FAQ's
Ask BNI
This is the place where you can ask any question about BNI. Have you ever wondered why the organization does something or how to make the most of your membership? Well, here's the place to do it. Send your questions to newsletter@bni.com. Read below for answers to questions we've already addressed.
Q: Can anyone join a chapter?
A: We only take one person from each field. So if you are a residential real estate person and we already have one, we can refer you to another chapter, or allow you to open another chapter.
Q: How do you know new members are reputable?
A: The application asks for references and we have a membership committee that checks them. It's word-of-mouth, so before they even come to a meeting they have spoken to someone or been invited by someone in the group. Everyone has to have a sponsor, or one is assigned to them, and the sponsor interviews them.
Q: What if a member gets a referral and does poor work?
A: We have an ethics committee and it is imperative that anyone who gives a lead and finds out it was not satisfactorily handled must report that to the membership committee, who will investigate.
Q: What occupations benefit most from networking?
A: It is not the occupation, it is the individual. The occupation can be anything. If you're focused and you have a dream and you're willing to make a sacrifice, you are the person we want in the group.
Q: Are members supposed to bring visitors?
A: You're encouraged to bring visitors for those occupations that are open, after the visitor has been prescreened, and if they're a viable candidate. It's pretty much a closed meeting except for potential members.
Q: Dr. Misner, I just finished Masters of Networking, and I loved it! The "givers gain" philosophy comes from the heart, and it really works. I can hardly wait to put the principles into practice.
I recently moved to a new city, and I've been attending professional luncheons and other networking events, and have already worked for one client here. Today I got a call from a woman to whom I'd been referred-a successful business woman in my profession in this city. She couldn't make time for me to take her to lunch, though she offered me some "tips" (mostly stuff I already knew) and asked me to send her some samples.
When she called today, she said she had a couple of referrals she wanted to pass on to me. However, she's starting this new "business" in which she would expect me to pay her 15 percent of my income from her referrals. Now, she is not functioning as an agency; they take a percentage, right off the top of what they charge the client. In this case, I would bill the client and give her the percentage of my take. She wouldn't handle any of the business aspects of the deal other than giving me the referral. She claimed that eventually she would start marketing her "referral service", but for now she wouldn't be doing anything more than passing on and getting paid for the referrals that cross her desk daily.
Am I missing something, or is this contrary to the "givers gain" philosophy? Since I started my business, most of my work has come through referrals, none of whom ever asked me for a percentage! I felt like this woman was preying on people like me-people who are establishing their businesses because they're new to the area, just out of college, or switching from less lucrative types of writing. She claimed that people in other professions do this-give one another a percentage of business referred to them.
Do they? I didn't see anything about that in your book. I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter.
Thank you!
Name and Address Withheld Upon Request
A: Thanks for your kind words about Masters of Networking. I appreciate it.
Regarding your dilemma: I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with having a "referral fee relationship" with someone, if it is clearly set up that way in advance. However, that's not the way I prefer to do business.
When someone suggests that to me, I say that I believe in getting and giving referrals freely. I generally don't take a finder's fee, and I never request one. I tell them as gently as possible that I see nothing wrong with finder's fees-I simply like the idea of establishing a "reciprocal referral relationship" with people.
I will then talk about my philosophy of "givers gain" regarding referral relationships, and I generally find them to be understanding and cooperative. Occasionally, I'm told that is not the way they'd prefer to do business and I thank them for thinking of me but pass on the opportunity.
I think it is important not to burn bridge but-at the same time-to make sure to do business in a way with which you feel comfortable. Good luck.
All the best,
Ivan
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