Three Key Elements for BNI Meetings to Convert Visitors to Members

From July 2016

  

There are 3 key ingredients that make a Visitor want to submit an application.  

The first it making sure they feel welcome.   Every visitor to a BNI chapter represents a new contact for members, potential revenue for members, and adds interest and excitement to the weekly meetings, but it's important that they feel welcome.  Attending a BNI meeting is an experience. All visitors or guests to a BNI meeting will have an experience. The question is:  What kind of experience will it be?

It starts when they arrive.  Are they greeted by a Visitor Host and/or other members?  Welcomed?  Helped with the sign up process?  Given BNI literature?  Name tag?  Instructed about the agenda?  Introduced to members of the chapter, perhaps in their contact sphere?  Shown to a place to sit?  Many times I have arrived at a BNI meeting and none of the members were there yet, just me and the visitors who typically arrive early.  Or I arrive and the Visitor Host is not there yet and the members who are there don't acknowledge my presence.  Not very welcoming.  Remember that every member of a BNI Chapter has the unofficial title of Visitor Host.

It is also important to welcome and recognize visitors at the beginning of each meeting.  An added extra touch is to recognize them by name.  I've noted a couple of different ways this is done in different chapters.   

First suggestion: The President is given the list of visitors prior to the meeting starting and he/she welcomes each visitor by calling their name, asking them to stand, and telling who invited them or who they are subbing for.   

Second suggestion: Have the Visitor Host Coordinator to do this task.

   

Here are two good articles on helping to make the Visitor have a positive experience:

               - SuccessNet article on how each position in a BNI Chapter contributes to a Great Visitor Experience - http://successnet.czcommunity.com/?p=17624 

               - SuccessNet article on Good Practices from a BNI Member who visited another BNI Chapter in another country - http://successnet.czcommunity.com/?p=22834 

To continue with a positive Visitor Experience it's very important to follow up after the meeting.  Follow up should be done with each visitor by email and a phone call within 24 to 48 hours to ensure they know that the chapter appreciated their attendance, invite them to attend a second time, and inquire if they are interested in submitting an application (if applicable).

The second ingredient is Energy - Energy is often the simple missing ingredient in a lot of meetings.  No one wants to go to a boring meeting!  How do you find ways to build energy and fun into the meeting and yet still cover all of the agenda items and be authentic to your chapter culture?  At my own chapter meeting, our President connects to the audio equipment and plays lively music before and during open networking.  Another chapter meeting I attend has a competition each week for the best infomercial.  In order to qualify, their infomercial must include all 5 key elementsand be within the given time.  This group has fun, is very creative, entertaining, (everything from singing, dancing, raps, posters, props, etc.) and gets their message across at the same time.  Each week the winner is presented a very nice trophy that they get to keep for a week.  It creates energy for the meeting and provides recognition to the members.

Here is an article which gives some other suggestions to add energy to chapter meetings:

               - SuccessNet article on injecting energy into Chapter meetings - http://successnet.czcommunity.com/?p=12606 

The third ingredient the visitor wants to know is business being passed.   Visitors want to know is this worth their time and money to become a member.  Are people really making money?  We emphasize to every member in a chapter to do their reporting because this contributes to the overall stats of the chapter.  If members aren't doing their reporting, then the true success of the chapter is not being reported.  These stats are reported by the VP during the meeting.  VPs need to ensure the numbers being reported portray the success of the members and the chapter. 

  

Within the agenda there are also other places where the financial benefit can be emphasized.

-        - The Empty Chair - Place an empty chair at the front of the room.  When the Education Coordinator starts to do their networking education for the week, have them call attention to the empty chair.  The empty chair represents a seat in the chapter.  The average seat in a BNI chapter is worth $35,000 in revenue to a member.  One chapter meeting I attend actually has a sign they place on the empty chair.

-        - During the member's weekly infomercial.  Thank another member for TYFCB.  Itmakes a perfect intro into 'this was a perfect referral' and explain why as their infomercial.

-        - The 'I Have' portion of the meeting.  This is the Givers Gain portion of the meeting where members put the spotlight on their fellow members by passing referrals, giving a testimonial, or thanking their visitors for attending.  To a visitor, they understand that the referrals being passed represent potential business.  Also the testimonials represent business that has been done.

It is the President's responsibly to follow the agenda and to ensure an environment is created that is conducive to making the visitor feel welcome as well as doing a soft close-converting the visitor into a Member!  Even during the 'I Have' portion by asking the member to tell what they enjoyed about the meeting.

   

So I would encourage every chapter to evaluate their meetings to ensure that all 3 key ingredients are part of their meetings - i.e. Visitors feel Welcome, the Meeting has Energy, and Emphasizes Financial Gain. 

When ALL 3 ingredients exist, visitors will want to become part of your dynamic chapter and will submit applications.

Here's to a GREAT summer filled with energetic meetings!