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Business networks gain from givers
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FarkOn a recent Thursday morning, 16 people gathered for breakfast at Minerva’s in Rapid City. They drank coffee, chatted and traded tips on possible business prospects.
They represented a variety of ages and occupations — including an attorney, an optometrist, a hair salon owner, a financial planner, a decorator, a print shop operator, a car salesman, a dentist, an insurance agent and a chiropractor.
But this group was more than an ordinary coffee klatch. It’s the weekly meeting of the Black Hills chapter of Business Network International.
Unlike other, more casual forms of business networking, BNI meetings are no-nonsense sessions focused on generating business leads, tips and referrals for and from other members of the chapter.
At each meeting, members fill out referral slips and pass them on — with a carbon copy for the group’s secretary. They pass around boxes of business cards, and carry each other’s cards in special BNI wallets as they go about their weekly work.
So if a customer of printer Mark Schreiner has a backache, Schreiner will give him chiropractor Ryan Swenson’s business card. And if attorney Stephen Wesolick helps a client start a new business, he’ll know where the client can get business cards printed.
And at each weekly meeting, members are given a chance to make a 60-second pitch about their business, their services and what they have to offer to prospective customers.
“It’s based on the idea that givers gain,” explained Swenson, who is chapter president. What they gain is referrals.
“This group is wonderful. You guys make me look good because I know good people,” insurance agent Jodi Enderson told the group. “I believe BNI gives me that extra edge that keeps me on top.”
The variety of occupations is intentional. The chapter looks for new members whose occupations are not already represented in the group. If the group was made up of all car salesmen, there wouldn’t be a lot of referrals going around the table. And if there were two insurance agents, the group’s loyalties would be divided.
At Thursday’s breakfast, Wesolick gave a talk about how to increase membership in the group. Invite people to come to a meeting, he said, “and the meeting will sell itself. … If you get them here, there’s a good chance they will join the group.”
The Black Hills chapter currently has 18 members.
Formed in July 2006, it’s the oldest BNI chapter in Rapid City.
Another group, the Rushmore Chapter, started in April. It meets for lunch at the Rodeway Inn in Rapid City.
Jan Lochridge-Long, a mortgage professional and charter member of the Rushmore Chapter, said the group has grown to 18 members in just eight months. She hopes to get 30 members.
“It’s a dynamic program that is going to benefit all of us in the group,” she said. “Not only has it enhanced my business, but it’s created a new group of friends.”
The Rushmore Chapter includes a Realtor, a graphic artist, the owner of a carpet-cleaning business, a flooring dealer, a printer, a banker, a florist, a computer consultant and an orthodontist.
Wesolick described BNI as a referral organization with an established system.
Other organizations such as the Rapid City Area Chamber of Commerce fulfill a need for all types of business people who share common business and political goals, he said. Most BNI members also belong to the chamber.
And chamber events such as the monthly chamber mixer offer a chance for business people to network and meet other business people. But BNI members are actively selling for their BNI counterparts. “This group is my sales force,” Wesolick said.
Paul Gray of Buffalo, Wyo., is the executive director of BNI for the region that includes Rapid City. He bought the franchise back in 1988, when he was a regional manager for an insurance company in Billings, Mont.
He said BNI’s founder, Ivan Misner, created the organization in the mid-1980s. Misner had noticed that his friends and colleagues were doing a lot of informal networking, but they weren’t focused on generating business leads. Misner created a systematic approach to generating referrals.
But he did start building those relationships, and quickly became the franchisee.
Gray said Montana was the fourth state to be chartered by BNI. Today there are chapters in all 50 states and 34 countries. There are currently five chapters in Billings, including one with 35 members. A sixth chapter is starting soon. He also has chapters in Bozeman, Mont.; Sheridan, Wyo.; and Gillette, Wyo.
“It’s just seen unbelievable growth,” he said.
The two chapters in Rapid City might soon be joined by a third one, Gray said.
BNI dues are $330 a year, plus a one-time $100 fee when you join. For more information about BNI, contact Ryan Swenson of the Black Hills Chapter at 342-3908, Desi Sampson of the Rushmore Chapter at 718-7020 or go to www.bni-rapidcity.com.
Contact Dan Daly at 394-8421 or at dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com.
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