SuccessNetSuccessNeteuropean edition

AN EDUCATION AND INFORMATION BULLETIN FOR BNI MEMBERS WINTER 2001/2

®

FIVE YEARS YOUNG!

Innovation all round in BNI – Pages 8 & 9

BNI has just celebrated the fifthanniversary of its arrival in theUK and Ireland with the open-

ing of its 330th chapter in Exeter,and a commemorative celebrationamong members of its very first UKchapters at Harrow and North-wood.

With thousands of businesses belonging to

chapters from Galway to Gravesend, and Ply-mouth to Perth, BNI’s growth has been sub-stantially faster across the UK and Irelandthan in any other country throughout theworld, including America where the organisa-tion’s roots were laid in 1985.

While there was an inkling of BNI’s likelypopularity from the launch of the first chap-ter in Harrow back in December 1996,nobody could have anticipated it would

Karllendsa cool£1.5m

THERE’S MORE than onebank that likes to say‘yes’ – especially whenthe customers are BNImembers or theiracquaintances.

Karl Redmond is Busi-ness Manager for theRoyal Bank of Scotland’sEast Parade branch inLeeds from which he hassanctioned lending ofover £1.5 million to cus-tomers referred to himthrough the city’sArmouries (Tuesday)Chapter in ten months.

“I can’t tell you whatthat might be worth tothe bank,” said delightedKarl, “but I’ve receivedaround 30 referrals inthe few months since Ijoined BNI, and they’renow flowing in at therate of about a dozen amonth. We’re doing verygood business throughmy chapter colleagues.”

Karl heard about BNI’srapid expansion throughYorkshire from a col-league in another chap-ter and was sold from hisfirst visit to the LeedsNorth Chapter.

“In turn, a lot of mycolleagues at other York-shire branches of the RBShave now joined theirlocal BNI chapters, afterseeing how much newbusiness I was attracting.I think there must by aRoyal Bank manager innearly every BNI groupin the region.”

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become the UK’s biggestbusiness networking organ-isation quite so quickly.

Significantly, aroundone-third of Harrow Chap-ter’s current membershipcomprises founder mem-bers who attended thatfirst meeting, and haveseen their businesses flour-ish over the past five years.

“None of us had anyidea what to expect, butafter my first breakfastmeeting I knew that BNIwould be good for mybusiness and, five yearslater, I’m even more cer-tain,” said Nigel Loli, whoreckons membership hasincreased the turnover ofhis vehicle engineeringbusiness, Carwrights, by anaverage of £25,000 a year.

Nigel was among themany members and guestswhen the Harrow andNorthwood chapters held ajoint fifth anniversarybreakfast at BatchworthPark Golf Club, Rick-mansworth just beforeChristmas, at which specialfive-year ribbons were pre-sented to 11 members whohave been in BNI since itwas launched in the UK.

National Director Mar-tin Lawson said: “For BNIto be represented in nearlyevery major conurbationacross the UK and Ireland,is a tribute to all the direc-

MANY HAPPY RETURNS! Chapter Directors, Howard Smith(right) and Neil Marshall (left) of Northwood and Harrowrespectively, cut their chapters’ fifth birthday cake. Behindthem are 14,225 referral slips representing the £4.4million

worth of business the two chapters have generated.

BNI’S RAPID growth across theUK and Ireland has continuedthrough the autumn and fes-tive period with the opening ofmore than two dozen newgroups – including Exeter(Cathedral) which became our330th chapter just beforeSuccessNet went to press.

Exeter’s second chapter wasone of several new groups tohave opened in the South andSouth West of England, whereothers were Bradford-on-Avon,

Brighton (Albion), Chippenhamand Plymouth (Astor)

Elsewhere, other recentlylaunched chapters include Ayr,Bradford (Wednesday), Brad-ford (Friday), Colwyn Bay,Dublin (City West), Elmbridge,Fulham, Heartland (Perthshire),Leeds Marriott (Friday), Lisburn(County Antrim), Liverpool(Phoenix), Lymm, Norwich (Cas-tle), Sheffield Succeeds andWalsall.

Chapter count passes 330

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Mongolians seekadvice from BNI

Five yearsyoung

BNI News

Ten receive Founders AwardTEN MORE UK chapters have been pre-sented with a prestigious Founders’Award in recognition of their consis-tently high performance over the year.

Given at the discretion of BNI Founderand Chief Executive Dr Ivan Misner aftersuitable recommendation from regionaldirectors, the award is made to rela-tively few chapters whose membersmaintain high quality and substantialreferral rates, bring a significant numberof visitors to their meetings and achievegood business results by applying BNI’sGivers Gain philosophy.

The proud recipients of FoundersAwards during the past three monthsare: Drake Chapter (Plymouth), Gatwick

(Sussex), Harrow, Indigo Chapter (Liver-pool), Moortown (Leeds), Leeds North,Northants, Pinner, Stafford and Tam-worth.

Meanwhile among the latest membersto receive Gold Club badges for individ-ual success in attracting new membersare: Paul Barton of the Drake Chapter(Plymouth), Richard Bedells (Wellingbor-ough), Lawrence Dagnall (RichmondUpon Thames), Richard Helliwell(Armouries Tuesday, Leeds) and JohnLeach (Armouries Thursday, Leeds, pic-tured right receiving his badge fromExecutive Director Niri Patel). Our con-gratulations to everyone involved!

One of the world’s leastdeveloped countries hassought advice from BNI on

promoting business in its emerg-ing economy.

This latest recognition of BNI’s maturingstatus as a world force in business develop-ment came a few weeks ago when a seniordelegation from Mongolia’s Ministry ofIndustry and Trade specifically requestedtalks with UK/Ireland national directors tosee how BNI could assist the growth ofsmall and medium sized enterprises in theworld’s youngest capitalist economy.

The Mongolian delegation, headed by Mr

Tseden Yonden, State Secretary for Industryand Trade, met Martin and Gillian Lawsonas part of a study visit to examine Britishmethods of encouraging and supportingSMEs in the business economy.

Martin Lawson said: “We were delightedto learn that, even though the nearest BNIpresence to Mongolia is nearly 2,000 milesaway in Malaysia, the Mongolian delegationknew all about our achievements in expand-ing SME economies around the world.

“After our discussions, the delegation vis-ited NatWest’s headquarters and wereimpressed to find that many of the Bank’sbusiness managers are already benefitingfrom membership of BNI groups.”

tors, leadership teams and mem-bers, but even more importantly,it demonstrates the huge benefitsthat BNI’s ‘Givers Gain’ philoso-phy brings to any and every busi-ness community.”

The key factor behind BNI’srapid expansion is the obviousand immediate proof that mem-bership is a highly valuable assetto nearly any business.

In the past 12 months alone,UK members have developedaround £100 million worth ofbusiness for each other.

Martin added: “Probably thebest testimonial for BNI’s popu-larity is that we have neversought to open groups in anynew area without being invitedby the local business community,so the fact that we are now rep-resented in most parts of the UKand Ireland speaks for itself.

“Other business networkingorganisations may come and go,but BNI is here to stay.”

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More AngelsRIVAL groups of Charlie’s Angelsare hard at work in UK chapters!

In the last issue of SuccessNet,we reported on the first self-styledCharlie’s Angels – in the shape ofDaventry Chapter’s new all-femaleleadership team but, before anyonecould say “Morning, Angels”, a rivalteam had announced its presence.

Wakefield Thursday Chapter’s‘Angels’ comprise Chapter DirectorJeni Rankin, a personnel consultant,Secretary/Treasurer Cherry Shiel, awill writer, and Membership Co-ordinator Arlene Oldham, a market-ing consultant.

Jeni said: “We were a bit miffedwhen we read about Daventry. Wereckon we are the original all-girlteam.”

• Jeni Rankin can be contacted on01484 683872.

SuccessFull!IT’S ODD when you have to apolo-gise for your own success, but suchis SuccessNet’s growing popularitythat we’re unable to publish someof your contributions, despite ourrecent expansion to 16 pages.

To everyone who has sent inideas, stories and photos, pleaseaccept our grateful thanks.

We will publish some of the itemsin the Spring issue, so please, don’tbe put off. Keep reading – and keepsending in your news and views.

DRESSED FOR THE PART: Some of WakefieldThursday Chapter’s members, ‘dressed’ with

props to reflect their occupations.

BNI News

S U C C E S S N E T W I N T E R 2 0 0 2 3

Business blooms – at 19When you’re just

19 and startingout in business,

the world can seem ahostile place. Not least,when you live in a smallvillage community wherepotential customers arefew and far between.

That was the situation facedby landscape gardener PeterSquires until he was invited by afellow villager, writer and mediarelations consultant PamAustin, to accompany her to ameeting of Corby Chapter, sincewhen his fledgling business hasstarted to bloom

“Pam and I have known eachother for a few years and shewas aware that I’d started myown landscape gardening busi-ness in the summer. Things weremoving rather slowly but inSeptember she invited me toattend a business breakfast

meeting with her, and said itmight be good for me.

“I’d never heard of BNI butfrom what I saw at that firstbreakfast, I knew she was right.I’ve only been in BNI for threemonths but already I’m averag-ing one referral a week and atleast 50 per cent of all my workcomes through my chapter col-leagues,” he added.

At 19, Peter (pictured withChapter colleague Martin Wallof Shire Security) is believed tobe the youngest member of BNIin the UK, but his relative youthhas not inhibited his integrationinto the Chapter.

“I’m very keen on amateurdramatics and enjoy acting, sohaving to present my businessto 30 strangers wasn’t too diffi-cult – especially since everyonegave me such a warm welcome.”

• Peter can be contacted atAlbany Garden Services on01858 535485.

Rainbow restorers clean upFORMER teachers Jill and Stuart Simp-son have just mopped up a top nationalfranchise award – less than four yearsafter quitting their college jobs to start acleaning business and barely 12 monthssince Stuart suffered a near fatal sportsaccident.

Ironically, their success in beating well-known High Street franchise names likeMcDonalds Restaurants, Clarks Shoesand Prontaprint, is due in no small partto Stuart’s post-accident decision to joinhis local BNI chapter in Loughborough,as part of his rehabilitation into the busi-ness world.

The Simpsons’ cleaning and restora-tion franchise, Rainbow International ofLeicester, won third prize in the BritishFranchise Association’s (BFA) Fran-chisee of the Year Awards, sponsored bythe HSBC, beating off fierce competitionfrom hundreds of entrants amongBritain’s 27,000 franchisees

Yet it could so easily have been a dif-ferent story. Twelve months ago Stuartcame close to death after a freak acci-dent. “I lost my balance during a gameof tennis and my head struck the edge ofthe racket which caused a near fatalbrain injury,” he said.

“I went into a coma and had part ofmy skull cut away to remove a blood

clot. It was a close call and it led to mereshaping my priorities.”

Jill suddenly found herself having tomanage the growing business, as well asher home and family – but earning plau-dits for the way met the challenge.

Against the odds, Stuart made aremarkable recovery and was back atwork within two months.

He added: “My accident led me toBNI. When I returned to work, I felt abit lost because things had moved on. Idecided to join BNI to give myself a new

focus and develop new business contacts.“I’m really glad I did. I’ve met some

great people and quite apart from theadditional work they have introduced,BNI has been a very useful tool in help-ing us reorganise the business.

“We’ve already used the services ofhalf a dozen colleagues and now, what-ever I’m looking for, I always gothrough my BNI contacts first – know-ing I can rely on fellow members.”

• Stuart and Jill Simpson can be con-tacted on 01509 215858.

TOP PERFORMERS: Stuart and Jill Simpson (centre) after receiving their nationalfranchise award from Sir Bernard Ingham, President of the British Franchise

Association (left), watched by HSBC’s National Franchise Manager Cathryn Hayes.

The historic but little-known Essex coastaltown of Maldon will

play host this April to thefirst cross-Thames regionalMembers’ Day.

Following the fifth Annual Euro-pean Directors’ Conference at theFive Lakes Hotel, Golf & CountryClub in Maldon, members fromchapters in East Anglia, Kent andGreater London areas will joinforces on Saturday April 20 for anintensive day’s programme of pre-sentations, practical workshopsand networking sessions.

Tickets for this major network-ing and training event will beavailable through chapters fromthe start of February and they areexpected to sell out quickly, soanyone wanting to participate isadvised to book early.

National Director Gillian Law-son said: “The value of theseregional events is immense, notjust in terms of the substantialbusiness networking opportunitiesthey afford, but for the new busi-ness skills and techniques that arethere to be picked up in work-shops and training sessions.”

Members who want to stayovernight at Five Lakes canreserve accommodation throughBNI’s national office on 01923826181. Further event informationcan be obtained from BNI’s web-site at: www.bni-europe.com.

Meanwhile, those interested inlocal history may like to know thatone of Maldon’s several claims tofame is its links with USA Presi-dent George Washington, whosegreat-great-grandfather was bornin the coastal town.

BNI News

I n our members’ healthy pursuitof BNI’s main purpose – to gen-erate more and better business

for themselves by helping othersachieve their business aims – it isall too easy to forget about twoother related, and very importantBNI objectives: profitable businesseducation and self-development.

Yet it goes without saying that for any ofus to be truly successful businessmen andwomen, we must be reasonably expert ingood business practice – not least in mar-keting our goods or services – just as weneed to be sufficiently self-motivated, con-fident and able to present ourselves (andour businesses) in the best possible light.

It therefore gives us particular satisfactionto witness the hugely beneficial (andincreasing) impact that BNI is having, notjust in helping countless businesses becomestronger and more profitable, but in help-ing members acquire new business and per-sonal skills they never thought they wouldpossess.

To highlight just one example of this, lookat Phil Brumfitt’s comments (reported on theback page) on the way that BNI has givenhim confidence in public speaking and pres-entation, and great self-belief – highly desir-able qualities that he could only aspire tobefore joining his local Merseyside chapter.

When Phil joined BNI just a year ago, hewas reluctant even to stand up and tell hisown chapter colleagues about his cateringbusiness, but in just 12 months, he has dou-bled his business turnover and, equallyimportantly, he is now such a confident andentertaining presenter, he’s in demand byleading business management organisa-tions as a keynote speaker!

His case is by no means exceptional.Throughout the world, BNI has provided anexcellent, practical basis for thousands ofpeople who wanted to learn more aboutthe right way of developing a successfulbusiness, and who needed to improve theirown presentational and inter-personal skillsalong the way.

One needs only to look at any copy ofSuccessNet to see how effective BNI’s train-ing and education have been and, as wepass the fifth anniversary in the UK and Ire-land, it is good to report that these aspectsof BNI’s philosophy will play an increasinglyimportant role in our further growth as amajor business force in Britain. A happy andprosperous New Year to all our members.

Lawsons’Lore

BNI National Directors MARTIN& GILLIAN LAWSON write…

Essex to host firstcross-Thames day

Scotland sets standardIF YOU still think breakfast is themost important meal of the day forBNI members, you obviouslyweren’t among the 200-plus partici-pants in Scotland’s InauguralAnnual Awards Dinner at Glas-gow’s five-star Hilton Hotel.

What is now set to becomeBNI’s most important annual eventnorth of the border, saw 22 mem-bers receive special awards forhaving made the greatest overallcontributions to their BNI groups –having each polled the highestnumber of votes from chapter col-leagues in a closed ballot.

Attended by members from allover Scotland, the awards dinnerwas voted an outstanding success,with the names of winners keptsecret until the night when eachcollected their award from BNINational Director Martin Lawsonand Benny Higgins, Chief Execu-tive (Retail Banking) of the RoyalBank of Scotland, the sponsors.

After the formalities, three of thecountry’s top speakers, Benny Hig-gins, entertainer Craigie Veitch,and John Hatfield, Business Editor,publisher and raconteur, kepteveryone in party mood, whileBNI’s charity member, the Chil-dren’s Appeal Foundation, raisedaround £1,500 for good causesthrough a prize raffle.

Martin Lawson said: “What afantastic event this was! Scotlanddid more than come of age by stag-ing such an impressive event – itset the standard by which otherregional events will be compared.”

Event organiser, Don Spence,who was co-incidentally voted hischapter’s best performing member,added: “With tongue firmly incheek we billed the Scottish 2001Awards Dinner as ‘the biggest net-working event ever’, but with thesupport of members from all overthe country, in Scottish terms thatis precisely what it was. It was theperfect reminder that we are partof the fastest growing and mosteffective business building organi-sation in the world.”

Individual award recipients were: ChrisChirnside (Edinburgh Pentlands), MarkThirgood (Edinburgh West), Tom London(Edinburgh Central), Carlene Van Doringand Joanne Brindley (both West Lothian– tied), Ross Linsday (Cumbernauld), SidGrant (Balgeddie), Francoise Noblesse (StAndrews), Audrey Fenton (Perth), GillCarrie (Dunfermline), Martin Walker(Strathkelvin), Robert Ross (Kirkcaldy),Peter Gibson (Tayside), Graham Struthers(Stirling), William Sivewright (Kil-marnock), Steve McFadyen (Uddingston),John Robson (Hamilton), Stewart Wilson(Giffnock), Alistair McLaughlan (Clyde),David Bone (Glasgow, Alpha), MaryParker (Glasgow, West End) and DonSpence (Glasgow, Victoria).

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S U C C E S S N E T W I N T E R 2 0 0 2 5

BNI News

LIFE BEGINS AT 40!Despite having achieved

its target of 40 membersless than two years after

it was launched, the LeedsArmouries (Thursday) Chapterstill makes visitors one of itspermanent priorities.

“We all know that the more peoplewho attend our weekly breakfasts, themore energy will be created and themore referrals will be exchanged. Ouraim is to attract four or five visitorsevery week, giving every member thechance to gain another ten per cent ofextra business,” said John Leach, underwhose directorship the Chapterreached capacity a few months ago.

Consequently, the role of visitor hostsis especially important. John added: “Asthe first point of contact for visitors,they are key to a chapter’s success, sotheir performance is vital. Fortunately,we have excellent visitor hosts andnearly every newcomer who attendsour meetings comments on the greatatmosphere. Life was already good inour chapter before we reached 40-strong, but now it’s even better.

“Crucial to our success was sharingownership of our goals with all themembers. We had a major push for newmembers, concentrating on visitor daysand identifying specific business cate-gories from which we needed to attractnew members. We were unanimous thatwe wanted only positive, enthusiasticpeople,” he said.

“There is now a great atmosphere,which combines professional dynamismwith camaraderie and genuine mutualsupport. Referrals are flowing likenever before, and nobody thinks twiceabout getting up at five or six in themorning to attend. It has become ahigh point in everyone’s workingweek,” John added.

Having reached capacity, members ofthe Leeds Armouries (Thursday) Chap-ter plan to take a bold step in the nearfuture, by agreeing to exchange only‘third party’ referrals with each other.

“Such a move represents ourprogress towards achieving BNI’s corebusiness aims,” John added. “Becausewe are now such a confident, dynamicand mutually supportive group, no-onewill fear a referral system based solelyon third-party business requirements.Members want to find each other thebest possible business.”JUST OVER a 100 miles south-west ofLeeds, in the leafy stockbroker-beltsuburbs of East Birmingham, membersof the Little Aston Chapter have even

members, are keys to a chapter’s suc-cessful growth. “One of the best thingsabout our group is the way that mem-bers look out for each other and gen-uinely want to help each other’s busi-nesses,” he said.

BNI’s Assistant Director for theBirmingham area, Mark Panayides toldSuccessNet: “Little Aston is an incredi-bly powerful chapter whose meetingsmove at a fast pace. There’s always abuzz of excitement and expectation,and that’s what sets them apart fromaverage groups. Visitors come awayamazed by what they’ve encountered.”

National Director Gillian Lawsonsaid: “Statistics from BNI chaptersthroughout the world all confirm thesame thing – that the number of qualitybusiness referrals increases at a dispro-portionately faster rate as membershipgrows. This means that while a youngchapter of just 15 to 20 members typi-cally passes an average of 50 referrals amonth, a well-established 30 to 40-strong group would be likely toexchange up to 300 referrals a month.”

more reason to feel satisfied abouttheir achievement in passing the 40-member target, less than a year afterthe group was formed.

Today Little Aston has 42 membersand, says the immediate past ChapterDirector Noel Farrelly: “We are veryfocused on objectives which may bewhy, for example, we gained 12 newmembers from two highly successfulvisitors days,” said Noel.

“We are also fortunate in that manyof our members are naturally ebullient,who enjoy getting up and talking abouttheir businesses.

“Little Aston’s meetings must beamong the liveliest and most vibrant ofany chapter, but behind the jovialityand camaraderie, a lot of serious busi-ness takes place and, as the group hasreached capacity, the volume of qualityreferrals has dramatically increased. Weare now passing a large number of highquality referrals,” he said.

Noel also believes that personalfriendships and mutual respect between

LIFE, IT IS SAID, begins when you reach 40. True or not, in BNIthere is absolutely no doubt that the quality of members’ busi-ness lives takes on a whole new dimension when their chapterreaches its optimum strength of 40 members. As BNI expandsand consolidates across the UK and Ireland, so a growing num-ber of chapters are coming of age – having established stable,highly effective groups, whose dynamics and higher referralrates make them the best performing chapters. Here, Success-Net looks at two such chapters that recently turned 40.

MORE MEANS MORE: More chapter members will lead to more referrals.

6 W I N T E R 2 0 0 2 S U C C E S S N E T

Relax, listenand don’t saytoo much

By the time you are read-ing this, early in 2002, thechances are that you may

have made some New Year’sresolutions – including one ortwo that reflect your businessaims for the coming year.

Everyone wants bigger and betterbusiness, and the vast majority of usjoin BNI in the hope and belief that ifwe follow its philosophy and practices,we will benefit in terms of greaterfinancial security and better relation-ships with our customers, suppliers andother business contacts.

Yet sometimes, for no obvious rea-sons, newcomers to BNI seem to get offon the wrong foot and, when this hap-pens, their chances of sharing the manybenefits of membership quickly reduce.

In Newbury Chapter, we take ournetworking seriously and, with someexcellent long-established guidelines inplace – such as Giver’s Gain – we seeno reason to re-invent the wheel.

Against this backdrop, whenever Ihave the privilege of presenting theeducation item (bearing in mind that itis shared between many different mem-bers) I have three recurring messages tomy chapter colleagues, and believe thatother chapters which have experienceddifficulties in ‘settling’ new members,might benefit from adopting them:

1 Don’t say too much One of the keys to my chapter’s fairly

rapid growth (our aim is to reach 40members early this year) is that we arediligent in the way we approachprospective members, telling would-bevisitors only that we are looking for aperson in their business category towhom we can refer new business, andnot trying to persuade them to join usas soon as they walk through the door.

In my limited experience of visitingchapters and seeing how others attractguests, a common failing seems to bethat in the understandable desire toconvert visitors to members, those mak-ing the phone calls and issuing the invi-tation letters try to tell their prospectivevisitors far too much about BNI.

If, for example, you tell a potentialguest that he or she will have to get up

THE DECISION to appoint education co-ordinators for everyBNI chapter has led to the education slot becoming one ofthe most eagerly awaited parts of the breakfast agenda, anda much-valued means of imparting business tips and trainingtechniques to members. In this, the second SuccessNetcolumn for sharing education issues, PAUL CLEGG, EducationCo-ordinator of Newbury Chapter suggests three ways inwhich we can get more from our BNI membership.

at 5.30 in the morning every week tofulfil a key obligation of membership, isit any wonder that they’ll find a goodreason why they cannot commit to suchan early weekly meeting?

We should not frighten off our visi-tors, any more than we should expect todecide – on their behalf – what they willor will not get out of BNI membership.

Everyone has to decide for them-selves whether BNI is right for them.

2 Listen – don’t talk:Having welcomed new visitors to

your chapter, there is a tendency towant to talk at them, about your ownbusiness and about BNI, rather than lis-ten to them, and ask them questionsabout themselves and their businesses.

If you show genuine interest in visi-tors’ businesses, you will be regarded asinteresting by them – because you havetaken the time and trouble to ask ques-tions and learn about them. And, when

someone sees you as an interesting per-son, they are far more likely to considerdoing business with you.

It is useful to watch colleagues –especially new members – give their 60-second presentations each week,because so many people are initiallyfocused on what BNI can do for them,before eventually shifting their stanceto ‘What can I give to BNI and mychapter colleagues?’ – which, of course,is BNI’s Giver’s Gain philosophy. You‘give’ by listening to others, and seeinghow you can help meet their needs, nottrying to fulfil your own.

3 Be proud of BNI:I suspect that for some members, BNI

begins and ends at the door of theirweekly chapter meeting and, when theyleave, they largely forget about it untilit’s time for next week’s breakfast.

To get the most from your member-ship of any organisation, you have tofully participate and ‘fly the flag’ forBNI – and that doesn’t just mean forthe 90 minutes or so you spend overbreakfast with your chapter colleagues.

Every week I urge my colleagues toalways wear their BNI lapel pin andalways carry their business card holderwhenever they leave their offices, partlyas a constant reminder to themselves(and their clients) that they are a mem-ber of the BNI business network, butalso because it helps you to find refer-rals and win new business at businessevents. So your BNI pin and cardholderare important ice-breakers which youshould use to maximum benefit.

• Paul Clegg is an independenttelecommunications consultant forEuphony Communications. He can becontacted on 01264 338153.

• Paul Clegg

S U C C E S S N E T W I N T E R 2 0 0 2 7

Education & Training

BE STRONG-WILLED – andruthless in implementing therules, says Phil Hopkins (LeedsNorth Chapter)

As I look around BNI, it is very evi-dent that the most successful chaptersare those which have high calibre, suc-cessful members. By definition, manyof these people will either be head ofa larger company or strong-willed,strong-minded entrepreneurs whohave set up successful businesses.

For this reason alone, when youmove into the chapter director’s seatyou need to be equally strong-mindedand strong-willed because you are sur-rounded by like-minded people and, ifyou don’t lead by example, you willsoon find yourself being led by themembers – a classic situation of the tailwagging the dog.

Sometimes inevitably, you will haveto make decisions that not everyone ishappy with and, in such situations, thelong-established ethos of my LeedsNorth Chapter in doing things by theBNI rule book, ensures that even diffi-cult tasks are made easier.

The main reason why any franchisebreaks down is when you ignore theturnkey operation. Our turnkey opera-tion is the fixed 20-point weekly meet-ing agenda which I believe, should beclosely followed.

This agenda comes with its own rulebook which starts by requiring mem-bers to arrive before 7am and to makesure that if they cannot attend, theysend a substitute.

When I took over as Chapter Direc-tor, it was apparent some memberswere not following the rules, nor werethey committed to BNI’s philosophy, sowe took the view that if they couldnot even find a substitute for meetingsthey were unable to attend, or if theywere clearly not performing, theirmembership would be terminated.

Chapters that work are those whichfollow the 20-point agenda and, at theend of each breakfast I collect everybusiness card and e-mail all those whoattended – members and guests – witha summary of key information fromthe meeting and general news aboutmembers, and perhaps issue a gentle

What makes YOUR group specialCONTINUING our new regular feature, this issue’s column highlights theviews of individual chapter directors on what makes their group differ-ent, and discovers some ‘secrets’ for making groups more effective – notleast by boosting membership numbers. While there is just one optimumway of running a chapter – and that is the tried and tested BNI way –every UK and Irish chapters has its individual character, based not leaston the style of its chapter director and how he or she imposes their per-sonality on the weekly agendas. Here, directors offer their ideas on bestpractice and their solutions to occasional problems that can arise.

warning in the event of any bad prac-tices creeping into our meetings.

Sometimes I will e-mail memberstwo or three times a week, and thereis no doubt that in addition to moti-vating them and keeping everyone’smind firmly focused on BNI business, itvastly improves two-way communica-tion with our members.

Adopting the philosophy that if youprune a rose bush it will grow backstronger and healthier, we shed sev-eral members who weren’t pullingtheir weight before a slimmer, fitterchapter set about finding new andmore committed replacements.

As a result, we have grown from 26to 36 members in barely ten weeks andmy goal is for the chapter to become40-strong before my term ends.

• Philip Hopkins runs H2 Communica-tions, a Leeds-based PR consultancy. Hecan be contacted on 0113 250 0071.

MAKE NEW members feel wel-come in your group, says TonyTickle (Bolton Chapter)

The prospect of joining a Chaptercan be very daunting. As a visitor youlook around the meeting and areimpressed by the ease with which themembers refer and discuss business.Sometimes new members find it diffi-cult to move into the ‘fast lane’ ofmeeting and generating referrals.

At Bolton we have introduced amethod of ‘mentoring’ new members,

and the system has shown itself tohave many benefits. Here’s how itworks. From the moment a new mem-ber has been welcomed into thegroup, the Chapter Director allocatesthree mentors to them. The profile ofthose mentors is usually a long-stand-ing member, another recently-joinedmember and a third, whose business –and business network – is entirely dif-ferent to that of the newcomer.

The long-standing member brings allthat you would associate with BNI,including background experience andknowledge of the Chapter.

The new member is fresh and hasexperienced the pains of joining, andso can bring comfort, building on newmember networks within the Chapter.

The member with a very differentbusiness network is perhaps the mostbeneficial of all the mentors becausenew members often find it difficult tomove outside of their own businessenvironment.

Recently, for example, one of ournew members whose business is inmanufacturing lightweight concretesections for the construction industry,was matched with a member who spe-cialises in colour co-ordination fordressing to impress. A pretty fruitlessmatch, or so it might initially seem.

The new member wanted contacts inmulti-national and corporate busi-nesses – decision makers and person-nel who influenced the purchase of hisservices. So what could a colour con-sultant possibly offer him? Surprisinglyenough, she could help in every area,because she works as a consultant tosenior managers, advising them onbetter personal presentation to gainthe edge in business.

Making new members feel comfort-able in the group is crucial to howthey perform, and this fast trackmethod has proved very successfulwith our Chapter. The mentors do notknow in advance that they are beingchosen; they are not asked beforetheir name is announced, and this toocan create new networks for estab-lished members. You should try itsometime.

• Tony Tickle is Managing Director ofThe Tickle Group, specialising in newmedia services, based at The GateHouse, Summerseat, Bury. Telephone01706 823456.

• Tony Tickle

8 W I N T E R 2 0 0 2 S U C C E S S N E T

INNOVAImagine being able to talk

with 200 business colleaguesor friends anywhere in the

world at the same time.Now, imagine that as well as talking

among themselves, everyone can alsosee each other (in real time) throughtheir computer screens.

And finally, imagine what it would belike to do this for a one-off cost of just afew pounds.

Sounds too good to be true? You’dbetter believe it because, as SuccessNetwent to print, so a whole BNI chapter inLeeds was about to help one of itsmembers, software developer StewartMcLean, launch what is set to becomethe world’s most exciting computerdevelopment since the Internet – des-tined to transform the way we do busi-ness, and the way we live.

Stewart’s company, CybaHous Ltd ofBatley, has spent 15 months designing asoftware programme that enables any-one to have simultaneous face-to-faceconversations with up to 200 people indifferent locations, providing pin-sharppictures and clear sound for everyonelinked into the call.

And, because the system – called‘Eye-D-Me’ – utilises the Internet, and

requires only a simpmicrophone, it will pvoice and vision comaround the globe forof business which alunmetered connectias well as to millionsuals who pay a fixedcharge for constant

From the end of Jcustomers will be abD-Me’ for less than create ‘free’ sound-abetween themselvestives or business collother locations anyw

More people/locatto any individual’s Esimply by purchasinthe software. Businesoftware will be laun

As a founder memArmouries (Thursdahas used the paid anseveral of his BNI codevelopment of his uand openly acknowltheir fantastic supponowhere near launch

He told SuccessNeleagues have been btheir time, expertise

BNI’s key role in so

BNI is great for improving yourbusiness. But did you know it isnow helping a growing numberof women become pregnant –many after years of infertility?

Diet expert Norah Lane hadbeen successfully helping infertilewomen in the North West to loseweight for some years but, as aresult of recently joining Man-chester Bridgewater Chapter, herexpertise is suddenly in demandnationwide, with hundreds ofwomen queuing for her help – thefirst of whom have now con-ceived after years of childlessness.

“My business has just gonethrough the roof since joiningBNI, ” Norah told SuccessNet.

“From the start, I decided that Iwouldn’t push my professionalservices because I knew my col-leagues would need to get toknow me first, so I wore my otherhat – that of fundraiser – andasked for referrals to organisa-tions who might like me to stagea charity talk about my work, tohelp them raise money.

“The solicitor in BridgewaterChapter, Paul Johnson, respondedby asking me to address hisRound Table group in Bury andmy talk on men’s health problemsand how diet could help themwent down very well.

“One of the audience worked inlocal radio and suggested mywork with infertility would be agood topic for his colleague, JanetKennedy, who presents a show

on BBC’s GMR station.”The station was inundated with

calls – over 400 women soughtNorah’s help – but far more wasto come. The Manchester EveningNews then picked up her story,ran a page feature and another600 women telephoned the mod-est Denton-based offices ofNorah’s slimming clinic, Vitaline.

More radio appearances, a storyin the Daily Express and a NewYear interview on Granada TVquickly followed.

“In total we’ve received severalthousand calls, and dozens ofnew members have joined ourprogrammes – and it’s all due toBNI,” said Norah.

More significantly, among thefirst of the avalanche of womenpursuing her dietary solution topregnancy, were four ladies whohad commenced medication priorto receiving IVF treatment, only tofind themselves pregnant as aresult of losing weight, withoutundergoing the costly assistedreproduction.

“One of them had been tryingfor 13 years to have a baby, butwith my diet she has now con-ceived naturally,” she added.

Norah is now looking to fran-chise Vitaline because of the vol-ume of potential business from allover the country.

Norah Lane can be contacted on0161 292 4918 or via Vitaline’s web-site: www.vitaline-slimming.com

How BNI can help tomake you pregnant

BREAKTHROUGH: Stewart MacLean (standing) puts the finthe new Eye-D-Me software, with Craig Hardcastle (left) an

MUM’S THE WORD: Manchester dietician Norah Lane (right) withone of the women she has helped become pregnant through her

healthy eating programmes.

S U C C E S S N E T W I N T E R 2 0 0 2 9

ATION ALL ROUND simple web cam and awill provide totally freen communicationsbe for tens of thousandsch already havenection to the Internet,llions of private individ-fixed monthly ISPtant Internet access.

d of January, personalbe able to purchase ‘Eye-than £25 and instantlyund-and-vision linkselves and friends, rela-s colleagues in up to fiveanywhere in the world./locations can be addedal’s Eye-D-Me networkhasing further copies ofusiness versions of thee launched in the spring.

member of the Leedsursday) Chapter, Stewartid and unpaid services ofNI colleagues in thef his unique software,nowledges that “withoutupport, we would beaunching the product.”essNet: “My chapter col-een brilliant, many givingrtise and practical assis-

Business where youleast expect it…

TWO ORIGINAL members ofTunbridge Wells Chapter whothought they would neverwork with each other, havefound themselves doing a veri-table feast of unexpected busi-ness across the weekly break-fast table.

In the chapter’s early days,independent financial adviserGraham Adams would envi-ously eye the huge potentialclient base of his chapter col-league Denise Barnes, whoruns one of Kent’s largestestate agencies, and wish hehad access to her clients.

However, she seemed per-fectly happy referring her cus-tomers to a major nationalfinancial services group, and sohe dismissed the idea of find-ing business through her.

“The reality was that bothDenise’s financial specialistsand my practice, The ReeveAlexander Partnership, wereselling very similar financialpackages to clients, so I could-n’t see any reason why shewould direct her clients tome,” said Graham.

Two years ago, however, thethen Chapter Director decidedto strengthen business rapportand networking between dif-ferent members of the chapter,by requiring everyone to havelunch with a colleague, basedon drawing ‘pairs’ of namesout a hat.

“By a twist of fate I wasdrawn with Denise, and whilewe both laughed about theirony and thought nothingwould come from it, weagreed to have lunch anyway,”Graham added.

It was a wise decision. Overlunch, he learned that Denisewas less than enthusiasticabout retaining links with herlong-term financial associates,and more than interested inlooking at his consultancy as asuccessor to whom she couldrefer her many clients. Grahamexplained his range of services,and the two agreed they coulddo business after all.

Since then, Denise hasreferred more than £150,000-worth of business to Graham,and regularly passes him ahandful of referrals over thebreakfast table each week.

“It was a totally unexpectedsource of new business,” Gra-ham added, “and I am sopleased we decided to havelunch. Although I cannotmatch Denise’s flow of refer-rals, I do my best to find herbusiness as well.”

Denise, whose chain ofoffices covers a large part ofKent said: “I’d always jokedwith Graham that he couldn’texpect to receive any referralsfrom me and, when I wasdrawn to have lunch with him,my first inclination was to puthis name back in the hat andchoose again.

But we agreed to meet upand over lunch I told GrahamI’d been thinking about chang-ing our financial advisers. Hetold me about his new consul-tancy and it seemed to offer agood alternative.

“In practice I am much hap-pier with the new arrange-ment and, because we meetthrough BNI every week, it iseasier to build trust and under-standing, and to deal with anyclient problems that mightarise.

“And, although I neverthought we’d do businesstogether, Graham passes quitea lot of business our way, soI’m very pleased we stuck tothat lunch appointment.”

Robert French, BNI’sRegional Director commented:“This is a perfect example ofBNI’s philosophy that who youknow is far more importantthan who you are, or whatyou do. I’m delighted to seesuch healthy two-way businessflowing from the leastexpected quarters.”

Graham can be reached on01732 500505 and Denise on01892 534433.

software revolutiontance free of charge. Because of them,we’ve been able to accelerate ourlaunch by several months.”

As a reward for their support, everyone of the Chapter’s 40-strong member-ship, has been given individually tai-lored advance copies of the new soft-ware, with the opportunity to try it intheir different business environmentsfor a month before it goes on sale.

‘Eye-D-Me’ is likely to provide majornew networking and educational oppor-tunities for BNI.

In the short term, for instance, indi-vidual chapters and/or groups of mem-bers will be able to communicate ‘live’with each other – enabling several chap-ters to participate in joint educationalor training sessions.

Abbey National’s Jeff Matthews said:“The ability to communicate face toface with more than one person any-where in the world, has real advantagesover video conferencing. It appears tooffer a major advance in Internet andcomputer technology.”

• Any BNI member interested in try-ing the new software should contactStewart McLean at CybaHous Ltd on01924 500999.

e finishing touches toft) and Ian Hardcastle.

No recession forChampagne EddieTWO YEARS ago, Eddie Barnes madehis living out of photocopiers. Today hesells more champagne than any otherdrinks supplier in Kent. But, while bub-bly might seem a riskier commodity thancopiers, business is booming!

“We’ve doubled our turnover in thelast year,” said Eddie, “and if there is arecession coming, no-one’s told myclients. It’s also a lot more fun.”

Eddie likes a good laugh in his Med-way Chapter and, just before Christmas,he had double reason to chuckle: hislargest single order to date, 400 bottles ofquality fizz for the British ComedyAwards on London’s South Bank – andthen being a guest at the event.

“The referral came through my chap-ter. My tender was accepted – and theyinvited myself and my wife as guests. Itwas a great night – and the first time I’dbeen paid to drink my own champagne!”

• Contact Eddie at The ChampagneCellar on 0800 597 7122.

1 0 W I N T E R 2 0 0 2 S U C C E S S N E T

Danusia’s strategyfor success in BNI

DANUSIA’S six-point strategy forprospective women members:

You need to consider BNI member-ship with a positive mental attitudesince, unless you think you think youare capable of doing something, itwon’t happen. Try this simpleapproach:

• Create a work and life strategy, byasking yourself what are the mostimportant things to you right now,and how you can best achieve them.

• Decide where BNI membership fitsinto your strategy, and seek advicefrom other women members (andmen) about how they balance familyand career commitments.

• Harness the interest of businesscolleagues, suppliers and friends, withthe aim of finding two or three reli-able people who can substitute foryou at meetings, if and when needed.

• Cultivate friendships in your com-munity among people who have widesocial and business ‘contact’ net-works, such as members of the clergy,emergency services etc.

• Go into BNI having identifiedsomething positive you can contributeto your chapter.

• And finally, don’t be reluctant touse professional expertise – such as apersonal life coach – to help youachieve exactly what you want fromwork and life!

Around the Chapters

Why women need BNIBNI needs many more

women members. Moreto the point, many

women should be using BNI tohelp re-launch careers thathave been put on hold whilethey raised families and ful-filled domestic roles.

So says Danusia Malina-Derben, oneof life’s “irrepressibles” who, as well asbeing mother of six children and wifeof a military officer, now heads up afast-growing West Midlands’ life-coach-ing consultancy which teaches seniorbusiness executives that “you can haveeverything, if you want it badlyenough.”

Danusia recently joined BNI’sMalvern Hills Chapter as part of a newstrategic plan for her own future, whichsaw her relinquish a successful post inacademia with imminent prospects of aprofessorship, in order to re-balanceher “life priorities” and combine arewarding career with fulfilment as amother and wife.

“Before joining BNI I did myresearch, talking with several chaptersabout how women who are workingmothers, managed to fit weekly earlymorning meetings into their existingdomestic and business schedules. I alsospoke with a number of women in BNIwho had obviously managed to createsupport strategies to avoid absencefrom meetings.

“Having done my homework, I hadno doubt that the benefits of BNIwould far outweigh any minor practicalproblems and after just a few monthsmembership, the value of BNI to myown business has been confirmed. Butit is impossible not to notice how mostchapters are dominated by men – prob-ably because many women see earlymorning business breakfasts as prohibi-tive once children are on the scene.”

Danusia added: “I would like womento recognise that they can be commit-ted to business success without com-promising their success or responsibili-ties as a mother. The two need not bein constant competition, and the rightattitude is crucial. Positive action thatbacks up this attitude makes the differ-ence between women who talk aboutwanting business success, and thosewho actually have it.”

Drawing on her professional experi-ence, she told SuccessNet: “If prospec-tive female members of BNI focus onpotential problems of membership,they will undoubtedly find such diffi-culties but, if they focus on businesssuccess through BNI, they will findways of removing obstacles and turnthe vision of success into reality. Inshort, if women want the best of bothworlds badly enough, they will get it.”

The fact that many women decidethey have to make a choice betweencareers or family is, says Danusia, areflection of long-standing cultural andsocial traditions. “Too many women

• Danusia Malina-Derben

suffer an identity blur, giving much ofthemselves away to other people – notleast their partners and their children.Consequently, it is not unusual to seetheir careers being relegated to a verylow priority, since the more that womensacrifice for others, the less they haveto give of themselves.”

She has produced a six-point strategyto help women get the most from BNImembership (see panel left) and hopesmore chapters will become pro-active inattracting female members – not least bytargeting women business owners withinvitations to attend visitors days. “It isin every chapters’ interest to seek thebest possible mix and balance of mem-bers because diversity fosters creativityand growth. BNI is an ideal platformfrom which women can re-launch theirdormant business careers.”

Anyone who thinks Danusia musthave a secret army of helpers to juggleher commitments, is mistaken. “I’ve nofamily or relatives in the area to relyon, my husband has his own full-timedemanding job and three of my six chil-dren still live at home. You can doalmost anything, if you want to. Mymessage to would-be female membersis: ‘The only thing standing betweenyou and business success is yourself’.”

• Danusia Malina-Derben is Man-aging Director of executive personalcoaching consultancy, Life Wizards.She can be contacted on 01684566720 or 561857.

S U C C E S S N E T W I N T E R 2 0 0 2 1 1

Around the Chapters

Members in the dock!

Pavarotti in Coventry

When it comes to reach-ing the right verdictsfor his clients, inde-

pendent financial adviser AllanHeggs should have a head andshoulders advantage over theopposition: his ‘office’ is the his-toric former magistrates courtat Lutterworth – newly refur-bished with a lot of help fromhis BNI colleagues.

“It is one of the oldest traditionalcourts in the country and, because it’salso a listed building we had to be verycareful in converting it to offices. For thisreason, we’ve left most of the originalcourt furniture in place – including themagistrates’ bench, the lawyers’ benchesand of course the prisoner’s dock – andit was made easier by working with somany trusted colleagues,” said Allan.

One of six practitioners in the expand-ing Leicestershire independent financialconsultancy, Silverside Financial Ser-vices, Allan acquired the old magistratescourt building 12 months ago after out-growing the office extension at his ownhome, and it has taken nearly a year tocomplete the transformation.

“I belong to Leicester Oadby Chapterand I thought that between us and ourneighbouring Leicester Tigers Chapter,we should find all the help we needed,and that’s what’s happened.”

In total, no less than ten members ofthe two chapters have been involved inSilverside’s magisterial move. Re-wiringof the 140-year old building was done byTony Smith from Blaby Electrical Ser-vices and a member of the Tigers Chap-ter whose colleague, Stuart Muir fromIntelligent Services carried out all thecomputer networking. Other Tigers’input came from Gordon Tilley whoseCreative Design Unit redesigned theconsultancy’s stationery, and Rex Kellettfrom K&S Digital Imaging who madelarge sepia reproductions of old court-room images, now gracing the walls.

Meanwhile, Oadby’s contributionscame from Ron Campbell-Barnard,whose firm Signs Express produced theexternal signage, photographer WilliamJames from Target Studios who used thebuilding’s historic features to dramaticeffect in creating new photography forthe practice, Michael Fell of Rushking-ton Lodge Kitchens who provided theirculinary facilities, Suri Gudka of Busi-ness Services who met all the printingrequirements and solicitor AndrewEagle from Josiah Hincks Sons & Bul-lough whose legal and conveyancingskills were in considerable demand.

• Allan can be reached at Silversideon 01455 557501.

World-famous operasinger LucianoPavarotti paid

an unexpected visit toCoventry Chapter justbefore Christmas –and left membersgasping in amaze-ment and delight ashe serenaded themover breakfast.

Well, to be honest, it wasn’tPavarotti, but an uncannily real-istic look-alike in entertainmentimpresario Barry Long (picturedright), who’d joined the Chapter lessthan a month earlier, and was deter-mined to make his first ten-minute pres-entation to colleagues and visitors a verygrand and memorable affair.

“He certainly succeeded,” said BNIAssistant Director Louise Moore. “TheChapter was holding a visitors day andwithout exception, everyone had beam-ing faces when Barry came out, lookingand sounding exactly like the realPavarotti as we were treated to a fabu-lous rendition of ‘O Sole Mio’

“The moment was a vision to behold,and Barry’s lifelike performance reallylifted our spirits on a cold and greyWednesday morning,” she added.

Barry said his choice of Pavarotti –from an extensive repertoire of imper-sonations – was not difficult. “Everyonetells me I look like Pavarotti, and so I’vestudied the great man’s mannerisms andthink I bear more than a passing resem-blance to him – although sadly my voiceis not a patch on his.”

His company, LRS Productions(Entertainment Specialists), is probablyunique in being able to offer almost anykind of entertainment to a client, in anylocation. “I started life as a DJ and it justgrew from there. Today, we can stage lit-erally any kind of show anywhere, andwe do almost everything ourselves, frombuilding the sets and providing the propsand floral arrangements, to writing, pro-ducing and choreographing the showand providing all the artistes.”

Barry was introduced to BNI by hisbank manager who thought it wouldlead to extra business very quickly. “Hewas absolutely right. After barely amonth, I’ve had lots of business comethrough BNI – probably because,whether someone wants a cabaret, clubnight or casino, a pub-style event, danceband or pantomine, we can provide it. Ijust wish I’d heard of BNI years ago.”

• Contact Barry at LRS Productions on02476 714523.

SILENCE IN COURT! ‘PC’ Allan Heggs commands attention from would-be‘Judge’ John O’Malley and court clerk Frances Heggs (his wife) as they

familiarise themselves with their IFA practice’s new magisterial surroundings.

1 2 W I N T E R 2 0 0 2 S U C C E S S N E T

Around the Chapters

After nine years as GeneralManager of one of Ply-mouth’s best-known

hotels, Jeremy Palmer didn’tthink twice when the opportu-nity to buy the 72-bedroomedVictorian building came up.

And who better to help him than theDirector of the city’s new Astor Chapter,which had been launched in the hoteljust a few weeks earlier!

Together with three of his senior hotelexecutives, Jeremy has just completed asmooth and successful management buyout of The Duke of Cornwall Hotel,opposite the city’s famous Pavilions, andhe’s happy to acknowledge that the dealwas made significantly easier because itwas brokered by Astor’s first ChapterDirector and financial expert TriciaKennedy.

Jeremy, who has been associated withthe hotel he now jointly owns for thepast two decades, told SuccessNet: “Themajority shareholder just announced oneday that he wanted to sell out, and thefour of us involved in the buy-out weregiven very little time in which to raise asubstantial sum of money.

“By happy co-incidence, BNI’s newAstor Chapter had just been launchedand made its home at the hotel, so aftera couple of weeks of looking in on thebreakfast meetings, I thought I shouldbecome a member.

“Although I’d previously met Triciaand was aware of her capital-raisingexpertise, it was a very pleasant andtimely surprise to discover that she was

Good deal of help

the newly appointed Chapter Director. Ithought she might be just the person tohelp arrange the funding.”

Indeed she was, and her company –Business Cash Flow Solutions – wastedno time in assisting Jeremy draw up suc-cessful financial proposals.

She said: “A deal of this size can some-times be a slow process, but in this case,knowing the hotel and being aware ofthe financial requirements, it was rela-tively quick and straight forward. It isalso much easier for both partiesinvolved if, as in this case, they havebeen able to build up trust beforehand.”

Meanwhile, Jeremy is in no doubt thatBNI has already paid big dividends.

“Obviously, being able to put the finan-cial package together through a BNI col-league was a huge help, but I’ve alreadyidentified a number of other memberswhose services we’ll need in the weeksahead. I am finding our weekly meetingsvery useful.”

Did he intend to persuade other localBNI chapters to relocate to his hotel? “Idon’t think that would be fair,” headded. “As well as providing a home toAstor Chapter, we also host regularfunctions for the Chamber of Commerceand The Industrial Society. We’ve got toleave something for our opposition!”

• Jeremy can be contacted on 01752275851, and Tricia can be reached on01752 206000.

MANAGEMENT BUYOUT: Jeremy and Tricia at The Duke of Cornwall Hotel.

SHARING THEIR GOOD FORTUNE: Mike Browne hands overChichester’s cheque to Gillian Ploughman

CHICHESTER Chapter has celebrated passing itsfirst £1 million-worth of referrals by holding abangers-and-mash lunch for local businesses in thetown’s Festival Theatre.

Nearly 80 members and guests took part in theevent, when members decided to share their good for-tune with the community.

Chapter Director Mike Browne presented a chequefor £250 to the town’s St Wilfrid’s Hospice, while afurther £250 was raised for the Hospice during thelunch.

The Hospice’s Gillian Ploughman was on hand toaccept the donation and said: “Increasingly, charitiesdepend upon the public’s generosity, and it is becom-ing more difficult to keep up with our running costs.We much appreciate the generosity of BNI members.”

• For more information about BNI in Chichester,call Mike Hemsley on 01903 200528.

Celebrating £1m with bangers and mash

S U C C E S S N E T W I N T E R 2 0 0 2 1 3

Around the Chapters

Like father, like sonMeet David Davies. He’s

the elder statesman inour photograph and

the immediate past Director ofStockport 2 Chapter. And theother chap? Oh, he’s alsoDavid Davies – the chapter’spresent director.

Confused? Well that’s hardly surpris-ing, since David (Leslie) Senior andDavid (Michael) the Younger – “pleasedon’t refer to me as Junior” – are BNI’sfirst father and son chapter directors inthe UK and Ireland – and quite possi-bly, the first anywhere in the world.

The improbable double act cameabout largely by accident, as DavidMichael explained to SuccessNet.

“After hearing about BNI, my fathersuggested that we should take a look.We paid a visit to Stockport 1 Chapter,and immediately decided BNI was agood idea. But, because our respective

professions (in financial services andtelecommunications) were filled, theonly way was to get into BNI was bycreating another chapter – so with halfa dozen business colleagues we setabout building Stockport 2.”

David Michael added: “The newgroup was launched a year ago and myfather was its very successful firstChapter Director. When his term ofoffice ended in the spring, a new direc-tor was elected and I offered toundergo training with a view to suc-ceeding him, but things didn’t go toplan. After running only a few meet-ings, the new director suddenly left, somy father was asked to stand in for asecond term – which is how he came tohand over the reins to me.”

Father and son they may be, but asboth were quick to point out, theirchapter leadership styles are very dif-ferent. “It’s for others to make thecomparisons, not me,” said current

ELEVEN OF BNI’s best networkersfrom the Dublin region have receivedunique recognition for their ‘Giver’sGain’ contributions over the past year– in the shape of limited editionprints, hand drawn by Fingal Chap-ter’s designer Padraig Horgan.

The framed prints of Irish statelyhomes were presented at therecently-staged Dublin Members’ Day,after Executive Director Pat Guidenhad asked the membership of each ofDublin’s then ten chapters to nomi-nate one person from their chapterwho most deserved a special prize foreffective networking.

Sponsored by Michael O’Connor offinance brokers Finplan, a member ofthe city’s Airport Chapter who pre-sented the Giver’s Gain Awards, theinitiative drew a huge response frommembers. Graham Smith, another Air-

port Chapter member who acted asco-presenter said: “It was quite a closerun thing in some chapters, where justone or two votes separated the nomi-nees, and in the case of PembrokeChapter, two nominees tied for theaward.”

Pictured with Michael O’Connor(back row, centre) are all 11 recipients.Front row (left to right, holdingprints) are Philip O’Donoghue (Clon-tarf Chapter), Ulla Enkrist (Fitz 2),Paula Egan (Liffey), Ralph McMahon(Pembroke – joint winner) andAnthony Quinn (Baggot Street). Backrow: Damian Gibbons (South Dublin),Jonathon Miller (Pembroke – jointwinner), Eamonn Leahy (Airport), PatKing (Merrion Row), John Clarke (DunLaoghaire) and Colum Whelan(Fitzwilliam).

Director David, “but I think it is veryhealthy for the group to experiencecontrasting styles of leadership.”

David Leslie said: “When it wasagreed that my son would take overfrom me, I made it very clear that Iwould take a back seat and not inter-fere in any way with the new leadershipteam’s decisions. That’s the way it hasstayed and even when other membersapproach me as a kind of father-figurein the chapter, wanting advice on policyor procedural matters, I tell them theymust talk to the new leadership team.”

The two Davieses are in unison how-ever when it comes to their enthusiasmfor BNI membership. “We bothbelieved it would be good, and it hasbeen,” said David Leslie. “As an IFAand first Chapter Director, I knew itwould take a little while to build refer-rals but I established a series of one-to-one chats with every other member andtook time to make sure they under-stood my business. Now BNI referralsaccount for at least 20 per cent of myincome, I can count around 50 per centof my chapter colleagues as personalclients, and I have an excellent volun-teer sales team.”

To complete the Davies’ family’sinvolvement with the chapter, DavidLeslie’s son-in-law, Paul Cresswell isalso a founder member, and gains regu-lar referrals for his building and joinerybusiness from both his in-laws.

“It’s a great chapter in which every-one looks out for everyone else. Thesense of camaraderie and desire to helpeach other is enough reason on its ownto get out of bed at five in the morn-ing,” added David Senior.

• You can contact David (senior) on01625 875698 or 07768 394263, andDavid Michael on 0161 480 7730.

Networkers recognised

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE: DavidDavies and…David Davies.

1 4 W I N T E R 2 0 0 2 S U C C E S S N E T

Education & Training

While seasoned BNImembers all knowand realise that refer-

rals do not only come fromtheir own ‘Contact Sphere’, itmay be hard for the new mem-ber or visitor to grasp this factinitially. What newcomers willunderstand and relate to, how-ever, is getting referrals fromsomeone who has a naturalsymbiotic relationship withtheir line of business.

So, to ensure that membership ofBNI is both profitable and enjoyablefrom the outset, why not adopt the fol-lowing strategy - specifically developedto promote stronger bonds andenhanced business within your ‘contactsphere group’ in your chapter.

First and most important, you needto identify the professions and tradeswithin your Chapter whose representa-tives are in your own ‘Contact Sphere’(i.e. they have a symbiotic relationshipwith your business). For instance, if youare an accountant, you should be talk-ing to members in banking, independ-

saysBEVERLEY

BLANDFORDExecutive Director,

Home CountiesWest, Hampshireand West Country

ent financial advisory services, businessconsultancy, book-keeping and the legalsector – since all of these colleaguescan refer business to you, as you can tothem.

These ‘symbiotic’ groups or contactspheres of related trades and profes-sionals can easily be identified in anychapter, and some of the most commonexamples are listed below. Start by com-piling your own groups, and of course,you may need to add other categories.

• FINANCIAL & LEGAL: solicitor, accountant, IFA, banker, estate agent

• PEN & PAPER: printer, graphic designer, PR consultant,copywriter

• MOTOR TRADE: motor mechanic, bodywork repairer, garage proprietor

• PROPERTY: builder, plumber, carpenter, estate agent

• HEALTH: dentist, therapists, optometrist, alternativemedicine

• IT: computer hardware,software developers,telecoms etc

Within your own group you nowneed to identify other trades and pro-fessions (not already represented in thechapter) that will help you grow andincrease your chances of giving and get-ting quality referrals. Once your grouphas decided what categories of newmember(s) are needed, elect aspokesperson to inform the Member-ship Co-ordinator who will set Chaptergoals for targeting those categories forstack and visitor days.

At least once a month, arrange astrategy meeting with your ‘ContactSphere Group’, which can take placeafter a chapter meeting. Your group’sspokesperson needs to meet the Mem-bership Co-ordinator on a regular basis,who in turn should inform the wholeChapter about the membership cate-gories wanted by your individual group.This should be done at point 11 on theagenda which covers ‘professions stillneeded’ and ‘Chapter growth plan’.

Most importantly the MembershipCo-ordinator must specifically ask forcontact names (i.e. the names of suit-able visitors) from the Chapter and listthe members who have volunteerednames. Those members should be theones who invite their respective nomi-nees as visitors.

Whenever a guest visits your Chap-ter, if they are within your ‘ContactSphere Group’ ask your spokespersonto stand up and invite them to stay onafter the meeting to meet your group,because this is when the strategy ismost beneficial and capable of produc-ing the best results.

Last but not least, do not forget thereason you get up early for BNI meet-ings and why you have paid a member-ship fee! It is to network, make newcontacts and do more business – so dosend a follow up letter thanking yourvisitors for coming, invite them back fora second time and also enclose yourbrochure and business card. After all,this is a warm call for you and anopportunity not to be missed.

Remember, while BNI provides thevehicle for you and your business, youhave to put petrol in to keep it running !

STANMORE CHAPTER in North-WestLondon notched up its 10,000th refer-ral just before Christmas.

The landmark referral was passed byAndrew Bamford of The InvestmentClub Network to Rosemary Holmes ofBeautiful Holmes.

Chapter Director Simon Patnick said:“This is a fantastic achievement insuch a short period of time.

“More importantly for our members,it represents their finding over £2.3million worth of business for eachother. They simply cannot afford notto work for each other.”

Stanmore passes 10,000

Use your sphere ofcontacts to maximise

membership

S U C C E S S N E T W I N T E R 2 0 0 2 1 5

Cast your mind back to thelast time you flew on anaeroplane. Who made

your flight enjoyable? Whowas there to help you if youhad any problems?

Who was there to serve you and pro-vide nourishment when you were hun-gry or thirsty? In short, who, if they didtheir job well, made you walk off theplane wanting to travel with that airlineagain?

The answer is the flight attendants. Inany airline, they have a vital job – tokeep the passengers happy, give themwhat they want, and make sure they goaway and tell their friends what a greatairline they flew with.

BNI chapters have many similaritiesto a passenger aircraft and, many of thejobs in a BNI chapter closely parallelthe jobs of a jetliner’s crew. The plane ispiloted by a highly trained team ofpilots whose job it is to work togetherto see that it arrives safely at its desti-nation.

A BNI chapter is piloted by a trainedcrew of team leaders, whose job it is towork together to see that the chapterarrives safely at its destination –namely, to ensure it grows to its poten-tial, stays on course and develops themaximum amount of business for itsmembers.

The flight attendants of a BNI chap-ter are its membership committee.Their job is to make sure that the mem-bers are happy and productive, to solveany problems that may occur on theway to their destination, to plan aheadand make sure that the group is pre-pared for the journey, and to monitormembers’ performance and progress toavoid potential pitfalls.

Just like the flight attendants, theyhave to make sure that the right peoplejoin the group (get on the plane) andsometimes, for the good of the group,even ask people to leave the group(just as unruly passengers would be putoff an aircraft), and like their airbornecounterparts, their job is sometimesgiven far less importance than itdeserves. In fact, the membership com-mittee is probably the most importantgroup in any BNI chapter, andabsolutely vital to the success of thegroup.

They exist to ensurea smooth flight

As a BNI Director I can tell you withabsolute certainty that there are nogood BNI chapters anywhere that donot have strong, functioning member-ship committees. And the converse isalso true. Every BNI chapter that isstruggling , invariably has a weak andinactive membership committee.

What then are some of the importanttasks of the membership committee,and how should they be carried out?

Firstly, it is important to understandwho runs your chapter. It is not thechapter director and it’s not the leader-ship team. It is the membership com-mittee that runs the chapter. The chap-ter director is there to make sure theweekly meetings follow the agenda, andthe group follows the BNI programmeat each meeting, and the secretary/treasurer administers the group’sfinances, and the membership co-ordi-nator wears two important hats.

It is his or her job to keep track ofthe participation of each member, andsecondly, to enforce BNI’s policieswithin the group through the member-ship committee, which the membershipco-ordinator chairs. And as chairper-son, he or she is also responsible formaking sure that all the other impor-tant tasks of the membership commit-tee are delegated and carried out.

Why do we monitor the participationof every member each month? Why dowe keep track of referrals given andreceived, attendance, lateness, visitorsbrought, and so on? The answer is sim-ple – it’s called personal accountability.

A BNI chapter is not a social club. Itcomprises business people who payannual fees to participate in an organi-sation that they are told will generatebusiness for them. That is the main (butnot the only) reason why they arethere. They have a legitimate expecta-tion of what they will get from theirmembership, and it is the responsibilityof the leadership team and the mem-bership committee to see that they gettheir money’s worth!

Because everyone in the chapter has

By

STEVE LAWSONEuropean Training Director

a common goal of getting new business,so we all have a responsibility to do thethings in the group that will lead to usreaching that goal. If we do thingswhich prevent the group from maximis-ing the business generated, then we aregoing to be a force for counterproduc-tivity in the group, and this is going tohave an adverse impact on every mem-ber of the group.

Therefore, for the common good ofthe group, every member should beaccountable for their actions. If theiractions assist in reaching the commongoal, they they should be encouraged tostay in the group. If their actions pre-vent the group from achieving its aims,and they are not prepared to change,then they should be asked to leave thegroup. That is a plain, straightforwardbusiness decision.

And this is why the membershipcommittee monitors the participationof the members. Its job is to ensure thegroup reaches its common goal of max-imising new business for members. Amember who is too often absent, or notcontributing to the common goal, iscosting every other member of thegroup money in terms of lost potential.If the membership committee can’thelp that member to participate better(we can teach a “can’t do”, but we can’tteach a “won’t do”), then that personshould be replaced with a member whowill contribute to the group’s objec-tives.

Every chair in your chapter is exclu-sively reserved each week for a particu-lar person and it is too valuable toleave it occupied by a non-contributingmember. That is what accountability isall about.

When you look at some of the otherimportant functions that the member-ship committee also performs, likechecking references of new applicants,planning for chapter growth, arrangingsocial and networking activities andhandling member issues, you begin tounderstand why it is so important.

The power of the membership com-mittee – as delegated by BNI’s policiesand procedures – is what helps allmembers reach their common goal ofdeveloping more business for eachother. That is why the membershipcommittee is so important, and why weshould never under estimate its value.

The powers vested in the membership committee

1 6 W I N T E R 2 0 0 2 S U C C E S S N E T

SuccessNet is published quarterly and distributedfree of charge by Business Network International plcto all members through BNI directors and chapterdirectors. Additional copies can be obtained bywriting to, or calling, the BNI National Office, atGate End, Northwood, Middlesex, HA6 3QG.Tel: +44 (0)1923-826 181 Fax: +44 (0)1923-827 813E-mail: bniuk@bni.comBNI web site: www.bni-europe.com

EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Gillian Lawson, BNI National Director

EDITOR: Malcolm Grosvenor, WriteAngle Communi-cations, New House, Palmer Crescent, KingstonUpon Thames KT1 2QT Tel: 020 8541 0600; Fax: 0208546 1611. E-mail: successnet@write-angle.co.uk

DESIGN & LAYOUT: Ken Sheldon, The Media Team.Tel: 01579-350 579

PRINTED BY: Pepper Communications, Plymouth.Tel: 01752 348800

Copyright © BNI 2002. All rights reserved

The Last Word

Phil CAN talk

HAVING just seen your businessenter a new Government leaguetable of top entrepreneurial inner-city companies, and been person-ally told by Chancellor GordonBrown that “you’re jolly goodchaps”, you’d think that wasenough good news for one month.

But London Clerkenwell Chap-ter member Sion Whellans was farmore excited about BNI than hisaudience with the Chancellor whenSuccessNet caught up with him tooffer congratulations. “We’ve justhad some really good news,” hesaid enthusiastically. “We’ve madea breakthrough by winning a con-tract with Greenpeace – something

we’ve wanted for a long time.”And his delight with BNI is the

result of the breakthrough comingfrom the chapter he joined barelyten months ago when, like manynewcomers, he had mixed feelingsabout whether it would work forhis print and publications workerco-operative, Calverts, based inShoreditch.

“We’d been advised by the chap-ter leadership team to be morespecific in telling colleagues aboutthe sort of businesses we wanted towork with. I mentioned Green-peace, never thinking for amoment that anyone would haveany senior contacts with them, but

Clerkenwell member’sdate with the Chancellor

FOR a man who admits“I’d have died if askedto address a business

audience just 12 monthsago”, Liverpool caterer PhilBrumfitt ain’t done halfbadly!

The resident joker in city’s IndigoChapter, Phil has already gained£160,000 worth of extra business forhis company, Windsors CateringEquipment, through referrals fromhis chapter colleagues.

“That would have been reasonenough to be delighted with BNI,”said Phil, “but what is just asrewarding is that I have gained somuch more confidence and profes-sionalism since joining.

“A year ago, I couldn’t haveaddressed any audience, but thanksto BNI I am now asked to give talksto some of the city’s leading busi-ness organisations, and amazingly, Iactually enjoy it!

“After hearing me speak at achapter meeting, one of our visitorsidentified herself as the RegionalChairman of the Institute of Man-agement and I was asked to addressher members.

“Then, as a result of that, I’ve justgiven a talk to the Institute of Busi-ness Advisers – something I neverthought I could do.

“Without doubt, BNI has totallychanged my life.”

• Phil Brumfitt can be contactedon 0151 666 1077 or 07880 518909.

to my amazement,two members gaveme referrals into theorganisation, andwe’re now handling arange of its printrequirements,” saidSion.

Meanwhile, he alsoadmitted that BNIhad contributed in nosmall way to his co-operative’s success injoining the UK’sInner City 100 Indexof fast-expandinginner-city companies.

• Sion Whellanscan be contacted on020 7739 1474.

Cathedralbecomesa Castle!

NORWICH’S recently launched Castle Chapteris going from strength to strength – despite alast-minute pre-launch hiccup that saw thenew group having to change its name!

With BNI’s first Norwich chapter – NorwichCity – already making a significant impact onthe local business community, BNI’s Norfolkleadership wanted another strong name forthe city’s second group, launched during thesummer.

After much discussion among its coregroup, members settled on Norwich Cathe-dral Chapter, reflecting the strength andmajesty of one of the city’s most imposinglandmarks.

“We sent out all the letters, inviting localbusinesses to attend Cathedral Chapter’slaunch and looked forward to the big day,”said Executive Director for East Anglia, JamesCruickshank. “However, one of the invitationletters landed on the desk of the local pestcontrol expert, with the challenge: ‘The Nor-wich Cathedral Chapter is looking for a pestcontrol company to whom it can refer busi-ness…’

“Little did we know that the recipient hada longstanding contract with Norwich Cathe-dral, and when he received our invitation hemistakenly thought it was from his client. I’mtold he stormed into the Dean of Norwich’soffice to express his anger that they werelooking to replace his company after years ofgood service.”

It took a placatory call from James to theDean’s office (and the unhappy pest controlexpert) to sort things out, when it wasagreed it might be better to find a differentname for the Chapter. He added: “Wedecided Norwich Castle was the next mostmemorable name, and so far we’ve had nocalls from the Keeper at Norwich Castle. So,the moral to other new chapters is: do yourresearch properly!”

CO-OPERATIVE DIVIDEND: Sion Whellans(right) discusses a projects with fellow direc-

tor Paul Santer.