Are business networking groups like BNI worth joining?
A referral networking group can be worth it for a service business whose work often comes through other trades, when the group's members serve the same customers without competing with you. BNI, for example, says its members attend weekly chapter meetings and that each chapter has one person per profession. The weekly time is the real cost. Visit before joining, then record every referral the group brings and count the jobs won before you renew.
What a referral group is
Unlike a chamber of commerce, which the related answer on chambers covers, a referral group exists mainly to pass work between members. BNI, founded by Dr. Ivan Misner in 1985, describes the model on its about page: members attend weekly chapter meetings that follow a structured agenda, learn about each other's businesses, and exchange referrals when opportunities arise.
It says each chapter has "just one person from each profession", so members can focus on collaboration rather than competition. One of its stated principles is "Be willing to give first, before you expect to gain." As general advice, expect to be asked for referrals as well as to receive them.
Who it tends to suit
- Trades whose customers often hire someone just before or after them, such as an electrician and a remodeler.
- Work that customers choose on trust, where a personal recommendation carries weight.
- An owner who can be there every week, since the model is built on weekly meetings.
- Less often: emergency work, where customers usually call whoever answers first rather than wait for an introduction.
The real cost is the time
A weekly meeting adds up to roughly fifty meetings a year, before any one-to-one meetings with other members. Count those hours alongside the membership fee. Before joining, ask in writing what membership costs, what attendance it expects, how long the term is, and whether the chapter already has someone in your profession, since with one seat per profession that usually means looking at another chapter.
Visit before you join
Sit in on a meeting before you commit, if the group allows it, and count how many members serve the same customers as you. The related answer on getting referrals from other businesses covers how to make it easy for a partner to send you work.
How to tell if it is working
Log member referrals in your lead tracker as the channel referral, with the member's name, as the related answer on setting up a simple lead tracker describes. What a referral group adds is the other column: the referrals you send, since a group built on giving first tends to watch both sides. Before you renew, set the jobs won against the fees and those fifty meetings.
Sources
Related answers
- Is joining a chamber of commerce worth it for a service business?
- How do you get referrals from other businesses?
- How do you set up a simple lead tracker?
Lead generation and lead tracking
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