How to Build a Strong Chapter

When asked how to build strong chapters, one BNI Assistant Director from another state had this advice (tell me if any of this sounds familiar):

1. Practice accountability in the details. Make sure members are wearing their name badges, that they show up on time, that they are present for the meeting, that they pass qualified, actionable referrals, and most importantly the attendance letters go out at the appropriate times.

2. Set chapter membership goals. If your chapter wants to be one of 60 members, tell the membership each week that you have a 60 member chapter goal. How many members does it take to reach that number? How many visitors does it take to reach that number (remember to assume a 50% closing ratio)?

3. Regularly poll your membership on who they need to fill their contact sphere. One of the overlooked aspects of a formal 121 is the written contact sphere list. The idea is to help each other fill one another's contact sphere by inviting professionals to join the group. As an example, A good fit for a Financial Planner in a chapter might be a dedicated Estate Planning Attorney. If the plumber in the chapter has a close relationship with an estate planning attorney and he knows that the financial planner member needs one to fill out his contact sphere, the plumber should be inviting the attorney.

4. Build chapter cohesion by doing frequent socials. A chapter meeting is one thing. A social is a completely different sort of event.

5. Have chapter members assigned to be mentors. The mentors task is to help new members become successful. Most new members have no clue about what BNI is all about and have even less of an idea on how to make it work. The mentor should attend MSP, Advanced Trainings and workshops with the new member. They should also help them write their commercials and 10 minute presentation. Givers Gain means we give of ourselves to help other chapter members become successful in BNI.

6. Do Visitor's Days. There should never be a question on why or if. It should always be "We'll do it!" Chapters worldwide lose 1.25 members per month. At a close ratio of 50% of qualified visitors becoming members, that means 2.5 qualified visitors must be invited each month and that's just to maintain the status quo membership level. Essentially that means two visitors per month are need to maintain and an additional two are need to grow. There should never be a meeting in which a qualified visitor is not present. A successful meeting includes qualifed referrals and testimonials as well as visitors.

7. Bogus referrals must stop. If your chapter is passing bogus referrals make it stop. Referrals that are passed in order to be part of the door prize drawing or just because the member didn't have anything that week need to be stopped. The LT must do what it can to curtail the issue. Reality Checks are now part of the WEEKLY meeting agenda. Is your chapter doing reality checks? If not, is it because the LT does not want to embarass members who are passing bogus referrals? If that's the case, are good chapter members getting what they paid for, i.e. qualified referrals? Great chapter have member accountability.

8. 121's need to be done each week. We may not want to do them, but one way to build cohesion is to build business by relationship. 121's are the glue that holds the fabric of BNI together. If a chapter is proactive on the 121 issue, membership problems sort of evaporate.

9. EC moments must be prepared, enthusiastically delivered and relevant. Member's can tell when an EC moment is done off the cuff. Worse, the EC has missed an opportunity to train the BNI chapter on how to go from good to great. There is tons of good material available through BNI.com, that is timely, and relevant.

10. The LT must be dynamic. BNI works best when done by the BNI book. Deviation from the agenda or the reluctance to perform administrative tasks that are distasteful to deliver, has the result of the BNI process not being taken seriously by the members.