BNI 9 Alive!
"The Shortest Distance to New Clients"
Attendance
by David Smith
The Value of Attendance
Attendance Policy
Substitutes and How to Find Them
The Value of Attendance
Why attendance is important (see also Ivan Misner, BNI CEO, article below):
- Members growing to "know, like and trust" you = more referrals.
- Visibility: "Being there”, present at meetings + dance cards builds trust.
- Seeing you talk about your business during meetings helps 36 others in the chapter remember you during the week as referral opportunities present themselves: Keeps you "top of mind".
- Every missed meeting is a missed opportunity to build the trust that results in referrals.
- Being there for others ensures others will be there for you (vs. giving your commercial/10min presentation to a sparse audience or a room full of substitutes).
For these reasons, attendance is not just a "requirement", but very smart. That's why the attendance requirement = No more than 3 absences/6 months period (see below)
Attendance Policy
The attendance period is from October through March; April through September. Attendance is tracked for each meeting by the VP, who keeps a running total.
- Absence without a sub: Members are allowed 3 absences (without a sub) during each of the two six-month periods noted above.
- Timliness:
- Late arrival or early departure from a meeting = ½ absence per occurrence.
- Use of subs: Here's some valuable common sense philosophy. Your reason for joining a networking group in the first place is to gain referrals. People refer business to those they "know, like and trust". You really can't delegate the growth of "know, like and trust"! You have to be physically present to grow these elements in your networking partners. Therefore, even if you conscientiously arrange for a substitute, that person is present--not you. If you have more than one sub per month you may expect your referral numbers to be low, and it hurts the referral numbers for your fellow chapter members too (see Ivan Misner's article below). For this reason, here is our policy on substitutes:
- Average one sub per month: Members are allowed 6 subs during each of these two six-month periods.
- Special arrangement for professionals: Professionals are important to the health of BNI 9 Alive and we do not want to create barriers to their membership. Therefore, if, by virtue of your profession, you experience a frequent, critical demand to meet client needs during the weekly BNI meeting--where you cannot be replaced (i.e. attorneys with morning court appearances; physicians with morning surgery schedules)--you may arrange with the membership committee to have a "stand-in" more than once per month. Your "stand in" must be one of your business associates (i.e. a partner) and must complete a BNI application and be reviewed by the membership committee.
- Professional's regular stand-in: Professionals under the above arrangement still may not have more than one sub per month pulled from the BNI sub list or other source "at large". Subs in excess of one per month will need to be the membership committee approved partner noted above. That partner needs to intend to be a referral source for other chapter members, just as you are.
Substitutes and How to Find Them
Who qualifies as a sub? Your substitute cannot be a member of your chapter.
- Best choices = non-BNI members (your business partners, clients, friends) because BNI members from other chapters are not good referral sources—their loyalty is with their own chapter.
- Okay choices = members of other BNI chapters. Try to avoid using the same sub over and over—making your chapter that sub’s “2nd BNI chapter”. It tends to lock out their professional category for your chapter as loyalties in your chapter go to that sub.
- Not okay choices = subs with profession overlaps with chapter members. That’s bringing in a competitor.
How to find substitutes: Find a list of all the subs in Connecticut—about 5 pages. It’s pretty easy to scroll down and find subs from your local area who do not conflict with member professions:
Click Here for List of Substitutes
Low Absences Equal More Referrals (Again and Again)
by Ivan Misner, Ph.D. (As published in Success.net magazine)
Would you like to double the number of referrals your chapter generates in the next six to nine months? If yes, here's how. In Sept/Oct 1994 issue of SuccessNet I shared a variation on the following table showing how a chapter got "back to basics" and realized some incredible results.
| Absences per Member |
# of Members | # of Referrals | |
| 1st Quarter (before) | 2.1 | 14 | 188 |
| 2nd Quarter (after) | 1.0 (-52%) | 18 (+29%) | 269 (+43%) |
| 3rd Quarter (after) | .6 (-71%) | 21 (+50%) | 305 (+62%) |
In the above table, you can see that "after" the chapter started to adhere to an attendance policy as well as the follow the basic structure of BNI much more closely, they began to see substantial increases in the number of members and particularly the number of referrals.
After six months, absences (per member) decreased by 71% and referrals went up by 62%! In response to this article, the Riverside, California chapters sent me a letter that outlined some of the things they have been doing and the great results they have seen.
| Absences per Member |
# of Members | # of Referrals | |
| 1st Quarter (before) | 1.9 | 11 | 122 |
| 2nd Quarter (after) | .9 (-53%) | 11 (+9%) | 122 (+9%) |
| 3rd Quarter (after) | .8 (-58%) | 17 (+55%) | 208 (+71%) |
| 4th Quarter (after) | .9 (-53%) | 21 (+90%) | 322 (+164%) |
These two tables clearly show that there is a direct and distinct relationships between absences and referrals. As the group decreased its absences, it increased its membership which substantially increased the number of referrals that members received.
This chapter sent data for a 4th quarter also which shows that after nine months of effort absences per member went down 53% (even during the Christmas/New Year holidays!) and referrals went up a phenomenal 164%(!!!) attendance.
High absenteeism translates into low referrals. Low absenteeism translates into high referrals. The lesson here is that if your chapter is lax on attendance, it will affect your pocketbook. It is in your best interest to reduce absenteeism in your chapter. This, in conjunction with a concerted effort to get back to the fundamentals of running a good chapter, will, without a doubt, make a participation in Business Network Int'l. more profitable for you.
Start a movement in your chapter to get back to basics. Ask a local Director or the BNI Main Office for suggestions on how you can start this process. The fact -- We are here to help you make this work.
Don't forget that sometimes the best way is not always the easy way. However, with just a little bit of effort, your chapter can realize the benefits that these two chapters have experienced. Help your chapter get back to basics and get on the right track today!
Ivan Misner, BNI International CEO
Marketing by David Smith, Marketing Coach
Helping Business Find Clients In Their Sleep
1st Insight Communications
(503) 816-9665
davidsmith@1stInsightCommunications.com
