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 How to Increase Biz through Word-of-Mouth?, How to source for referral business

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TSsh3rli
post Jan 29 2008, 09:40 PM, updated 18y ago

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Joined: Dec 2006


BNI [Business Network International] is a business and professional organization whose primary purpose is to exchange qualified business referrals through a supportive and structured environment.

It was started in 1985 by founder Dr. Ivan Misner & there are currently more than 100,000 members all over the world.

What makes BNI unique is that it allows only one person per profession to join a chapter. Thus, once you have joined, none of your competitors can participate.

Our chapter (Supreme Chapter) is currently looking for people to whom they can refer business. An invitation is required for you to attend so that you can see for yourself how you would be able to generate a steady source of referred business for yourself.

Here are more details:

Venue : Tmn Tun Dr Ismail (pm for exact location)
Date : Every Thursday
Time : 7:00 am sharp to 9.00 am in the morning


This is not any MLM or recruiting campaign. Strictly for business owners who'd like to use Word-of-Mouth as a consistent source of business referrals.

For more info, you may visit www.bnimalaysia.com

TSsh3rli
post Jan 30 2008, 11:16 PM

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Joined: Dec 2006


QUOTE(Jordy @ Jan 30 2008, 08:15 PM)
If I am not mistaken, BNI is seperated into several different smaller groups. Each group can only have one person per industry, but there will be other people in the same industry within other groups.
We have discussed this network before a few months back, but I couldn't believe it is back.
This I believe is a great concept, but unfortunately, the joining fee is too high (if I'm not mistaken, it around RM2k).
So it is not suitable for me at the moment smile.gif
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You are right, we are separated into different chapters scattered in different meeting venues. In Klang Valley itself, there are more than 25 chapters consisting of 20-40 members per chapter. It welcomes visitors to get to know this concept but the application to join this organization need to be pre-screen by the membership committee based on the applicant's experience/knowledge in his/her business. This is so that all those who are members of BNI know that another fellow member is well qualified in his/her business. This pre-screening will help to maintain the professionalism & business ethics at a high level. We reduce the misconduct of business transactions caused by lack of experience/knowledge.

I was very sceptical myself before I attended BNI meetings & I thought that I'd give it a try for one year. I joined since Jan 07 & I'm still amazed by what word-of-mouth can do to a conventional business. For myself, the real benefits depends very much on the credibility of the person. It takes trust for others to refer business to you & it takes time to build that trusting relationship. It may be faster for some & slower for some. If people don't understand what you do & why are you different from your competitors, don't blame anyone else but yourself. It's the member's responsibility to educate others of what they do & what people they are looking for.

For those who intend to expand overseas, BNI members do meet up in regional conventions for networking purposes. The upcoming one will be held in May 08 in KL itself. I see it as an opportunity for local business people to get connected to other business owners internationally.

Many people have asked why do we meet at 7am in the morning? Crazy ar? The reason is business owners don't waste time. We finish meeting & breakfast at around 9am and we move on to our everyday routine/work. We don't have it in the evenings so that we don't interrupt with people having to fetch spouse/children or dinner time with family. It does take a while to get used to the early morning meeting but after a while, it's quite fun!! Ha ha...


TSsh3rli
post Feb 18 2008, 10:18 PM

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Joined: Dec 2006


QUOTE(jchong @ Feb 18 2008, 09:53 PM)
Yes, BNI can and does work but the success rate depends on your industry. I was a member for 18 months a few years back and did get a few clients referred to me. However, after evaluating how many clients I got vs the effort put in I decided to stop.
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Hi jc chong,

May I know what industry you are in? I also know many people who have been in BNI for more than 5 years, I still wonder what makes them stay for so long...

 

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