January/February 2006
Art of Networking
IndiaTaking business networking into the 21st century
BNI India just celebrated its one year anniversary with our First Annual Networking Conference. We had over 63 members and guests attend at the conference in Mumbai. Over 88% of our membership was in attendance! An outstanding international cast of BNI speakers thrilled the audience, including Niri Patel Executive Director for BNI Yorkshire & Co-National Director for BNI India; Bijay & Anna Shah, Co-National Directors of BNI UAE; and Shaik Abdulla, Regional Director for BNI Singapore. Members learned 10 new ways to get referrals without spending a penny, how to make money with every word that you speak, "The Art of Knowing BNI" and fantastic ways in which to make lots of new business contacts. Everyone walked away with new contacts and powerful information that would help generate new referral business. Visitors were so impressed that a number of them put in applications and payments on the spot!BNI India is taking business networking into the 21st century!
Submitted by Niraj Shah, National Director, BNI India
MalaysiaWinners Chapter Passes 381 Referrals in One Meeting
When Tan Teik Poh's of Achievers Chapter passed 70 qualified referrals to his members in one meeting, the Winners Chapter decided to do something about their referrals. Winners Chapter, with 57 members, is the largest chapter in Malaysia. They decided to dedicate the 7 days until the next meeting to go all out and actively look for referrals for their members.And the result: on October 27, 2005 Winners Chapter passed 381 qualified referrals during that meeting. More than 20 members came in with 10 or more referrals for the meeting. Kelvin Lee came with 22 referrals (the highest) for his members. He in turn received 24. Talk about Givers Gain!
For the month of October 2005, Winners Chapter had a total of 584 referrals, 273 internal and 311 external referrals. Our next project is to measure the amount of business done and spin-offs from the referrals given on that extraordinary day.
Submitted by Susan Choo, Assistant Director, BNI Malaysia
Singapore"Done Deals" in Singapore
BNI Singapore chapters started recording "Done Deals" as a result of chapter referrals in April 2005. In addition to reporting the number of referrals passed and visitors in attendance each week by a chapter, "Done Deals" is now another highlight of the meeting that records actual business generated. Members truly get a sense of the financial value of the referrals being passed to one another. Singapore chapters generated more than 23 million Sing Dollars worth of business in 2005!Visitors who witness "Done Deals" are impressed, too. One visitor enthusiastically shared, "WOW, I didn't know there was that much business to be done at 7:30 in the morning!"
Submitted by Sim Chow Boon, National Director, BNI Singapore
New ZealandHibiscus Coast Chapter raises $10,000 for local hospice
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| Standing from left; Brendan Muller, Helen Hyndman, Mike Butt, Becky Duncan, Vincent Maire, Llyween Scrivener, Karen Franklin and Graham Southwell. Seated are Ross Paterson and Murray Tonkin. |
Hibiscus Coast Hospice spokesman, Vincent Maire, said the money would go towards the $7 million needed to build the new hospice facilities in Red Beach including a nursing headquarters, training facilities, administration and a six bed residential unit.
Hibiscus Coast BNI chapter president Murray Tonkin said hospice is BNI NZ's number one charity and the funds raised from ticket sales to the dinner—including the evening's auction—will go a long way to supporting the terminally ill in the Rodney District.
"It was a brilliant evening backed up by tremendous planning from the chapter. The charity auction went better than we imagined—ticket sales raised more than $5,000 and the charity auction, hosted by Ross Patterson, raised more than $4,960. "A big thanks to all those people who dug deep, in to their pockets and in to their willingness, to participate."
Speaker David Nottage is an Australian born New Zealander who captivated more than 2,000 Toastmasters to win the ultimate pinnacle in public speaking, the World Championship for Toastmasters International. David was grateful for the opportunity to be involved with the BNI event. "I thought it was a huge success and shows what can be achieved by those people who are determined to make a difference in this world. A great team of people to support you, so well done and it was a pleasure being involved."
BNI New Zealand National Director Graham Southwell praised the Hibiscus Coast Chapter for its proactive work in supporting the organisation's number one charity. "On Saturday night they pulled out all the stops and created an awesome event—well done."
