BNI 779 - Can BNI Force a Renewal? - BNI & The Power of One

Summary

BNI & The Power of One - Episode 779: Can BNI Force a Renewal?

Release Date: January 20, 2025
Host: Tim Roberts
Podcast Description: The BNI podcast focuses on success, increased referrals, tips, strategies, and elevating your BNI membership through the Power of One.

Introduction

In Episode 779 of "BNI & The Power of One," host Tim Roberts delves into a pressing question submitted by a BNI Vice President from Canada: "Can BNI force a renewal?" This episode explores the intricacies of BNI's renewal process, the pivotal role of membership committees, and the importance of fostering a strong chapter culture for member retention.

Understanding the Renewal Challenge

Sim's Inquiry: A VP from Canada shared a situation where their chapter approved a renewal for a member without conducting the mandatory seven-month review. This decision was influenced by pressure from their director consultant to secure renewal fees before the year's end. Sim posed three critical questions:

Is bypassing the membership committee a common practice?
What is the purpose of having a membership committee?
Is there an automatic BNI fail-safe for renewals?

Tim's Response: Tim emphatically answered "No" to all three questions, emphasizing that bypassing the membership committee is not standard practice.

“No, no and no. So that's not normal. We do not go in and push through renewals.” ([00:XX])

The Role of the Membership Committee

Purpose and Importance: Tim explains that the primary focus of a membership committee is member retention. Membership committees ensure that only the most engaged and productive members remain, which in turn drives the chapter's success and retention rates.

“The membership committee's focus is really about member retention... when we have the best members on the team, they are productive, they're engaged, they're committed, thus leading to more results, thus leading to member retention.” ([00:XX])

Consequences of Ignoring the Committee: Approving renewals without proper reviews can lead to the inclusion of less committed members, which may temporarily inflate chapter numbers but ultimately harm the group's culture and effectiveness.

“If a membership committee doesn't do its job and just accepts anybody at any time... Then if they just auto accept renewals without doing reviews... you're going to end up hurting the results and hurting the chapter.” ([00:XX])

BNI's Renewal Process Explained

Application and Approval: Tim outlines that renewing a BNI membership is not automatic. Members must apply for renewal, and their applications are subject to approval by the membership committee.

“There is no such thing as just an automatic renewal.” ([00:XX])

Pre-Approval Mechanism: BNI introduced a system allowing membership committees to pre-approve renewals. This feature is especially beneficial for large chapters anticipating high renewal volumes during peak growth seasons.

“One of the innovations B and I did a few years back now was allowing membership committees to pre-approve renewals.” ([00:XX])

Common Confusions: Despite this system, some members misconstrue pre-approval as automatic acceptance, leading to missed applications and unexpected drop-offs.

“The member thinks, oh my renewal is approved and they just go and make a payment or they forget about it and they've actually never applied for renewal.” ([00:XX])

Deadlines and Late Fees: Renewals must be completed before the specified renewal date to avoid late fees. The system strictly enforces these deadlines, automatically applying late fees if payments are made past the due date.

“If you're due February 1st and you click the button February 2nd, that late fee is not a regional thing.” ([00:XX])

Building a Strong Chapter Culture

Earning Membership: Tim stresses that membership in BNI is a privilege earned through contribution and engagement. Members must continuously demonstrate their value to retain their seats.

“Each member has notborn with a right to be in BNI and being in your chapter. So they did something to earn the right to get in. Now you got to earn the right to stay.” ([00:XX])

Seven-Month Reviews: Regular reviews facilitate open dialogues between the membership committee and members, ensuring expectations are met and addressing any issues proactively.

“That's why there are seven-month reviews. That's why those reviews are so important.” ([00:XX])

Impact on Retention and Success: A diligent membership committee fosters a committed and high-performing group, directly impacting both retention rates and the overall success of the chapter.

“It's all about culture building which reflects and impacts retention, reflects and impacts your results.” ([00:XX])

Conclusion and Takeaways

Tim reiterates that BNI does not force renewals; instead, the renewal process is governed by established procedures aimed at maintaining a high-quality, engaged membership. He encourages chapters to adhere strictly to these processes to ensure long-term success and member satisfaction.

“So yeah, no, we don't go in and just force it. I've never done it anyways. Seems a little shady and so hopefully that helps.” ([00:XX])

Call to Action: Listeners are invited to contribute topics, leave reviews, and engage with the podcast through bnipowerof1.com, ensuring the continued growth and value of the BNI community.

Notable Quotes:

“If a membership committee doesn't do its job and just accepts anybody at any time... Then if they just auto accept renewals without doing reviews... you're going to end up hurting the results and hurting the chapter.” ([00:XX])
“Each member has notborn with a right to be in BNI and being in your chapter. So they did something to earn the right to get in. Now you got to earn the right to stay.” ([00:XX])
“It's all about culture building which reflects and impacts retention, reflects and impacts your results.” ([00:XX])

This episode underscores the vital role of membership committees in BNI chapters, the non-automatic nature of renewals, and the importance of maintaining a strong, engaged membership to ensure the chapter's ongoing success.

Transcript

Sim (0:25)

Foreign welcome back to B9 the Power of One. Thank you for joining me again today. We're back with your show Submissions Questions Topics submitted@BNI power of1.com Today's is a another doozy of a question and it's a it's a pretty quick answer but it does open up another topic that I just want to kind of touch on. So it says please keep anonymous. I'm a VP and I'll leave out the area it's in. In Canada we've just taken over as vice and are currently trying to implement a good culture and follow the BNI outline. So right before Christmas we here we have had a renewal member that did not have a seven month review done. So he was always going to get approved and given by any and given any mentorship needed. However, membership and myself thought that a seat change from this individual would be the best fit for the group as it would allow for more members in the group and as the current member has had some company changes that better qualify them for another seat. However, we had been pressured from our director consultant to push them through so renewal fees could be received before the end of the year. As we were taking a few more days to decide how to approach the member for a seat change, B and I bypassed the membership and approved the application in the seat before we spoke to them. So my actual questions are these Is this something B and I does often? If so, why is there a membership committee? And three My director consultant said this was an automatic B and I fail safe. Is that true? Thanks Sim. Listen to all your podcasts to the best B and I podcasts out there. Keep it up. All right, so no, no and no. So that's not normal. We do not go in and push through renewals. I'm going to speak from my region and from my experience, the renewal has to be approved by the membership committee and what that seat is and all that stuff is all on the membership committee. We're never going to push through the so to the second part of so why is there a membership? This is why we have membership committees. Okay, so let's just start with that question. Why do we have a membership committee in a chapter? The membership committee's focus is really about member retention. Usually when I ask that question to membership committees, a lot of them will say, oh, it's about holding people accountable. It's about, you know, dealing with membership issues and kind of the actual activities a membership committee might do. But the overall focus of a membership committee is member retention. How do they Impact that by making sure we have the best members on the team. When we have the best members on the team, they are productive, they're engaged, they're committed, thus leading to more results, thus leading to member retention. If a membership committee doesn't do its job and just accepts anybody at any time, if they're only test to letting somebody in the chapter is the fog, the mirror test. Right? You hold a mirror up to somebody, say breathe on this, oh, I fogged up good, you're in. Then your chapter will suffer. It might temporarily have an increase in size, it might say hey look at us, we grew. But if it's the wrong people, they're not going to last. And then the frustration builds up and then other members are going to quit. And it actually has a massive negative effect on retention and the success of the group. Same thing if they just auto accept renewals without doing reviews, without looking at is this person actually participating. If they just kind of skip that process, you're going to end up hurting the results and hurting the chapter. Because when we just accept somebody because they're in despite their activity or lack thereof, etc. Then same thing, they're not being productive as their replacement may be, they're going to create a culture that's going to affect the chapter in a negative way, so forth and so on. So that's why we have a membership committee. And so for this very reason, your question of hey, we think this a change of seat would be better for the chapter and for the member. That's why we have a membership committee. And you have that discussion now. In order for that to happen, the member actually then needs to apply for renewal under a different seat. And oftentimes that might even be filling out a whole new app because depending on company situations and everything else, there's some operation things around there, but they have to apply. So it sounds like that didn't even happen. The director pushed it through to say it's to get, you know, they, they were, I'm trying to go back bypass. The membership approved the application and CP4, we spoke to them and they were trying to do it to so renewal fees could be received before the end of the year. Yeah. So the way our applications work in most regions is an application submitted, this is both, you know, and then it's approved and then they pay. So I don't know, it seems kind of desperate I guess to be doing that. I do think that's a side effect of knowing how that region is owned and run of a little bit more of a corporate culture around hitting numbers instead of doing what's right. So it's not an automatic B and I fail safe just isn't. Now let's talk about the renewal process though, because I do think there's a lot of confusion, even in my regions, a lot of confusions on how this works. And a part of that is because of some automated emails and communications that BNI Connect has set up, which I think is great, they should be done, but it can some people get confused by how it works. One of the innovations B and I did a few years back now was allowing membership committees to pre approve renewals. And the attempt there is, especially in larger chapters, is to help membership committees get ahead of what can be extremely busy months. Right. So we do member extravaganza. March, April, May tends to be a huge growth season for a lot of our chapters. Well, when you add a bunch of members in, let's say April, that means next April you're going to have a lot of renewals and it compounds each April if that's always your best month of growth. And so, and you get chapters at 100 people, 50 people, 75 people, you know, all of a sudden you could have, you know, 100 person chapter on average, like our largest chapter average, if you just did an average is nine renewals a month. That's a lot. That's a lot to get through. And, and some months are going to be 20. So what it allows the membership committee to do is look at all the upcoming people for renewal who's coming up for renewal and have the discussion of like, this person's a great member. They're, they're always in the green, they're a high producer, they've been around forever. We're obviously going to approve their renewal. And so they can pre approve it and that saves them time, or they can meet with them and have that months ahead of time and pre approve them in the system. Now when that happens, it triggers a email to the member that says, hey, congratulations, your chapter has pre approved your renewal. Click here to complete you know your stuff. And where the confusion lies is the member thinks, oh my renewal is approved and they just go and make a payment or they forget about it and they've actually never applied for renewal. You still have to apply for the renewal. All the chapter has done is said if you apply for renewal, it will be instantly approved. The member still has to apply. So we're running into that a lot of times where people get confused because there are timelines set in bni Connect rules set by like we're in the United States by our national office, that I can't change that after so many days a member who has not applied for renewal gets automatically dropped. So it's like 15 days or something. So that was where we run into issues of where you might see bni, you know, have to add in a renewal for somebody. But even then we can see if it was pre approved or not. If it's not, we just put it in and have the membership committee approve, go through their process. If it was already pre approved, then yeah, we put it in and we, we know it's already pre approved and so we can move it through the system a little quicker and get to the payment part. But I think the key thing here for everybody to understand just in your membership is there is no, you have to apply for renewal. It doesn't automatically happen. It can be pre approved. It could be a very easy system. Again, you could do it right and connect again. You can do it at any time. Okay, so when somebody says the system says your renewal date is February 1st, what that means is you are due any day before February 1st. What happens is actually on February 1st you are technically late. So it really should say renewal date before, but it says renewal date February 1st. But after a day you're hit with a late fee because you can hit the renew button literally at any time and block in that year. So you can always add time to your membership if you want. Again, it has to be approved. So we had a price adjustment in our regions. A lot of members wanted to renew early, get the current pricing before the price change. We always do that perfectly fine. They can add a year, two years, five years, whatever they wanted. But they had to apply for renewal before that date. If they didn't apply for renewal before that date, it's a problem because all the dues and B and I are triggered by your application date. So same thing. If you're due February 1st and you click the button February 2nd, that late fee is not a regional thing. That's automatically now when you, when it pulls up your fee to pay, it's going to include the late fee because it's February 2nd on February 1st or before. So remembering this and talking about this as membership committees is really important to remind people to apply for renewal. It's as simple as clicking a button in BMI Connect. It is way simpler than when I was a member, but it's really, really important. And same thing. So if you apply, let's say you're here in the situation where you want to add time but you still have like six months left, whether it's because there's a price adjustment for whatever reason you apply for renewal, even if you have time left. So let's say you have six months left and you apply for another year, you're still applying for another year. What that means is that's not automatically approved just because you're a member and standing now the membership committee still has to make a decision on that application whether to accept the additional year, two years, five years, whatever it will be. So there is no such thing as just an automatic renewal. Some people's timelines are longer because they bought a two year or five year membership versus a one year membership or what have you. But when you apply to add time, not automatically approved, membership committee still needs to approve it. They still need to say yes, we want this person for 18 months now instead of the 6 months they can decline it. That doesn't kick them out of the chapter. It just says we're not really sure right now, so we'll wait for your renewal in six months to see what happens. And so they can have that conversation saying, listen, we understand you want to renew now, but here are our concerns, here are the things that we're going to need to see happen and have you renew in six months. That's why there are seven month reviews. That's why those reviews are so important. It's so that both sides can have a conversation to make sure everything is copacetic and working well and share any frustrations or challenges or whatever equally and to set expectations, right, like yeah, you're doing great if you keep this up. Renewal is going to be pre approved or we really need, this is really struggling and we really need you to do this, this and this. And then if they don't, then when they get non renewed, it's not a shocking thing. So really important process, really important process because again, it's all about culture building which reflects and impacts retention, reflects and impacts your results. Just because somebody's in doesn't mean it's almost kind of like you got in. Now you got to earn the right to stay in and not. And that sounds severe, but it's, you know, you got to do what people were expecting of you to do when they accepted you for the one seat they have. You got to earn that right. Each nobody has born with a right to be in BNI and being in your chapter. So they did something to earn the right to get in. Now you got to earn the right to stay. And so to the question here though, yeah, no, we don't go in and just force it. I've never done it anyways. Seems a little shady and so hopefully that helps. As always, I hope this is valuable and just giving some insight on these topics, but I'm hoping to talk about any topic go to bnipower of1.com leave it there and you could be anonymous if you need it to be what have you. If you're finding value, continue to leave us reviews. Let us know what your thoughts are. I do appreciate it. And again, you can leave a weekly presentation, BNI topic or business topic for business matters. Either way, look forward to hearing from you. It.