48 replies to this topic

[threadsemb]

First of all, I know for a fact this has been discussed before but I don't know if I am doing it wrong or the site's search function isn't working but I get Sorry, No Matches when I check.

A customer approached us about joining BNI. There are lots of local chapters but his is in a pretty up-scale area. I of course can't find anything about how much it costs.....

Though I have seen posts before about it, I didn't read with a serious interested but at this point would like to consider it.

Feedback on cost and success rate and how to utilize would be appreciated. We have no clue even what would happen when you go there but would undoubtedly experience one meeting at least before we join.

[aapromotions]

Scott will tell you to read the tags.

I was invited to a BNI breakfast and didn't like the mix in the group. It was 95 pct of folks who deal with the consumer. I told them I was looking for more business to business. So you have a plumber, a contractor, a hypnotist. The people they see I really don't believe are the folks you would generally want for clients, unless you want to do 50 t shirts for a birthday party. Sure the folks in BNI might order from you but most I found were in professions, attorneys, accountants, who are well to put it bluntly I find to be cheap.

I am in two chambers of commerce. Make myself very visible and the membership pays for itself quite nicely and it's business to business.

/just one opinion.

[threadsemb]

Good point, Allan! And I will look into Chamber membership again. We have not in the past had the resources to really take advantage of network marketing (time mostly) but have expanded our business and are re-considering options.

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Scott will tell you to read the tags.

What does that mean? I was kinda hiping some past BNI thread would show up at the bottom of this one but it looks like all ASI membership references.

[ScottH]

Agreed. BNI is much more B2C.
I've been asked to join our local group (half the people in their are my friends). Here's the biggest problem I have with it: Need a plumber and there's one in your group? You're supposed to use him. Dentist? Same deal. Doesn't matter if they're the worst one in town, if they're in your group, it's an unwritten rule that you use them.
When I refinanced my mortgage, my broker was in the group. That meant that the appraiser he used was also in the group (she was an idiot) and the title company was in the group (okay, but a little high in price). Had these people not been in my broker's BNI group, I highly doubt he would have recommended them.

I'll stop short of saying BNI is a cult....

[aapromotions]

Okay Scott you rattled my brain. We have here in L.A. a referral group called Le Tip. Don't know if they are a nationwide group or not. There are members from Le Tip who are also in one of the chambers I am a member of. When I told someone at a chamber meeting that my car was totaled he gave me the card of someone who brokered cars. I was considered a hot referral because they knew I was going to be getting a car. Turns out I got a super deal at a dealership and didn't call the guy. The guy that gave me the card was visibly p**sed that I didn't call his guy and I couldn't figure out why.

Fast forward to a couple of months ago when I related this to someone who had been in the group. Well, if you are a hot referral and you don't contact the referral the referral giver is allowed to be made of. Who needs to be a part of that. Not sure if BNI is the same.

[plantia]

aapromotions said:

Well, if you are a hot referral and you don't contact the referral the referral giver is allowed to be made of. Who needs to be a part of that. Not sure if BNI is the same.

What???

[aapromotions]

should have read "to that the group can make fun of him." Kind of a razzing for lousy hot referral.

[EagleMountain]

aapromotions said:

....When I told someone at a chamber meeting that my car was totaled he gave me the card of someone who brokered cars. I was considered a hot referral because they knew I was going to be getting a car. Turns out I got a super deal at a dealership and didn't call the guy. The guy that gave me the card was visibly p**sed that I didn't call his guy and I couldn't figure out why.

BNI groups are like everything else. It depends on the group. It's a whole different animal than a Chamber, and it's not a casual networking opportunity. There's an investment of time and money involved.

The familiar scenario that Allan offered is a great example of someone -- the person who gave him the card, that is -- that apparently didn't understand how the trusted referral concept works. What SHOULD have happened when you mentioned your car situation was that the person you talked to would mention the car dealer, shared a card if he had one, and let you know that it was someone they knew and trusted. Then they'd ask you if it would be OK if they called YOU. That way the contact is an actual referral, rather than just a lead or casual recommendation.

My group is also mostly B2C, but the fact is that most of the "C"'s they come in contact with work at a business, own or manage a business, or at least belong to a group, association, civic club, etc. A BNI group that works well functions as an extended sales force for each other. Sales to fellow members quickly covered my annual fee long before I started getting outside referrals from them -- and made them better sales people for me too.

I know that's the BNI corporate pitch, but in my group, at least, the concept is working well. I'm renewing after my first year this month, and have made the meetings one of my must-do committments. I also belong to 3 Chambers, and very active in one of them.

Not to mention that when I need a plumber, for example, he's sure less likely to screw it up if I'm recommending his services!

[Imprintman]

I have belonged to both LeTip and BNI in the past, It's all about building a trust relationship with other business professionals... Getting to know each of the professionals within the group well enough to give them a "Lead". 1 business category per profession and both are costly, BNI more so! In any business you are going to have the B2C, with hope it steers you toward B2B. The groups I got involved it just turned out to be numbskulls. Fake "leads" to avoid fines as they are called. A good example: The realtor in the group referred a house on a block he passed that morning to a mortgage broker. I am active in the local Chamber of commerce and get business from it. You get out from it, what you put into it! BNI & LeTip isn't for everyone but I always say: you never know!

[threadsemb]

Thanks, guys, for the responses....

Quote

both are costly

Such as?

Also, without having to start a new thread (unless I should), can I get some examples of how you take advantage of your Chamber memberships?

[threadsemb]

BTW, I see the "Tags" Allan was talking about but this was the only thread for BNI... So I take back the positiveness that it was discussed before... obviously ;-)

[epicemb]

Stacey - There is a lot of good advice here. My 2cents - how you fit in the group is key - visit the group often - they are going to strong arm you to join right off the bat - you do not have to - visit the group a few times and then make an announcement that you would be willing to sub - it is a policy that if you can not make it you need to find a sub - my guess is that if you make it known that you are available you will be asked to sub a fair bit - this way you can get a feel for the group without making any time or cash commitments beyond the next week or two.

As for BNI's costs - I believe that there is an application fee and an annual membership fee that are paid to the local corporate office - you then pay a share of the weekly room fees - around here it is anywhere from about $5 to $15 a week - the more expensive places typically include lunch or breakfast.

[Joe Denhoff]

BNI is alot of work. The year I joined I picked up business from the group. When I left the group I still had my contacts. It was early meetings, and you better not be late, the same breakfast every week, additional weekly meetings with members and mailings that we had to send out at our own expense. After a while it was not fun anymore. When I told the President of our chapter I was going on vacation she was mad. When my friends in-law passed away he missed a few meetings and was fined by the group. At that time we both left. If you have good, fun people in the group it may be a better experience than I had.

[SimpleSimon]

threadsemb said:

First of all, I know for a fact this has been discussed before but I don't know if I am doing it wrong or the site's search function isn't working but I get Sorry, No Matches when I check.

A customer approached us about joining BNI. There are lots of local chapters but his is in a pretty up-scale area. I of course can't find anything about how much it costs.....

Though I have seen posts before about it, I didn't read with a serious interested but at this point would like to consider it.

Feedback on cost and success rate and how to utilize would be appreciated. We have no clue even what would happen when you go there but would undoubtedly experience one meeting at least before we join.

Scott,
I just resigned from a local chapter, in simple english its BS. I was a member for 2 years and if I am lucky I have had $500 of profit over the period. I was in the best performing group in the nation, and all I saw was folks but in bogus data, to make them look good. The cost is around $500 per annum. There is also a very high turnover of folks... good luck if you wish to proceed!

[DBeavers]

I've been in a 'one-shot' local networking group that met every Tuesday morning for 3 years or more and it was fantastic for my business. A few members of the group bought one or more times. A couple members are still doing business with me, and giving occasional referrals, 5 to 6 years after the group ceased to exist.

With the former group non-existent, I jumped at the chance to join the local BNI group that had been around 4 years or more, and had a couple of the 'charter' members still active. What I didn't give serious consideration to is that the "promo" position had a high turn-over - 3 different people or companies in the last 2 years.

I did my two visits before taking the plunge. If I remember correctly it cost between $500 to $600 for your first year dues, plus the initiation feed. Then, we were responsible for the $10 to 12 lunch, with a surcharge when less than 10 people attended (which became common towards the end).

The 'rah-rah' role playing varied between trite and tedious, but actually followed the BNI corporate guidelines, with the exception being that some referrals were borderline jokes. I had been in couple months when one of the officers asked if I did business cards. I explained that I refer those orders to Office Depot as I don't do paper business cards.

So, Benny, announces he has a referral for me and hands me a slip that same "See Me aoubt business cards".

It went down hill from there.

This was the original group in Lake Charles, LA, and was the last surviving group out of 3. The others failed and survivors were merged into the one chapter.

I was the last person to join. No new members in six-months. High absentee rate. No enforcement of absentee policy. Few visitors - One month I probably brought half of the visitors. The banker in the group would bring a different co-worker half the time - OK for the retailers in the group, but did nothing those looking for business clients.

When the corporate BNI rep came from the Louisiana BNI headquarters and announced the chapter was on probation, the majority walked out 2 minutes after the corporate rep left. End of charter.

I requested a refund, and only after several weeks was notified they'd provide me a letter with time remaining that I could use to join the BNI chapter of my choice. No refunds.

Nearest chapters were in Lafayette, Alexandria, and Baton Rouge, LA or 120 miles West in Pasadena, TX. Nothing closer than 90 miles which seems totally contrary to weekly networking in my book.

I'd suggest you look at your position and see why it's vacant, and inquire how long it's been vacant as a guide to whether it will be worth it for you.

It was an expensive lesson for me, not only in cash outlay, but in the 2 hours wasted between 11 to 1 every Thursday. That could have added up to more time every week for seeing customers or on cold calls.

[Schlep]

In my experience BNI is like every other group there are good groups and bad groups. This is not to say that a good group cannot go bad.

We had a PPD come out to my group but could not get in because of me, he looked at 5 other BNI groups in the city but decided not to join as none of them were as dynamic as our group.

So go visit, look at the new members, is the group membership going up or down, are members renewing their memberships, talk to members you will soon find out if it is the group for you.

My membership was paid for about 4 times over within the first 6 months that I was in the group. As someone else said if there is a high turnover of PPD's avoid the group it usually means that members are not using the PPD in the group for one reason or another.

[epicemb]

Stan - I will second your opinion on bogus data. Each week you hand in slips documenting business generated by members - there never was any hard and fast rule on what # was to be reported - is it the gross sale, the overall profit, or the actual amount earned (commission or otherwise) by the BNI member. In the 10 months I was a member this issue came up at least twice when the person overseeing the group (I forget her specific title, perhaps director) was visiting - both times the answer made the issue even more confusing. Just my oppinion, but I think that BNI hopes to keep this cloudy so the numbers are higher.

SimpleSimon said:

Scott,
I just resigned from a local chapter, in simple english its BS. I was a member for 2 years and if I am lucky I have had $500 of profit over the period. I was in the best performing group in the nation, and all I saw was folks but in bogus data, to make them look good. The cost is around $500 per annum. There is also a very high turnover of folks... good luck if you wish to proceed!

[Schlep]

epicemb said:

Stan - I will second your opinion on bogus data. Each week you hand in slips documenting business generated by members - there never was any hard and fast rule on what # was to be reported - is it the gross sale, the overall profit, or the actual amount earned (commission or otherwise) by the BNI member. In the 10 months I was a member this issue came up at least twice when the person overseeing the group (I forget her specific title, perhaps director) was visiting - both times the answer made the issue even more confusing. Just my oppinion, but I think that BNI hopes to keep this cloudy so the numbers are higher.

Yes there usually is at least one person who hands in bogus leads but if you are getting the leads and business what does it matter. Some groups are very trade based and therefore the trades do well but not others.

If you plan on going and not having meetings to find out and get to know the individuals it will not work. As I said there are those that have had bad experiences and those that have had good experiences.

In today's economy all networking is important. You have to work at making BNI work not just showing up for the meetings. It also take a while for the members to build confidence in you. I was in one networking group (not BNI) and did not get a lead for over a year but now it is quite profitable for me.

[djoctagone]

threadsemb said:

BTW, I see the "Tags" Allan was talking about but this was the only thread for BNI... So I take back the positiveness that it was discussed before... obviously

I'm nearly certain that there are other threads about BNI on this forum . . . it's just that the search function is pretty useless right now and therefore, the other BNI topics are hard to find.

On the other hand, the tags function is working pretty well on this forum. It'd be appreciated if everyone could help sustain it.

[ScottH]

djoctagone said:

I'm nearly certain that there are other threads about BNI on this forum . . . it's just that the search function is pretty useless right now and therefore, the other BNI topics are hard to find.

On the other hand, the tags function is working pretty well on this forum. It'd be appreciated if everyone could help sustain it.

Scott,
(a) Why are you so obsessed with tags?
(b) The only way to see tags at the bottom of a thread is to start a thread (if you can't find it by searching) The problem with searching for BNI is that it's only 3 letters and VB requires a minimum of 4 letters to search.
© Why are you so obsessed with tags?