How does a bni meeting work

Local chapters meet every week, where members discuss their business and work on generating referrals for other members.

The organization claims to be able to dramatically improve any small businesses bottom line by providing it with a steady stream of new leads.

Joining BNI can be expensive. Not only is there a high membership fee but there are also a lot of hidden costs. Hidden costs include paying for food if your chapter has its meeting at a restaurant or paying for room rental if your chapter has its meeting at a rented location. While it is possible to trim expenses by watching what you eat and staying hungry while everyone else orders lavishly , there may be a flat admission fee whether or not you order something. You should not join a BNI chapter if you are a struggling entrepreneur or if you believe that you will not be able to get a return on your investment.

Ostensibly, you will only have to meet for about two hours a week- but here, too, there are hidden factors to consider. Another thing to consider is that the one-to-one meets require you to meet other BNI members outside the regular meeting times.

Although these can be for as little as an hour, they usually end up lasting longer. If you are a very busy person, the ten hours on average that you spend at the BNI may not be worth it since it will be several months before you will see a return.

The BNI works well for those with traditional small businesses—plumbers, accountants, pest exterminators, or other small service providers. It also works well for those who provide their services within a specific geographical area.

It, however, is not suitable for more cutting-edge, technologically savvy businesses, particularly those that leverage the enormous reach of the internet for leads. For instance, if you are an internet marketer, copywriter, or graphics designer, your time will be better spent generating your leads online.

Although the BNI does work for local businesses, it does not work for businesses that are slightly outside the mainstream.

For instance, if you have a nail salon or an electrolysis provider permanently remove unwanted hair , you will have a difficult time getting referrals.

The BNI works for people who have more traditional businesses—like real estate, mortgage, insurance, or tax preparation. In other words, it is good for services that most people use.

Those who get the most out of their BNI membership are those who put in the time and effort to help other members through referrals. This activity leads to getting referrals through reciprocation. The BNI also benefits those who are able to make their weekly meeting a priority, who make sure they attend every week, who take the time to meet with other members outside the weekly meeting, and who frequently invite guests.

The VP keeps track of each time you were absent, late, or sent someone in your place. What actually happens is that BNI highly encourages its members to be on the lookout for referrals and come to the meeting with referrals for the group. This is why I recommend that you have a referral system that you run. This includes meeting with everyone in your BNI group and sharing your referral guidelines with them.

This makes it easier for them to be on the lookout for ideal clients and gives you a process that you can use to attract and collect great referrals.

BNI is a wonderful organization and they will absolutely deliver on what they promise. This is not a magic bullet organization. There is a fee and there is work involved.

You have to be ready and prepared for it. Image via Shutterstock. This article originally appeared on ChamberofCommerce. Find out how to syndicate your content with B2C. Join over , of your peers and receive our weekly newsletter which features the top trends, news and expert analysis to help keep you ahead of the curve. I felt extremely unwelcome and would never suggest the network to anyone who operates in the more sophisticated areas of the market.

We do not in fact do the same thing at all and consider myself to service a higher quality part of the market at a higher quality firm I also do not have a single disclosure event on my record and this individual has 3, so quality check might be a good idea.

I was so shocked by the childish, unprofessional, classless behavior of the chapter I attended I could not imagine associating with such an organization and pay for it! Check out other chapters. Not all are the same. It could also just be a poorly organized region. BNI is an umbrella organization with thousands of chapters worldwide.

Each region is a separate franchise. I am on the same page as you. I actually joined Centuro Global and the experience so far has been like no other. So my son and I own an Event center in meridian Idaho.

Where The BNI group held there weekly group meetings. And the BNI group is refusing to pay the monthly rent they owe for March So They say this group is all about supporting local small business owners? As long as you do what they say!!!! I have a BNI group in my facility and have a great relationship with them. It is to bad that you are seeing unprofessional group. Just Coffee. The group grows through your hard work, using your contacts, your time, your energy but all the time, money comes flowing into the BNI system.

Funnily enough the guys at the top are millionaires. I am also having a not so nice experience with BNI. I had two companies that called me to provide English tutoring to them. Now I am trying to remove these inputs. However, the amount of money that I allegedly should rreceive and did not, is still there in my profile. So I wonder, does that happen often and this is one reason why people give up this system?

Hi Suely, Probably a little late but we had a message therapist that joined our group. When she joined our group her business was struggling. With help, ideas, and referrals from the group she moved to a new place and hired more therapists. She then struggled with making enough time for the group so she has since left.

I do talk to her now and then and she is still doing well. I will say as a whole BNI has done well for me. I do respect most of these comments since they are true. It is not a group you join and expect the referrals to start pouring in.

You need to work at it, gain the groups trust, and also give referrals. This can work for almost any business but you should ask these questions before joining.

I do disagree with the last statement the most. Everybody passes cards and most intelligent people know these are not referrals. The goal is to partner with people and get access to their clients not make them the client. If you try to hard sell to each member you will not last long and get frustrated. For instance a handy man would rather have referrals from the realtor than just have the realtor as the referral.

Another nice thing about BNI is the oath you make to each other. When I send a referral to another group member the way they act reflects back on me. I expect them to do good work. I just used the plumber in my group today and he did a fantastic job and a much lower price than the plumbers that market all over the place. I was a member for almost three years.

They seemed really nice. I have lots of referrals and often found myself saying hey the person I referred said you never called. I got asked for plenty of free advice but never got a single referral from the group.

I felt like they started letting anyone in if they could pay. That was my normal breakfast bill for the week before their weekly breakfast meeting double my expense. I paid for booths and networking events and got nothing but used in return. This is my 16th year in BNI, and each Chapter is different and depends on the internal Leadership team of the Chapter not the franchisee. BNI motto is Givers Gain, So let me get this straight, you were given two referrals from your chapter, over net seems the new way, I prefer passing referrals in the meeting.

And your two referrals panned out to be nothing. Life happens, and you will get referrals like that, I get them mostly from new Members that have not been to training and do not know the ropes yet. In our Chapter we give each new member an older member to Mentor. This organization has been around for decades and thousands of small business people swear by its success. BNI Connect is a membership organization. BNI Connect was founded in and has been a legitimate franchise organization since Following are a partial list of franchise fees involved in owning a BNI Franchise.

I have to admit that the promise of getting regular referrals from these BNI groups was very attractive. But, I made mistakes. In fact, those mistakes led me to swear off paid networking groups altogether. I still tell almost everyone not to join them. Of course, like all rules, there are exceptions. As a chapter member, your goal should be to get the most out of the meetings and the relationships you build. One of the first things I noticed is that the people at my local BNI Connect event were sharing cold leads.

You know a referral when you get one. Joe said I should call you. YOU have to call them. THEY sound confused. YOU have to build the connection and the relationship. This is a complete waste of your time and money. And it kills trees. They were just passing around business cards. Be prepared to give and receive referrals by having a referral system in place. You need to have the following:. This description should be specific and focused enough so that I would recognize them in my daily life.

Think: people who drive pick-up trucks, people who have recently purchased a home, or recently divorced women. Be as descriptive and specific as possible.

The application process includes an interview with the Membership Committee and a reference check. This allows our members to know that the new members of their network are in good standing in their profession.

Members are also encouraged to have One-to-Ones with new members so they can get to know each other and better identify the strengths and weaknesses of their businesses, ensuring the best referrals can be passed. Of course! Visiting a BNI meeting is the best way for someone to decide if they are interested in becoming a member, and inviting someone to visit your chapter can be instrumental in helping your membership grow.

Members are also welcome to invite others from their profession to visit, while they cannot be in the same chapter, the visitor may be interested in joining another chapter in the area.

BNI does not expect any member to be an expert in all aspects of their profession. On the contrary, being a subject-matter expert in your field and primary area of focus can help the rest of the chapter better learn what you do and how to best refer you. BNI understands the importance of the ethical concerns governing certain professions and acknowledges that rules can differ by location.

As such, BNI requires members to uphold the rules of their professions to not violate their ethical obligations. By continuing to use this website, you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy. It appears that the Javascript on your browser is disabled, kindly enable it for best use of this website! What to Expect. Before You Visit Visiting a local Chapter meeting is the first step in finding your new referral network.

Find a Local Chapter Experience our proven referral system in action. Find a Chapter. Your First Meeting. Find a local Chapter Your first step is to find a local Chapter and register for a meeting. What to Expect Visitors like you attend Chapter meetings all the time. Relationships and Referrals You will see networking in action.