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Recently BNI Pinnacle in Christchurch welcomed back a new member, who re-joined BNI 5 years after leaving. 7 of his top 10 clients originally came from BNI through referrals from the previous owner of the business. As he looks forward to more referrals, he shares with us the other benefits of BNI that he has gained from his membership.
Here are the top 6:
- Public speaking– because you go to BNI every week and do a 60 second training pitch to members, you get plenty of practice in public speaking.
- Learning to speak concisely – this is related to the above but there’s an individual skill beyond speaking confidently, and that’s getting your message across within a short space of time.
- Taglines – many BNI members add a tagline to the end of their 60 seconds – and some people don’t have these when they join BNI but after being inspired by seeing others, they come up with clever ones.
- Making social connection – networking weekly with other passionate, like minded individuals, you’re bound to make new friends.
- Education on how to network – there are many behaviours you can pick up from other members which will improve your networking skills – for some this will come more naturally than for others, but it definitely can always be improved.
- Knowledge of other industries – Every week in 60 second as well as the 10-minute presentation opportunities, you gain a broad understanding of many different businesses. Through one to ones with other members, and with the potential clients and introducers they refer you to, this knowledge deepens.
Of course business referrals are the reason people join BNI, but it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that you also gain a whole heap of other benefits – make sure you take advantage of these!
