Before getting our teeth into this subject I think that it is important to qualify that in my opinion business networking does actually work. I have said it many times, it’s not a quick way of getting sales leads but it is a way of getting quality referrals and by that I mean that a referral is a lead that has been qualified.
Subscribe to an organisation like Glenigan and you can have a multitude of leads to follow up but my experience is that many of the leads are a dead end. Working by referral however results in not just a meeting with a potential client who is interested in your product or service but also that client is interested in buying the product or service from you. The reason for this of course is because you already have a good working relationship with the person who’s provided you with the referral.
Because it’s a referral based on a genuine business need, it’s unlikely that your going to get a lead like this every day but at least you can attack it safe in the knowledge that there’s every chance that you can turn it into a sale.
In essence, the message is quality and not quantity. Relationships built on trust over a number of months really can deliver the quality that you are looking for.
So getting back to the plot, I’ve posed the question whether Business networking International or BNI as it is more familiarly known works and by that I mean in comparison with other business networking organisations.
I suspect the answer is “no” so I’m going to have to explain what I mean and why I think that this is the case.
Dependent on the business networking events that you attend there are a number of differing formats to the meeting. Some business networking groups have a very structured format to the meeting whereas others are more relaxed yet it’s BNI that is at the more structured end; Structured even to the extent that you must bring in at least one referral to every meeting.
I guess that this structure at least makes sure that every member is committed to their business networking group but is it correct to prioritise quantity over quality? If you genuinely haven’t got a referral to give and you’re under pressure to offer one, what are you going to do? If it were me, I’d be offering half a lead, a name I’d come across during the week, certainly something that less than what should be a fully qualified referral.
To that end I’ve got to question whether BNI is the organisation for me. I don’t want something that’s completely relaxed with no structure but I do want to ensure that when I give a referral (or get one for that matter) it’s out of a genuine need to help one of my fellow colleagues and not simply in order to meet my quota. I wouldn’t thank anyone for wasting my time so I’m not prepared to waste the time of my colleagues.
That said, for many people the structure that BNI offers works for them, after all they are one of if not the largest business networking organisation globally so they must be doing something right. But if you sympathize with and understand where my business networking advice is coming from then maybe try one of the alternative organisations.
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