The ABC (and D) of who to invite
A = Attitude
If you are thinking of inviting someone to our meeting, the first and almost the only consideration is the potential visitor’s attitude. Do they seem like they would enjoy the vibe of our meeting? If the answer is YES, then invite them. After all who wants to invite a party pooper to our meeting.
Why is the visitor’s attitude almost the only consideration? If we recognise that visitors bring business (an average of $1k closed business each) and energy to the chapter meeting, then anyone with a good attitude makes a good visitor. Period. The only other consideration is that if the visitor is in a business (a visitor doesn’t have to be a businessperson) that doesn’t clash with an existing member’s business. And that doesn’t have to be an issue either if it is handled properly. Possibly the biggest myth about visitors is that they have to be potential members. They don’t. We have an application process to qualify if visitors would be good members once they apply. Just invite freely.
B= Business
Visitors bring business to the meeting, again an average of $1,000 each. In essence, our chapter meeting is like a shopping mall, each of our businesses is a shop in our mall and our sales pitch is our shop window. Visitors come to our mall and see what we have to sell and may choose to buy something from our shop. The more visitors we have to our “mall” the more sales we can make. So, when considering who to invite, think about people with a great attitude that might buy from us rather than if we might want to give business to them.
C= Clash
It is important to consider if a potential visitor might have a business that could clash with an existing member’s business. That doesn’t mean we can’t invite them, we just need to be considerate before inviting them. Calling the potentially conflicting member is the right thing to do. The member may even want to give the prospective visitor a call to check if there is a clash. There may be no clash or the member may still be comfortable that the prospective visitor comes along anyway so they can meet up.
D = Deliberate
It’s awesome to invite using the “ABC” formula of who to invite. It opens up our mall to many more shoppers. Using D for deliberate or strategic inviting can help us be more specific on who to invite. Deliberate inviting is where we are trying to build chapter membership to fill a specific category, grow a power team, or bring in a client or a supplier to create a referral relationship. Looking in your contacts to see who you already know in business, who you already buy from or sell to, and inviting them to create or further build a referral relationship is very smart. Inviting to build your power team is also smart. Invite the best of the best to join your team. The ABC of inviting still applies when inviting using D…
Summary
It’s as simple as ABC to decide who to invite. It greatly opens up who we can invite to enjoy our meeting with us without worrying if they might be potential members. Deliberate inviting to increase membership is a complementary strategy but we still must consider if they have the right attitude for our chapter.
So, in the coming weeks, look around you and see who you know that would like to come and enjoy our meeting with us.
BNI Connect APP – Top tip of the week
Use the APP to register your visitors. When you register your visitors, email notifications are sent to the visitor and the leadership team that helps make sure the visitor begins their BNI experience the best way possible. But wait… there are two options, should I Invite or Register my guest? The key differences are: 1.The INVITE function allows your visitor to RSVP themselves OR let you know personally that they plan to attend so you can then REGISTER them. The invitation is sent to the invited person and the member inviting them. The Leadership Team are NOT notified of Invitations. 2.The REGISTER function assumes they have already agreed to attend and locks in their visit on a particular date in the future. The registered person receives an email with details of the chapter meeting and the key leadership team member also receive a different notification advising them of the registration.
We STRONGLY recommend the REGISTER function.
