BNi Mercury – What To Expect

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July 5, 2024

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Don’t be nervous!

So this is going to be your first visit to a BNi group and you have no idea what to expect? Well the good news is you’ve chosen a great group to visit first. At Mercury we are renowned for our friendly and relaxed atmosphere at our meetings. Whilst business is the core aim of our members, making the meetings approachable, fun and interesting is how we do it. So please don’t be nervous – you will be welcomed with open arms by our visitor hosts on the day.

Let’s go.

We kick off at 10am but members will be on site from 9.30am and recommend visitors arrive around 9.45am so they can get checked in. There is ample parking at Halesowen Cricket Club so no need to worry about that. Upon arrival you will be met by one of our visitor hosts who will get you checked in and, if required, take payment (just £20). We will then show you where the coffee and teas are and introduce you to some of the other members.

Open Networking

The meeting will be called to order at 10am and then its time to grab a selection of fruit, yoghurts and pastries for breakfast and to chat and get to know the others at the meeting. If you are new to networking our biggest tip is just be yourself, be open and don’t come in with a sell, sell, sell attitude. Remember, people buy from people so let them get to know the real you. This is an ideal time to pass business cards around.

Welcome & team introduction

Our leadership team will welcome everyone and introduce themselves and the roles of the team and give a little more insight into BNi and the core values we hold.

Education Slot

One of the unsung aspects of BNi networking is the education that members receive. Each week a member gives a short lesson on some aspect of networking or business hoping to give valuable insights to members and visitors alike.

60 Seconds

This is the only bit you may want to prepare for – unless you are great at talking about yourself and your business off the cuff! Each member gets 60 seconds to introduce themselves and their business and let other members know who or what they are looking for and how we can help. Placemats are provided with each member and visitor listed so you can take notes.

Once all the members have done their 60 seconds then it’s the turn of our visitors. Here are some top tips:

Try not to be nervous. We all did our first 60 seconds once and know how it feels but there is no pressure and no judgement.

  • Tell us the key points about you and your business
  • Be specific about who or what you are looking for. The more specific the better – you never know who someone in the room may know and be able to refer you to.
  • Try to keep it to 60 seconds. We know you will have lots to tell us as it’s our first time meeting you but keep it short and sweet. You can always tell us more next week!

Chapter Performance

We run through the performance of the chapter, discussing new members, total business passed and referrals for the period. This is where we shout about being a £1million+ chapter – there aren’t that many of them and it’s something we are very proud of at Mercury..

10 Minute Speaker

Each week a member gets the opportunity to deliver 10 minutes on them and their business. It’s a chance to dive deeper into what they do and how they do it as well as a chance to get to know the person more. There is always something of interest that comes out of these and helps the other members understand a person/business more. Undoubtedly there will be a short question and answer session that follows.

Referrals & testimonials

We are all there to increase business and this is the part where we look at the results for the previous week. We report on referrals passed, any thankyou for the business received and give any testimonials for our fellow members. It’s a really important part of the meeting as it shows visitors how well BNi works and what can be achieved.

Visitor Orientation

We ask our visitors to convene with a visitor host to give feedback on the meeting. Please be honest, it’s this feedback that allows us to improve the experience going forward.

Meeting Close

And we are done. Well done you’ve survived your first BNi, and hopefully you’ve enjoyed it! Feel free to stay around for more open networking and coffee – it’s the perfect opportunity to engage with anyone who has caught your interest during the meeting.

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