To the Next Level
"Who'd Want to be in an 80 Member Chapter?"
by J Scott Hoyland

Recently I learned that there is a BNI chapter with 80 members. Since then, I have been obsessing about a chapter that large: I thought 40 members was a lot—but 80? Why would any chapter want to be that large? How do they do it?

Then I changed the question around: Why not 80?

BNI is a fixed cost. You pay a fixed membership fee. You pay a fixed room/food fee. You have a fixed number of chapter meetings. Basically, you have a fixed number of one-on-one Dance Cards (one per week). So it doesn't cost you more to grow to 80 members.

Question: Who would want to be in an 80 member chapter?

Answer: Anyone who has locked out the competition. You have a cartel seat in your chapter. You have no competition. You benefit from everyone finding you a referral. Wouldn't you rather have 80 professionals listen to your One Minute Presentation each week? More accurately, would you rather give a One Minute Presentation to 20 professionals, or a 30 Second Presentation to 80 professionals? Who benefits the most? Financial advisors, mortgage professionals, realtors; anyone who has tons of competition out there, and feels anyone in the chapter could pass them a referral.

Question: Who would want to be in an 80 member chapter?

Answer: Anyone in a cartel. In much of the literature BNI talks about Power Teams, "mafias" and Contact Spheres. In truth you want to be a cartel. You want your entire team to work as a virtual company—a cartel. You want to have all the referrals going between members. Who benefits the most? All members who are in the third or fourth step in a process: Real Estate Attorneys (purchasing a house), payroll companies (starting a business), etc.

Question: Who would want to be in an 80 member chapter?

Answer: Professionals with little or no competition. In many chapters there are very unique businesses, often one of a kind type of professionals—airplane banners, magicians, personal assistants, gutter cleaners, neuroscans, crane operators, etc. Their businesses are so unique that most people have not thought about using them. Those people who have heard of them, have no idea how to find a qualified professional. They benefit from having 80 sets of ears on the street listening for potential clients. Most of these members are not sure what kind of cartel they belong to because their business is so unique.

Question: Who would want to be in an 80 member chapter?

Answer: Professionals with big ticket items. They are professionals who only need a few clients per year, but to get those clients they need a proper introduction. Typically, they have to be at the right place at the right time. Who benefits the most? Architects, commercial contractors, aircraft sales, etc.

Question: Who would want to be in an 80 member chapter?

Answer: My guess—you.

J Scott Hoyland, Director/Producer, DigiNovations Video
Minuteman Chapter of Concord