Summary4 min read

Podcast Summary: BNI & The Power of One

Episode: BNI 894 – “A Question from Episode 794”
Host: Tim Roberts
Date: April 27, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode dives into a nuanced question about what qualifies as a “referral” within the BNI (Business Network International) system—specifically, whether leaving a review or testimonial for a fellow member should count as a referral if it leads to new business. The discussion references Episode 794 (“Do Reviews Count?”) and aims to clarify best practices, trackable referrals, and the integrity of BNI's thank you for closed business (TYFCB) system.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origin of the Question (01:10)

Listener Ulrich from Mesa, Arizona asks:
If leaving a review for a fellow BNI member eventually leads to them getting business ("revenue source"), should that be considered a referral after the fact?

2. Definition & Essence of a Referral (02:00–03:30)

Tim explicitly distinguishes a testimonial or review from a true referral:
- "Leaving a review on somebody's website is a testimonial. It's not a referral. Something coming from that isn't also a referral or thank you for closed business." (03:00)
- The referral must involve an actual proactive process of connecting someone to a member and recommending their business.

3. Testimonials vs. Referrals (03:30–05:15)

Even if a customer says, "I bought because of your great reviews," it still doesn’t count as a referral because the reviews lack direct linkage to the transaction.
Only when you are directly engaged in connecting or communicating with the prospective client—triggered perhaps by your review—does it move into referral territory.
- "If you left a review and somebody called you and said, 'Hey, I saw your review about Susan’s business. Can you tell me more about it?'…that's a referral. Because there’s a referral process going on and it’s above and beyond the review." (04:15)

4. Guidance on Tracking and Stat Integrity (05:15–06:30)

Tim warns against inflating referral numbers for the sake of stats:
- "It shouldn’t become a referral because you did it six months ago and someone happened to read it. … I’m just not a big stat padding person." (05:30)
Including passive effects of testimonials as referrals would muddle data and reduce clarity about real referral effectiveness.

5. Practical Problems with Counting Testimonials as Referrals (06:30–07:00)

Ambiguity of credit: If many members leave reviews leading to a sale, how would credit or TYFCB be divided?
- “Fifteen of my members left reviews. I got a $1500 referral. So let’s give everybody a hundred bucks? … It just gets even more confusing.” (06:55)
Clarity of referral source is important for meaningful business tracking.

6. Final Thoughts and Community Value (07:00–07:44)

Testimonials are valuable on their own and enhance a member’s business, but they aren't referrals and shouldn't be recorded as such.
Tim wraps up by encouraging listeners to engage and send in their own questions, noting the importance of this type of feedback for the BNI community.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the nature of testimonials vs. referrals:
“Leaving a review on somebody's website is a testimonial. It's not a referral. Something coming from that isn't also a referral or thank you for closed business.” – Tim Roberts [03:00]
On clarifying a true referral scenario:
“If you left a review and somebody called you and said, 'Hey, I saw your review about Susan’s business. Can you tell me more about it?'…that's a referral. Because there’s a referral process going on and it’s above and beyond the review.” – Tim Roberts [04:15]
On the value of not inflating stats:
“It shouldn’t become a referral because you did it six months ago and someone happened to read it. … I’m just not a big stat padding person.” – Tim Roberts [05:30]
On practical issues with splitting referral credit:
“Fifteen of my members left reviews. I got a $1500 referral. So let’s give everybody a hundred bucks? … It just gets even more confusing.” – Tim Roberts [06:55]

Key Timestamps

01:10 – Listener’s question and reference to Episode 794.
03:00 – Testimonial vs. referral distinction.
04:15 – Example of when a review leads to a real referral.
05:30 – Stat padding concerns.
06:55 – Illustrating the impracticality of dividing credit for reviews.
07:00–07:44 – Final advice and closing call to action.

Takeaways

Testimonials support members’ businesses but are not referrals under BNI’s metrics.
A bona fide referral requires a clear, active connection and recommendation process.
Proper tracking preserves the value and integrity of your referral data.

If you have BNI-related questions or topics, Tim encourages reaching out via the BNI Power of One platform—your questions fuel valuable conversations for the whole community!

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Transcript3 lines

[00:00]
A
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[01:11]
B
Welcome back to BNI and Power of One. Thank you for joining me again today. Today's question comes from Ulrich in Mesa, Arizona and he is referencing a previous podcast. So if you haven't listened to this podcast, I highly recommend you go to the listen to it first and then come back to this one. And it is episode 79 4, which was on Do Reviews Count, which is again this subject is sometimes members will ask for you to leave a review on their Google or what have you and people treating that as a referral, which the answer is it doesn't, but you should listen to that. Okay, so Alex, question. Hey Tim, I just listened to podcast 794 and wanted some clarification regarding the passing of a personal referral slash ask. I agree it doesn't count as a referral yet. But if slash when that turns into a revenue source, how would you consider it? At that point it would have produced a thank you for closed business. So then would also be a referral from the person that made the intro after the fact. Right? I'm not entirely sure thinking about the play out, but let's just put it this way. If you go and leave a review on a fellow member's page because they asked you to, that's not a referral. If the member gets business and the person says, well, it's because you had a lot of great reviews, it's still not a referral or thank you for close business because we're not really sure that any specific review did that. Now if you're saying, well what if the person went and said hey, this review from Tim is why I'm buying from you, I still would not count that as a referral because there was no referral process. All you helped your member, you helped your member and you know, and they got some business out of it. But you didn't, you literally didn't even do anything like in the referral process of recommend. I guess it was just so passive. I wouldn't count it if somebody were to Say, hey, we should count this because they specifically said it was your review that made them do it. Would I fight it? No. I mean, it's closer to a referral than the original podcast talks about, which is just saying, hey, count as a referral because you left me a review, but because I've stood on that ground, stand on that ground and say, like, leaving a review on somebody's website is a testimonial. It's not a referral. Something coming from that isn't also a referral or thank you for closed business. That's my general sense. Now, if you left a review and somebody called you, it said, hey, I saw your review about, you know, Susan's business. Can you tell me more about it? I think I might need the service. And you have a conversation and you make the connection, that's a referral. Because there's a referral process going on and it's above and beyond the review. And then you make the introduction, you make the connection, they do business. That's a normal referral. And you got the referral because you left the review that triggered the conversation that you got into and you were able to, you know, quote, unquote, close them to talking to Sue. Now that's a referral. But me just going on Google and leaving a testimonial for you is a. Is a way to give back. Of course that's why we do testimonials. And 7, 8, 4 is all about testimonials and why they're important, but it's not a referral. And it shouldn't become a referral because you did it six months ago and somebody happened to read it. It's the value of testimonials and why we give them. And that's great, but it shouldn't pat us that I'm just not a big stat padding person. Like, I just don't believe in, like, let's just put it in because, you know, these things will happen and they're great and they're valuable and that's why it's, you know, B and I has so much more value than just what shows up in the thank you for closed business box. So I don't know if that answers the question entirely or adds some clarity or just adds more confusion. But generally speaking, leaving a review on your fellow members page is not a referral. And because the person got business because of the reviews on their page doesn't then make it a referral. If somebody calls you and says, hey, I saw you leave a review about this business, can you tell me more about it and you have a conversation and you close the. Close it into a referral, then yes, that's a referral. But short of that, I wouldn't count it. I wouldn't count it. I wouldn't try to track it. And again, just because somebody bought off their said, you know, if somebody called me and said, hey, we're coming to you because you have so many great reviews, I wouldn't know which one to thank for that anyways. Right. And what do I thank every member who gave me a testimonial in that case, do we split it? Do we divide it? You know, 15 of my members left reviews. I got a $1500 referral. So let's give everybody a hundred bucks. Like, I. It just gets even more confusing. And I wouldn't go through that. I would really want to know on my own. Again, with data like, what's coming in, how's it coming in? How do I make that more effective? And am I even being effective in what I'm doing? And this would muddy that water as well. So there's a lot of, you know, unintended consequences, I think, to trying to do so, but I don't. It's a good question, good follow up. Thank you for listening. I. I do appreciate that. And hopefully this added a little bit more clarity to it for everybody else. If you've got topics, questions, anything of the sort, go to bni Power of one. Leave it there. If you're finding value, let me know. Leave a comment, Leave a review. Help me help more members. Jerry Maguire. But share it with your fellow members. If you're finding value, maybe somebody else will, maybe multiple of them will, and it'll help encourage more. More activity, more effectiveness, and ultimately more results. That's why we're doing it. And as always, have a great.
[07:45]
C
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