We know that Visitors’ Days are an outstanding way to grow a chapter. Most chapters get 20-30% of their business from visitors. They’re not the only way, but as a single technique, they can be one of the best ways to increase membership and referrals.
But don’t wing it – plan your Visitors’ Day to maximise your success.
Why are visitors so important?
Besides adding a healthy portion to the chapter members:
- A visitor is a potential customer – visitors can give referrals; they don’t have to join.
- A visitor may refer their contacts to our members for business – again, increasing business.
- A visitor is a potential member and a visitor may refer their contacts to your chapter for potential members – Chapters lose members for many business and personal reasons every now and again. Visitors form an important role in refreshing the gaps in your chapter membership.
- A visitor may become a good regular substitute – If your chapter struggles with absenteeism then forming regular substitutes in the chapter is fantastic. These may be visitors who can’t commit the required time of being a full-time member.
- A visitor will boost your chapter’s numbers; great for meeting dynamics – A visitor is an extra person, increasing your numbers and elevating energy in a chapter meeting. You can create an even better impression every time your chapter meets by bringing visitors.
A recent example
Recently BNI Coast held a very successful Visitors’ Day in Silverdale at Northern Union. The chapter is looking to grow from 17 members and to achieve this they decided to plan a special Visitors’ Day with a keynote speaker who would draw a range of businesses from the region to the meeting.
Because Silverdale is quite a central North Shore location in Auckland, they wanted a speaker who would appeal to all of their members – who have businesses across the district – as well as visiting business owners. They also wanted someone who would be a drawcard in terms of discussing topical issues of local importance. They decided on Warren MacLennan from Auckland Council.
Chapter president Bridget Klinac says they carefully planned the Visitors’ Day to ensure that logistically everything went smoothly. Professional invitations were sent out with an RSVP section so the venue knew the numbers for catering. They also created visitor cards so everyone had identification. This made introducing people easier and added to the meeting’s professional feel.
On the day they had a phenomenal turnout of 51 people and since then they’ve had great feedback including new members. Holding a Visitors’ Day really energised and invigorated the membership as well as creating new connections with businesspeople in the area that are not currently in the group.
