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BNI & The Power of One
BNI 850: Can a Member Speak About a Different Business When Visiting?
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In this episode we answer your submitted question on whether a BNI member can speak about a different business when visiting another BNI chapter.
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Sam Foreign welcome back to BNI in the Power of One. Thank you for joining me again. Today we are back to show topic submissions questions you've submitted@bnipowerofone.com as always, if you ever have one go to the website, let me know. Happy to answer it. Today we are hearing from Wendy Curley. She's actually an Executive Director in Sydney, Australia, home of BNI's International Global Conference later this year. Wish I was able to go. Unfortunately I'm not, but she says hi Tim, thank you so much for the podcast. One of my favorite ways to learn and share insights with my region. And Cindy, I appreciate that as an Executive Director I often recommend it to others and I truly appreciate the value to bring to our Global B and I community. A thoughtful question came to me from the field and I'd love to get your take on it. If a member has a specific approved category in their home chapter and stays within that category when conducting business there, but they also own another business and occasionally visit other chapters, is it appropriate for them to promote their other business when visiting those chapters? I really value your perspective on this nuance, especially around protecting seat exclusivity while also honoring the entrepreneurial spirit many members have. Thanks again and I hope I get to meet you in person here in Sydney. Unfortunately, again, one day I won't be able to do that. Just timing wise, not not able to make it happen this year looks like. But great question and it's a simple situation that could become very complicated very quickly. So the simple answer is perfectly fine when somebody's visiting a chapter, as long as they are not speaking on something that's in competition with a member of that chapter. There's no rule, policy, or issue with them representing any of their business. They own two businesses, five businesses, whatever, because they're just a visitor in that situation who happens to be another BNI member. But they're not obligated to only represent what they represent in their chapter. In that moment, they are obligated to only represent what their seat is in their chapter whenever conducting business with fellow members. And by business I mean BNI things from their chapter, meaning one to ones, weekly presentations, feature presentations, and so forth. Where this gets sticky though, is whether it really is your definition of occasionally visiting. See, what some will try to do is then I'll say, okay, well I have, I'm in chapter A with Business A, but I have Business B. I'm going to go visit and talk about Business B. And they overdo that and they visit far too Often to chapters, and usually in particular one or two maybe chapters in their area. And what they're essentially trying to do is be into B and I chapters at once, which you cannot do. No matter. So let's put this way, if you as a person have two businesses, you can only be in one BNI chapter for one of those businesses, period. You can't be in chapter A for business A and chapter B for business B. So, and again, this is coming from a fellow executive director and I'm sure Wendy believes the same thing. It would be easy for us to collect multiple memberships, but that's ineffective for everybody involved, including the member who's in two different, has two different businesses. So you're not allowed to do that. You're not allowed to personally as an individual be in 2b and I chapters. This is a same policy that says you can't be in another thing that basically looks, acts and smells like BNI is for the same reason we hold ourselves accountable to that policy, because it's that important. So in this situation it could become a little tricky because what you will see is somebody over visiting because they're like, well, yeah, but I've got business B over here, so I'm just visiting for that one. And they'll visit so much that they will actually negatively impact that chapter they're visiting because it holds them from ever getting a member who's truly committed, who does that profession. So you have to ensure that they're still following the visitor rules and policies, which is a lot that says a visitor is allowed to visit a chapter two times, period. It doesn't say two times in a year, it doesn't say two times in a month, it doesn't say two times. In a six month period, it says two times. So if they are just like, hey, I've got extra time this week, let me go check out another BNI meeting occasionally, like once or twice a year. Yeah, they can speak about their other business, but if they're saying, hey, I'm going to go speak about my other business, I'm going to visit every chapter or I'm going to visit this chapter, you know, every month or every couple weeks, then it becomes a problem. And it's not about what they're speaking about, it's the cadence of their visiting because again, they are negatively holding back that chapter. And so think about this from your own chapter's perspective. Why is there a limit on the visit rule? It's to help prevent people from taking advantage of your chapter. Done pod. I have no idea the number, but you probably search it in Apple podcasts and stuff and just put in, you know, taking advantage of. But there are, there are multiple types of people who take advantage of our chapter. And because our chapter lets it happen. One would be the visitor who visits over and over and over again but never commits. And you know, oftentimes the chapters will have crazy stories of like, oh, we don't understand why so and so won't join our chapter. We've passed them so much business already. And it's like you don't understand why they're not going to join. Like, you're giving them the business with no return expectation of commitment at all. So yeah, this is why we, we don't advise you give referrals to visitors because you're basically teaching him like, hey, just show up whenever you want. We'll have business for you. You don't have to worry about committing to meeting with us, learning about us, giving to us, any of that. Why would they. So the person who over visits is one. The person who substitutes all the time. The chapter uses the same substitute all the time. The person who basically can be there every week but tells you they're too busy to be there every week. Again, it's the same thing. They're able to come and be a part of your chapter for free. And I'm not just meaning dues wise for free, free of any obligation in return. And so why would they. Again, why would they commit? And those are often like the I love the past members. You know, the member who tells you they can't commit to the chapter anymore, but I'm free to substitute anytime you need help. Like, if you're free to substitute, you're free to be here. You're looking to take advantage of the situation. And again, chapters let it happen because they're like, oh, it's an easy substitute for all of us because we're so worried about the, you know, getting an absence. It's like, how about you just pay attention to the attendance policy you're allowed three and then use subs instead of just taking the easy way out. And that gets into, why do we even have a sub policy, which is a whole nother podcast we've done and probably we'll have to do again. So this is just a couple examples of how people can. Can really take advantage of your chapter and hold you back. You might say, well, no, that doesn't ever happen. I mean, there was a story in the past. This was back when the attendance policy was stagnant and you had to send physical letters. So right now, BNI Connect gives auto reminders and stuff like that, but this would be physical letters. And we had a guy who was a member of chapter A who was visiting chapter B so often that when he didn't show up for three weeks, they sent him a removal letter. So just let that sink in. The chapter he's not a member of sent him a letter removing him from the chapter because he was there so often. They all just assumed he was part of the chapter. That's a problem. Now, it's an extreme case, obviously, but this happens when somebody, when you have the same person visiting over and over again, members just kind of forget about and don't even think about inviting somebody for that profession who would actually be committed to the chapter. So, you know, not really what this question is asking, but it is a part of the potential downfall or situation in that kind of scenario. So full circle again. Yeah. Free to talk about whatever they want. As a visitor. Only allowed to visit a couple times, though, so you got to watch that part of it. So, Wendy, great question. Congrats on your region being hosting the the International Global Conference. I think that's gonna be an amazing event that's a part of the world I definitely want to get to at some point. I hope to meet you someday soon, though, maybe at another conference somewhere around the world. And as always, leave a review, leave a comment. Love to hear from you. Have a great day. Sam.