what you do, your short answer is generally fine to satisfy their curiosity, but when you want that person to be a front-man for possible future work, you need them to really know. I wouldn't have sales or customer service people on board like that.

If I ask a friend to recommend a plumber; I do so because I know they have nothing to gain other than a chance to tell me who they honestly think is good. With someone from BNI, there is a better chance the ideal candidate is not a member of their group, yet that's who you'll get because they have another agenda.

So from that perspective, I don't think the whole thing was that well thought through. The guy that has being trying to (for the last 2 years) pull be in to his chapter is finding business very challenging himself.

So my bottom line is that I'm not completely slating the existence of such groups, I just think they need to account for reality a little better and innovate.

There is definitely a level of trust when passing a referral, in or out of BNI. If another member of BNI has used the services of another member and they said a good job has been done, then it's generally good enough for me. I'd never blindly pass a referral just for the sake of it and even the referrals I've received have been small initially with people testing the water and it's lead to bigger jobs.

bobbytables wrote: »

@RUDOLF289 I'm delighted it's working for you. I've heard similar stories from others. As a matter of interest, what is BNI specifically doing for you, because what you are describing is a few business people who have decided to meet weekly. Surely the same thing could be organized for free, or is its success based purely on the fact that people must pay money in order to create the incentive for them to remain loyal/involved.

That's all it is, quite a simple concept. It probably could be organised for free but if you have to attend something that's free, how likely are you to be prepared for it compared to something that's costing you money? How likely are you to say on a Sunday evening, "ah sure I'll give it a miss this week". It would fall to pieces. I've been to a number of the free networking events around Dublin. At one of them, at a table I was at, there ended up being 3 wed designers. It was cringeworthy how they were back biting at each other at whether or not basing sites on a joomla made you a good web designer. Never again.

RUDOLF289

Hello Hellfireclub,

As I said, I am not an out and out salesguy. Call me lazy, I like to get referrals (and give then aswell). I see it as a shortcut to get to the decissionmaker. Now, once I get in front of the decissionmaker I am able to secure the business in a high number of cases. Its a different process and is one of the channels that brings me business.

I certainly am not trying to 'sell BNI'. I am trying to reflect my experience. Bottomline is that our chapter generates between 1.5M and 2M worth of referral business and U am giving and gaining a share of that.

Perhaps I am naive but I don't think I am a member of a cult. Its not like Hotel California. (You can check out any time you like ..........)

Cheers
Rudolf289

HellFireClub

RUDOLF289 wrote: »

Hello Hellfireclub,

As I said, I am not an out and out salesguy. Call me lazy, I like to get referrals (and give then aswell). I see it as a shortcut to get to the decissionmaker. Now, once I get in front of the decissionmaker I am able to secure the business in a high number of cases. Its a different process and is one of the channels that brings me business.

I certainly am not trying to 'sell BNI'. I am trying to reflect my experience. Bottomline is that our chapter generates between 1.5M and 2M worth of referral business and U am giving and gaining a share of that.

Perhaps I am naive but I don't think I am a member of a cult. Its not like Hotel California. (You can check out any time you like ..........)

Cheers
Rudolf289

I hear ya, but I don't concur that any of what you have said above equates with "giving you an edge over your competitors"... I can't speak for your chapter but the one that I was invited to for a few meetings, (I never joined in the end), certainly had a vibe attached to it that I could only describe as cult like.

I'd describe the process as defective in a sense almost. I remember one guy in the chapter I visited, who I had approched for a particular product for my business, before I knew him through BNI. My analysis of this guy was that his prices were rediculous and his attitude sucked.

Yet within the BNI context, I was under pressure to go out there and pitch for business for this guy??? Also, in relation to accountants and solicitors within a chapter, it took me some considerable time to find a solicitor and an accountant who I could trust and rely upon to do things when I needed them done, as opposed to sitting on files for weeks or months. Again, I wouldn't personally recommend someone for these kind of roles unless I had worked with them through a set of financial accounts for year end or else had a positive experience in relation to a legal matter.

I think recommendations really have to be hard earned, especially when you are recommending someone such as an account who could in theory and in practice, cause you to become CRO uncompliant if accounts are not filed on time, or lose a legal matter if papers are not filed on time.

I think changing the rules, where you start recommending people who you might have questions outstanding in your head about, such as are they ethical people, are genuinely interested in the business and in doing the work that they are getting paid for to the highest standard, is their attitude customer friendly, on the basis of them sitting at a table with you once a week, I don't see how I could do this, as if there is a problem, it's my credibility that goes out the window...

RUDOLF289

HellFireClub wrote: »

I hear ya, but I don't concur that any of what you have said above equates with "giving you an edge over your competitors"... I can't speak for your chapter but the one that I was invited to for a few meetings, (I never joined in the end), certainly had a vibe attached to it that I could only describe as cult like.

I'd describe the process as defective in a sense almost. I remember one guy in the chapter I visited, who I had approched for a particular product for my business, before I knew him through BNI. My analysis of this guy was that his prices were rediculous and his attitude sucked.

Yet within the BNI context, I was under pressure to go out there and pitch for business for this guy??? Also, in relation to accountants and solicitors within a chapter, it took me some considerable time to find a solicitor and an accountant who I could trust and rely upon to do things when I needed them done, as opposed to sitting on files for weeks or months. Again, I wouldn't personally recommend someone for these kind of roles unless I had worked with them through a set of financial accounts for year end or else had a positive experience in relation to a legal matter.

I think recommendations really have to be hard earned, especially when you are recommending someone such as an account who could in theory and in practice, cause you to become CRO uncompliant if accounts are not filed on time, or lose a legal matter if papers are not filed on time.

I think changing the rules, where you start recommending people who you might have questions outstanding in your head about, such as are they ethical people, are genuinely interested in the business and in doing the work that they are getting paid for to the highest standard, is their attitude customer friendly, on the basis of them sitting at a table with you once a week, I don't see how I could do this, as if there is a problem, it's my credibility that goes out the window...

Hello HellFireClub,

I concurr about credibility. If you dont believe the member in your chapter is up to the job, then I would not recommend him either. Both the accountant and the solicitor in my chapter are founding members with over 13 years experience/membership of BNI. I think it is fair to say that they give more than they gain. I have a very good accountant myself, very happy with the service and the fees. Therefore, I certainly do not foresee switching my own business and I dont feel under pressure from the chapter accountant or from anybody else in the chapter to place my business within the chapter. However, if I become aware of somebody requiring accountancy services, I would be happy to refer business to him because he has a sterling reputation and I have received referrals from him. I have started using the chapter sollicitor and he is doing good work for me. In the end, I have to know, like and trust the person in my chapter to be able to refer business to him/her. I, and I alone decide on that. As you say yourself, your own reputation is on the line both by giving a referral but also receiving a referral.

As to having an edge over my competition, I believe I do. There are 14 chapters in Cork and I am the only one in my category. There is nobody else in the other 13 chapters that do what I do. That means I can visit these other chapters as a sub or just as a straight visitor and spread my gospel. In fact I can near enough get into any chapter in Ireland as there are few in my category. That gives me an edge over my competition in my view. That may not be the case for trades people or accountants and solicitors etc, but in my case I have an edge.

As I also said from the outset, it is important to be in the right chapter, with the right type of people, the right categories that will help you generate business and that you find it easy to refer business to. That takes a bit of research. If youre not convinced of the BNI way of doing things than the salespitch can be off putting. However, if you do think BNI has merrit (and you know the pitch is coming) you take it for what it is.

I dont want to go on and on about it (just in case you think I am .......). At the end of the day it works for me and about 36 members in my chapter. We have fun along the way and we help each other getting business. Untill I find something better (or make my 2nd million) Ill keep at it.

cheers,
Rudolf289

HellFireClub

RUDOLF289 wrote: »

Hello HellFireClub,

I concurr about credibility. If you dont believe the member in your chapter is up to the job, then I would not recommend him either. Both the accountant and the solicitor in my chapter are founding members with over 13 years experience/membership of BNI. I think it is fair to say that they give more than they gain. I have a very good accountant myself, very happy with the service and the fees. Therefore, I certainly do not foresee switching my own business and I dont feel under pressure from the chapter accountant or from anybody else in the chapter to place my business within the chapter. However, if I become aware of somebody requiring accountancy services, I would be happy to refer business to him because he has a sterling reputation and I have received referrals from him. I have started using the chapter sollicitor and he is doing good work for me. In the end, I have to know, like and trust the person in my chapter to be able to refer business to him/her. I, and I alone decide on that. As you say yourself, your own reputation is on the line both by giving a referral but also receiving a referral.

As to having an edge over my competition, I believe I do. There are 14 chapters in Cork and I am the only one in my category. There is nobody else in the other 13 chapters that do what I do. That means I can visit these other chapters as a sub or just as a straight visitor and spread my gospel. In fact I can near enough get into any chapter in Ireland as there are few in my category. That gives me an edge over my competition in my view. That may not be the case for trades people or accountants and solicitors etc, but in my case I have an edge.

As I also said from the outset, it is important to be in the right chapter, with the right type of people, the right categories that will help you generate business and that you find it easy to refer business to. That takes a bit of research. If youre not convinced of the BNI way of doing things than the salespitch can be off putting. However, if you do think BNI has merrit (and you know the pitch is coming) you take it for what it is.

I dont want to go on and on about it (just in case you think I am .......). At the end of the day it works for me and about 36 members in my chapter. We have fun along the way and we help each other getting business. Untill I find something better (or make my 2nd million) Ill keep at it.

cheers,
Rudolf289

Thanks for that Rudolf... I have to say, when I originally was asked to visit a BNI meeting, (it was a newly launched chapter), I thought the idea as it was explained to me, was excellent. The model appealed to me, it made sense, I liked the idea of businesses collaborating together to create sales leads and the informal support type network that was mentioned to exist around the model of BNI. When I turned up for the first few meetings, I liked a lot, if not all, of what I saw.

Then after a few meetings, I noticed the director's started coming out with the same lectures at the start and the end of each meeting, it was like as if they had been memorised from a script or something.

I do accept though that this was something that I felt was only going to happen during the "start-up" phase of the chapter, I imagine when things settled down, ( I didn't hang around long enough to give it a go), that maybe time gets spent much more productively at meetings.

I mentioned previously on thead that I had an experience once of working for a large US organisation that had a very heavy culture like this, and this kind of what I perceived as an attempt at brainwashing, resonated very strongly with me. Other's also felt that the particular directors that turned up, seemed to be focused exclusively on getting people to sign up and pay up, rather than spending a bit more time letting people get settled in a bit more.

The chapter I was attending seemed to suffer from the outset, from people pulling in different directions, strong personalities emerged from within the group who seemed to be fighting for control of what was happening, there is nothing unusual about this kind of behaviour in a group of people who do not know each other, but it was not identified by those directors leading the group and wasn't properly managed to the benefit of the wider group, so what seemed to be emerging when I left, was several distinct groups/cliques, within one umbrella chapter.

If I was to give it a go again, (and I doubt that I would but equally I'd never say never!), I'd travel around a few chapters and spend more time observing how folks within the group interact with each other and what kind of dynamic was going on within the chapter, mainly to find out if it was positive or negative.

I know BNI use a template type approach for all meetings, but I'm now wondering is the template used for a chapter in it's start-up phase, the same strict template that is used for a properly formed chapter???

I'm just asking this as I can recall an awful lot of waffling going on at our meetings, particularly at the start and the end, which doesn't seem to fit in with how meetings are described by other's...

NumbrCrunchr

Hi there
I am also a member of BNI and find it quite useful. We are just launching a new chapter in Galway and I am the accountant in the group. The reasons for me are:

• Opportunity to build strong business relationships with 20-30 other business people, some of which have become clients and more may follow
• Access to the large networks of people behind these people
• Having to do a 60 second slot forces you to think and keep refining your message
• I don't think the fee is a deal breaker, it compares favourably with other forms of marketing, the bigger commitment is time for meetings and networking

In my experience networks often fizzle out if there isn't some kind of commitment involved. Also I understand that not everyone is going to give me work when they have an existing relationship with an Accountant and you would be mad to refer somebody without having satisfied yourself as to their competence.

In summary I think it is a valuable network that works for my business.
Regards
NumberCruncher

Kent Brockman

I am a member of my local County Enterprise board network, its free and provides loads of free training and seminars. Get the odd email or text to inform me of courses/talks etc that may be useful to me, all on at reasonable hours and no pressure to attend.

Free business card draw for 100euro office supplies voucher at every meeting and everyone gets a chance to introduce themselves or give a short spiel about their business, If they want. Again no pressure to speak and no pressure to promote anyone else (it happens naturally as you get to know others there and find out about them)

Why would I need to pay to network?
Facebook is as good as any network if used properly and its also free.

HellFireClub

NumbrCrunchr wrote: »

Hi there
I am also a member of BNI and find it quite useful. We are just launching a new chapter in Galway and I am the accountant in the group. The reasons for me are:

• Opportunity to build strong business relationships with 20-30 other business people, some of which have become clients and more may follow
• Access to the large networks of people behind these people
• Having to do a 60 second slot forces you to think and keep refining your message
• I don't think the fee is a deal breaker, it compares favourably with other forms of marketing, the bigger commitment is time for meetings and networking

In my experience networks often fizzle out if there isn't some kind of commitment involved. Also I understand that not everyone is going to give me work when they have an existing relationship with an Accountant and you would be mad to refer somebody without having satisfied yourself as to their competence.

In summary I think it is a valuable network that works for my business.
Regards
NumberCruncher

What's the membership fee these days??? It was 650 Euro I think for the chapter I was visiting back in 2008. Is this fee the same across all chapters and has it come down at all due to the recession??? I would expect it to in fairness...

NumbrCrunchr

Hi Hellfireclub
The membership fee is €600 + VAT pa. There is a once-off joining fee of €130 + VAT. This may seem high compared to free networks but not when compared to advertisements for example. Most people in our group have got more than this back in business already.

RE: Kent Brockman's post, the point is that you need to be networked in business and networks come in all shapes and sizes, offline and online. No doubt there are many disgruntled BNI members or ex members but there are also hundreds of members in Ireland who it works well for, surprisingly how well.

Have an open mind and live and let live.

Regards
NumbrCrunchr

RATM

Was wondering about the whole BNI thing myself recently and had been thinking of joining. Seems like it works for some and not others and the chapter you get into makes all the difference.

But can I ask what kind of pressure is there to give referrals ? Like I have an okay network but its not like I ever hear of X is looking for accountancy work done, its just not the type of conversation that comes up for me on a regular basis.

So I am divided on whether or not to join one, I don't want to join and then be cold shouldered because I am not getting members X amount of referrals.

NumbrCrunchr

Our chapter is just launching so haven't been through regular meetings yet.
I think BNI gets bad press over this issue and the worst thing in the world is people put under pressure to come up with referrals which end up being worthless.
In my view if you work with your network of people and take part in the training, you will start to look our for your colleagues and be able to spot opportunities for them. Referrals will come naturally over time. I think focussing on this rather than worrying about the other is the way to approach it.

Regards
NumberCruncher

Kent Brockman

NumbrCrunchr wrote: »

Hi Hellfireclub
The membership fee is €600 + VAT pa. There is a once-off joining fee of €130 + VAT. This may seem high compared to free networks but not when compared to advertisements for example. Most people in our group have got more than this back in business already.

RE: Kent Brockman's post, the point is that you need to be networked in business and networks come in all shapes and sizes, offline and online. No doubt there are many disgruntled BNI members or ex members but there are also hundreds of members in Ireland who it works well for, surprisingly how well.

Have an open mind and live and let live.

Regards
NumbrCrunchr

You can be part of a free network and still pay to advertise? so I don't get your point there

I have never been to any paid networking meetings and am neither an ex or disgruntled member of same.

See post #3 where I offered my opinion to the OP and gave my reasons for it.

If people don't know about you -advertise and network (plenty of free options out there)
If your work/product/service is good enough you will automatically get referral business without having to pay for it, or pay to exclude competitors.

Again this is my opinion and my reasoning behind it, nothing to do with being open/closed minded or Cult like (to use terms already used in the thread).

SafetySam

From reading the posts above, it appears that some of the contributors are giving opinions on something they simply don’t know anything about. As a member since 2002, my €600 PA gives me a return on investment of 150 times!! Work the sums out yourself; that is one hell of a return on investment. On my first visit (I found BNI on the net in 2002), I was told that it was not a "get rich quick scheme" nor was it a "pyramid" scheme.

Like any consumer, I checked the organisation out before I spent my money. Like this group posting here, some were annoyed at BNI but the majority were totally satisfied. And they were getting work from the group. to this day, I still don’t use some of the members as I had good contacts in those areas beforehand (e.g. still using the same garage and insurance broker for the last 10 years) Both of those categories are in the group but there is no pressure on me to use them.

Being in a profession that requires CPD points each year, I find the courses given by BNI enhance my own personal development alongside my professional development; they also count as CPD points for my professional association.

How many of you have paid €600 plus for ads in papers that simply didn’t work? I have never put an ad in any paper nor is my number in any phone book. All of my work comes from word of mouth marketing. I make a good living from my BNI membership and at the same time have built up a very large network group (both paid members and non-paid visitors) I have only ever used the services of any group member once I get to know, like and trust them.

For me, it is the organised networking that I like; I like the commitment from fellow members. I like the support I get from our support director. I like the support I get from the owners of the franchise. I like the fact that I have nearly 30 people who listen out for me and when they hear of a need for my service, they recommend me; and I do the same for them.

As I said earlier, I checked them out before I joined them. For me it was a simple business decision, one newspaper ad or 50 meetings a year where I can build trust and friendship and at the same time get a fantastic return on my investment.

finally, to anyone out there, go to 2 or 3 meetings in 2 or 3 different chapters; check them out for yourself and make your decision on a sound basis rather than "hearsay" from total strangers like myself on a "free for all" discussion board. Good luck