[Chris_Thomas]

Hi
Been invited to join my local group BNI (business referral organisation).
Anyone out there have any positive or negative experiences?
Feedback appreciated.
Regards
Chris

[niceandclean]

I have been a couple of times,4 years ago, introducing my upvc business, waste of time for that. The plumbers, sparkys ect did well out of it though. Its mainly small businesses that go, and its usually a 6.30am start, have breakfast, then the new member can stand up and do a presentation and explain what he or she does.
Go along for the first one and see what you think, you will be able to see from the first morning if its going to be worth it.

[Chris_Thomas]

Thanks for the feedback. Went as a guest last week- poor turnout so couldn't really tell whether it's worth £400 per year. Agree about sparkies etc. not so sure about cleaning though.

[ValueValeting]

I personally couldn't face the 6.30am brekkie every week - iirc attendance is mandatory i believe.

[Kelvin]

I am a member in Cheltenham and am in my 2nd year of membership.  First off it is not 6.30am but 6.45!!!  it goes on until 8.30.  During that time, each member is allowed approx 60 secs to explain their business and more specifically anyone in particular they would like to be introduced to.  Any visitors are warmly welcomed and given 30 secs to briefly explain their business.  Also every week 1 member is the featured speaker and given 10 minutes.

The  most important part is the giving of referrals.  For instance I may have cleaned a pub cooking range and they mentioned they are looking to have the kitchen floor relaid.  I have a guy from a flooring company in our chapter and therefore give him the name of the pub for him to contact.

No one gets a referral every week, and some may go months without one.  I know of one person who is in that situation, but one he did get produced a £30000 contract!!!!! (I wish)  For some it is better than others.  You would be very unlucky to get none at all.  Yes those in the building trade probably do best overall but I have done well at it, in my first year getting £2500 worth of business.  Considering an average job value of £50 that is a pretty good investment of £400 + VAT.

You will get all sorts of people there from all walks of life.  A lot depends on the personalities of those in the chapter (including you) whether it works or not.

Kelvin

[ValueValeting]

First off it is not 6.30am but 6.45!!! 

Sorry

[niceandclean]

As i said, some will do better than others, depends on who goes, and what area you are in.  Also if you enjoy going, thats a plus!!
 

[Chris_Thomas]

Thanks for the feedback Kelvin.
I'm undecided as you can tell.
Going to their visitors day to see if it's any better with more people.
Cheers
Chris

[mxg]

I am just coming up to the end of my first year in BNI and I am going to sign on again for year 2
but I would add the following

- Yes definitely go to the Visitor Day if there is one being organised

- it takes time for people to get to know you and trust you - if you have any good sites/clients make sure that everyone is aware so they can name drop on your behalf

- a lot does depend on who the other members are - typically the solicitor, accountant, ifa or mortgage adviser can generate a lot of work for each other but on the other hand they also tend to know a lot of people - if I target a company our solicitor usually knows someone there !

- try and get in other people that you think could generate regular work for you - could be letting agent, estate agent, property developer depending on what sort of cleaning you're in to

- attend all of the training you possibly can - its all covered in the annual fee - even go to the same course 2 or 3 times because you never know who you are going to meet

- if you want people to work hard on your behalf you will have to work hard on their behalf too

Feel free to contact me offline if you have any other specific questions

Mick

[Chris_Thomas]

Thanks Mick
One of my property managers invited me. I'm more into lettings/commercial & hard floors than domestic. What sort of leads do you normally get?
Cheers
Chris

[mxg]

That is one of the downsides - there can only be one member per category at any one time so if you are getting work from this guy already you are not gaining anything from him.

Our letting agent has given us some work but not nearly as much as I would have expected but he did get us a very big builders clean but unfortunately it didn't lead to the follow on work that we expected.

Another builders clean turned in to a regular office cleaning contract and we have picked up a few other office cleaning jobs.

Just last week I got asked to quote for the daily cleaning at the venue where we hold our meetings - it is a council run facility with meeting rooms for hire, small cafe/resturant, offices etc. Without BNI we would never have been asked to quote for this even though its far from a done deal at present.

Others have provided names and contacts that have not resulted in any work yet but hope springs eternal.

I am more interested in repeat business rather than one off jobs because hopefully I will retain these for many years.

Mick

[Chris_Thomas]

Cheers Mick
Sounds like it's been worth it for you.
Chris