BNI SuccessNet - July/August 2003

The Yucca Valley "Business Boosters" chapter in Yucca Valley, California, has won the Founder's Award for the third year in a row—this time at the request of Dr. Ivan Misner. At the National Conference in New Orleans in May, Dr. Misner heard that this chapter tracked and passed over 20,000 referrals in their six-year history (20,089 to be exact!). He then requested that they receive the Founder's Award right away.

How does this 35-member chapter continue to win? Here are some of the reasons:

Of the 10 in the core group from April 1997, eight are still with the chapter.
One member didn't miss a meeting (no subs) for just short of two years.
In 2002, they recognized 10 members for using the substitute plan and having no absences.
They have active membership committees.
By playing the BNI Game, in January 2003 they had a record referral month of 438 in only four weeks. In May 2003, they passed 516 referrals in five weeks.
They hold a yearly Visitor's Day
They actively do Dance Cards.
They give recognition to outstanding members and raise the bar with each new Leadership Team's term.
They have positive attitudes and keep the fun in their weekly sales meeting.
They follow the BNI program because it works.

Submitted by L. Hilary Slotta, Regional Director, Palm Springs, California.

2003 Founders Award Winners

The following chapters were given Founders Awards for the first half of 2003:

Edwardsville chapter, Illinois
Fat City chapter, Louisiana
Chelmsford chapter, Boston
Holden chapter, Boston
Financial District chapter, Boston
Medway chapter, Boston
Peabody chapter, Boston
Quintree chapter, Boston
Wakefield chapter, Boston
Chesterfield South chapter, St. Louis
Manchester chapter, St. Louis
Rockwood chapter, St. Louis
Westport Breakfast chapter, St. Louis
Plainstow chapter, New Hampshire
Cliffhangers chapter, New York
Pittsburgh City chapter, Pennsylvania
Ft. Bend chapter, Houston

Submitted by Ann Longanecker.

Member Recognized on Capitol Hill (U.S)

Maria A. Ryan, BNI member and founder and president of WebFront Solutions Corp., based in Rockville, Maryland, was honored with the 2003 NFWL Latina Leadership of the Year Award at the National Foundation for Women Legislator's annual Women Lawmakers' Networking Day on May 1 and 2 in Washington, D.C. Four hundred political and corporate leaders attended along with several members of Congress and state legislators to recognize Ryan for outstanding achievements within her community at the Congressional Reception on Capitol Hill.

Submitted by Jerry Schwartz.

Great Ideas at Work

The Referral Masters chapter of Federal Way, Washington, created a clever card to hand out to guests at Visitors Days and during their Networking Education Moment. The cards, created by Krista Rosemary with New Tech Web, list Ivan Misner's 'Top 10 Networking Tips.' The cards say, 'Use these 10 tips to get more out of every networking event you attend,' and list the following:

Always carry business cards.
Set goals for the number of people you want to meet.
Act like a host, not a guest.
Always exchange cards with people you meet.
Listen and ask the five Ws. Show genuine interest.
Write notes on the back of their card to remember them better.
Give a lead or referral whenever possible.
Describe your business in 60 seconds, then ask about theirs.
Spend less than 10 minutes with each person. Meet many new people. Don't talk with people you know. Set appointments.
Follow up!

Submitted by Connie Hinton, Executive Director, BNI-NW.

I received a cold call from some folks from my bank a couple of weeks ago. While meeting with them, I turned the tables on them and said that I love to speak to groups about business law and asked if they'd be interested. We ended up agreeing on a bank-sponsored seminar targeting their small business clients (about 125 area businesses) and all local small businesses for August.

The kicker is that their entire marketing department is promoting the after-hours event. They're developing professional brochures, sending out mailings (they've paid for a mailing list of all local small businesses), they're following up with the RSVPs and they're providing all refreshments and are hosting it at their branch.

I remember Dr. Misner mentioning that as networkers we should constantly be on the look-out for opportunities to speak to groups. What could be better than someone else covering ALL of the costs to promote and do such an event?

Again, it's that BNI thing at work.

Submitted by Andrew Garcia.

Thank You, Dr. Misner!

I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate and applaud the wonderful culture you have created though the individuals, chapters and regions within BNI. For me being a part of BNI is so much more than the referrals I can receive.

Thank you for putting into action your vision of building your business through relationships.

Submitted by Gary A. Bohm.

Substitute Reaps Huge Rewards

I am a member of Business Advisor's Network chapter, which meets in Brookfield, Wisconsin. I am a design/construction consultant for DBI, a full service design-build general contractor that builds everything but residential.

Last summer I was a substitute for a member of the Brown Deer chapter. At that meeting I received a referral from one of the members for a person who was in need of someone to build out the lease space for their new franchise business. I built out that store and am completing the third store for a total amount thus far of $507,000.00 of business. We have been selected to be the regional contractor for this national franchise so this one referral will probably result in several million dollars of business for our company. Not bad for being a sub at another chapter's meeting.

But there's more.

I met a banker at the grand opening of the first store and received a referral from him for putting up a building for one of his clients.

Another time I was wearing my BNI nametag after a meeting when I stopped at one of my building projects, which is a hair salon. A fellow who was waiting for a haircut noticed my nametag and said his office was above the first store we built. He explained that his company was buying a number of gas stations and would be in need of construction services. He has given me a referral that I am working on at this time. More business from just one referral!

This one referral has been like hitting a home run, but the best part is, I get to keep running the bases and increasing the score!

Submitted by Dave Manore.