P4 > Referrals go loopy in Glasgow

SuccessNetINSIDE THIS ISSUE > P2

Chapter BuildingDrive: Fabulous prizedraws take place

P3New ‘Members of the Quarter’Scheme announced

P8&9Mission Impossible?Not likely!

P12&13Train & Gain:Turning more visitorsinto members.

EDUCATION and INFORMATION BULLETIN for BNI MEMBERS

ISSUE 37 | WINTER 2005

WOT A LOT WE GOT !

Executive Editor: Gillian Lawson, BNI National Director

Editor: Malcolm Grosvenor Grosvenor Associates, New House, Palmer Crescent, Kingston Upon Thames KT1 2QT

Tel: 020 8541 0600 Fax: 020 8241 7163Email: successnet@grosvenorassociates.com

Design and Production: Origin 1 52 Wenta Business Centre, Colne Way, Watford WD24 7ND

Tel: 01923 246116 Fax: 01923 246113Email: info@origin-1.co.uk

Printed by: Tony Batkin, Alpine Press, Tel: 01923 269777

UK National OfficeBusiness Network International plc, BNI House, Church Street, Rickmansworth WD3 1BS

Tel +44 (0)1923 891 999 Fax +44 (0)1923 891 998Email bniuk@eurobni.com

www.bni-europe.com

LAWSONS’

LORETheir transatlantic voyage to the Big

Apple is part of the spectacularreward for winners of a series of

regional prize draws taking place thismonth, following the recent chapterbuilding drive, and as SuccessNet went topress, more than 40 chapters had already confirmed they had recruited theminimum six new members requiredduring the qualifying period, enablingtheir members who have sponsored newrecruits to go into regional prize draws.Among the first chapters to announce theirqualification were:

Beacon (Great Barr), Blackwell(Darlington), Bournemouth, BusinessLeaders of Tomorrow (Sandwich), Capital(Edinburgh), Chariots (St.Albans),Cheltenham, Chichester, Churchill(Bromley), Castle (Colchester), Connexions(Radlett), Cookson (South Shields),Diamond (Tunbridge Wells), Dunelm(Durham), Falcons (Altrincham), Falcons(Newcastle-upon-Tyne), Fleet, Fosseway(Newark), George (Washington), Grant(Cambridge), Hadlee (Bristol), Harald(Stockton), Harlequin (Richmond-upon-Thames), Hastings, Herts of Oak(Stevenage), Icarus (Clitheroe), Knole Park(Sevenoaks), Leeds North, Newhaven,Premier Armouries (Leeds), Robert Burns(Ayr), Southampton, Steel City (Sheffield),

Strayside (Harrogate), The Prince Bishop(Bishop Auckland), Tudor (Hampton,Middlesex), Victoria (Westminster),Walpole (Ealing) and Wellingborough.

Early qualifying chapters on mainlandEurope include: Ferrit (Munich), Holderlin(Mannheim-Darmstadt), Morgenstund(Bonn-Aachen), Ritter (Heidelberg) andTopaas (Amsterdam).

This list is not comprehensive so, if yourchapter qualified, and you sponsored oneor more members, your name will havegone into the draw - giving you onechance for each new member sponsored.

Winners and their partners will join theQM2 at Southampton in May, ready for sixnights of opulent living. Once in New York,they will enjoy two nights in Manhattan’sSheraton Towers Hotel, a helicopter tourdown the Hudson River to the Statue ofLiberty, sightseeing cruise around Manhattan,and ferry tickets to Liberty and Ellis Islands,before returning by air to the UK.

National Director Gillian Lawson said:“Even if their chapters did not qualify forthe draw, everyone who introduced two ormore new members in the qualifyingperiod will receive a two-night break at atop UK hotel, but the reality is that allmembers have gained, because by helpingto increase the size of their chapters, morebusiness will be generated for everyone.”•

UP TO A DOZEN LUCKY BNI MEMBERS WILL THIS MONTH LEARN THAT THEY HAVE WON

THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME: A LUXURIOUS CRUISE TO NEW YORK ABOARD THE WORLD’S

GREATEST OCEAN LINER, CUNARD’S INCREDIBLE 150,000-TON QUEEN MARY 2.

TRIP

OF

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ME

AWAI

TS LU

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WIN

NERS

! QM2 AND NEW YORK BECKONAFTER CHAPTER BUILDING DRIVE

As our latest chapter buildingdrive reaches its conclusion thismonth, it is important for every

BNI member to reflect on the hugebenefits of growing your chapters -irrespective of whether you are one ofthe lucky QM2 prize draw winners.

Our Givers Gain philosophy worksbest when our chapters are buoyant,with the optimum mix of trades andprofessions bringing new and oftenunexpected business opportunities foreveryone. Repeated analysis of ourbusiness performance confirms that thenumber of referrals quadruples whenyour chapter doubles in size so, growing your membership by just 50% will actually double the businessyou conduct.

That alone should make us allcommitted to being part of a bigger,stronger chapter - especially whenrepeated research among UK groupsshows the average annual value of achapter ‘seat’ is £27,000. Consider howmuch greater that figure would be, if allour chapters boasted a 40-strongmembership, and just think how muchmore business you would receive! That’s why everyone should makebuilding larger chapters an ongoingpriority - because it is the surest route togreater success.

Meanwhile, we endeavour torecognise the efforts and commitmentof individual members, so we aredelighted to be announcing a newinitiative - BNI’s Members of the QuarterScheme - to encourage everyone to go‘that extra mile’ for your chaptercolleagues, and to acknowledge thosewho strive to be the best of the best.

We look forward to heralding its firstwinners but remember, whether you arean award recipient or not, everymember will be a winner by pursuingthese simple objectives. A happy andsuccessful New Year to you all!•

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you and SuccessNet...

SuccessNet is published quarterly and distributed free ofcharge by BNI to all members. We are delighted that witheach successive edition, we receive more and more of your

emails, letters and calls, asking us to include your news orpicture items in the newsletter - but please remember we don’thave space for them all!

If you have an item you’d like us to consider for inclusion,please email it to: successnet@grosvenorassociates.com - making sure you include your phone numbers (office andmobile) and address as well.•

SuccessNet is delighted to introducethe all-new “Member of theQuarter” awards - designed to give

the widest possible recognition tomembers who consistently show thatthey are BNI’s true ‘stars’ - whetherthrough their chapter performance orsimply their unflinching commitment tothe organisation’s aims and philosophy.

In every issue of SuccessNet, startingin April, we will announce FOUR new‘Members of the Quarter’ who, havingbeen initially nominated by theirindividual chapters, will first be short-listed by their executive director(s)before being chosen by a national panelof BNI directors from the final list of 39 -comprising one member from every BNIregion in the UK and Ireland.

A primary purpose of the awards is toprovide well-deserved nationwide

publicity for the sustained efforts ofwinners through SuccessNet, whosereadership is now estimated to exceed40,000 and is rising all the time.

Over the next few weeks, allleadership teams will receive full detailsof the award scheme, setting out thegeneral criteria on which judging will bebased, and providing a timetable for thefirst quarter’s nominations (only one perchapter per quarter).

Reflecting the aim of the awards torecognise individual sustained effort,service, support and commitment, therewill be no hard and fast rules fornominations but, as National DirectorGillian Lawson commented: “Obviouslywe’re looking for the best of the best -members who set the gold standards forperformance both in their weeklychapter meetings and throughout therest of the working week.

She added: “In chapters right acrossthe UK and Ireland there are members

who are consistently high performers,most obviously in the number ofreferrals they manage to pass, or thequality of visitors and new membersthey attract to their groups. These willbe important factors, but we’ll also be looking at members who devoteexceptional amounts of time, energyand personal commitment to makingsure their chapters stay vibrant and run efficiently.

“I hope that in the months to come, we will see many different types of BNI member being recognisedfor their contributions, and we arelooking forward to seeing the first short-listed nominations.”

If your chapter has not been givenmore detailed information about the‘Member of the Quarter’ awards by earlyFebruary, make sure the leadership teamraises the matter with your BNI director.Good luck - and get thinking about yourfirst nominations!•

WILL YOU BE OUR FIRSTMEMBER OF THE QUARTER?SUCCESSNET LAUNCHES NEW RECOGNITIONSCHEME FOR TOP PERFORMERS

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Referrals going loopy in Glasgow

Bride Lynn says: Get me to the... Chapter on time!

Instead of banding all their pink referralslips into the usual ‘bricks’ or puttingthem into a plastic bag for the statistics

section of their weekly meeting, they addtheir latest referral slips to a large andever-growing snake-like ‘Referral Loop’,comprising a BNI-coloured rope aroundwhich are entwined all the referral slipspassed since the Chapter’s launch morethan five years ago.

The idea was dreamt up by formerleadership team members RobertMcGroary and David Smith and found

immediate support from Scotland West’sExecutive Director Hugh Lee who said:“It’s a phenomenal idea. The ReferralLoop is like an anaconda and weighs anabsolute ton. Visitors can’t help but beimpressed when they feel the sheerphysical weight as the end of the loop ispassed round the room, especiallyknowing that every single one of thethousands of individual slips representsvaluable new business.”

Since sharing the power of theirreferrals ‘snake’ with other BNI members

during leadership team training, Iomarthave received a number of visitors fromother chapters wanting to see it forthemselves with a view to introducing asimilar initiative for their own meetings.

Chapter Director Richard Brittonadded: “Having an ever-growingreferrals loop is also a nice piece ofnostalgia, since it recognises and remindsus all of the referrals that we passed years ago.”•

Contact Richard on 0141 337 1440

With just hours to go to their

wedding, most brides-to-be are

sitting nervously having their hair

restyled for the umpteenth time, or making

final tweaks to their bridal costumes. But not

Lynn Rawkins whose only concern on the

morning of her recent marriage, was getting

to her new member orientation session!

A founder member of the George Chapter

in Washington, County Durham, Lynn

surprised colleagues when she arrived to take

part in the breakfast session - wearing a ‘mock’

wedding headdress - just hours before

marrying fiancé Graham Henderson.

But she knew exactly what she was doing!

“My mother was in a terrible flap, so escaping

to the relative peace of my chapter was a

blessing in disguise.”

It wasn’t the only shock Lynn sprang on her

big day. One of her fiancé’s friends donated

an articulated lorry cab to drive the

couple to their reception. Lynn, pictured left

with new husband Graham, added: “It

might have looked fun, but trying to

retain any dignity while clambering into

the cab wearing a full length bridal frock,

wasn’t easy.”

Back at work in her fancy dress business,

Cockaroo Costumes, Lynn said: “Joining

BNI has helped me hugely, not just finding

new business but also in terms of

members’ support.”•

Contact Lynn on 0191 417 3220

Members of Glasgow’s Iomart Chapter have found a novel and highlyvisual way of demonstrating the business power of BNI to their visitors.

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IT WON’T BITE: But it looks impressive! Some of Iomart Chapter’s members with their ever-growing referrals snake.Photo courtesy of Anthony D’Arcy, Kappa (Kilmarnock) Chapter.

NEWSIN BRIEF

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BLACK BADGEQUARTETAmong BNI’s latest recruits to itsprestigious Gold Club is thefollowing quartet of new blackbadge recipients, all of whom haveintroduced six or more newmembers to their chapters:

Anthony Klein (Aldgate Chapter,London Central), Andreas Liondaris(Business 4 U Chapter, Southgate,North London), Edith Maskell(Churchill Chapter, Bromley) andNigel Reynolds of the MeridianChapter in Chingford, Essex.Congratulations to each of you!•

As a new BNI member looking fornew business, Kent-based buildingmaterials risk specialist Phillip Hanna

was delighted to be invited to attend a two-day “Meet the Buyers” event at Heathrow.Unfortunately, it quickly became obvious tohim that none of the big buyers presentwere interested in his specialist services.

Not to be outdone, Phillip rememberedwhat he’d been taught just a few weeksearlier at his new member orientation

training - and pulled out a bulging file of allhis chapter colleagues business cards. “Well,would you be interested in any of theseservices offered by my trusted colleagues?”he asked the same line-up of buyers. Andyes, they certainly were!

So much so that at his next meeting ofthe new Robinson Chapter at LondonBridge, Phillip produced so many hot

PHILIP’S ‘LOSS’ IS BNICOLLEAGUES’ GAIN - 55 TIMES!

referrals - no fewer than 55 - for his BNIcolleagues, that the group temporarily ranout of new referral slips, and he had to improvise by passing some around on piecesof notepaper.

“The buyers event was nothing to dowith BNI, but I’d thought someone theremight be interested in my specialist servicesto assess the risk of dangerous materials -like asbestos - in buildings. But as soon as Irealised I wasn’t going to gain anyworthwhile new business introductions, Iwas determined not to waste my two days offirm appointments with top buyers, so Iturned all my efforts into winning solidreferrals for my new chapter colleagues andwas genuinely surprised to find how many oftheir services were in demand.

“The event had proved disappointing forme, but my loss was definitely my BNIcolleagues’ gain - and I’m sure many of myreferrals will lead to valuable business,”added Phillip, pictured (centre) holding allhis referrals. Among his chapter’s biggestbeneficiaries were printer Clive Sinclair and builder Tony Martin, who each received10 referrals.•

Contact Phillip at Alternative RiskManagement Ltd on 01689 897767 While Chapter One in Harrow

was celebrating its 9thbirthday as the UK’s first

chapter, members of Concord Chapterin neighbouring Northwood wereequally keen to mark their nine-yearmilestone as Britain’s second BNI group- by staging an additional dinnermeeting at which 86 ‘extra’ referralswere exchanged, adding to their3,000-plus total passed during 2005.

All 43 members, including foundermember Steve Pursey were present tohear Chapter Director Gary Batchelorclaim that they had found the perfectrecipe to BNI success, mixing fun withbusiness - so much so that he wasmoved to recite what he described asThe Concord Recipe:Take Steve Pursey & lots of othercommitted Hot & Spicy members,Slowly add a constant supply of newmembers, stirring regularly, Pour in adedicated leadership team with astrongly-flavoured membershipcommittee, Sprinkle on loads ofhumour and simmer for nine years...Hey Presto, you've just made the bestchapter in the country!•

Contact Gary on 01923 450944

RECIPE FOR THECOUNTRY’S BEST CHAPTER?

It just goes on getting bigger and betterevery year: that was the unanimous verdict of hundreds of BNI members

north of the border who recently cametogether for the Scottish Awards Dinner atGlasgow’s Marriott Hotel, sponsored by WPA Healthcare.

A champagne reception and superb mealwas followed by top-drawer speakersincluding BBC comedy script-writer StewartSmith and Alex Salmond, Leader of theScottish National Party (and formereconomist with the Royal Bank of Scotland),who joined WPA area managers RichardFirestone and Jamie McGowan to present agalaxy of awards to BNI’s best-performing

SCOTSCELEBRATEANOTHER YEAROF SUCCESS

members in 2005, who came from as farnorth as Aberdeen and as far south as Ayr.

BNI member and corporate eventsspecialist Don Spence, whose companyorganised the event said: “WPA are membersof BNI throughout the UK, and ideal sponsorsof these awards, since many of theircustomers are self-employed or working forsmall to medium sized businesses whichoften don’t offer any medical insurance. Theawards night has been growing bigger everyyear, but by common consent this one wasvery special.”•

Contact Don Spence on 0141 332 6626

DESERVING WINNER: Perth Fair City Chapter’s MaryMcPherson receives her Member of the Year Awardfrom Alex Salmond (left) and WPA’s Jamie McGowan.

BREAKFAST BONANZA

From earliest chapter tothe newest early risers

The BNI world is full of happy co-incidences, but few can havebeen more unlikely than one that

arose from a phone call received byHarrow’s Chapter One Director SteveDolden just before Christmas.

“It was from my brother in law,Steve Halligan, who lives in Dubai andhe asked: “What’s the name of thatnetworking group you’re alwaystalking about... is it BNI?”

“I told him it was, and he said he’djust become a founder member ofDubai Marina’s first BNI group, TheEarly Risers Chapter that was launchingthe following Tuesday morning. By an amazing co-incidence I replied that on the very same morning, my own chapter was staging a special celebration to mark its ninth anniversary as BNI’s first-ever UK group.”

Chapter One’s Director added: “Wehave an excellent meeting venue at theGrimsdyke Golf Club in Pinner,

but when I told colleagues and visitorsabout my brother-in-law’s attendanceat the inaugural meeting of Dubai’sfirst chapter, I think more than a few ofthem would have happily swapped ourdamp and chilly morning for thewarmth and sunshine enjoyed by theEarly Risers launch, looking out overthe blue waters of the Gulf.

“Nonetheless we had a fantasticninth birthday meeting with lots ofvisitors, the presentation of severalspecial service awards to members andof course, a big birthday cake!”

Meanwhile more than 100 peoplefrom Dubai’s enthusiastic businesscommunity proved they were equallyhappy to be up early, by attending theEarly Risers’ launch meeting. SteveHalligan commented: “It was a reallygood attendance and we have a lot ofpotential new members.”•

Contact Steve Dolden on 020 8429 1330

Everyone who has attended a national

BNI members’ day knows the impact

that carefully chosen motivational

music can have in setting the mood for the

day’s proceedings.

Now, members of Lincoln’s old Lindvm

Chapter have adopted the concept and

come up with a ‘first’ in the form of a

specially commissioned theme tune to

count down the final minute of their open

networking session which preludes their

weekly meetings.

The idea came from Chapter Director

Richard Poole who needed to look no

further than chapter colleague Clive

Catton whose son Michael Datoo and

fellow members of his band, rose to the

challenge of composing, performing

and recording a stirring number called

’60 Seconds’.

Richard commented: “The response

from members has been great, and our

new theme tune has proved an excellent

way to move from open networking into

the formal meeting without losing

any momentum. It’s a superb call to

action and creates a high octane start to

our meetings.”

It also seems to have struck the right

chord with the band itself, whose members

- Michael Datoo, Daniel Woodhouse and

Ryan Stokes - now use ’60 Seconds’ as the

opening number for their own gigs.

Michael's father, Clive, added: “I was really

proud of the quality of work the band

produced. The only down side to the

project is that my son is the drummer in

the band and there are no headphones for

when he practices!”

You can listen to a low quality MP3

version of ‘60 Seconds’ on Clive’s company

website at www.octagontech.com or, if

you’d like your own high resolution

chapter copy on CD, contact:

clive@octagontech.com.•

Theme tune putsLindvm in moodfor business

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NINE UP - AND GOING STRONG: Steve Dolden, Chapter Director of BNI’s very first UK group, Harrow’sChapter One, is pictured (left) holding the chapter’s ninth birthday cake with founder member, ITconsultant Phil Stanton, and some of the other chapter stalwarts in the background. (Photographcourtesy of Will Dennehy Photography on 020 8428 1722).

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Stone the crows! We’vegot a hawk for breakfast

When your work involvestraining hawks and falcons,it’s not easy to illustrate to

your chapter colleagues exactly whatyou do - unless of course, you bringalong one of your favourite birds to breakfast!

So that’s precisely what Neil Curtisdid - introducing Rolf (one of his highlytrained Harris Hawks) as the 50th‘visitor’ to the Cheltenham Chapterunder its current leadership team.

To the initial apprehension andthen mirth of BNI colleagues, Rolfcaused a real flutter of excitement ashe sat on his perch, impeccablybehaved and, to Neil’s great relief,displaying perfect manners.

Neil said: “Rolf generally onlysquawks a lot when the test cricket ison television, so I wasn’t too worriedabout him interrupting the chapter’sproceedings. I was more concernedthat he might deposit a little present ortwo on the carpet of our smart venue,Thistle Hotel, because he’d had rathera good meal the day before,”

confessed Neil whose business, NBCBird & Pest Solutions, trains and useshawks and falcons to deter anddisperse nuisance birds.

Fortunately Rolf proved a modelvisitor and enabled Neil to leave alasting visual impression about hisspecialist work. “Taking one of mybirds to a business meeting helpspeople understand what I do. TheHarris Hawk is a very gregarious birdand gets on well with people. Our birdsare hand reared, so they are quitefriendly, and I’m delighted that Rolfmade more than a few new friendsduring his visit,” Neil added.

Chapter Director Diana Beaver said:“We are always delighted to welcomevisitors in any shape or form. They areour life-blood and broaden ourhorizons. In Rolf’s case, his visitillustrated how valuable the right‘prop’ can be in explaining yourbusiness to colleagues”.•

Contact Neil on 07879 654530

When café groupdevelopment managerKris Ford found

himself in need of numerousbusiness services to help his firm’sexpansion into Yorkshire, he wasoffered an obvious solution: Visita local BNI chapter and you’ll getall the help you want.

The problem was that Kriswas stuck in the Netherlands, andthe breakfast meeting to whichhe’d been invited was takingplace the next morning in Hull!But that wasn’t going to stophim, so Kris booked himself onto an overnight North Seaferry, arriving in Hull just in time to attend the city’sWilberforce Chapter, as a guest ofpromotional gifts specialist David Reid.

David said: “It started when Ireceived a call from Kris who saidhe needed various services andsupplies to help his companyopen up in Yorkshire. He hadn’theard of BNI but it was obvious tome that by visiting one of ourbreakfast meetings, he would beintroduced to all the services heneeded, saving him a lot of timeand worry.

“He was very enthusiastic -and relieved - but said theproblem would be getting to our meeting, because he was in Amsterdam. However, he just made it - and colleagues were impressed whenthey discovered he’d sailedovernight from Amsterdam toattend our breakfast.”

The result? More than half adozen chapter members are nowworking on different aspects of the company’s northernexpansion, and Kris aims to joinBNI as soon as he’s established abase in Yorkshire.•

Contact David Reid on 07968 730072K

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BIRD ON THE BREAKFAST MENU: Rolf, a real, live Harris hawk, created a BNI ‘first’ when he attended arecent meeting of Cheltenham Chapter!

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INTREPID TRIO STAGECHARITY ‘IRON-IN’ FOREVERY PREMIERLEAGUE CLUB!

How do you visit every PremierLeague football club in thecountry, get its star players to

sign a soccer shirt and then proceed toiron each shirt on the pitch - all within36 hours!?

In terms of the organisation alone, itwas a huge logistical challenge but, asone of BNI’s most intrepid member trioshas recently proved, if you aredetermined to help needy childrenanything is possible - especially whenyou belong to the world’s biggestbusiness networking organisation, and

precious minutes out of their scheduleto appear on a variety of regional TVprogrammes and club TV channels, localradio shows and in local newspapers.After being met by Pudsey Bear inPompey and handing over a dummycheque worth more than £10,000, thetrio ensured that every neatly-pressedand signed shirt was put up for auctionon the BBC Children in Need’s ‘Great BigBid’ section of Ebay.

Soccernote: If you’d like to viewpictures of the trio’s visit to yourPremier League favourites, visit:www.burlisonphotography.co.uk and click on Pudsey and then event portfolios.•

Contact Dave on 07771 803025

your fellow members can pull stringsand open doors that are normally closedto most people!

And so it was that Andover AntonChapter’s Ben Walton of Ben's QualityDry Cleaners, assisted by BNI colleaguesAndy Cattle from chauffeur companyGordonson Cars, and photographerDave Burlison set out from Hampshire todrive hundreds of miles visiting everyPremiership club and ironing a signed shirt, starting at NewcastleUnited’s St James’ Park early onThursday morning and arriving at thelast of 20 clubs - Portsmouth - by 7pmthe following evening.

“It took us months of planning, andeven then there were a few clubs whoneeded extra arm-twisting, which iswhere BNI’s fantastic membernetworking came into its own,” saidDave. “For instance, through the talentsof our own chapter’s Neil Dyke (Stitch-a-Logo) who’d impressed PumaSportswear’s UK Marketing ManagerAlan Bevan, Alan was happy to opensome difficult doors, while individualplayers and even Terry Wogan helpedpersuade the odd reluctant club,” said Dave.

Thanks to another BNI member,business development manager PeterWesterback of Newbury Chapter, thetrio had the benefit of Audi sponsorship,with the car giant lending them asporting A6 Quattro for their whistle-stop UK tour. “Believe me, there weretimes we needed its fantasticperformance,” Dave added.

Throughout their record-settingjourney, the threesome foundthemselves media celebrities, taking

AT THE FEET OF THE STARS: Ben Walton admires thestatue of Wilf Mannion, arguably Middlesbrough’sbest-ever player, outside the Riverside Stadium.

MIXING WITH THE STARS: Ben Walton with Wigandefender Stephane Henchoz, and Pudsey, at theClub’s JJB Stadium.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE!

NOT LIKELY!

BNI members are renowned for their generosity and, while SuccessNet cannot possibly feature every

charitable event staged by chapters, sometimes we have to make an exception - to reflect the exceptional

imagination BNI members inject into their fund-raising projects. Here we feature just four recent ventures.

BNI GOES TO THEHEADS OFBOURNEMOUTHMEMBERS - LITERALLY!

Raising funds for charity is all aboutgetting noticed, so when threemembers of Bournemouth Chapter

put their heads together to come up with anovel idea for boosting the “Children inNeed” appeal, the outcome was bound tohighlight one thing: BNI !

The south coast trio - plant and garden

consultant Roger Hirons, air purification

expert Jonathan Rose and fundraiser Derek

Miller - staged a sponsored head shaving

(BNI-style) as their contribution to the

Chapter’s action-packed fund-raising night,

leaving one initial each on the back of their

heads, together spelling out ‘B’ ‘N’ ‘I’!

With co-organisers Steve Worth, (an

accountant and current chapter director ),

photographer Noel White, and local Mail

Boxes specialist Howard Woodward, they

mounted a sell-out charity evening at

Bournemouth Football Club, with 250 local

business people raising over £4,500 for

Children in Need and the Round Table’s

“Children’s Wish” charity which helped to

send several children with life-threatening

illnesses to see father Christmas in Lapland.

Attractions included horse racing, a

magician, raffles and an auction of some

fantastic donated gifts, including a signed

tee-shirt from Olympic gold medallist

Paula Radcliffe. Among the participating

celebrities was Harry Redknapp, the South

Coast’s celebrity floating football manager

and players from Bournemouth FC.

Chapter Director Steve Worth said: “It was

a great night. As well as raising a sizeable

amount for charity, it led to our gaining

several new members.”•

For further information contact Steve on 01202 314500, or at:steveworth@taxassist.co.uk

THREE HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE: Especially when, as in the case of these three Bournemouthmembers, their sponsored head shave helped raise thousands of pounds for Childen in Need. (Photocourtesy of Noel White at Rowan White Photographic).

In the event, three brave fellowmembers - Gareth Mitchell, Yves Broers andRoss Cooney, along with a fourth, PeterBennett from nearby Cookson Chapter inSouth Shields, agreed to make the jumpwith Ray, raising more than £1,000 for theRoyal Newcastle Infirmary’s Marrow & StemCell Transplant Charity.

Our photograph (left) shows Ray (secondfrom right) with three of his enterprisingcolleagues, Gareth, Ross and Yves holdingthe charity’s cheque, while the top pictureshows Ray and chums preparing for theiraerial adventure.•If you’re feeling brave and fancy joining Rayon his next jump, call him on 07704 609460

KILLARNEYMEMBERS RAISE�10,000 FORREFUGEES

Members of BNI’s KillarneyChapter raised anamazing �10,000 for the

Irish charity Refugee TrustInternational by staging a grandcharity lunch just beforeChristmas, supported by 100business people from Kerry and Cork.

A significant contribution camefrom the auction of a rare bottleof Château La Fauconnerie 2000,donated by Stephen Wallace ofWine Buff in Tralee, which aloneraised �500. Organisers JoanneO’Regan and Chapter DirectorAnne Nieuwenhuizen weredelighted with their success,adding: “We are already thinkingabout a Charity Ball next year. Aswell as helping a deserving cause,it’s a great way to bring the localbusiness community together.”•

Contact Anne on +353 (0)64 34791or +353 (0)87 2146114

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QUINTET’S AERIAL LEAPFOR CHARITY

You don’t have to be a little bit crazyto belong to BNI - but sometimes ithelps, especially when one of your

colleagues casually suggests jumping out ofan aircraft at 4,000 feet!

It was easy of course for NewcastleCollingwood Chapter’s Ray Doyle, becauseas a seasoned parachutist with 14 successfuljumps for charity under his belt, nerves werea thing of the past - but when he invitedchapter colleagues to join him, well that wasa different proposition!

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No

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for

No

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h Members of Norwich’sthriving five yearold City Chapter

marked their most recentchange of leadership teamby adopting a new name, tohonour one of the group’sfirst chapter directors, ChrisNorman, who died last year.

The Chapter’s advertisingcopywriter Trevor Gray said:“The decision to renameourselves as the NormanChapter not only reflectedthe historical significance ofNorwich with its 900-year oldNorman castle and cathedral,but was also an ideal tributeto ex-member Chris Normanwhose untimely death last year was a blow to many BNI members.”

Chris was a foundermember of the City Chapterin 2000, soon becomingchapter director andeventually an assistantdirector. “With his mixture ofsage advice and realism, hewas one of BNI’s leadinglights in East Anglia, muchrespected, and now sadlymissed by members of hisown chapter and those ofother chapters in the region,many of which he wasinstrumental in setting up. The number of BNImembers who attended hismemorial service was a clear affirmation of this,”Trevor added.

Chris’s widow, DeniseNorman was a special guest of honour at thechapter’s breakfast when itformally took on its new name.•Contact Trevor on 01603 700547

Anyone who has difficulty findinggood referrals, should talk toBorehamwood murals painter

and artist Robert Murray. In exactly 18months as a member of North London’sConnexions Chapter in Radlett, he has passed over 650 referrals to his BNI colleagues estimated to be worth £160,000!

His ‘secret’ is taking the time to learnabout all of his clients’ needs, not just interms of his own services, but thoseoffered by his chapter colleagues.“When I’m talking to any client orbusiness prospect, I’ll spend as long as is

necessary to find out how I and myfellow members can help them.

“It might sound clichéd, but justbeing a good listener is all it takes tofind good referrals. That, and giving 100per cent commitment to the BNIphilosophy - because I don’t see thepoint of doing anything unless you do itto the best of your ability,” said Robert,whose creative artistry is attractingprestigious corporate clients - from toplegal firms to major public sectororganisations.

The results of his creative enterprisenow adorn the walls and otherstructures in schools, nurseries, GP anddentists’ waiting rooms and numerousoffice boardrooms from the City ofLondon to Monte Carlo, but despite his

growing success, Robert says he gets justas big a buzz from finding potentialbusiness for his fellow chapter members.

“Connexions is a lively chapter withsome strong characters, and Ithoroughly enjoy our weekly breakfasts,especially when I can go along with adozen or more solid referrals. And, in mycurrent role as membership co-ordinator, it’s also rewarding to beadding new members to our group.We’re very close to our ideal capacity,”he added.

Unsurprisingly, Robert’s ongoingachievements have landed him a hatful

of awards including his chapter’s starperformer award last year, and no fewerthan 13 notable networker awards toadd to his blue badge and imminentblack badge (for which he needs torecruit just one more member).

“Last week I handed out 38 referrals,but it’s not about numbers, it’s aboutfinding solutions to my clients’ businessneeds and putting them in touch withmy trusted BNI colleagues. I love BNI andjokingly tell people that if they cut mywrists they’d find my blood flowing inBNI’s colours!”•

Contact Robert on 020 8953 3350 or07903 955543, or view his artistry at:www.magical-murals.co.uk

FITTING TRIBUTE: Denise Norman with there-named Norman Chapter’s Director AlanHitter (left) and BNI Executive DirectorJames Cruickshank.

MAGICAL ROBERT MAKES THE‘CONNEXIONS’ - 650 TIMES!

MURAL MAN MAKES CONNEXIONS: Radlett Chapter’s painter and artist Robert Murray busy creatinganother murals masterpiece.

Competitors share spoils in Newcastle

Who says competitors can’tenjoy success in the samechapter? Two different

suppliers of door entry systems in SouthShields’ Cookson Chapter have justdiscovered that offering complementaryexpertise has landed them a great pieceof business that neither would have wonon their own!

Lawrence Laidlow’s company,Intelligent Access Systems, suppliesbiometric (fingerprint recognition) doorentry systems while his Cookson ‘rival’,Simon Stewart from Pinnacle Servicesprovides electronic door entry and CCTVsystems - a perfect combination, as itturned out, when Lawrence was invitedto quote for a major installation at alocal secure storage depot.

“My customer wanted to utilise thebest of both worlds, with biometric

Artistic teamwork in the CircusBusiness entrepreneur Simon Eason

likes to keep things in his BNI‘family’ - so much so that in the

past 10 months alone, he’s directlyreferred over £200,000 worth ofbusiness to colleagues in Bath’s CircusChapter, after receiving an unusualreferral from the group’s accountant,Vivien Davies.

Vivien recommended that Simonlooked at acquiring fine arts publisher,Prime Arts - a referral which Simonquickly snapped up, leading to his givingreferrals to 17 different BNI colleaguesin order to get his new venture off theground quickly.

“We needed to hit the groundrunning, so where better to find all theresources I needed than from my BNIChapter colleagues?” he said. “The richsource of expertise around our Circustable included everything I wanted,including brand marketing, vehicleleasing, photography, accountancy andlegal advice, design, printing, secretarialand telemarketing support, humanresources, interior design, public

relations, IT systems and support, and charity/corporate responsibilityexpertise.

“This has really been a win-win foreveryone so far,” Simon added, “andthere is still an opportunity for othermembers to get involved. We’re lookingfor distribution referrals and submissionsfrom artists for our products worldwide,so if any BNI reader thinks they can help,I’d encourage them to visit our websitewww.prime-arts.co.uk and get intouch”.

Graham Massey,director of brandmarketing agencythehouse, whosecompany was askedto re-engineer theidentity andpositioning of PrimeArts said: “This was an amazing exampleof how BNI brings people’s skillstogether. We alreadyhave a strong family

feeling in our Chapter, and beingconnected together through such a project is a unique and rewarding experience”.

So maybe it’s true what they sayabout finding your fortune - just run offand join the Circus!•Contact Simon on 01225 707500

KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY: Simon and Annette Easonhave involved 17 different chapter colleagues to helpthem launch their latest business venture, Prime Arts.

readers, high tech CCTV and electricbarriers so I called Pinnacle and, despitebeing rival firms in some respects, we wereable to work perfectly together to give theclient a custom-made, state-of-the-artsystem,” said Lawrence (pictured right.)

“On our own, neither of us wouldhave been able to offer the totalsolution he required, but mixing ourrespective specialist services was sosuccessful that it’s now opened the door for collaboration on further similar jobs.”

Pinnacle’s boss, Rob Crawford - whobelongs to the neighbouring NewcastleFalcons Chapter commented: “It justgoes to show that teaming up with apotential competitor can sometimescreate a great alliance. We workedclosely with Lawrence’s team and thanksto a good working partnership, we both

won, netting more than £11,000 eachfrom the project - a great result!•

Contact Lawrence on 0191 536 9255 and Rob on 0191 414 8149

11

train&gainAll BNI members are constantly

reminded that the key to gettingmore referrals is to grow their

chapters. Bigger chapters pass more referralsbecause of the diversity in the group, so theincentive to grow chapters is clear.

However, if you’ve had a recent flurry ofvisitor day activity, you may be wonderingwhy your chapter didn’t have a betterconversion rate to new members. Well, it’s allin the follow up.

You may have heard your Director tellyou: “Run your chapter like you wouldoperate your business.” And that’s goodadvice. For instance, most of you invitepotential clients to visit your businesses -especially on open days and for special events- so they can observe the benefit of usingyour products and services.

The fact they have turned up indicatestheir interest, so surely you follow them upwith a telephone call after the event, to findout what they thought? And if they wantfurther information, you invite them back for

a second look, or a personal chat. Well, it’s nodifferent with your Chapter’s visitors after aVisitors’ Day.

We compare a visitors’ day to running amarathon. It requires considerable effort andyou have to prepare for it weeks in advance.And, after the big event itself, you’ll probablyhear members say ‘well that went well’, or‘we should get a few new members fromtoday’s event’.

In fact, the most important part of therace has yet to be run! If you were runninga marathon, would you stop 100 yards shortof the finish line? No! You’d focus all yourenergies on completing the last few painfulyards to cross the finish line!

Interestingly, if you ask visitors why theydidn’t come back to the following week’smeeting, a typical answer is: ‘Because nobodyasked me to!’ Nobody likes rejection so, thevisitor who wasn’t given a follow up call fearshe is not wanted in the group, while membersare worried about making follow-up calls totheir visitors in case they say ‘I’m not interested’.

TURNING MORE VISITORSINTO MEMBERS By Ian and Lynley Robb,

Executive Directors, Northumbria

Quality not quantity is Ray Johnson’syardstick when it comes to invitingvisitors to his Kent Chapter. And,

judging by the results, his formula couldwell be adopted as BNI’s national goldstandard!

In just under eight years as a memberof the old Folkestone Chapter, and morerecently Ashford, insurance consultant Rayhas introduced no fewer than 31 newmembers - despite having invited barelytwice that number of visitors to hischapters over the same period.

“I know there are some members whohave invited almost as many guests in asingle year as I have during all my time inBNI,” said Ray, “but while I wouldn’tcriticise anyone’s reasons for bringingvisitors, I believe in doing a lot of

background checks before I even considerextending an invitation to someone tovisit my chapter.

“Quite simply, I need to find outwhether any potential visitor would makean excellent member before I issue aninvitation. I look into their businessactivities, assess their professionalism andtry to ascertain whether they would havethe substantial commitment required tomake a good BNI member. And of course,I also look at their personality, andconsider how well they would fit in withthe existing dynamics of the chapter.”

He said it would be easy to play thenumbers game and bring along scores ofvisitors, but unless he felt someone waslikely to want to play a major role in thegroup for at least two years, he would not

invite them. “I don’t see the point ofwasting my time, the visitor’s time and ofcourse, the chapter’s time, unless I’mpretty confident that a particular visitor islikely to make a significant contribution.

“I’ve witnessed many visitors dayswhen a group may have attracted say 20guests, but not found a single visitor theywould want to retain as a member - and Isee no point in that when, by doing yourhomework beforehand, you can be prettysure your visitor will be interested in joining - and go on to make a good member.”•

If you’d like to know more about Ray’sexpert approach to attracting the rightvisitors, contact him on 01303 221188RA

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Using these simple pointers will help youfocus on the follow up:

1. Educate members on the follow-up process aspart of their planning for every Visitor Day.

2. Tell members there are 3 phone calls they need to make:- First: Call to find out if their visitor(s)

are attending.- Second: Call the day before Visitors’ Day,

to remind them.- Third: Call after the Visitors’ Day to

follow up individual interest.3. Allocate a member to co-ordinate

visitor responses.4. Keep all members informed of returning

visitors, so everyone can prepare.

By focusing more attention to the follow-upof your visitors’ day, you should significantlyincrease your visitor-to-member conversionrate, which of course will help you generateeven more referrals and greater business.•

Contact Ian or Lynley on 0191 237 9820

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We have all heard of win - win andunderstand this within BNI asgivers gain. if I give you business

you will want to give me business, andtherefore both parties are clearly in a win-win situation.

How nice would it be to take this furtherand turn it into a win - win - win - win - winsituation without too much extra effort? I amnow going to describe a simple networkingscenario where the wins are achievedthrough a BNI referral triangle.

1. The first win clearly comes for the BNImember (whom we’ll call Ben) when hereceives a warm referral into a company he islooking to do business with.

2. At the same time, it is also a ‘win’ forthe Referrer (whom we’ll call Ann) because,by passing a good referral, she isautomatically building up confidenceamongst other members of the chapter abouther commitment to Givers Gain, herenthusiasm and support. So, being seen as aGiver is the second win, and this happensevery week within BNI.

3. When Ben is given a referral, henormally gains additional information fromAnn that isn’t contained on the referral slip.

How nice would it be at this time to ask Annif there is any way that he can use his initialcontact with the potential client, to eitherpromote Ann’s business to the client or, if Annalready provides services to the client, tomake the client aware of any new ordifferent services that Ann can offer. Eitherway this is a good way to boost Ben’scredibility with the client as a greatnetworker, and help Ann - representing athird win.

4. Clearly, if the referral duly leads towork for Ben, the client will have benefitedby gaining a great service in a timely fashionfrom a qualified introduction and withouthaving had to take the risk of randomlychoosing an unknown supplier from theYellow Pages. A fourth win in the same series!

5. Now comes the part I like best, the fifth(potential) win. How fantastic would it nowbe for Ben to say to the satisfied client:“Wasn’t it good that Ann (the originalReferrer) put us in touch with each other? I’veenjoyed working with you and I justwondered if there is anyone you know whocould utilise Ann’s services, because it wouldbe really nice to return the favour to her.”

All this may seem very obvious, but I havefound it a great way not only to benefit meby doing work for a client but also, indirectly,getting a non-BNI member to look for areferral for the fantastic Giver who originallypassed me the referral. Isn’t that what BNI isall about?•

Duncan Webster can be contacted on 0870 446 6043

TURNINGWIN, WININTO WIN,WIN, WIN,WIN, WIN!By Duncan Webster, Executive Director for Northants & Leics

Halesowen Chapter member

James Cash stood up and

announced: “It’s my ten-minute

slot today, but I’m not going to say

anything.” But, as members looked on

in bemusement, he pressed a hidden

‘play’ button and added: “Instead, you

can watch the premiere of my

new video.”

James had commissioned Chapter

colleague Andy MacNamara from Big

Button Media to make a promotional

film about his IT company, and the

results not only gave the audience a

deep insight to James’ business,

but provided a great testimonial to

Andy’s creativity.

James told SuccessNet: “How do you

make an IT business look visually

interesting? Andy’s solution was to turn

three chapter members into film stars

who each told how commissioning my

services had made very positive

differences to their businesses.”

Hilary Benton explained how James

had sorted communications problems

between PCs and Macs in her marketing

company, accountant Andrew Smith told

how his file-sharing and data problems

were fixed with a networking solution,

and print company boss, Nic Beales

showed how James had eliminated

computer problems causing frequent

breakdowns to his expensive machinery.

Since being streamed onto James’

website, the video has brought him new

customers, more than covering its costs.•

Contact James on 0845 0580499 and

Andy on 0121 224 8265

THE 10 MINUTE SLOT -

IN SILENCE (WELL ALMOST!)

WORKING WELL: James Cash (left) andAndy MacNamara have forged a greatworking partnership.

More and more BNI members arediscovering the value ofbelonging to a worldwide

networking organisation - able to visit(and learn from) chapters spread across 26countries from Sweden to South America.

Just one such visit occurred whenRingwood’s Avon Chapter Director KarenRayner took advantage of a trip to herfather’s home in Fort Myers, Florida, toattend one of the city’s chapters,introducing one of her father’s real estatecompany employees, Shirley Connor, to BNI.

“I regularly visit my father, but havingbecome chapter director, I felt I shoulduse the occasions to visit some Fort Myerschapters - and it certainly paid off when Iattended the Paradise Business BuildersChapter. Not only did I get my father’scompany interested in joining BNI, but Ipicked up a practical idea which I’veadopted for my own chapter, making thereferrals part of our meetings flow more smoothly and maintain a highmomentum,” she said.

A financial adviser with the MillfieldPartnership, Karen added: “It is a greatfeeling to be able to turn up at a BNImeeting in a foreign country, and knowyou’re going to meet people with thesame goals and enthusiasm. It showed methe tremendous value of belonging to aninternational organisation - one fromwhich we can constantly gain newbusiness skills and ideas.”

Karen’s experience is reflected in BNI’snew global mission statement for 2006,which declares: “We all speak theLanguage of Referrals”.

UK National Director Gillian Lawsoncommented: “With over 82,000 membersand more than 4,100 chapters worldwide,BNI is a major business force establishingitself in more countries every year. Itwon’t be long before you’ll be able tofind a BNI chapter almost anywhere in theworld where business is conducted.”•

Contact Karen on 01425 485325

SHARING THE GLOBALLANGUAGE OF REFERRALS

WE ALL SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF REFERRALS: Ringwood Chapter Director Karen Rayner, picturedabove and below (centre in white top) with Paradise Chapter President Bob Huber (in flowery shirt)to the right, during her recent fact-finding visit to the Fort Myers Chapter.

Some of Wexford Town’s best-knowncompanies were among the big launchparty celebrating the recent

inauguration of the town’s new Menapia Chapter.

Over 140 local business people attendedand, as is customary BNI practice, everyonewas encouraged to showcase their businessesand exchange contacts, establishing newbusiness links that led to a substantial amount of business being transacted duringMenapia’s launch breakfast.

Chapter Director Margaret Fitzsimons said:“Many of those invited weren’t sure what to

expect but after the meeting everyone saidhow pleasantly taken aback they were at thesheer range of different businesses andservices now operating in Wexford. They werevery impressed at the amount of businessbeing transacted through BNI.”•

For more information about BNI in Wexford, contact Maiken O’Byrne on +353 (0)51 428 493

Meanwhile, other recently launched UKchapters include: Saxon (Billingham), ThePrince Bishop (Bishop Auckland) and WhiteWater (Thornaby/Stockton), all in Durham &Cumbria; Cromwell (Ely), and Victory (Holt)both in East Anglia, Three Swords (Grays, Essex), Basingstoke Business, Capital(Winchester), Solent (Southampton) andSpitfire (Hedge End), all in Hampshire; NorthOrbital (Chiswell Green, Herts & Beds),Amethyst (Milton Keynes), Central(Walthamstow, NE London), Isis (Ealing, NWLondon), Studio (Borehamwood, NWLondon), Opera (London North Central),Mercury (St Helens, Merseyside), Hinckley(Leicestershire), George (Washington,Northumbria), TGI (Edinburgh), Beacons(Stonehouse, Gloucs), Minster (Leominster,Hereford), Sir Stanley Matthews (Stoke onTrent), Midas (Bognor Regis) and Victory(Crawley in Sussex).

Mainland European chapters launched in recent weeks include: Hölderlin(Mannheim-Darmstadt), Ferrit (Munich) andFächer (Karlsruhe) all in Germany, Grischun(St Gallen) in Switzerland, Passy (central Paris)in France and Invictus Chapter, Oporto inPortugal.•

WEXFORD GOES TOTOWN WITH NEWCHAPTER LAUNCH

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15

Not only was joining BNI oneof the best business decisionsSejal Patel ever made - but it

has helped her win a top 5-staraward in The Daily Mail’s influential‘Mystery Shopper Guide’ to keyretailer services.

Sejal (pictured right) became amember of North London’sHeathside Chapter nine monthsago, as the local representative ofTravel Counsellors, and she was oneof five leading High Street travelagencies - including Going Placesand Thomas Cook - to be contactedundercover by the newspaper, eachgiven the same vague brief to findthe best, most imaginative choiceof holiday.

Priding herself in offeringcustomised holidays, Sejal set towork and duly sent five options tothe incognito investigator. “Theservice I provide closely reflectsBNI’s business philosophy, and itobviously worked here,” she said.

When the results werepublished, Sejal’s competitors wereleft trailing. While she won amaximum five stars and wasdescribed as offering “a faultlessperformance,” the nearest rivalearned just three stars and anothergained only one star.

She said: “When I joined BNI, itboosted my confidence immensely

and was definitely one the bestdecisions I ever made. I have sincerecommended many of my TravelCounsellor colleagues to join theirlocal chapter, the latest of whom -Sylvia Feldman - is delighted with the way her business is growing through London’sEdwarebury Chapter.”

BNI membership is so importantto their business that all TravelCounsellors’ consultants have adedicated BNI message board forswapping ideas and advice,enabling new consultants to ask existing members for help and advice.•

Contact Sejal on 0208 371 8273FIV

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Three years ago, after spending morethan 20 years in senior managementwith a major Northern Ireland

company, Jim Robb decided it was time tofollow his “personal star”.

Having previously been introduced to‘Neuro-Linguistic Programming’ (NLP), hedecided that it not only held the answers towhat he’d been looking for in life but, bybecoming an expert in its techniques, hecould becoming a professional NLP trainer.

“My aim was to run workshops andone-to-one sessions, but to do that I firstneeded to dramatically expand the numberof people I knew throughout the UK. I’dheard about the potential of BNImembership and this seemed the obviousway to go, so I was fortunate to joinBelfast’s Waterfront Chapter two years ago.

“As a direct consequence, so manyopportunities have opened up for me. For

instance, as a result of a visitor to mychapter hearing my 60-second slot, I’m nowanticipating considerable business from amajor national organisation while, thanksto another BNI referral, I have justsubmitted a proposal to introduce NLP to alarge multinational organisation,” said Jim.

He is now running workshops andworking with individuals on a regularbasis, many producing quite spectacularresults for his clients, who includemembers from various Northern Irelandchapters.

“I am in no doubt that without BNI,my idea would still be just a dream.Membership has enabled me to turn thisinto reality and I’m sure it will produceeven better results in future,” he added.•

Contact Jim on 028 9756 2520

BNI TURNS JIM’SDREAM INTO REALITY

After serving nearly 25 years in theforces, Geordie Peter Moodyadmitted the prospect of starting

his own business was more frighteningthan anything he’d experienced as a communications specialist on a nuclear submarine.

Following sleepless nights and muchsoul-searching, he grasped the nettle and launched Matrix-Direct-Recycle,specialising in the removal andenvironmentally-friendly disposal ofwaste electrical electronic equipment inaccordance with new Governmentregulations (the WEEE Directive).

“But as soon as I started trading, I discovered most North East businessesdid not know about the new regulations.I found myself trying to sell a service no-one thought they needed! If I was tosurvive, I had to educate the businesscommunity very quickly.”

Enter BNI - and the solution.“Someone told me that what I lacked wasnetworking, and BNI was the bestnetworking organisation. I invited myselfto Newcastle’s Collingwood Chapter, andfrom my first meeting I knew it was theanswer. Joining BNI was a master stroke,”added Peter (pictured below).

That was less than six months ago,but already Peter’s business has turnedaround. “Not only do I now have lots of

colleagues whom I’ve taught to educateother businesses about the newregulations, but it’s also given me afantastic sales force and best of all, I’vegained many friends with lots of businessknowledge, who offer objective adviceand let me bounce ideas off them.

“In business, time is always in shortsupply but, as well as providing newbusiness opportunities, joining BNI hassaved me time, money and effort. It hasmade all the difference.”•

Contact Peter on 0191 236 8018

BNI SAVES PETERTIME, MONEY ANDEFFORT - JUST FOR

STARTERS!

16

Everything is certainly chipper inNorth London’s buoyant ChippingChapter where members enjoyed a

pre-Christmas celebration by passingtheir 15,000th referral.

Barnet-based accountant DavidJacobs handed chapter colleague,printer Mitchell Harris a referral whichhas subsequently proved to be worth acool £40,000 and David - who has twicebeen Chipping’s chapter director - said itwas particularly fitting that thelandmark referral had gone to acolleague who had previouslyintroduced him to major business.

He said: “About three years ago,

Mitchell referred me to one of hiscolleagues in a different Kall-Kwikfranchise, as a result of which I’ve gainedadditional business worth around£60,000 a year. So I was delighted whenthe leadership team announced that myreferral to Mitchell was the group’s15,000th, and even happier to learn that it has developed into a valuable account.”

Our photograph (courtesy of chapterphotographer Jeff Nyman) shows David (right) handing the milestone referral to Mitchell.•

Contact David on 020 8441 6466

Chipping in with their15,000th referral...

Meanwhile, across the Irish Sea,members of Dublin’s still youngGrosvenor Chapter were busy

passing their 1,000th referral - involvinga referral from incoming ChapterDirector Stephen Brown to the group’smanagement accountant. Ciarán Doyle,received on his behalf by outgoingChapter Director Mary O'Driscoll (seephoto, right).

Using BNI’s ‘Show me the Money’tracking system to evaluate business

generated within the group, Stephenconfirmed that referrals to date hadproduced more than �500,000.•

Contact Stephen on +353 (0)1 677 1951

...and passing their first 1,000 !

Lincoln entrepreneur Adrian Rigbycould have been forgiven for thinkinghis business ambitions were being

thwarted when he set about acquiringquality standards certification to attractlarger, corporate clients.

Five years ago, this ex-trawlerman,RAF engineer and Formula One enginebuilder launched a new business, ABCartridges - supplying and recyclingprinter and copier cartridges nationwide -but he was dissatisfied with his company’sgrowth and knew he needed to attractbigger customers.

“To do that, I had to show I could meetindustry quality standards, so I went toseveral companies who help businessesgain ISO9000 certification, but when I told them I was a one-man band, they said: ‘Forget it. You’re too small’,” Adrian recalled.

Fortunately, thanks to a chancebusiness call from Lindvm Chapter’s ITconsultant Clive Catton, Adrian was firstintroduced to BNI and then to a newISO9000 assessor who promised him: “If you are determined to meet the required standards, we’ll help you gain the accreditation...”

Last summer, Adrian’s newlyburgeoning business received the vitalcertification he’d wanted, opening doorsto major new customers. Meanwhile, he’djoined the Lindvm Chapter and wasreaping not only referrals but moreimportantly, gaining a new outlook on hispersonal and business skills. “I really can’toverstate what a big influence BNI has hadon my life,” said Adrian.

“I’d always been a backroom chap,and I had no presentational or networkingskills. But as soon as I joined BNI, I met anew type of business colleague - peoplewho wanted to be my friends as well asbusiness associates. Through chaptercolleagues I discovered my true potentialfor the first time.

“For instance, when I first attendedchapter meetings I was scared stiff aboutstanding up to talk about my businesseven for 60 seconds. Now, BNI has givenme the skills and confidence to address aroomful of people anywhere, aboutalmost anything.”

Adrian acknowledged that in littlemore than a year, BNI membership hadboosted his turnover by 30% allowing himto employ three staff, but he added: “Thebest part has been transforming the way Iview people and business. I’ve now gotnumerous business colleagues who arealso genuine friends, and BNI has mademe a different, more outgoing andpositive person.”•

Contact Adrian on 01522 683460

FROM LITTLEBEGINNINGS, GREATCOMPANIES GROW...