Business Network Groups

[hsestoreltd]

Just at the point with my company now where I have the time to attend a few of these in my local area. Has anyone experienced these, were they helpful, what tips do you have?

 

[Mark T Jones]

What are you selling? To whom?

What are you hoping to achieve?

My personal view is that groups specific to your target market work best

 

[Ozzy]

Exactly as Mark says above, it depends on the group and what you want to achieve.

To give two extreme examples at each end of te spectrum, in my experience.

Attending a group such as BNI can work really well for some industries if you can play by the very strict rules; in a past life I ran a business that had core clients who were accountants and solicitors and being part of BNI significantly more than paid for itself (until I got fed up with the strict rules).

Groups like FSB breakfasts and Chamber lunches can work for the long game on a softly softly approach, but often develop cliques as they become more of the same people always attending. I've also found they can end up becoming too comfortable so keep an eye on your ROI.

Ultimately networking is a business expense of time and money, if you attend a networking lunch which takes you out the business for three hours (imagine that being £50 per hour) plus the cost of lunch at £50, that is a £200 cost to your business. Have you made that back, or could you spend that £200 better elsewhere?

I'd say try and few, go to them a few times to make sure you get known, and then measure the results, but be very firm to knock it on the head if it isn't making you a return.

 

[Mark T Jones]

I'd say try and few, go to them a few times to make sure you get known, and then measure the results, but be very firm to knock it on the head if it isn't making you a return.

And definitely don't buy into the b/s around the 'value of a seat' or leads passed over the table.

I benefitted a lot from BNI-style events when they were sponsored & attended by bank managers - purely on the back of building a relationship with said manager. Like @Ozzy the rules and regs became tedious quite quickly.

From close observation, others who benefited were mostly selling lowish-value, easily-understood goods and services to business owners & their friends and families - life insurance being a classic example.

 

[AmazonGeek]

I was a member of BNI for 13 years and it provided a tonne of business along with pretty much every major opportunity I ever had in that period. Having said that, I was lucky to be a member of a long-established group generating millions in business each year and a lot of the members had been there for over 10 years. BNI is very marmite though and isn't for everyone.

I finally left in April this year and one of the first things I did was join the Business Network (lancs), run by Karen Tems. It has been amazing and I have already picked up loads and loads of work and made a great alliance with the commercial photographer in the group who is selling out an Amazon package to their international clients. Karen is also one of my students.

I was asked to do the morning seminar a couple of months ago and that also generated a load of interest and a string of clients.

What I would say though is that just turning up will do you no good at all. You need to build the relationships and work on them.

 

[fisicx]

not sure the members will be interested in buying my plugins. Might make them fall asleep though. It is pretty boring.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

There are some secondary benefits to joining networking groups particularly if your not very grounded in business speak or confident talking to a large mixed group. I attended BNI for 3 years, a bit like Dragon's Den without the sarcasm, and learnt a lot.

 

[AmazonGeek]

BNI was amazing. I got a load of direct work, introductions to customers and made connections that helped me enormously over the years. The company I am with now also came as a direct result of being a member. I just got to the point where I was so busy I couldn't spare the time to make the most of it. I now do a couple of monthly events that are both turning up lots of clients.

The thing to remember is that you are not trying to do business with the members themselves (although you probably will). You need to get to know a handful of them well enough so that they will introduce you to their network. The trick is finding out who the handful are. Have 121s with them, go on socials and really get to know them and their businesses. Try and help them and they will do the same.

 

[Mark T Jones]

The thing to remember is that you are not trying to do business with the members themselves (although you probably will). You need to get to know a handful of them well enough so that they will introduce you to their network. The trick is finding out who the handful are. Have 121s with them, go on socials and really get to know them and their businesses. Try and help them and they will do the same.

Way back when, I joined a few BNI spin-offs (Could never handle the rules of BNI) - It was when they were sponsored and attended by banks.

The primary goal was to connect with the resident bank manager - which was broadly successful.

Goal 2 was to do the same with the resident accountant - Limited success, and I learned that most accountants don't really talk to their customers.

The 'leads' and intros from other group members were dire and embarrassing - sometimes fictitious too. Having observed closely, it works where the offering is relatively inexpensive and easily understood.

In my world, I get infinitely more value from targeted networking.

 

[Lisa Thomas]

Go to a few and see if you like them.

Approach them with the attitude that you're unlikely to get any sales, it's more about getting your face/firm's name/brand known and mentioned on social media.

There are also loads that meet virtually on zoom - you could try a few of those and get an understanding of pitches and 1-2-1's before you go to some in person.

I do tons of networking, and host two groups, so happy to give you any pointers. Feel free to dm me if you have more specific questions.

 

[AmazonGeek]

All networking groups are very much about the members. The system is just that - a system. You can have the best format in the world but if the members are useless, it won't do you much good. I was lucky to be in a very well-established group with around 50 members, generating millions But I know of plenty of groups that were a joke. BNI is very marmite - some love it, others hate it. The Business Network is a lot more informal and if anyone is in the Lancashire area I can highly recommend it. I was sat opposite the guy that supplied the King with his £30k mattress not so long ago!

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

I'm part of a local business network group in my area. This has generated a few sales and is by far the most effective group I've ever joined because it has small businesses with budgets wanting to generate more sales using video! As someone in video production, this has been pretty useful!

I'm also curious. Is the IoD worth joining from a networking perspective? Does anyone have any experience of that?