My BNI Journey - Mark Stewart - Beanebytes Web Design

My name is Mark Stewart and I am the owner of www.beanebytes.com

I was first introduced to BNI in February 2012. At the time I had been running my business for only a short while and was frustrated with the levels of return on my marketing and sales expenditure.

As such it was with a certain amount of trepidation I attended my first meeting for a new BNI chapter in Ware, Hertfordshire.

The idea of networking had never really appealed to me as I expected it to be full of stuffy types in suits with lots to say about themselves.

A year down the line and I'm now a fully fledged, active member of the BNI Endeavour Hertford & Ware Networking group and enjoying every minute of my BNI experience.

Being a member of BNI has brought huge dividends not only to my business in terms of growth and revenue but also in my personal development.

At the start of my BNI journey the idea of public speaking horrified me.

My confidence in public speaking and selling myself to potential clients has grown beyond my expectations and this is largely due to my involvement with BNI.

I feel really grateful to be part of a vibrant group of local business owners from all trades and walks in life.

For any new business owner I could not recommend BNI more highly. 

Mark.

You can catch up with Mark on Google+ 

My BNI Journey - Nigel Adams - Big Black Hen - Estate agent

I am +Nigel Adams the owner of www.BigBlackHen.com estate agents. 

When I opened an office in Hertfordshire, having previously been down in Somerset, I was invited to various networking events but I found them to be too informal to really benefit a business such as mine. All anyone seemed to want to do was to sell to me! Then I got invited to BNI in St Albans which was a very different proposition with its focus on accountability and results. 

I decided to give it a go and joined the Chariots Chapter in March 2011. As recommendations have always been my biggest source of new clients I felt it was right for my business model. I had a good year learning the ropes of network marketing and getting a lot of properties on the market, and selling, in areas that I hadn’t been marketing in to that date. 

When a BNI Hertford/ Ware Networking group started in early 2012 I joined immediately as this is the area that I do most of my business in. BNI has continued to be both a powerful source of quality leads and a major and growing revenue stream for my business. But it has been much more than that as by mixing with other business owners and entrepreneurs you get lots of really good ideas that you can use to build your own business. You also create an invaluable and supportive group of friends who you can call upon at any time. I couldn’t recommend it more highly.

Nigel.

My BNI story.....Paul Jennings - The Utility Warehouse Discount Club

I started BNI back in November 2005 when I joined a BNI chapter in Enfield called Vision, I joined as the Electrician of the chapter, I then left the chapter when I was moving to Hertford and was involved in starting a core group (a starting BNI Chapter) this chapter never got to launch so I joined a Chapter in St Albans called Chariots, I left when my membership was up at the end of 2008. 

BNI worked extremely well for my business as a way of getting new business and has been the best networking organisation for getting referrals to new business. I saw that BNI would work for my business from my very first meeting as a visitor, and made the decision that I would join halfway through the meeting.

I started my Utility Warehouse Discount Club Business at the end of 2008 and I then re joined a BNI group in 2009 that had an opening for my category, at the end of my membership I left BNI due to a change in circumstances. 

When a friend told me that BNI Endeavour was launching in Hertford/ Ware I didn't even think twice about making sure I was at the first meeting in February 2012 and already knew that I was going to make an application to join the group.....It was really a no brainer. I've always enjoyed BNI meetings even though they start early, it makes a great start to the day and I've had more from BNI than just business referrals. The other benefits I've found include growing my business contacts, making new friends, increasing my business knowledge and I've found the meetings to be fun with a bit of banter too. A surprising thing I also found out was that I get a great buzz from finding and giving referrals to my fellow members and helping them to grow their businesses.

BNI Networking has been one of the best investments in my business marketing I've ever made and the Return on Investment has been tremendous value, I'd recommend it to all business owners to at least give it a go for a year.

I help people to save money on their household bills and for those that need or want an extra income stream I help them to make money on a part time basis.

To your success

Paul

We're growing in winter

As we go in to the darker and colder mornings we're still growing our networking group as more serious business owners come and join us to work on growing their businesses. We're now up to 28 members and closing in on our target of 40+ and expect we'll be there within the next six months, it's definitely exciting times for the members of BNI Endeavour and it's great to keep business in the local area of Hertford and Ware.

Our newest members are Bradley Palmer from The Auto Agency based on Old Cross, the auto agency is an 'Estate Agent' for cars so if you're looking to sell your car without all the hassle then give Brad a call. We also welcome Jordan Marsh from Marsh Glazing UK Ltd

So far the group has passed £70,483 worth of business between us through 478 referrals which means each referral is worth on average £147 each.

A very special mention goes to Matthew Aubrey from Aubrey Homes Project Management who consistently passes high numbers in referrals each week.

Unfortunately we've said good bye to Martin Brophy as he has stepped down from the BNI Director Consultant role as he goes off to work on growing another business, this is a sad change for us at Endeavour as along with Dayle Guy he was instrumental in launching and growing Endeavour to where it is now and we owe him many thanks for where we are now and where the group is going, and of course for the impact it has had and will have on our businesses.

If you think you'll benefit from business networking in Hertford and Ware then we'd love to meet you, so if you'd like to come and visit us to see how a meeting works then do get in touch to book a place at the next meeting.

To your business success
Paul

I sell therefore I am (a salesperson)

The real truth is that we are all salespeople whether we run a business or not, some examples in life are when you have been for an interview you have to sell yourself, when you meet new people you sell yourself and even when you were a kid and you wanted something from your parents you had to sell the idea to them to try and get what you wanted.

I was once on a training course and the question of what do you sell was asked around the room. When an electrician was asked this question the reply came "I'm an electrician, I don't sell anything", He couldn't have been more wrong and I believe that this thinking was possibly limiting him in his business and how big he could have grown his company.

The real issue in the UK is that salespeople have been tarred with a brush that some people believe that a salesperson is going to make them buy something they don't want and overpriced at that and won't do what they need it to, or that they will come to your home and not go until late and only when the police are called.....This is an unfair stereo type developed by TV companies for 'entertainment' purposes, in truth it's a very small minority that will mis-sell or sell with pressure.

Selling is all about listening to people asking the right questions and helping them with their need. Good sales people sell with integrity and in a holistic way. An old adage is 'we have 2 ears and one mouth, use them in that proportion' - Sometimes it can be tough to listen intently to someone, especially if we think we have something important to contribute, If you have trouble listening to people then use the technique of repeating what they say to you back in your head, this way you'll find it'll be harder to think of what to say next and you'll find you can more easily remember what they say.


So if you run a business, you have a product or service that people buy from you, therefore you are a salesperson, embrace it and become even better by learning how to sell and your business will flourish.



To your success

Paul

The importance of weekly networking meetings.

Welcome to the latest post from BNI Endeavour, we're passing referrals thick and fast and we've had a constant stream of visitors to what is probably the best business networking group in Hertfordshire. We're now up to 25 members on our journey to 40.

We'd like to welcome our newest member Bev Moseley from Nockolds solicitors, we look forward to working with Bev to help her grow the business. Bev deals in the employment law sector so if you need her help give her a call, Click here for the employment law page of the Nockolds solicitors website  

The importance of weekly meetings.
At BNI we meet on a weekly basis, while this may not be for everyone in my experience it works, I've been to many different networking events that meet bi weekly or even monthly, I've found that networking on a weekly basis helps to grow relationships much much faster and because of that more referrals get passed. It's also important to be at meetings as often as possible so we can learn about the other members through their 60 seconds and for the person who's turn it is to do the ten minute segment so they can inform us more about the ins and outs about their business.

We're looking for quality businesses to join our group so we can help each other, if your profession isn't represented on the right hand side, then it is vacant and we'd love to see you at a meeting soon, so do get in touch.

To your success
Paul

The one where we did our business networking upstairs

This weeks meeting was held upstairs as our normal room was being used for the Hertford/ Ware business showcase. We had 5 visitors with us this week and 2 members come along from other local chapters to see how the fastest growing BNI Networking chapter in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire runs things.

We welcomed new member Alan Tobutt from Celtel direct our new Digtal marketing man (Pictured right) which brings us up to 24 members as we strive for our goal of 40+ members and we also have had some applications in from our visitors this week so we should be going past 30 very soon.

Nigel Adams unveiled his plan for our referral launchpad which is a fantastic idea, it's going to be a booklet of all of the members and the sort of referrals we're looking for and what to say to those potential referrals, another way that will make it easier to get referrals for each other.
Allan Pennington kindly donated Phil Collins' plaque for over 1,500,000 sales of serious hits live as a prize for their Brocket hall, charity golf day on the 25th of October, you can visit the Isabel hospice events page here  

We ended the meeting with over 30 referrals passed and then down to the business showcase where we had a stand to promote the chapter.