BNI SuccessNet - Second Quarter 2002

The East Hanover, NJ, chapter has had great success the past several months by trying some innovative methods of improving our meetings and adding to the variety of our BNI experience. This has been a tremendous success and has resulted in the rapid growth of both our membership and the number of referrals passed each week.

First, we instituted a partnership policy. That is to say, each of our members now has a partner to whom he or she must speak each week prior to the day of our meeting. The assignment is simple - practice a sixty-second commercial stressing the theme raised by the Educational Coordinator and critique the presentation of your partner. The results have been dramatic. The presentations are rehearsed, focused and confident. The members have a better understanding of each others' businesses and thus produce more and better referrals.

Next, we have started to hold theme weeks. It all started when a custom software designer joined our chapter. Since we already had a gentleman who repairs and builds computers and a web site designer, it was decided that we would allow this trio to present a joint ten minute demonstration describing the services they had to offer and how their businesses complimented each other. They put together a professional multimedia presentation that knocked our socks off. A visitor, who happens to be a network designer, quickly joined our group and was added to this trio to create our "technology quartet." We now tell our members (as well as members of the other local chapters) to just send a referral with a computer problem or need our way and our technology quartet will do the rest.

As this has been such a success, we are now having a real estate week where our title company, mortgage broker, carpenter and attorney will jointly provide a presentation and a new business week where our employee benefits broker, payroll company, accountant and property/casualty insurance broker will work together to inform us about the services that they can provide to a new business enterprise.

By holding joint presentations, these groups not only educate our members and guests, but also learn more about each others' businesses and thus are better able to refer to each other. We plan to expand this concept in the coming months by continuing to hold one theme meeting each month.

As a result of these innovations, our meetings have become more energetic, varied and exciting. I have heard from many members of our group that we have made it worth getting up at 5:30 a.m. Our membership has grown by fifty percent and our referrals have similarly increased. The East Hanover chapter is a BNI success story.
—A. Bret Steig, Esq.

The Waltham, MA, chapter has narrowed its 60-second intro to 45 seconds, so we have to make the most of what little time we have in order to make a lasting impression. Since I am a graphic designer, I decided that a visual demonstration would have a lot of impact on the group.
One morning I showed up to our 7:00 a.m. meeting looking like I do on the weekend - in other words, a slob. My sweatpants, t-shirt, and plaid flannel shirt made me look like I just rolled out of bed. Everyone was too polite to mention my clothing, but I could tell by their looks that they were wondering why I wasn't dressed better.

When it was my turn to make my pitch, I stood up slowly and mumbled, "My name is Laura Foley, Laura M. Foley Design, and you should hire me 'cuz I've got thirteen years' experience as a graphic designer and I'm really good at it." Then I straightened up and announced, "I dressed like this on purpose to make a point. If someone has a great product or service but poorly designed marketing materials, it doesn't matter whether or not that person is a professional. They come across looking like I do now. So keep an eye out for people who could use a graphic design makeover."

It was a hit! There were smiles all around and nods of understanding. When the meeting adjourned, the chapter Vice President approached me to let me know that he had been planning to tell me that I should take our meetings more seriously and dress professionally; however, after my presentation, it all made sense.
—Laura Foley, Laura M. Foley Design, laura@lauramfoley.com, www.lauramfoley.com