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GIVERS GAIN
Competition Results in Referrals and Visitors
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Studs and Knights Work the Day Shift |
The Farmington Friday Chapter was looking for a way to breathe some life into their chapter. They were getting stale, according to VP Neil Hartzog, so President Sean Kelly looked in his Leadership Manual and decided that the chapter would play the BNI Game during the months of March and April. The chapter was divided into three teams: the Networking Knights, the Studs, and the Haywoods, who were the eventual winners. The Studs and Knights now owe the Haywoods a free barbecue, which is why you see them wearing lobster bibs above!
In the BNI Game, points are awarded on a weekly basis for referrals given (5 points), sales generated by referrals (10 to the person who gave the referral), first time visitors (10 to the member who invited him/her), and new members (10 to the recruiting member). Points are deducted for being late or leaving early (-5), being absent without a sub (-10), and for late breakfast dues (-5 for each week late).
"The competitive nature came out in everyone," according to Hartzog, and the results were staggering. They had more guests in the past 2 months than they had in the five previous months since the new term began in October, including five at the April 26 meeting alone! People were on time, or had subs and referrals and closed business went into the stratosphere!
Hartzog emphatically states, "I would recommend this to any chapter that has been feeling stale. Every chapter should try it!!"
The Simple Power of a Referral
I would like to share with you a great BNI/Networking story and an example of how helping others helps ourselves.
I placed an ad in the Coffee News and received only one call from a company in Walnut Creek. As it turned out I was not able to help the company, because they wanted someone with strong File Maker Pro skills. I could have just said, "Thank you very much for calling," but I didn't.
I asked him more questions and found out he was also considering a much bigger Oracle system as well. I told him that I would get him in contact with someone who could help him with that. The person I referred him to is a BNI Member in San Ramon, Mark Magnum, who I met through another BNI Member, Steve Garske.
Mark met with the client and found out he was also considering an accounting system. So, I quickly got on the phone and called my friend, John Wheat, who implements Solomon for companies, and got him to connect with Mark.
Meanwhile, I am still trying to find a File Maker Pro person for this company. I finally got a referral from another File Maker Pro person who was too busy to take on the job. This other person contacted me and through conversation I found out that he has two clients that could use my Access help.
Last but not least, the original man who called me has passed my name to his human resources manager, who is interested in getting some Outlook classes set up for their company. All of this activity stemmed from one person I tried to connect up with others, not to mention just one response to an ad in the coffee news. All this is because of BNI!
Dawn Duhon
Pleasant Hill, CA, Chapter
Calliope Consulting
Dr. Misner: I am a 3 year member of BNI and I just wanted to thank you. I owe much of my business success to you. I learned "how to conduct business" from BNI.
Sincerely,
Brenda Howard
Electric Checks
mailto:info@electricinfo@electricchecks.com
Massachusetts/Rhode Island Region
Winner of Founder's Award
This year Minnesota is proud to announce that the Lake Superior Chapter in Duluth is a winner of a 2002 Founder's Award. Their hard work and enthusiasm got the area off to the right start. In September the chapter will be two years old, and it stands as a fine example of what BNI can do for you and your business.
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Lisa Hansen, ST - Aaron Hansen, Pres - Rolf Flaig, VP
Nancy Giacomuzzi, Exec. Director |
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