What is BNI?

BNI is a referral organization which stands for "Business Networking International." There's 80 chapters in Phoenix alone. Each chapter is "Category Specific" meaning only 1 garage door company is allowed in, 1 real estate agent, 1 contractor, 1 plumber, etc.

You have to apply to be a member of BNI. Its usually pretty easy to join, but does require a 3 references from past customers or referral partners i.e. a contractor that refers you business.

Why BNI?

I know a few garage door companies that are members of BNI and some get all of their business from it. A garage door company can expect to make $50,000 to $100,000 in their first year of BNI if the group is established and you participate in the community.

For an expensive cost of only $1,300 per year BNI is an easy investment.

How it Works

Each meeting the group will go around the room and allow each member 30-60 seconds to do a quick commercial. You stand up and tell you commercial and end it with a "Tagline."

A good tagline for a garage door company would be "The trusted garage door experts."

Then each meeting there is a "Featured Presenter" which is 1 person who gets the opportunity to give a 10 minute presentation to the rest of the group.

Take this opportunity to focus mostly on your personal life. People will get to Know, Like, & Trust you if they can relate to you.

Keep 3-4 minutes towards the end to focus on your business and garage door examples.

How to Be Successful

I've been a member of BNI for 6 years and have seen people join and become very successful and some join and not get much out of it. There's a formula to be successful, and here it is: get people to Know, Like, & Trust you.

You get people to Know, Like, & Trust you by doing the following:

1. Attend each meeting

2. Get there early to network

3. Stay after the meeting to network

4. Refer other members business

5. Have clear commercials

Most of this is straight forward, having a clear commercial may be the most challenging but even still its not hard.

Keep your commercials short and sweet. Tell stories of customer's you've helped, or garage doors you've installed that are special, i.e. insulated, quiet motor, etc.

When the other members of your BNI chapter can see and understand who you help and how you help they will be able to better refer you.

Its Fun.

Getting to collaborate with other business owners or sales people is fun. Everyone in the room has a desire to grow and be better. Keeping a community like this is very valuable.

Most BNI groups will do a quarterly happy hour so members can hang out and get to know eachother more, here's an example of one:

In Short.

Join a BNI and be a good member and it will be hard for you to not make tens of thousands of dollars. 💡