Recently Dave Smith, Director Consultant for four chapters in the Auckland region, was addressing 23 members from BNI Britomart on the importance of the MSP programme.
Called the “Member Success Programme”, MSP is mandatory for new members so they can get a full understanding of how BNI works; without this they won’t be able to maximise their experience of BNI and grow their businesses. However, it’s also very important for current members who have been through the programme, but haven’t completed it for some time. to go through it again.
Dave says that he’s attended MSP three times and he’s learned something new each time. It’s a great way to re-energise your engagement with BNI if you have been a member for a while.
Dave uses the analogy of a master chef and cooking to describe the importance of MSP. “The MSP booklet is like a recipe book with several different meals you can make,” he says. “Each meal has different ingredients and if you forget an ingredient it won’t turn out like it should.”
For example:
- Entrée: The 15 minute meeting slot. These are the ingredients: shake a person’s hand, talk about your week, look for opportunities for them and give them opportunities.
- Main: The 60 seconds. These are the ingredients: say your name, state your business and where it is, provide the key points of difference and let members know who you are looking for.
- Dessert: The 10 minutes and one-on-ones are also outlined in your recipe book (the MSP booklet). One additional thing Dave feels is very important to developing a chapter, are social events. You learn more about people in social environments and it’s a great way to develop your network in a relaxed and non-structured way.
He says the crucial thing to remember is that you shouldn’t let your recipe book sit on the shelf gathering dust!
The benefits are enormous for what is a very small expense of time. Redo the MSP programme and brush up on the best ingredients you need to create an outstanding, delicious, three course meal at BNI.
