Who likes having visitors join our meeting?
We all do, right?
It’s great to meet new people; they bring energy and business. Potentially, if they are a good fit, they can become new members. Some might say a ready supply of new visitors isn’t always easy to find so each and every visitor is a valuable commodity.
Cast your mind back …
We were all visitors once. Thinking back to how we felt the first time we visited a BNI chapter. Maybe some of us visited more than one chapter and chose to apply here instead of another group. How did your experience impact your decision to apply to join? Did anyone have a great experience? Did anyone join after an average experience?
The thing is, we are the visitor success stories. We don’t know what the visitors who didn’t apply felt about their experience. BNI may not have been for them, for many reasons. However, we recognise if people feel included when they visit the meeting, it can be a major factor in their decision to apply.
What helps people to feel included?
The visitor experience starts from the moment someone is invited to our chapter and concludes when they sign an application form or decide not to apply to join. If they decide to apply, the application process starts. Our appointed Visitor Hosts take point on the experience visitors have from when they are invited until the end of the meeting but between those times, everyone in the chapter is a visitor host.
Open networking is an especially critical time. It’s important for everyone to be here for all of the open networking and that we are all actively looking out for and greeting visitors when they come into the room and throughout open networking. Visitors feel very uncomfortable breaking into a conversation. Using an “open two” or “open three” stance when in a conversation makes it easy for someone else to join the conversation. More detail on stances can be found within the online member success program modules within BNI Business Builder.
It’s also important to remain standing for open networking. Visitors will feel awkward sitting down next to someone and might take the cue to sit down but leave a seat between them and someone else sitting down. It is also a low-energy way to network. As the say, it’s network, not net sit.
Starters for Ten
It’s comfortable for us to talk to fellow members, we know each other and there are things to catch up on. But we can do that anytime. We might only get to meet a visitor once.
When meeting a new visitor, great conversation starters after shaking hands and introducing yourself – aside from the standard “what do you do” – can be:
1.“Who invited you along today?” That establishes something in common and can avoid some unintended faux pas.
2.“How did you hear about BNI?” is also good because sometimes they have already been or are BNI members and you need to have a different conversation in that case.
What not to talk about? The usual. We should avoid controversial topics that can be disagreeable and focus on positive business focused conversation. Asking people questions about themselves and their business is often well received.
If you feel trapped by someone introduce them to one or more of your fellow members. If you think there is business to be done together, book a meeting on the spot.
Not all visitors are created equal…
…Not just in terms of their businesses and business experience but their confidence in a roomful of strangers. They have put their faith in us and trust in the person who invited them by overcoming their fears and showing up. We can show them that networking is fun and rewarding and especially that BNI is a safe and inclusive place to be.
