June is approaching and that means it’s coming up to halfway through the year! This can be a time for us at BNI to think of ways to give your chapter a boost and one guaranteed thing is to regularly bring a visitor. Most BNI groups get 20+% (even up to 30%) of their closed business from visitors.
The chapters that are doing best have created a momentum based on the fact that they are constantly inviting visitors.
So who can you invite?
One group of people that are perfect candidates for inviting to BNI, but are often overlooked are businesspeople who are management members of a Chamber of Commerce or local business association.
What does the Chamber do?
Did you know there are 29 Chambers of Commerce throughout New Zealand? The Chamber of Commerce has an advocacy role. Their mission is to inspire and influence business vitality. They do this by positively influencing the environment in which businesses operate and by providing “opportunities, products and services” that will improve the success and vitality of business.
Each business community is unique but all Chambers have an end goal of creating business success (much like us at BNI). The individual business needs to understand their own business community and identify what support is relevant to them and also how they can also provide support and enable others in the business community to succeed.
People new to business often feel that the Chamber is out of their reach, but this is simply not the case. The Chamber of Commerce represents the full spectrum of business interests, small and large; retailing, service, manufacturing exporters, importers and other organisations. The Chamber is governed by an elected President and Board of Directors, supported by skilled and professional staff.
Why invite Chambers of Commerce members?
Chambers of Commerce members are perfect prospects for BNI; we share the same interests and end goals. Members are also at the forefront of knowing what is going on in their local business community. This sort of knowledge is invaluable at BNI – it’s great to have people who understand the range of businesses operating in the local community and what they are up to. There is a synergy between our two organisations; we’re not competing and we can comfortably belong to both organisations.
BNI and the Chamber both emphasise the community over the individual. Think outside the box with visitors and get in contact with your local Chamber of business association to invite next week. It’s a great way to boost your members and invigorate your chapter.
