Why should we invite visitors?
- Visitors are potential business partners
- Visitors bring energy to the meeting
- On average each visitor contributes $1,000 in TYFCB to your chapter
- If you have four visitors a week this can bring $200k more TYFCB to the chapter for the year
- Visitors may apply to join the chapter increasing your sales team
- By inviting visitors, you can lift your own visibility and credibility within your chapter
But, let’s discuss another reason not often considered…
If you have a sales prospect that you think might take a while to be ready to buy… instead of selling to them, why not invite them to your BNI chapter? One of the best times to invite them is when you are presenting your Feature Presentation!
If they come, they will see you as an expert in the room, potentially getting testimonials from the other members! This could be a great way for you to build your visibility and credibility with them, making your sales process more effective. If they join, you will get the opportunity to “pitch” your message every week! And, of course they will become a potential referral source for your fellow members!
What words can we use if we are not in the practice or habit of inviting?
A personal message in your own style and words always works best. Here are some typical examples…
- “Do you want more sales or to grow your business?”
- “Are you thinking of networking more this year?”
- “I’m part of a local business networking group, we meet over breakfast on Friday, can I invite you to come along?”
Once you’ve started the conversation Keep it Simple. If you try to explain all the rules of BNI and how it works you’ll confuse people. You don’t need to sell BNI, BNI sells itself! Answer questions, but it’s best to let visitors experience BNI and see how awesome it is for themselves.
Visitors, should we invite or register them?
The BNI Connect® Mobile App makes inviting visitors very easy, in fact you can add a potential visitor’s details straight from your contacts list in a few easy steps!
You have two options:
- Invite a Visitor OR
- Visitor Registration
So, which is best? – The answer is, counter-intuitively, “registering” them.
By inviting you are asking the potential visitor to RSVP and fill in their own details.
To register the visitor, you are required to fill in a visit date and some basic information. Once you have done this, the potential visitor will receive an automated email confirming their registration to visit plus the meeting details. The Leadership team is also notified of the visit so the rest of your visitor process can start.
Inviting visitors is a habit or a muscle to be developed, using the APP makes it a very simple exercise once you have a potential visitor. Try it out this week!
