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Helping others grow business
Local BNI group begins process of referring business to membersOn a 70 degree day last week, local businessmen and women – residential and commercial Realtors, financial and insurance advisers, a mortgage broker, carpet salesmen, a painter, home security consultants and a chiropractor -- all met at Clyde's in Broadlands. They took time off from work to have lunch together. But it wasn't a party, it was a meeting to help each other out in business.
They met under the guise of Willow Creek Connection BNI, a group in the process of becoming a chapter of Business International Networking, a referral organization that brings business people together on a weekly basis to act as each others' sales team.
“This takes the pressure off me to sell myself by letting other people sell me,” said Deb Wilks, the principal at Wilks & Associates, a coaching and consulting firm for small-business development, who also has started her own BNI group and oversees five other chapters in the Northern Virginia area as BNI's assistant director of the Northern Virginia region.
“It is estimated that each person has about 250 contacts,” Wilks said. “And in the Northern Virginia area, I'm sure it is more than that.”
In 1985, Ivan Misner began BNI “to come up with an alternative to cold calling,” said Colette LaForest, president of Willow Creek Connection BNI and vice president of Resource Mortgage. “And it has become the largest and most successful international networking groups.”
According to the Web site, BNI has more than 103,607 members in more than 5,010 chapters in 37 countries. Last year, BNI members passed more than 5.5 million referrals, generating more than $2.2 billion worth of business.
The idea behind BNI is for business men and women to get together weekly and learn more about each other and each other's businesses so when one person is out with a client, he or she can listen to the client's needs and pass on strong, credible referrals.
“Customers are your lifeblood,” said Brian Piper, account executive with Universal Debit & Credit in Chantilly, to the group of attendees. “You aren't going to give a customer you don't know a referral, and the more you get to know each other [through BNI], you are able to give a better referral. It reaffirms both relationships.”
Not only does the system work for giving out referrals, it also works for receiving referrals.
Steve Conover, of Ultimate Credit Tune Up, said all of his business has come from BNI. Guy Kurtz, marketing associate with CertaPro Painters, said he got his job from attending BNI meetings. And Wilks said 60 to 70 percent of her income has come from referrals received through BNI members.
“The benefits are that you get a number of people thinking about you as they speak to others,” Wilks said. “There are also training programs and leadership opportunities.”
The typical BNI group has 20 to 40 members, with only one person per profession specialty, such as real estate, mortgage banker, financial planner or CPA. When people seek membership to a seat that is already filled, they are referred to another BNI chapter, or they can start a new BNI group, which is what LaForest did.
“Six months ago, I was speaking with Michelle [Simons, a Realtor with Keller Williams] about trying to get into BNI,” LaForest said to the group dining at Clyde's. “We decided to start our own, and we are currently trying to build it to 20 members.”
Currently, LaForest's group, Willow Creek Connection, has “pre-group” status with BNI because there are only 15 members. It functions as a regular BNI group with weekly meetings, starting the referral process for those involved, but they are still getting to know each other and, as LaForest said, “There are no charges for membership until we get the official chapter status.”
Anyone wanting to join BNI must be invited to a meeting by an existing member, and members are encouraged to bring visitors. Visitors who want to join fill out an application, which goes through a membership committee.
To join the Willow Creek Connection BNI group, contact LaForest at 703-297-6006.
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