Commissioning editor, Dee Blick, has been pounding the networking beat, this time attending BNI Horsham Winners, at their January meeting, at Roffey Park.
The background
Mention BNI to a fellow business traveller, and it usually evokes one of the following responses.
“I don’t do early mornings, so it’s not for me.”
“I don’t like the rules about passing referrals and only allowing one type of business per chapter.”
“I love it and my best clients have come from BNI.”
Undoubtedly, I’m in the latter category. Many moons ago, when I made the leap from employment to self-employment, I recognised as a marketer and sole trader that I had to propel my fledgling brand into the spotlight. I was not well known by any stretch. I had no books to my name and plenty of free time to network.
BNI was one of the tools I chose to build my business. And so, every week, I found myself setting the alarm for 6 am so I could make the 20-minute drive to the nether edges of Crawley. I soon warmed to the idea of promoting my business to fellow members with a creative 60-second presentation, spelling out in no uncertain terms the introductions I was looking for and the types of businesses that would benefit from my marketing on a shoestring sessions. After a few months, I became the education coordinator for the group, helping members to stand out for all the right reasons in their 60-second slot and their 10-minute spotlight.
Attending BNI proved to be a winning formula
Within a few months, I had paid for my membership and had several sizeable, retained clients. I always ensured that when I passed a referral to a fellow member, it really was a genuine business opportunity. Some things irritated me, and I suspect they would do so now. Receiving a half-baked referral from a member was grinding, especially when I rang a person only to be told they had never heard of me. Thankfully, these time-wasting performative gestures were few and far between. Overall, the great referrals were plentiful and BNI put my little business on firm foundations.
Indeed, the very first client to retain me, Mike Schlup, MD of Kalimex – I’m still working with his business today, 20 years down the line.
There’s a reason for them rules!
Like many businesspeople, I realised that the rules and regulations BNI is renowned for, based on Givers Gain, were its biggest strength. If you understand before joining that you’ll be expected to hold to your side of the bargain and go forth and find great business opportunities for fellow members, you’ll be okay. Likewise, you can’t decide not to turn up for several weeks. You must make a commitment to BNI and rock up week in week out, finding a substitute on the odd occasion when you can’t make it. Adopting the right mindset is crucial. If you attend BNI, expecting other members to promote you to the hilt, but you don’t return the favour, you won’t last long. And that’s fair enough.
So, what happened to my BNI membership, I hear you ask?
Well, I wrote bestselling marketing books and these alone brought a flow of clients to my door. I no longer had to get up at 6 am and drive to Gatwick because I had a full order book and a waitlist. However, I had several enjoyable years as a BNI member, met the most incredible people, some of whom I’m still in contact with today and it played a big part in launching me on the road to success.
I was, and still am, a fan.
A warm welcome from Horsham Winners
Fast forward to a cold and rainy January morning and I found myself attending the BNI Horsham Winners chapter, which meets every Friday morning in the lovely surroundings of Roffey Park. Kick off is 6.45, but I got there at 6.30 to a full room.
How did I find it, and had anything changed?
It was a promising start, with Chapter President, Michelle Betts greeting me before Vice President,Vern Dercksen, started chatting to me; both lovely smiling people who can brush away any nerves. I was not nervous, but I appreciate for some, their first meeting can be daunting. The format has not changed over the years – informal chatting, followed by breakfast, education slots, 60-second presentations, referrals, and testimonials, then back to informal networking if you want to stay on.
If I had one bugbear of the morning, and it’s only the one, no sooner had I served myself to breakfast than everything was whipped away. I never got to eat the croissant I had my eye on for after finishing my modest portion of fruit salad. A small gripe, and if I visit again, my plate will be fully loaded!
The meeting was uplifting and inspiring, in no small part thanks to a couple of presentations from Tim Fifield, BNI Director. His presentations included the importance of members stepping up, keeping their promises, asking questions, listening and being accountable. Tim also touched on the importance of members sharing their successes and turning up week in week out. Tim is an absolute professional, one of those rare people who manages to carry a robust message, gently wrapped in humour. And he walks his talk, being one of those rare individuals who will engage you in conversation about you to the extent that you have to shoehorn in questions about him.
Michelle Betts then spoke movingly about how BNI saved her business during the pandemic when many of her retail clients, severely affected, cut their marketing budgets. She is still there many years later with a thriving business, waving her magic wand and running the morning with her trademark fuss-free approach, again like Tim, bringing a little humour to the situation.
There was the usual format with one-minute presentations, which one member timed to the second. After attending networking events recently where the host allowed members to stray for several minutes, I welcome the presence of a timekeeper. The Referral Reality check was powerful, asking a member how they were faring with a referral passed to them by another member. This would certainly keep you on your toes.
Two members really piqued my interest, and I wanted to know more. Sadly, one scooted off before I could chat to him.
My summary
If it isn’t broken, then it doesn’t need fixing. For January alone, this chapter passed over £105,000 in business. BNI is alive, well and clearly thriving if Horsham Winners is anything to go by. If you can handle the early mornings, embrace the Givers Gain philosophy and cultivate the art of being curious and engaged, it could well be your golden ticket.
About Dee
You can buy her latest book, You’re the Best! How to Build an Authentic and Magnetic Personal Brand, and The 15 Essential Marketing Masterclasses For Your Small Business. Currently, 6 five-star reviews on Amazon, none written by her husband or sons… You can buy Dee’s book on Amazon and contact her at dee@themarketinggym.org
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