26/2/11
Something that I am asked from time to time is why we hold our meetings every week. After all, I am told, other networking groups don’t and it’s a big commitment having to come weekly. Surely every other week would be better?
For some people this type of networking may be ideal, it may be all that they can manage for a number of reasons, but BNI chapters meet weekly because we build strong relationships.We know that to get to trust someone, to know them, to like them, takes time and this can’t be achieved by seeing each other sporadically. After all, would you just want to see one of your best friends every few weeks and, furthermore, not even know if they were going to turn up for a meeting that you had arranged?
BNI is all about strong relationships. Relationships that are strong enough so that we can recommend our very best contacts to fellow members. I for one would certainly not risk my reputation on someone I hardly knew.
But, how about this for an even more compelling reason?
BNI have tried and tested most things over the years and give us the very best of what they have learnt works. Recently I was listening to a CD by Ivan Misner and was interested to learn that early on BNI tried fortnightly meetings: members thought that they might be better. However, they soon changed their minds! Why? Because, they discovered that a chapter that meet fortnightly passed 52% less referrals than a chapter that met weekly. So, if you want just one good reason for meeting weekly I don’t think you need to look any further than more than double the amount of business passed in the group.
One last thing. How often when a member is absent for a week, or a chapter is closed for a week, are twice the number of referrals passed the following week? Never – in my experience!
3 comments:
I couldn't agree more, great post. As a longtime BNI member, sometimes I think once a week is not enough! Which is where one to ones come in with chapter members. Other more relaxed networking groups are great for contacts. BNI is about building meaningful and lasting relationships and that takes time.
Fintan
Great post.There is a franchise which has basically attempted to rip off the BNI model and then mess around with it to suit them. This results in only a 6 month commitment and a meeting every two weeks with no real commitment to bring anything to the table. Unfortunately this only attracts people who are not committed to building relationships and helping others and results in no business being done between members. I know a few people who have joined and not earned a single bean out of it. BNI is the world's largest referral organisation for a reason!
Hi David,
This is all very true. I've been an Assistant Director in BNI for 2 years now but I was also a member until November 2010.
I have to say that I've already noticed a change in the relationships with my fellow members from, what was, my Chapter. And I can see that it's merely a reflection of the fact that I'm no longer there every week. I do visit regularly as the AD for the Chapter but I've already realised that I need to be more proactive with regard to doing my 1-2-1's with the members if I want the relationships to remain as strong as they were.
I would defintely say that 'Weekly is Worth it' when it comes to networking in BNI.
Kindest regards,
Steve Bimpson
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