I am the president of a BNI Networking group. I was curious what other groups members belong to and what your experiences have been. I know it's been a bit slow getting new members to join, I guess because of the cash outlay and time needed. The good thing about BNI is once you're in the group you lock out your competition. Let me know what your thoughts are.
Jack
I very involved in a local chamber of commerce. We formed a networking subgroup loosely based on BNI. What we didn't like about BNI was the dues and the early morning meeting time. Our group is free and meets at 9 AM every other week.
Works great for us.
Debra:
The early morning meetin times are not set in stone. In our area we were the fist lunch group to form and have been going strong for 1 year now. I know the dues are a hindrance to some, but the rules in place make BNI work. Many groups have decided to leave BNI and go out on their own only to dissapear in a short time. One advantage of BNI is the one person from each industry unlike the chamber.
I also know there is not a member in our group who hasn't more than recouped there original investment since they joined the group. We are very strict as to what a referral really is, and do monitor them so everyone knows. The training offered through BNI is excellent and they're there to help you get your group up and running and after that there to help you keep you group growing.
I wish you the best of luck in all your endeavors.
Jack
Hello,
We just had our kick off April 1 in Pequot Lakes Minnesota. When we closed the chapter we had 25 members, when we had our kick off we recruited 23 additional members! I received a referral for a home on Pelican Lake at the meeting, needless to say I was at there home 3 hours later. I feel there home would sell in today's amrket for $1,275,000. Powerful group of people networking.
Kevin Gyllenblad
Kevin
That's awesome, it shows the power of BNI, Givers gain does really work.
Jack
John: I joined BNI a couple months ago and I am using the principles I am learning there throughout my business and sharing with others. Our chapter is 28 (really 25 strong) and we are doing a membership push in May. I have three new people I am going to invite and one person I invited did join. I just got my first referral that became a client yesterday.
Cost is a factor, but I figured if I wanted to be successful I had to place myself with like-minded people. They are.
I will get a third of my new business through BNI. 8-)
Hello Jack,
I have recently joined a LeTip group in Rockaway, New Jersey.
It is basically a BNI type of group and I feel that it is going good.. although the number of referrals is small due to the nature of our business.
An interesting note on one referral I received... I was out one day on a hike and the cellphone rang and a gentleman asked me to come and give a listing presentation on his 2.5 million dollar home. The referral came by way of a LeTip memeber's secretary that had seen me in the office and knew me to be an agent in that particular area! The member was not there at the time and she took it upon herself to give out the referral... nice job!
Chip
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