The Official BNI Podcast

Episode 230: The Value of Exit Interviews

November 9th, 2011

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Synopsis

We mentioned exit interviews in Episode 222; in this episode, Dr. Misner explains how exit interviews came to BNI.

Many years ago a terrific BNI member, someone who really seemed to love BNI, quit unexpectedly. Dr. Misner designed an exit interview and found out that the real reason the member was leaving was because another member had behaved unethically. The membership committee confronted this other member and removed the person from the chapter, allowing the first member to stay.

Here are some of the questions in an exit interview:

  • What are your reasons for leaving?
  • Did you find that BNI was beneficial to you?
  • What did you like most about BNI?
  • Was there anything you disliked about BNI? If so, what was it and how would you change it?
  • Did you feel you were well-informed about the activities and benefits of BNI?
  • Did you meet for lunch with other members of the group? How often?

Take this podcast to your leadership team. And download your own copy of “The Significance and Value of the Exit Interview” below.

Download (PDF, 209.89KB)

Brought to you by Networking Now.

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Published In: Getting The Most From BNI | Leadership Teams | Membership Committees
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Episode 164: “Classification Cowboy”

July 21st, 2010

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Synopsis

This week’s topic is the Classification Cowboy, illustrated by BNI member Dan Fletcher. View and download the slideshow in the next post.

cowboy

A Classification Cowboy is someone who tries to take more than one profession within a chapter. If you try to take more than one classification in a chapter, you’re blocking the connections and referrals that can be brought to the chapter.

The best way to handle this is to address the problem before the person joins the chapter, rather than after accepting a person with multiple businesses as a member. A chapter with multiple attorneys with different specialties is much stronger than a chapter with someone who doubles as attorney and paralegal.

You can download the slides in the next post to show to your chapter.

Brought to you by Ask Ivan Misner.

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Published In: BNI Fundamentals | Membership Committees
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Discussion: 11 Comments

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Episode 102: “And the Survey Says…”

April 29th, 2009

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Synopsis

The national directors of BNI in the UK and Ireland surveyed 4785 members and came up with some great information.

  • 44% of BNI members had been in their business for more than 5 years. 70% had been in business for more than 2 years. (Most businesses fail within their first 3 years.)
  • 25% of BNI members are one-person-businesses; 54% have 2-10 employees; 22% represent companies of up to 50 employees. 75% of our members have employees who work for their companies.
  • 89.3% of the members felt that camaraderie was important to their participation in BNI, and 90.3% were satisfied or extremely satisfied in this area.
  • Based on the survey, 15% received more than £25,000 (US $34,000) in business in the last 12 months, and of those 6% received £50,0000 or $69,000, and 80% received at least £2000 in business just from BNI.
  • 86% of all BNI members were likely to renew their membership. In actual fact, about 20% don’t renew because of factors beyond their control, so the average renewal rate is about 60%.
  • 70% of the people who do not renew made less than £2000 in referral business. This shouldn’t be a shock, but it’s powerful evidence that the amount of business you generate affects your attitude about BNI.

You can read more details in SuccessNet Online, including the graphs that go with the statistics.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

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Episode 57: “Referral Marketing is a Risky Business”

June 4th, 2008

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Synopsis

Dr. Misner has just returned from the Canadian conference, where he had the opportunity to network with people from all around Canada.

Referral marketing is not the safest form of advertising. There are unique risks which are not an issue in other forms of marketing. When you give a referral, you give away a little piece of your reputation. That means you have to have confidence that the person you refer is going to do a good job. Therefore it’s important to have strong relationships with people you refer business to.

The fact that BNI has a membership committee in place to keep an eye on the long-term relationships within a chapter helps reduce the risks. And because BNI meets weekly, you can check up on referrals. It’s important to bring up any problems and give your fellow members the opportunity to address them and make the client happy.

Dr. Misner recommends the book The Speed of Trust, by Stephen M. R. Covey, (the son of the Stephen Covey who wrote The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People). Trust can save you millions of dollars in legal and accounting fees.

Be aware that building trust takes time—a good relationship can easily take a year to develop. And remember, referral marketing may not be the safest form, but it’s the most effective.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

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Published In: Membership Committees | Networking
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Episode 37: “You’re the Average of the 5 People You Hang Out with Most”

January 16th, 2008

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Synopsis

This week’s podcast was inspired by Jack Canfield’s presentation at the BNI International Conference in November 2007. If we really are the average of the 5 people we hang out with most, here are some things we should consider:

  • If we hang out with professional, successful people, it forces us to be more successful.
  • BNI’s Membership Committees need to ask whether a potential new member raises the bar for the chapter.
  • Network up: seek out networking relationships that pull you out of your comfort zone.
  • Open doors to people who have a positive attitude toward success.
  • Some of your associates may rate a “D” for “delete” if they bring you down.

Helpful links: Buffini & Company: Working by Referral

Brought to you by Networking Now.

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Published In: Membership Committees | Networking
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Discussion: 5 Comments

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