Episode 971: What Is Essential to New Members?

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Official BNI Podcast

Episode 971: What Is Essential to New Members?
Host: Dr. Ivan Misner
Guest: Jenny Butts, Director of US Core Training
Date: July 29, 2026

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Overview

This episode focuses on the essentials for new BNI members, specifically what they need in their critical first months to maximize their success and return on investment (ROI). Dr. Ivan Misner welcomes Jenny Butts, who shares her insights from years of running "First Year Member Essentials" webinars, reading thousands of new member surveys, and supporting BNI’s training initiatives. The discussion centers around practical advice, common challenges, and the tools most vital for integrating and thriving within the BNI network.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Purpose of "First Year Member Essentials" Webinars

[02:30–03:10]

• Jenny Butts explains that these webinars are designed to address the overwhelm many new members feel and to consolidate essential information in one accessible place.
• The webinars complement the Member Success Program but offer a live format where members can ask questions and get immediate answers.
• Jenny highlights broad participation: “In the last three or four years, we've had more than 15,000 new members come on.” (Jenny Butts, 02:37)

2. Not a Replacement, But a Reinforcement

[03:10–03:46]

• The webinars supplement, not replace, the Member Success Program.
• A key goal is engaging support teams and especially mentor coordinators to encourage participation, recognizing that information can resonate differently when presented in varied formats.

3. Realistic Value Timeline for New Members

[03:55–05:54]

• Jenny counters the notion that value from BNI takes a year to realize: “We want to help them find value…in the earliest days of their memberships. It may not be their dream referral right away, but there's value in the connections, there's value in the resources.” (Jenny Butts, 04:20)
• Value isn’t only in referrals, but also in knowledge, support, and networking—a new member might quickly discover helpful resources and ideas relevant for their business.

4. Encouragement to Participate in BNI Activities

[05:54–06:55]

• New members sometimes see BNI’s requirements as burdensome.
• Jenny reframes this: “You don't work for BNI. You're not doing this for us…These are the metrics that successful members use to make more money. We work for you. Let us give you the tools and resources you need because you have to meet the goals you have for your business.” (Jenny Butts, 06:24)

5. The Essentials Identified by Surveys

[07:06–08:51]

• Based on survey feedback from thousands of new members, two needs stand out:
  1. Mastering BNI Connect: Login issues, submitting one-to-ones, recording thank-you-for-closed-business, and confusion with BNI Academy access.
  2. Effective Presentations: Members crave practical examples for presentations—specifically, how to communicate the right kind of referral or connection they’re seeking.
• Jenny stresses: “If they can't log into [MyBNI.com] they really don't have access to anything and their frustration might keep them from finding resources that could really help their business.” (Jenny Butts, 08:32)

6. Practical Tips for Getting Help

[08:51–09:06]

• Ivan underscores the importance of MyBNI.com as a unified portal for access and suggests reaching out to directors if login issues arise.

7. Proven Impact on Retention

[09:06–10:05]

• The webinars have increased first-year retention by 4–6%.
• Jenny attributes this to both the content and consistent communication: “I usually get 100 more people who register” when sending a reminder email the night before. (Jenny Butts, 10:04)

8. Accessing Webinar and Training Information

[10:05–11:27]

• All global members can find the calendar of events at bninw.com.
• BNI Academy hosts webinar recordings, but live attendance is recommended for interaction.
• The webinar is currently offered the second Tuesday and fourth Wednesday of each month, with varying times to accommodate chapters.

9. The Crucial Training Combo

[12:00–12:41]

• Jenny and Ivan both emphasize that combining the Member Success Program with First Year Member Essentials yields the greatest results:
  • “When we can narrow down the most essential things to connect business goals to the activities in BNI, we are going to see far more lucrative and successful memberships for all of our members. And that is my hope for everybody.” (Jenny Butts, 12:05)
  • Ivan adds: “Those who have also done the Member Success program training retention rate is significantly higher than the average first year member who doesn't do the MSP training.” (Dr. Ivan Misner, 12:21)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It may not be their dream referral right away, but there's value in the connections, there's value in the resources.”
  Jenny Butts, 04:20

• “You don't work for BNI. You're not doing this for us…These are the metrics that successful members use to make more money. We work for you.”
  Jenny Butts, 06:24

• “If they can't log into [MyBNI.com] they really don't have access to anything and their frustration might keep them from finding resources that could really help their business.”
  Jenny Butts, 08:32

• “I usually get 100 more people who register” when sending a reminder email the night before.
  Jenny Butts, 10:04

• “When we can narrow down the most essential things to connect business goals to the activities in BNI, we are going to see far more lucrative and successful memberships for all of our members. And that is my hope for everybody.”
  Jenny Butts, 12:05

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Important Timestamps for Key Segments

• Overview of First Year Member Essentials Webinars: 02:30–03:10
• Value Early in Membership: 03:55–05:54
• Why BNI "Makes You Do Stuff": 05:54–06:55
• Survey Results – What New Members Need Most: 07:06–08:51
• Impact on Retention Rates: 09:06–10:05
• Accessing Training & Calendar: 10:05–11:27
• Critical Training Combination for Success: 12:00–12:41

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Final Takeaways

• Early engagement and practical support are crucial for new member integration and success in BNI.
• Mastering BNI Connect and presentation skills are the two most commonly cited needs for new members.
• Combining structured online training with live, interactive support consistently leads to higher engagement, better retention, and more rapid ROI.
• Continued communication and reminders significantly boost turnout for support programs.
• Members are encouraged to proactively use available resources and understand these tools are for their personal business success—not just organizational metrics.

Find schedules and resources at bninw.com and in the BNI Academy portal.

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Transcript

[A]

Episode number 971. What is essential to new members?

[B]

You're listening to the official BI podcast with BNI founder and chief visionary officer, Dr. Ivan Meisner. Stay tuned for networking and referral marketing tips from the man who's been called the father of modern networking, along with suggestions and insights into getting the most from your membership in the world's largest networking organization, bni.

[A]

Hello everybody and welcome back to the official BNI Podcast. I'm Priscilla Rice and I'm coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. And I'm joined on the phone today by the founder and the Chief Visionary Officer of B and I, Dr. Ivan Meisner. Hello Ivan, how are you and where are you?

[B]

I am melting here in Austin, Texas. July and August is hot. I have to put water out by my beehives because they desperately need something to cool them down.

[A]

Oh, your beehives.

[B]

Oh yes, they're fun. They're fun. One day I'm sure I'm going to learn some lessons about bees and business and someday I'll. I may do a podcast on it. But today I have an amazing woman who has been with BNI for some time now and she's been on the BNI podcast before. Her name is Jenny Butts. That's B U T Z. She's a former high school French and English teacher. Jenny joined a B and I chapter in SEA in the Seattle area in 2012 and was an employee of a tutoring company and soon started her own business as a professional speaker and emcee. In that business, she's worked with nonprofits, women's groups, businesses to help them grow effective communication. She's written books including six Word Lessons on Effective Communication and it is available on Amazon. In 2018, Jenny began supporting several B and I regions in director roles and now serves as the director of US Core Training. Core is company owned regions. She is the director of Core Training. Jenny, welcome to BNI podcast.

[C]

Thank you so much for having me.

[B]

It is great to have you. We're going to talk about something that's reasonably new and towards the end of this podcast we're going to give a few descriptions on where you can find what Jenny's going to be talking about. But Jenny, you started hosting first year member Essentials webinars a few years ago, so could you talk a little bit about that?

[C]

Yeah, it's been one of my favorite things to do in the last few years with bni. We started to see that new members were easily overwhelmed and we wanted to have one Place that we could try to grab as many as possible. And I think in the last three or four years, we've had more than 15,000 new members come on. And we just cover the basics of bni, kind of like member success program that we have in BNI Academy, but we want to give them one place where everybody gets the same information and they can ask live questions. And so it's been a really great thing. We do it twice a month and new members really seem to enjoy it.

[B]

Now, this isn't meant to replace member Success program training, but to really, I would think, kind of nudge them into wanting to do it.

[C]

Yeah, exactly. They sometimes do one first and then the other. It just depends. But we're really trying to communicate to regional teams, you know, the support directors, ambassadors, as well as specifically targeting mentor coordinators to help new members get onto this webinar. Because it just reinforces a lot of the things they're getting in Member Success Program, but with a different format and with a different voice, and sometimes it lands differently.

[B]

Yeah. So getting new members really assimilated into the chapter in the first 90 days helps them in many ways. I would. I'm sure it helps them make more money.

[C]

Yes. Yeah. Because they don't know what they don't know. Yeah. And so we're trying, what we're. What we are trying to counterbalance is sometimes they're hearing from people outside BNI or maybe even people on their own chapters, just to be patient. You won't really see any value in your membership for another year or so. And I want to tell them that that's not true at all. Or we want to help them find value in their memberships in the earliest days of their memberships. It may not be their dream referral right away, but there's value in the connections, there's value in the resources. And so we want to gear them toward that so they can make that crucial connection between the goals they have for their businesses and what they're doing in BNI so that they can start to see an ROI as quickly as possible.

[B]

Yeah. And there's a lot of different variations of return on investment. One is, you know, knowledge, information, using BNI members as a resource for suggestions and ideas and support. And of course, we want them to get referrals, but the referrals do take a little longer, depending on what profession. I mean, a florist is going to get referrals much quicker than, say, a financial planner. But it does take a little bit of time because people have to Trust you.

[C]

Right.

[B]

And depending on what business you're in, that trust may take a little bit longer. But that doesn't mean you can't get a return on your investment of time way quicker. If you're in a business that has a long time confidence curve. Would you agree with that assessment?

[C]

Oh, for sure, yeah. Because even in your one to ones you're learning what podcasts I should be listening to, what books I should read, what conferences. I remember in my first B and I chapter, I had a business coach and a web designer in the chapter and one to ones with them were so valuable in the early weeks of my membership because I had no idea I'd never built a website for a business before. And I, I was a teacher, so I didn't know anything about business and the laws and how to incorporate and those kinds of things. So just meeting the people in chapters can be a super, super high value early on.

[B]

You know, sometimes members say to me, you know, B and I just makes me do a lot of stuff. I'd love to hear your thought about that. But my thought is, yeah, we, we want you to do a lot of things to make money. It's all about you getting a return on your investment, relationships and the advice, like, like I said, but also, you know, more referrals and more business. These are, these are not things to do for bni. These are things to do with your marketing team. Would you agree with that assessment? Would you alter that?

[C]

Oh, 100%. We have been talking to members for several years now about the fact that you don't work for bni. You're not doing this for us. Sometimes they don't want to show the power of one or the chapter traffic lights because it feels like, oh, we're shaming people. We say these are the metrics that, that successful members use to make more money. So we want to help you do the things that are going to help you. We work for you. Let us give you the tools and resources you need because you have to meet the goals you have for your business.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely. So what have you learned about what's essential to brand new B and I members from the surveys and the conversations that you've done since you started this?

[C]

Yeah, I've probably read thousands of surveys since we've done this. I actually find it fascinating because you can see so many patterns and data is, I'm a words person, not a numbers person. But when data can tell a story, then I'm in.

[B]

I'm 100%. I agree completely, actually.

[C]

And so this has been kind of a revelation. When you see so many things that always pop to the surface, it has to be true. And so we have seen over all of the things that we introduce and present on this webinar over and over again. The surveys will say I wish you had spent more time on. And they always say two things. How do I use BNI Connect? How do I put in my one to ones? How do I know what my thank you for closed businesses? How do I know if I can log in? Is it the same as B and I Academy? Like logging in is the number one thing that they need help with. And the second one is how do I give a good presentation, give me examples. And it's not just about being a good speaker. It's about being a good speaker who can articulate specifically who I need to meet to take my business where I want to go. And so if we can help now, I take these surveys and I send them onto the field teams to people who can help. And I'll say if nothing else, touch base with the mentor coordinators and talk to the new members and ask them, can you log in? Because if you can't log into now we've got this great mybni.com one stop shopping gets you to B and I Academy and BNI Connect. And but if they can't log into that they really don't have access to anything and their frustration might keep them from finding resources that could really help their business.

[B]

Yeah. Mybni.com it's new. It's really critical. If you don't know how to get onto it, connect with your director. Just like Jenny is saying.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

So I'm guessing that you're getting the feedback you're getting is that this has been really helpful. I mean I can't imagine that that hasn't been the overwhelming response.

[C]

It has been. We did I had Dr. Caroline Irving give our statistics a look a couple of years ago to see to compare people who take first year member essentials with the general population of first year members in B and I. And it was an increase of first year retention of about 4 to 6%. Somewhere in there now it may be we just grab the most engaged people and they happen to be on here because that's the kind of person they are. Or it could be that by having a reinforcement and a live webinar where they can ask questions and I send a follow up email, I tell them how to record their first ceu. Sometimes it's the first hour of learning they've had in bni, which is very exciting. It reminds me when I was a first year French teacher and I thought every word of French, you know, I taught you. It's a point of pride that everything they're learning in this BNI webinar is going to help their business and they heard it here first. It's a, it's kind of exhilarating actually.

[B]

So there's a website where you, anyone can find out the calendar of events. Now in some countries it is in the regional website and, but not in all countries. However, everyone everywhere can go to the calendar of [e-mail] correct?

[C]

That is correct. Yeah. We started this with just kind of as a pilot in a few regions and now it's in all of the US company owned regions. But I do know that there are some executive directors in the US and Canada and a couple of other countries who have gone to that website, bninw.com and taken that information, copy and paste the links, copy and paste what I've written and they're happy to put it on their own websites. And if anybody is interested in getting the emails that I send out, because I'm really convinced that the communication that goes out before and after each of these webinars every month is crucial to getting people on it. I think when I send the email reminder the night before we're going to have one of the webinars, I usually get 100 more people who register. So that communication is crucial and I'm happy to share that with anybody.

[B]

And at the time of this recording, you are doing these on the second Tuesday and the fourth Wednesday of the month. And your, your calendar will say what time?

[C]

Right. We do different days and different times to work around chapter meetings.

[B]

All right. Remember that now, most of what we do, we really want to be evergreen. So for, you know, years from now, someone's listening to this podcast we are also putting up right now there's one of the recordings up on BNI Academy, but we may put another one up or update it from time to time on BNI Academy where you can actually see a recording. Although I always recommend you go live because you have a chance to ask questions. That's always more powerful. Jenny, we're out of time. Any last thought before we hand it over to Priscilla?

[C]

I just really, really hope everybody can do their member success program and first year member essentials because when we can narrow down the most essential things to connect business goals to the activities in bni, we are going to see far more lucrative and successful memberships for all of our members. And that is my hope for everybody.

[B]

That is a one, two punch. And the statistics I've heard with the member Success Program training are even higher. So what Jenny was talking about was this program, but those who have also done the Member Success program training retention rate is significantly higher than the average first year member who doesn't do the MSP training.

[C]

Absolutely.

[B]

So thank you, Jenny. Back to you, Priscilla.

[A]

Okay, perfect. I think that was a wonderful, enthusiastic podcast with lots of great information. So that's it for this week. This podcast is sponsored by MeisnerAudioProGrams.com and these audio programs will provide you with the tools and the inspiration to powerfully enhance your B and I experience. So check out the great material that's available to [e-mail] and then use the promo code IVAN5O for 50% off of everything. All of the proceeds go to the BNI Foundation. Thank you so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice and we look forward to having you join us again next week for another exciting episode of the official B and I podcast.

[B]

Sam.