Why should I prioritize BNI?

Today I want to talk about priorities. How do you prioritize something? Everyone has different methods. Some people put their pets at the top of their priority list, some people put a strong margarita at the top of their priority list. Some people put family first, some people put God first, some people put work first. Whatever order people put their life priorities in, is great – absolutely no judgement here. The problem, is that BNI often takes a back seat to everything. It’s work, but is it really work? It’s fun, but do you really put it in your social category? Where does BNI fall?

If a client tells you that they need to schedule a meeting with you on Wednesday, but the only time they have available is during our weekly BNI meeting, do you ask your client to wait until Thursday, or do you miss the BNI meeting?

You may think, well the client meeting is more important, I see my BNI family every week, I’m gonna get referrals even if I miss one meeting. But the truth is, everyone notices when someone is absent. And even though it’s true that we see everyone every week, if I notice that someone is consistently absent or late or cancels 1:1s with me, then I’m going to be hesitant to give that person referrals. Because what if that person treats my client in the same mediocre way?

And you may think – NO, I give my clients 100% of my effort. It’s different than BNI. The reason I missed BNI is BECAUSE I was giving my client 100% of my effort. Well, we don’t know that. All we know is that you’ve missed a meeting. Or you showed up late. Or you canceled a 1:1.

And the whole purpose of BNI is to develop credibility. To show the rest of us that you’re a professional, that you’re on time, that you’re someone that we should TRUST to give referrals to.

So please make BNI a priority. It may not seem as important as “real work”, but, at least for me, BNI is the reason that I have “real work”, and that’s why I take it so seriously.