Synopsis

This is part of the Ask Ivan series. If you have a question for Dr. Misner, send it to [email protected].

Ben in the United States asks whether it’s better to bring in someone who has no current relationship with others in the sphere, or bring in someone who is already somewhat of a referral partner.

Dr. Misner recommends that groups bring in new people that at least one member of the chapter knows and trusts well. Knowing new people is important; the only thing more important is knowing more about the people you already know.

In the early days of BNI, Dr. Misner experimented with inviting people who didn’t know each other to form new BNI chapters. Because there were very few existing relationships, it was difficult to get people to pass referrals in the beginning.

It’s good to invite people you know casually to visit a BNI meeting. It’s better to invite people you really know and have a relationship with. What’s best is to invite people you know, you trust, and are already referring business to.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcript of Episode 458 –

Priscilla:

This is part of the Ask Ivan series. If you have a question for Ivan, email him at this address: [email protected].

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Official BNI Podcast, brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and the Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello, Ivan. How are you and where are you today?

Ivan:

Hi Priscilla. I am doing great and I just arrived in Milan, Italy for the Italian conference. I am really excited to be here because this is the first time that I have been to Italy for BNI. Growth here has been amazing. The members- I have met a few- are fantastic. The Directors here are great. So I am really excited to be in Italy for the first time.

Priscilla:

That sounds wonderful. I wish I was with you.

Ivan:

Today, I will be talking about a question that was sent to me recently. It was a really good question. It was sent by Ben. Ben is from the United States.

Ben says, “I appreciate your expertise in business networking. I apply your knowledge everyday into my consulting business. Our chapter has a seat open in a critical sphere within the group. When thinking about filling the seat, I thought to myself is it better to bring in someone who has no current knowledge of others within the sphere, or bring in someone that is already somewhat of a referral partner and strengthen that relationship? When it comes to growing a client base, we are always told that it is more expensive and time consuming to find a new client than to take in an existing client and increasing revenue by offering additional value and services. How does that apply to referral partners? By the way, I don’t expect a personal reply but if you could shed some light on it-”

Ben, this is a personal reply. It’s on my podcast. Thanks for asking the question.

Let me tell you what I said to Ben in writing and then I am going to expand on it here in this podcast. I told him it is a very thoughtful question, one that I am actually rarely asked. When I started BNI in 1985, I invited people I knew and trusted. I wanted to go deeper in building a referral relationship with them.

I believe networking is really all about relationships. Therefore, if possible, Ben, I recommend that groups bring in people that at least one person knows and trusts well. If more people know them, that is even better. Knowing new people is important. The only thing more important is knowing more about the...