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The true value of BNI isn’t the meetings

by Andy Bounds on February 4, 2013 · 0 comments

sligoI love BNI meetings.  I love the energy and positivity.  I love seeing people’s businesses improve before my eyes, as they get referrals, public endorsement, new contacts, new ideas…  It’s just a great start to the day.

But I have long believed that the true value of BNI isn’t what happens during the meetings.  It’s what happens outside them.  It’s all the:

  • The calls you make, to trigger referrals for others
  • The calls they make, to trigger referrals for you
  • Referrals you all follow-up on, that lead to business
  • 121s you have, to get to know each other better
  • The time you spend writing testimonials and preparing 60 seconds that your Chapter will enjoy
  • BNI training you attend, to help you grow your – and others’ – business even faster

That’s where the real value of BNI is. [click to continue…]

If it’s good enough for Usain Bolt, it’s good enough for me

by Andy Bounds on December 2, 2012 · 0 comments

Excluding relays, Usain Bolt has run in four finals in the previous two Olympics.  He’s won four Gold medals and has become widely accepted as the fastest man ever.

And do you know how long he took to win these four finals?  57.94 seconds.

That’s less than a minute.

In fact, that’s less time than you’ll spend reading this blog.  Talk about practising hard so you perform brilliantly when it matters… [click to continue…]

Am I forgetful?

by Charlie Lawson on May 25, 2012 · 9 comments

I was at a networking event recently, and I bumped into a chap who I hadn’t seen
for a long time.  He’d been a BNI member in one of the first chapters I’d supported, some seven years ago, and had left the group when he sold his business.

We had a very enjoyable conversation – both catching up on old times, and also finding out about what we were both doing right now.  It turns out that I have a number of contacts that he would love the chance to speak to, and of course, I was happy to try and facilitate some introductions.

As is good practice in referral marketing, he told me exactly what I should say when I spoke to my contacts, and we agreed a time for me to follow up with him on how I’d got on. [click to continue…]