It’s about who you know. That’s the BNI Edge.
The BNI chapter in Lloyd is dedicated to helping bolster the business community through advice and referrals.
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The local BNI group started after the COVID-19 pandemic when people were largely forced indoors.
“Because of COVID, we were able to take our training over Zoom. We didn’t have to go to the city for training,” said Sharon deKoning, communications co-ordinator and the force behind bringing BNI to Lloydminster.
She says she reached out a number of times, hoping to learn more about BNI in an effort to bring a chapter to Lloyd. According to deKoning, it was difficult to get training done in rural areas. However, with COVID-19 forcing most things online, training became easier.
The effort took about a year before the chapter began.
“We were able to evolve. It took us about a year and a half to actually form a chapter,” she said, explaining 24 members were needed to form a chapter. “We had to educate them on what BNI was and what the advantages of it was and then to launch the platform.”
BNI is a global organization with chapters around the world.
“We’re in 76 countries and there are over 360,000 members around the world,” said Aanand Mehta, executive director, BNI Alberta North. “Just in our region, there are over 500 members and they are committed to working with one another to support each other in business.
“Our members are entrepreneurs, sales professionals, business owners, people invested in the growth of a business.”
The groups meet weekly and members spend time outside the organization, meeting and referring people to each other’s businesses.
“We know that every business loves word-of-mouth referral, and BNI helps them put a structured system around actually generating quality referrals,” said Mehta. “That helps me gain a client, I’m leveraging the trust that someone else has in one another.”
For those looking to become a member, Mehta says people have to attend a local meeting.
“You must come and visit, check out a local BNI chapter,” he said. “We’re proud to have a chapter here in Lloydminster.”
Each chapter is unique as only one business of that type can hold membership.
“There can be only one printer represented in a specific chapter,” Mehta explained.
Member-at-large Greg Jones, who serves on the membership committee and interviews prospective members, found BNI to be a good fit for the company he works for, Guardian Plumbing.
“BNI has been a great source of referrals,” he said.
“I interview new applicants and I’m the member engagement specialist in that committee,” he said.
Information can also be found online.
“BNIEdge.ca would take you right to the BNI Alberta site and that would get you all the information right there,” said Jones. “We are in the Edmonton region, which actually has a large cluster of BNI groups, 28 in the region. It’s larger than the Calgary group.
“That speaks to the region leadership, but it’s also the entrepreneurial spirit in Northern Alberta,” he said, noting there’s plans of expanding into other areas as well.”
He says getting out to the BNI events is important.
“Nobody can speak better for your business than you,” said Jones.
When it comes to the success of BNI’s efforts, deKoning says the proof is in the pudding.
“We’re really excited to have it here in Lloydminster, I really think it works,” she said.
As explained by other members during the meeting, while the referral and networking aspect helps drive BNI, the meetings also help develop people’s social confidence.
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