[justin brown]

Anyone tried/ using the BNI networking group? I went on a 'guest day' and i must say it is very structured, quite like going back to school in a way! there were about 40 odd people who meet every friday for brekkie between 6.30-9.30 and you have to make that commitment every week. from there you tell everyone about your business and then you basically try and get as many referalls for each other in the following week. cost was approx. £500 per year plus £10 per week for your food so not much change from a grand. the people on it say its worth every penny, and once your in no one from the same industry can then join that 'chapter'.........thoughts anyone?

http://www.bni-europe.com/uk/

[Andy Foster]

I was a member of BNI for 5 years and it was the best advertising investment I ever made.
Had to stop going late last year but am now ready to start again and will be rejoining my local chapter in the next few weeks.

Not sure they are sticking to the plan regarding times at the one you visited though... should be 6.45 until 8.30(ish) you might want to shop around the other chapters local to you to make sure you join the one that suits you best.

Good luck

Andy

[Mike Halliday]

I joined and it was the worst investment I ever made, I stayed for 4 months.

 most leads were from member to to member because they foster a air of embarrassment if you don't get referrals, so rather than say you don't have anything you ask a fellow member to give you a quote( so give yourself as a referral)

also groups of  members gave made up reference to each others.

the whole structure was monotonous and purposely time consuming,

my chapter was full of liars, the gentlemen who invited me told me it was the best decision he ever made joining, but 2 week after i joined he left saying it was cost more to attend than he made. he lied to me because the member are constantly harassed to get new members.

I was told the carpet cleaner who was a member before me got loads of work but was asked to leave because of poor attendance ( you only get 3 Misses then you are out) but this was another lie, he left because it was useless.

they will tell you anything to get you to join, but I would'nt touch them with a bargepole

[Andy Foster]

Must have been a bad lot there Mike.

That is why I say to shop around. Make sure you are happy before you join.

[2cleanright]

Justin - visit a couple of local chapters and see which one suits you best - they are all different. It is a structured meeting because it is a system, honed over 20 years, that is proven to maximise the business passed btween the members of each chapter. If you feel like you are going back to school then it probably  isn't for you cos you dont get it.

Mike - you must have joined the worst chapter in the UK! If they (and you) are following the system, it will work. A £million a year passed between 35 members is not unusual in a well run chapter.

I have been a member now for 3 years and it knocks every other form of marketing in to a cocked hat. I track where every job comes from and it is 4 times more cost effective than my best print advert.

Andy is right -  you should be away from the meeting by 8.45 at the latest. A bit later as a visitor because of the visitor orientation they ask you to do. This should just be answering the questions you should be asking but cant think of they dont do a hard sell on you.

The meeting is not designed to embarrass members in to giving duff referrals - it is designed to give you the opportunity of telling everyone what you have done for your fellow members that week. If you dont have a referral you can mention 1-2-1 meetings to learn about another members business, give testamonials and other things too. As a carpet cleaner, in and out of peoples homes every day, if you work the system they teach you, you will have referrals every week without a problem - I regularly find work for 4 or 5 other members a week. All you have to do is talk to your clients. If you get duff referrals complain to ther leadership team and they will send the offending member on training to stop it happening.

As for finding new members, the more people you have sat at the table each week, the more business everyone gets, but the emphasis is on bringing guests who might fit with your chapter. Applications are not accepted automatically.
I get work from members, their contacts friends and family and from my clients who trust me to provide them with reputable tradesmen in all fields. No one in my chapter will do a bad for a client i refer to them because if they do, they have got to have breakfast with me next week and explain why they didn't look after my client for me.
Every week you get 60 seconds to educate the members about what kind of work you are looking for. On average each member will know about 1000 people, so you are pitching your services to a potential 30000 clients plus. My biggest commerciall jobs have all come from BNI. I get regular work from the letting agent, contract cleaner, builder, painter, plumber, electrician, etc etc
BNI also do some great business training which you would normally pay £300 a day for - they charge the cost of hiring the room, typically £10 or £20.

I am currently the director of my chapter, each chapter is run by the members for the members. Dont expect to get work strainght away - you need to build relationships with other members and gain their trust. It is all about farming, not hunting. I really cant understand why every chapter hasn't got a carpet cleaner in it.

[Mike Halliday]

when you walk in for the meeting you sign an attendance form, on the form you tick what you have that week either..... 'referrals' , 'show me the money'; visitor' etc

towards the end of the meeting they they read out each members name from this form and ask "how many referrals have you got this week" but they already know!!! it says on the form you haven't got any!! they just ask you in front of all the other members to let everyone know you didn't bring any...... so you feel embarrassed and intimidated.

I saw businessmen go from confident speakers to timid schoolboys as they told fellow members they had "nothing this week".

don't think I didn't give it a fair chance, I worked my bum off to get referrals,  for 2 months I came second in the referral league, and attended the workshops.

but this is just my experience, of course it doesn't work for everyone. try it yourself but attend more meeting as a guest and listen carefully to the referrals given out and see how many are members referring themselves.

[Joe H]

I had an invite some 18 months ago.
I looked into it via the internet, visited a few websites, could see that you would have to be a certain type of person to  make it work ie pushy, and decided it was not for me.

It might be for you though.

[Andy Foster]

Don't believe everything you read Joe. I am surprised to read what you just said!
I always like to offer advice from experience not from hearsay!

[Colin Day]

Sounds to me like Joe made a sound judgement on his findings through researching via the internet Andy. It doesn't sound like my cup of tea TBH and that's just from reading Mike Hallidays findings/"Experience  :

[robert meldrum]

I was nagged into going along to a meeting and regard it as useful to businesses which supply regular rather than occasional services.

All a bit pretentious and "white collar" which is NOT 99% of carpet cleaners, however it could benefit us in our new Training Business.

[Simon Moat]

Prior to starting my cleaning business I was Commercial Manager at a professional sport club, as such I had many dealings with people involved with BNI, on one social occasion I asked a Director of a large chapter in my home city ''cards on the table, how many members do better than break even on their membership?''

His reply, ''very few, their all c***s''.

My opinion, for what it's worth, get a membership list from your local chapters, approach the contact with ''I understand your in BNI, does it work for you? Do you think it could work for me? I'm a carpet cleaner'' that's your foot in the door without the hassle, expense of membership.

Simon.

[Joe H]

Don't believe everything you read Joe. I am surprised to read what you just said!
I always like to offer advice from experience not from hearsay!

Andy
I visited the bni website and took a look around, then from their I went to local chapter websites and took another nosey.
I didnt visit websites of those who had left bni and spoke derogatory - dont know even if such exist.
So in a way it was straight from the horses mouth.

Im not a pushy person, its a bit like what has been said on the bait and switch debate. Bait and swirtch is bad, but there is nothing wrong in upselling to a customer if what you have to offer is what they need, but some on here said thats not for them and not really for me either. So "upselling" another professionis not really me either.

[Andy Foster]

Joe / Colin

From my ACTUAL experience of BNI and not what I have read/heard. If you get a good chapter ( which I obviously did and Mike obviously didn't ) then BNI can be a fantastic tool for getting new business.

In the 5 years I was there ( total cost £5000 including breakfasts ) I had over £160k of work and although I am no longer a member, I still get referrals and only 2 months ago completed a job worth in excess of £6k.

It is the same with everything, it will work for some and not for others.

All I say is don't knock until you've tried it.
Mike did and had a bad experience unfortunately, but some swear by yellow pages and some think it is waste if money. Some swear by Lraflets others don't. Horses for courses.

[Barry Livingstone]

Justin - visit a couple of local chapters and see which one suits you best - they are all different. It is a structured meeting because it is a system, honed over 20 years, that is proven to maximise the business passed btween the members of each chapter. If you feel like you are going back to school then it probably  isn't for you cos you dont get it.

Mike - you must have joined the worst chapter in the UK! If they (and you) are following the system, it will work. A £million a year passed between 35 members is not unusual in a well run chapter.

I have been a member now for 3 years and it knocks every other form of marketing in to a cocked hat. I track where every job comes from and it is 4 times more cost effective than my best print advert.

Andy is right -  you should be away from the meeting by 8.45 at the latest. A bit later as a visitor because of the visitor orientation they ask you to do. This should just be answering the questions you should be asking but cant think of they dont do a hard sell on you.

The meeting is not designed to embarrass members in to giving duff referrals - it is designed to give you the opportunity of telling everyone what you have done for your fellow members that week. If you dont have a referral you can mention 1-2-1 meetings to learn about another members business, give testamonials and other things too. As a carpet cleaner, in and out of peoples homes every day, if you work the system they teach you, you will have referrals every week without a problem - I regularly find work for 4 or 5 other members a week. All you have to do is talk to your clients. If you get duff referrals complain to ther leadership team and they will send the offending member on training to stop it happening.

As for finding new members, the more people you have sat at the table each week, the more business everyone gets, but the emphasis is on bringing guests who might fit with your chapter. Applications are not accepted automatically.
I get work from members, their contacts friends and family and from my clients who trust me to provide them with reputable tradesmen in all fields. No one in my chapter will do a bad for a client i refer to them because if they do, they have got to have breakfast with me next week and explain why they didn't look after my client for me.
Every week you get 60 seconds to educate the members about what kind of work you are looking for. On average each member will know about 1000 people, so you are pitching your services to a potential 30000 clients plus. My biggest commerciall jobs have all come from BNI. I get regular work from the letting agent, contract cleaner, builder, painter, plumber, electrician, etc etc
BNI also do some great business training which you would normally pay £300 a day for - they charge the cost of hiring the room, typically £10 or £20.

I am currently the director of my chapter, each chapter is run by the members for the members. Dont expect to get work strainght away - you need to build relationships with other members and gain their trust. It is all about farming, not hunting. I really cant understand why every chapter hasn't got a carpet cleaner in it.

I have to say you been well and truly sucking in but go on you..... I was a member back in 2001 to 2005 yes i made money and I was chapter director. BUT once i left i made more money than ever before for a few years.
The BNI is a franchise its all about making the regional Directors MONEY FACT they need a turn over of MEMBERS and joining fees to make money. they do not care how well the chapter does.

I even went to a BNI meeting when i was on holiday. in the states in 2002 to see how they done it to get the most out of it.

The fact there used to be 3 chapters within 20miles of me says it all really..

Barry

[oliver collins]

Hi guys

I have been a member for three years its great for business i am part of a great chapter of 25 members with a mix of trades and white coller growing to 40 members soon

Best business business decision i ever made

Oliver Collins Rise & Shinr Cleaning

[Kingsley Wright]

was a member of BNI for about six months back in 2004.

Sorry to say, but it beats even YP as being the worst marketing decision I've ever made.

It's true that you are not given the hard sell to join up but on the other hand when you attend a meeting you get a false picture of what the real situation is.
You see everybody stand up in turn and give a little speech about their business, then they will either pass a referral for work to another member, or provide a 'testimonial' stating how impressed they are about another members business.

To an outsider, it all looks very positive.

The reality is that most of the 'referrals' are either not 'real', or trivial i.e. I had about six referrals whilst attending BNI - two of those were to clean ONE room at another chapter members home address, and the other four were to purchase a £5 bottle of spotter  :

BNI is a business, and like most businesses, puts itself first.

I remember one guy who sold/services photocopiers. During the time that I was there, I don't remember him getting one meaningful referral. 
He then won a contract to supply the schools in his Local Authority area, and promptly left the BNI.
The following week it was announced 'such and such has now left the BNI - due to the fact that he has received so much business from BNI'.

I dare say that there is probably a huge difference in the 'quality' of the different chapters, which might explain why peoples' opinions are so different.
But for me it was a lot of money, and time, down the drain.

[Mike Halliday]

another thing i noticed was how many members put in show me the money slips* from referrals that they got from members who had left the chapter,

*show me the money slips are pieces of paper which supposedly show money you have earned from a referral given by a fellow member

these can be totally fictitious as they cannot be proved and again people use them so don't feel embarrassed. so when people talk about how much money is made within the chapter I don't believe it.

[Ian Gourlay]

I do not know if you have heard of 4network that is another one

I came across the other day when ordering my weekly motivational book on Amazon

The boss has written a book called GOYA, its on my list.

Anyway he explains the theory of Getting of Your Arse,

I did investigate my local group of 4network , if i joined I would be under preasure to buy advertising space in a local directory. hire a  marketing consultant, have health and saftey training all of which would cost me my arms and my legs, in return for a lounge carpet, or worse still the box room.

In my opinion the best wa to target people is to GOYA not these UYA  clubs

[The Great One]

Hi

I went along to a few meetings around 6 years ago.

I went to about 3 meetings, got a couple of jobs from it, but i didn't want to spend over £1000 and get up at a sparrow's fart to become a full member.

Like has been said it works for some and for some it doesn't, that's life, pointless putting someone down just because they don't want to do it.

Regards


Martin

[CATMAN]

I was in two.

We even offered free cleaning to show off our new truckmount.

Three people took up the offer, and it made me realise these people do not spend money on their homes.

Here the takers

Leather sofa- 20 years old. I gave him the leather cream and told him to have ago, as it looked so bad it needed replacing. This guy was selling financial products.
Chapter Director- 1960's bedroom carpet, wow never seen anything like it, in a posh part of Chester.
Health Spa- Cleaned ten rooms, packed all away, she then has the brass neck to say we have missed a room. Box of chocs for all our work.

None of this helped. Referals were quotes, quoted were, I'm not paying that!

Load of old back scratching, smoke and mirrors, you name it. Franchise, enough said.

Keep your money you'll never get it back

Graham