Join the club

Business Network International (BNI) helps business people generate quality referrals.
Photo: © Zsolt Nyulaszi | Dreamstime.comIn tight economic times every referral counts. Tim Johnson, owner of West Michigan Home and Lawn Care in Grand Rapids, has found a unique way to gain those referrals. About two and a half years ago Johnson joined the Grand Rapids chapter of the worldwide business networking and referral group Business Network International (BNI). It’s been a wise move for his company.

The group works like this: Once a week all of the members meet for about an hour and a half. Each member gets a minute or two to give a little commercial about their business in front of the group – perhaps focused on a certain service they’re pushing at the time. Then the group has the opportunity to offer referrals if they know anyone who might be in need of that service.

“Right now it’s snow time for us so that’s what we’re pushing,” says Johnson. “We’re looking for plowing referrals.”

The catch is that each chapter only allows one person per professional specialty. Johnson, whose business does 90 percent commercial work and brings in around $500,000 annually, attends meetings as a professional for both snow and lawn care. As the professional for both of those areas, he’s locked in – as long as he keeps up with his membership. Other lawn or snow professionals who wanted to join would be referred to another chapter or could start their own. 

In addition to attending the weekly meetings, the only other requirement of the group is annual dues of $350 and quarterly dues of $50. But Johnson says the business he’s gotten through the group easily covers the dues. He says he has secured anything from a $40,000 referral down to a $100 referral – but in these trying times every little bit counts. On average, he says, he gets one referral from each meeting.

Once Johnson began getting referrals from BNI members it started snowballing. “Sometimes the hardest thing is just getting into the business circle,” he says. “This group helped me get into these small circles, and once you’re in, the referrals keep coming. That first referral gives you another one, then you get another from that, and it just keeps going from there.”

Because the group is invitation-only, the other benefit of the referrals that Johnson receives through BNI is that they are high quality, and as a result, many do turn into jobs. New members can only be invited to join by an existing member as long as no other member of the group already represents that specialty. Johnson was invited to join the group by the professional he uses for printing. BNI does ensure that new members are reputable with an application process including references that are checked by a membership committee. This helps keep referrals professional.

In addition to being a gold mine for referrals, the group has been beneficial to Johnson in other ways. Working on the “commercials,” for instance, has helped him better pitch himself and his business.
 
“Every week you’re learning to promote a different part of the business to generate new referrals,” Johnson explains. “Some weeks you’ll give a certain pitch and it won’t get you any referrals, and that becomes a learning experience, too. Maybe you didn’t sell the idea well enough.
 
“It becomes an opportunity to figure out what people want to hear from your sales pitch,” he says. “That’s something that helps me outside of the networking group. The group has definitely been a good fit for our business and I’ve been glad that I got involved.”
 

The author is a freelance writer based in Royersford, Pa.