BNI 806: BM 117 - Putting Employees Into Other BNI Chapters

Summary

Podcast Summary: BNI & The Power of One
Episode: BNI 806: BM 117 - Putting Employees Into Other BNI Chapters
Release Date: April 9, 2025
Host: Tim Roberts
Guest: Michael Martin

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Introduction

In episode BNI 806: BM 117 of the BNI & The Power of One podcast, hosts Tim Roberts and Michael Martin delve into a strategic question submitted by Scott from Colorado Springs. The episode focuses on leveraging BNI (Business Network International) to amplify business growth by strategically placing employees into different BNI chapters. This comprehensive discussion provides valuable insights for BNI members seeking to maximize referrals and enhance their networking efforts.

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Listener’s Question: Strategically Placing Employees into BNI Chapters

Scott, a physical therapist, inquires about the benefits and challenges of placing his employees into other successful BNI groups within his region. His primary concerns revolve around:

1. Selection Criteria: How to choose which employees to place in different BNI chapters.
2. Motivation and Ownership: Ensuring employees remain motivated and fully engage with BNI to maximize referral benefits.
3. Role Suitability: Whether to assign physical therapists or office staff to these chapters, considering the potential reduction in billable hours.

Notable Quote:

“My question is a bit broad in that I would like some insight on how to handle this decision of who to place in a group and how to keep the employees motivated to go all in on the benefits for BNI.”
— Scott [04:05]

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Hosts’ Response: Strategic Considerations for Employee Placement

1. Selecting the Right Employee

Tim and Michael emphasize the importance of selecting employees who are not only adept at networking but also possess intrinsic motivation to drive success through BNI participation.

Key Points:

• Motivation is Paramount: Employees should have personal incentives, such as a percentage of generated referrals or bonuses, to ensure active participation beyond the minimum requirements.
• Avoid General Assignments: Instead of randomly placing multiple employees into various chapters, start with one or a few motivated individuals to test and measure effectiveness.

Notable Quote:

“No one can network for you. They have to be networking for themselves in that there has to be some kind of external motive.”
— Tim Roberts [05:23]

2. Ownership and Incentives

To maintain high levels of engagement, it’s crucial to provide employees with a sense of ownership over their BNI activities.

Strategies Include:

• Incentive Programs: Implement rewards such as higher commission rates for referrals, bonuses, or additional vacation time.
• Clear Communication: Clearly convey how BNI participation aligns with both company growth and individual success.

Notable Quote:

“You have to reward that participation somehow, some way. It has to be worth their time to actually go and do it.”
— Michael Martin [06:00]

3. Role Suitability: PTs vs. Office Staff

The hosts discuss whether physical therapists or office staff should represent the business in BNI chapters.

Considerations:

• Expert Representation: Having a PT attend can enhance credibility and generate quality referrals, as they can directly address potential clients’ needs.
• Balancing Productivity: While PTs have valuable billable hours, the long-term referral benefits can outweigh the short-term reduction in service time.

Notable Quote:

“I would rather have a PT... because they're the ones actually doing the service, to talk about that in a BNI setting.”
— Michael Martin [12:13]

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Managing the Trade-Off: Networking Time vs. Billable Hours

A common concern is the impact of networking activities on employees’ billable hours. The hosts provide a balanced perspective on this issue.

Insights:

• Short-Term Investment for Long-Term Gains: Time spent in BNI can lead to increased referrals that compensate for any temporary dip in billable hours.
• Optimizing Meeting Schedules: By integrating BNI meetings efficiently, employees can minimize disruptions to their primary roles.

Notable Quote:

“How many billable hours are you willing to walk away from or can you say, well, I'm willing to walk away from this for a couple of months to try it out...”
— Michael Martin [13:27]

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Case Studies and Real-World Examples

The hosts share anecdotes to illustrate successful employee placement in BNI chapters.

Example:

• Specialized Networking Role: Michael recounts a professional networker employed by a law firm who attended multiple networking events, effectively representing his company and generating valuable connections. This role underscores the benefits of having dedicated professionals for networking purposes.

Notable Quote:

“This guy worked a room like nobody's business and they paid him handsomely.”
— Michael Martin [07:23]

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Key Strategies and Recommendations

Tim and Michael outline actionable strategies for effectively placing employees into BNI chapters:

1. Start Small: Begin with one motivated employee to pilot the strategy, reducing risk and allowing for measurable outcomes.
2. Provide Comprehensive Training: Equip selected employees with the necessary training, messaging consistency, and autonomy to represent the company effectively.
3. Ensure Clear Communication and Goals: Align BNI participation with broader business objectives and communicate the importance of networking for business growth.
4. Monitor and Adjust: Continuously assess the performance and impact of employee participation in BNI, making adjustments as needed.

Notable Quote:

“Start small... you lower your risk of that not working out.”
— Tim Roberts [16:12]

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Conclusion and Key Takeaways

The episode concludes with a reinforcement of the importance of strategic employee placement in BNI chapters to drive business growth through increased referrals. The hosts encourage listeners to:

• Assess Employee Motivation: Choose individuals who are intrinsically motivated and can take ownership of their networking roles.
• Implement Incentive Structures: Provide meaningful rewards to ensure active and sustained participation.
• Prioritize Expert Representation: Utilize subject matter experts, such as physical therapists, to enhance credibility and generate quality referrals.
• Start with a Pilot Program: Test the strategy with a single employee before scaling to minimize risks and refine the approach.

Closing Quote:

“There has to be that kind of passion behind it because everybody in that room will immediately be able to sense like, oh, this person's here because they were told they have to be here.”
— Michael Martin [17:24]

The discussion underscores that while placing employees into BNI chapters requires careful planning and investment, the potential rewards in terms of business growth and networking benefits make it a worthwhile strategy for committed businesses.

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For more insights and strategies on maximizing your BNI membership, subscribe to the BNI & The Power of One podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform. Share your thoughts and questions at BNIpowerof1.com to join the conversation.

Transcript

[A]

SA.

[B]

Welcome back. Business Matters podcast. Tim Roberts with me, Michael Martin. Michael, how are you?

[A]

Good morning. Good morning, everybody.

[B]

We are back with another topic that was submitted@bnipower of1.com Again, if you ever have any questions of any kind, you can go there. It can be BNI related. It could be business related for this. It could be your weekly presentations, what have you.

[A]

So today we like these questions, by the way, because they challenge us a little bit too. Yeah, the questions give us different perspectives and new things to do. So please send them in.

[B]

I also am honest with them and say it just makes it way easier and more fun.

[A]

That is true. You and I often. What are we going to talk about?

[B]

It just has been so much better. And this is for the BNI one too. It's very, it's almost rare now where I just hit record and talk about what I want to talk about because I feel like I've done that over, over the years, I have to do more of it because as this, you know, continues to grow and we're into the eight hundreds now, like, it's, it's not realistic to expect that people are going to go back and listen, you know, I mean, most people, when they pick up a podcast, they pick it up and they go from there. And so you lose sight of that and you're like, well, I've already talked about this like a hundred times. But yeah, for a lot of people it's new and so I have to do a little bit more of it. But I, I really appreciate the questions because I also am not dealing with BNI in the same way as a lot of these people are our business, sometimes even the same way a lot of people are. And so it's good to like, kind of re. Engage or you'll forget about a topic or you'll just assume, you know, because, you know, you've dealt with it a thousand times or whatever.

[A]

And hey, listen, we all need reminders, even us, about like, best practices and what to do. Practice makes perfect. They always training. Basically we're training our minds and our activities.

[B]

And so, you know, I tell everybody, if you have the question, somebody else does too. So don't hesitate to ask. Perfectly fine. All right. So today's is BNI related, but at the same time business related, because it's not a how do I, how do I change my results or how do I deal with this thing in bni? For me, it's going to the next level. So this comes from Scott out in Colorado Springs. Beautiful. Part of the area of the country says thanks for taking my question. I've always enjoyed using your podcast to learn more. My question has several parts to it, so I hope that it makes sense as I'm growing my business. Thanks in part to bni, I see the opportunity to place employees into other successful B and I groups in my region. I already have my eye on a handful that could be great fits for my business. My question is a bit broad in that I would like some insight on how to handle this decision of who to place in a group and how to keep the employees motivated to go all in on the benefits for bni. For reference, my category is physical therapists, so I'm curious if there's a perceived benefit to placing one of my therapists into a group for someone who does office work. Generally my therapist's time is valuable and actually providing the service, so having them spend time in networking group every week draws away from that vital role that actually brings revenue into the business. However, my other feeling is that it might be perceived better for referrals when the group members personally know the actual physical therapist to whom they're referring and talk with that person every week. Of course, personality and fit for the role are important no matter which person you put into the group. Then once they are in, how do you keep the employee in BNI motivated to do as much as possible to get the most referrals as opposed to completing just the bare minimum? Okay, so there's a lot to that.

[A]

That's a well thought out question.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

And there's a lot of aspects to it. So thank you for writing in. And it sounds like you've had great success already as the direct contact with BNI in a chapter and see the benefits of it.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And I think that probably is the single most critical thing in your situation, anyone else's situation, that you've done the work, you've seen the benefits, and you're probably in the best position to explain it to your employee about how it can help the business and their own success by going out and networking the right way through bni.

[B]

Yes. So let's start though with my first question back that has to be considered is what is their motivation and how are you going to give them some kind of ownership to their membership? Meaning if you think I have found in the past, any company who just sticks an employee in a chapter to take a seat does never, never gets the same level of results as the owner who might be in a different chapter or that they're expecting. I've always Said and believe. No one can network for you.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Period. So that does not mean employees can't be in other chapters and have success, but they have to be networking for themselves in that there has to be some kind of external motive, not beyond the. Well, the business will grow. Like they have to have some kind of skin in the game, whether it's they get a percentage of the referrals they generate, whether they get bonuses based on it, some kind of ownership, because otherwise they will only do the bare minimum and probably even less than that.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. You know, I think it, I think this is where you have to select your employee, that you're looking to do it carefully. And I wouldn't necessarily. We have an old saying, don't swallow the chicken whole by saying, wow, you know, I've done really well in this one chapter and I've got X amount of therapists that work for me and they should all be in a chapter. So let's all get them all into different chapters without actually testing it out. And I think you need to find somebody who's got great motivations for success. I agree with you, Tim, that you need to reward that participation somehow, some way. And you know, it has to be worth their time to actually go and do it. And I don't know what that, you know, that could be monetarily, it could be vacation, it could be all kinds of different things. I don't really know. But I can tell you that I know it can work. And this isn't necessary, this isn't from bni, but when I was doing a lot of local networking up in the Manchester, New Hampshire area, I would always see this guy. He was, he was one of those guys was like at every event, you know, it didn't matter what the event was. So finally I met a house, like a kind of a networking that was done at somebody's house, real high end kind of stuff. And I'm there and this guy's there. I'm like, man, I see you everywhere. What do you do? And he's like, well, I work for such and such law firm. And I thought, oh, okay, he's an attorney. But he wasn't, he was a professional networker. All this guy did was go to networking events representing the, the law firm that he worked for. And they took really good care of him.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And you know, he was really good at it. I mean, this guy worked a room like nobody's business and they paid him handsomely. So that's a case where if you get the right person Networking for you, it can be great. But he was well compensated.

[B]

Right. And specialized time and talent. Right. I was like a specialized, like that was your job. Like that makes sense.

[A]

Yeah, that, that what, you know, kind of was his job. And it doesn't mean that as is in this particular industry, that you couldn't do that to promote your services, especially if your services are available over a wider geographic area. I don't know how many chapters are in his vicinity, but if that's your reach, you know, maybe it's, it's worth trying to find the right people who can get up, get motivated, share kind of your vision. But I think that starts from you as the owner being able to really clearly communicate what your brand is about.

[B]

Yeah. So it's going to take training. There'll definitely be some like, you know, messaging. Make sure there's consistency there. But to his question, I think about, like I'm thinking about putting people in the, in other chapters, I would say yes, but yes, that's. That can definitely work. It could definitely, you know, expand. But if you think I'm just going to put people in, you're not going to get the same level. It just is. I've historically seen that you have to have a plan like you're talking about, about like, okay, how are they going to have that ownership? How am I going to incentivize them? Right. Again, that is going to be meaningful for them. Am I going to be willing to give them the time to do the things that they're going to need to do, like one to ones and training and all that kind of stuff.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

And because that's the other thing I've seen it was, I. This is like an older. It'll tie together. But I remember getting into an argument once at a chamber event with the manager of a Liberty Mutual office and he was arguing with me because he had one of his newer reps was working with us to start a chapter and he was arguing how much time they were putting into starting the chapter and you know, he wanted them going like door to door and that kind of stuff. Now, I did say, listen, I probably, I go, we're, we're probably having an argument where both sides don't know the full story. I will bet you he's not spending nearly as much time as he's telling you he's spending. And I will bet you he's doing that as an excuse to a lack of wanting to do the other things you want him to do. So we might be arguing with each other about Something that isn't fair on either side. But what I will tell you is you see this rep over here who's your number one rep, And I go, and you see that rep over there who's like your number two rep? He's like, yeah. I go, you weren't their manager when they went through this process to start their chapters. So you want him to have the results they have, but you're not, you're fighting him along the way. So just keep that in mind. I was like, there is a time element to getting to where they are. Yeah, I just think I would bet, knowing that guy, I was like, I would bet you he's telling you he's spending all these hours because he doesn't want to do the cold call. But it's the same kind of thing though. Like people have these, like they want them in chapters but then they are the biggest obstacle to that person having success because then they're like, oh well, I got to do a one to one a week. And then they're suddenly like, well, I need you here is like, but you know what works, right? Or they want to do more. So you have to have a plan and an understanding. But I did. I just think the biggest thing is like there's got to be buy in. So with that, to his other question, I would push the therapist to be the member before just office staff person to be the member because they're going to naturally have more buy in to the product and service because they are the ones who are actually doing right. Doing it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And the common question there, and I'd love your take on it because I have my own, but yeah, he goes, generally the therapist time is valuable actually providing service. So having them spend time in networking group every week draws away from that vital role that actually brings revenue to the business. And I have my opinion, but I want your opinion on that.

[A]

Well, I, I would say that, you know, I could look at that and, and no disrespect to the, the question or the asker, but you have to make an investment here. And you know, if you want someone who can speak best to your services in like real time, I think the therapist is the way to go. However, you might have to pay a little more for that in terms of lost productivity until the results start coming in, in which case it's more than paid for itself. So if you're looking at it as a short term expense and that's kind of, you can't get away from that. And listen, I get it. One of the. All the PTs, I know they're up way before dawn because a lot of people go to PT prior to them going to work.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So, you know, that time in the morning when you guys have your chapter meetings and all that is really valuable time. However, I would rather have a PT. Imagine you go into a BNI group and there's, you know, 20, 30 people, however many, and they've all got little bit of aches and pains and they start saying, well, you know, I got this thing in my shoulder, I got this thing. And you have a PT going. Well, it could be this could be that maybe you need to come in and see us. It's way better than having an office person saying, well, I don't really know what that could be. You would need to see a pt. Could you come in? Or something like that. I don't know. I think it has more cachet if the PT themself is there.

[B]

I would generally agree with that.

[A]

Like an expert opinion. Know, it may not be an, an expert owner opinion on things, but it's an expert in their field's opinion that could actually generate some quick business. And, you know, I, I would say, I would. I agree with you that it should be a pt. I agree with the asker that it should be a pt. But there's gonna, there's a little bit of compromise you're gonna have to make where, you know, if. How many billable hours are you willing to walk away from or, you know, can you say, well, I'm willing to walk away from this for a couple of months to try it out, three months or whatever, because over the course of a year, it's going to pay itself over tenfold or twenty fold or however.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So the math I think he has.

[B]

To do, I think if it's a general employee, you just run the bigger risk of bare minimum, unless it comes down to that incentive again. And if it's not going to be a pt, it probably, it's got to be somebody who has a deep passion for the product and service outside of that. Right. So somebody who wants to grow in the company. If, if you're just like, I'll just send my admin, that's probably not going to be as effective. The PT part too. I always go to this, and this will probably sound a little harsh, but I always tell people, like, again, time's a great finite equalizer in life. So if they have time to work with more clients, they have time to find them. And I would think the incentive program is probably easier to come up with, with a pt because you could do something like, hey, what clients you bring in, you're going to get a bigger cut on or something like that. That gives them more ownership of what they're doing. And they get like that direct benefit feel too because like they're bringing in the referral that they get to work with. The other thing with BNI is yeah, there's a morning meeting, but that's only once a week. The rest of it can be done anytime during the week. Right. So most of the chapters are going to be in that morning, but that's only an hour and a half. So you again, I don't think you're losing that billable hour. It's just shifting it somewhere. Right. And like you said, like, yeah, that one hour that I'm losing this week. Maybe if it's producing a new referral every month, that's 12, you know, I mean, you're getting way more out.

[A]

But I think that's the math that they have to go through. You know, these are the mechanics of the, you know, like I classic thing, the pros and cons list, you know, and I think the cons list is going to be really small in this case, you know, just because the power of networking the right way is great, but it's finding the right people. Listen, there's a lot of people that are great in a field but are terrible at networking. So finding the, finding the right people is important. And you know, I think maybe you as the owner, bringing someone, bringing one of them along as a guest to kind of see what happens and see what the expectations are because the person may have some fears about being in that kind of setting. Yeah, it starts working one on one, you know, with, with a client. It's a one on one thing and now they're in a room full of people, you know, it's not for everyone. But I think that's also a way for you as an owner to kind of gauge who might be best suited to do it to and then try it out, like in a limited way that you can measure results that you're paying attention to, you know. And again, you know, if you think in this as, as something that pays dividends over time, that's good, you know, because I think it's the right way to approach things. If you, if you aim small, you miss small, you know, and at least you get to prove out your theory.

[B]

I would. The other reason I'd also start small is because you lower your risk of that not working out. And if you start getting a bunch of people out there too fast that don't work out, you get a bad perception about your company out there. You know what I mean? And so you don't want that either. You want to find the right person. I would summarize it as coming into yes, you should look into it. You got to find that first person. You got to find how you're going to give them ownership. You've got to commit to what their time requirements are going to be, need to work together on what your messaging is going to be. You're going to have to give them all that because they're not you. And I go back to nobody can network for you, so they're not going to be you. They have to have a different reason behind it. And then at last, one thing I teach at every member success program I do is one of the biggest mistakes people make in BNI is they compare results. And that's gonna be a massive problem there too. Like, you cannot compare that employee's results in their chapter to what you're doing in your chapter. Cause there's way too many factors that go into that. Never mind the fact that you've been a member for some period of time and they're new. Never mind that you are the owner. They're not. Your passion is gonna be different. Your communication style is gonna be different. Like, all of these. Your chapter is different. It's different people.

[A]

Everybody in that chapter.

[B]

Yeah, I see that. Like, we'll have owners be like, well, they're just not producing the same. I'm getting. It's like, no shit. Like, and why would you like it? Right? So have different expectations. Like, all of that. You have to really think through those. And I would start with one, and then if that's getting success, go to the other. Don't just, you know, shotgun fire five people out there to chapters or whatever.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

And see what happens. So, yeah, I think it's a great question. It's definitely a business thing to be thinking about. I do think B and I can help you expand and take that to the next level. But that the results in BNI are just so dictated on that relationship development, which a big part of that's going to be the passion for the service. And so that person you put out better have a passion for whatever it is you're doing, whether they're the physical therapist or not. There has to be that kind of passion behind it because everybody in that room will immediately be able to sense like, oh, this person's here because they were told they have to be here.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Which is not valuable in return.

[A]

Yeah. And anyone that doesn't do anybody any good.

[B]

Anybody. And that's they're just going to burn out real fast. So.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

All right. Very good. Well, thank you for the question.

[A]

Let us know how it goes. I'm interested to have a follow up on this one in particular.

[B]

Yeah, definitely, Scott. It's a great question. And for everybody else, again, if you got any topics, questions, go to BNI Power of one. If you're finding value, leave us a review. Apple podcast, Spotify, however, seeing a lot more comments and stuff on Spotify, which is really cool, that's fun to follow along with. So I appreciate all that. And Mike will be together again soon.

[A]

Sounds good. Bye.