May 1, 2009 will find me in the land of cheese and beer; Milwaukee, WI.  It also might be my last chance to enjoy some cool weather until next fall as temperatures are predicted to be in the 40’s and 50’s.  The purpose of my trip, why business of course.  I’ll be attending a national conference for my “other job” as an Assistant Director for BNI, Business Network International.  In a nutshell, the purpose of BNI is to pass business to other chapter members through word of mouth referrals.  Though BNI is an international organization with over 5200 chapters worldwide it is fairly new to Southeast Texas.

Let’s start back in the early Spring of 2007…  A customer, Steve, came into my Beaumont store one afternoon and invited me to a lunch meeting to learn about a new group called BNI that several like minded business associates were trying to establish in Beaumont.  Steve explained that BNI is a business networking opportunity and I reluctantly agreed to go with him.  The ONLY reason I agreed was that just the month before Steve had spent approximately $3000.00 with me for his new computer network.  Otherwise I would have declined and never looked back.  You see, I thought I had “done it all.”  I had been in business for 25+ years, had been a member of various Chambers of Commerce, served on this volunteer board and that charity organization without any significant or measurable business results.

[Sidebar #1... It's not my intention to criticize Chambers of Commerce, volunteer organizations, charitable organizations or all those other worthy causes out there.  They all serve a purpose in the community, they all fill a need and they all need volunteers to help them succeed.  I've always believed that way otherwise I would not have freely given of my time to support them over the years.]

Reluctantly I attended my first BNI meeting as Steve’s guest.  Before we got there I admit that the only thing I was excited about was the fact that the meeting was being held at The Rockin’ A restaurant on a Tuesday.  You see, Tuesdays at The Rockin’ A are affectionately know as Pork Chop Tuesdays.  Their smothered pork chops heaped over a pile of rice with a dash of pepper sauce is pork heaven.  But I digress.  One of the first persons I met was a guy from Huntsville, TX, named Mark Taylor.  Mark is an Executive Director for BNI.  He ran the meeting and I have to admit that from the first introduction I was hooked on BNI; cautious but hooked.  For the next 90 minutes I heard a system explained to me that was so simple I couldn’t believe I had never heard of BNI before.

Things were discussed that I tried to counter by saying “We network in the Chamber” or “What’s unique about only allowing one member per profession?  Isn’t that the same as Rotary?”  My questions were asked and answered and the answers were good, really good.  The explanations amounted to “those other groups are great and they serve a purpose, mostly social and civic, but they serve a purpose.”  I learned that first meeting that the number one purpose of BNI was to educate the members of “my” chapter as to what they needed to know about my business in order to bring me more business.  In other words how to bring me qualified word of mouth referrals.  Not a lead but rather a personal referral.  You see the word “lead” is BNI cussin’.  A “lead” is simply another way of saying cold call.  Well, at this point I was starting to sip the Kool Aid…  but I was still cautious.  I kept waiting for Mark to open his trunk and bring out the Amway products or the sign up sheets so I could start signing up people to be on my pyramid, uh, I mean multi-level marketing team.

[Sidebar #2... Like me, I'm sure some of you have listened to the Amway pitch in the past.  There is no arguing with results and performance.  The following quote is taken directly from www.amway.com: "Amway is a global leader in direct selling, with over three million Independent Business Owners (IBOs) in over 80 countries and territories around the world. No other direct selling company can compare with our longevity, stability, and global reach.  For more than 45 years, Amway Corporation has enabled people to have a business of their own."  There is no arguing success and I applaud everyone who has and is making a living with this organization.  It's simply not for me.  Don't you just love this country?]

Well over the next several months a group of approximately 20 of us committed, joined and met weekly with Mark and he taught us how to speak BNI.  The pieces of the puzzle started to come together and none of those suspicions I had early on ever materialized.  When our training process ended we held a “Chapter Kick Off” event in November of 2007 and we were off and running.  My friend Steve and I became charter members of The Southeast Texas Networkers, the first BNI Chapter east of Houston.

With Mark’s continued support our chapter quickly grew to around 35 members.  Everything in BNI is structured.  Every BNI chapter in the world follows the same weekly, yes that’s right weekly, 90 minute agenda.  You might not understand what they’re saying in China or Brazil if you don’t speak the language but every BNI member can follow along during one of their chapter meetings and know what is going on.  That’s the “I” in International.

There’s a saying in BNI; It’s hard to get in and it’s hard to stay in.  The level of accountability is high.  There is a strict attendance policy.  Many BNI chapters are made up of a large number of self-employed entrepreneurs which means a lot of creative, independent thinkers.  At times, working with these independent men and women can be like trying to herd cats.  Most of these entrepreneurs are leaders rather than followers.  They make decisions on a daily basis and move forward which can be a challenge in a group such as BNI.  However, it’s the results, the bottom line, the fact that this system works that unites all members of a chapter and gives them focus and direction.

[Sidebar #3... Over the years I've been called an entrepreneur on several occasions.  Once I looked that word up on the dictionary.  You know what I found?  I found out that "entrepreneur" is a French word meaning "I'm hungry."  Many who are entrepreneurs look at themselves simply as someone trying to make a living for their family and making use of their God given talents.  That's all I ever wanted.]

I was active in my chapter and expressed my interest to Mark to become more involved with BNI at the Director level.  I wanted to continue to meet and work with like minded individuals and help them learn the process as I had learned it, from the ground up.  I applied to be the first Director in Southeast Texas, I drove to Houston to be interviewed by 4 other Directors on Mark’s Houston Team.  A couple of days after my interview Mark called offered me the opportunity to join the team which I gladly accepted.

At Mark’s expense, I flew out to California in the Spring of 2008 for 3 long days of training at BNI Headquarters.  There were no short cuts here.  This is an organization that believes in education.  I trained with about 20 other Director Trainees who were mostly from the US.  There were a couple of International trainees there as well and we struck up an immediate friendship.  My roommate for the training was a gentleman named Rick Pavlick from WI.  Rick and I were immediate friends.  One of the great benefits I’ve realized from my time in BNI is the caliber of people this organization attracts and retains.  Having run my business mostly on my own for all those years it was a breath of fresh air for me to meet and work with other individuals who were committed.  Even though our professions differed, we all shared the same common business issues; employee management, account payables as well as receivables, marketing, taxes, etc.  And the quality of the members of BNI is consistent from bottom to top.

I’ve personally met BNI’s founder Dr. Ivan Misner and you will not find a more cordial, sincere, dedicated business man.  Over the course of my life there have been a handful of people that when I met them for the very first time I immediately felt comfortable around them.  You know that feeling.  It’s as if you could invite them right then into your home for dinner and the evening would be a blast.  Dr. Misner is that kind of individual.  Not all members however are committed to the long term.  Over time, those who sign up for the short term usually weed themselves out pretty quickly.  The main reason they fail is they are takers not givers hence, BNI’s motto; “Givers Gain.”  BNI really is an organization of Givers from the top down.

May of 2008 I was back on a plane headed to Orlando, FL for the annual BNI National Director’s Conference and the training continued.  November 2008 found me back in California, this time for the annual BNI International Director’s Conference.  What an experience!  There were approximately 700 BNI Directors from all around the world coming together to share ideas and learn how to make BNI grow.  So, if you think this a pitch for BNI, you’re right!!!  If nothing else I encourage anyone who wants to grow their business to attend a BNI meeting and see first hand what BNI is all about.  Is it for everyone?  Absolutely not, but it is another business tool that is at your disposal if you choose to use it.  There are currently three BNI chapters meeting weekly in Southeast Texas; two meet in Beaumont on Tuesdays and one meets on Wednesdays in Nederland.  If you want to know more, email me or visit www.bnisetexas.com.  The international website is www.bni.com.

And that brings me full circle back to where I started, beer and cheese in Milwaukee, WI, the site of this year’s National Director’s Conference.  I resigned my chapter membership last November when I closed PNX but continued my service as an Assistant Director.  I’m anxious to see my BNI friends in Milwaukee.  The food, the fun, the continuing education and the fellowship are the best.  I can only imagine what might have been had I had found this organization 20 years ago…