It is the same all over the world, not matter where I go or who I speak to in BNI it is the same. 

More than 90% of the members in a chapter have absolutely no goals for what they expect to give or receive from the chapter. Why is that?

I don’t want to write a blog about the importance of goal setting. There are studies that show that people who write down their goals and review them regularly have a 50% greater level of success than those who do not.

Still most people never bother to set goals for their lives or their businesses and if they do jot down a few goals they have no plan on how to achieve those goals. Besides the excellent studies that have been done about goal setting, there are books you can read if you choose to be interested.

I am only going to discuss the importance of setting goals for your membership in BNI.

You have invested money and time into the organization with the hope of growing your business and thereby creating the life that you dream of.  So wouldn’t it make sense to take the time to understand what you need to give and what you need to receive to create that business and life?

Let’s start with a few questions:

  • How much money do you want to earn annually?
  • What percentage of that do you expect to earn by referral?
  • How many referrals would you need to earn that much?
    • What is your hard and soft cost of membership?
    • What is the average value of a sale?
    • What is your closing percentage?
    • Now how many referrals will you need to receive?

If this looks daunting they you may need to increase the average value of a sale. For instance if you sold gift baskets, rather than looking for clients who order one or two per year, look for clients who order 10 or more per month. If you generally charge $50 per hour for your services then you may need to raise your hourly rate.

Now BNI is based on the GIVERS GAIN philosophy, you have to give before you can expect to get. This means that you have to give to the success of the chapter as well as the success of the members. So what are your giving goals?

  • How many referrals will you bring to the chapter?
  • How many visitors/guest will you introduce to your fellow members?
  • How many one to one meetings will you have with your fellow members?
  • How many hours will you invest in service the chapter?

If you take the time to write down the answers to each of these questions and share your goals with your fellow members you will achieve them much faster than you ever expected.

You joined the chapter because you wanted to succeed; improve your odds by setting goals for what you want to achieve.

Remember to get you have to give, 

 Hazel

There are few women better at building a global network than Hazel Walker . Renowned for her straight talk and no-holds-barred approach, Hazel is a globally sought after speaker