Submitted by Dan Swider, BNI Vermont Chapter Launch Director
One of the great things about BNI is our Mentoring Program. Chapters with strong mentoring teams consistently see better member retention. This is because new members are not left to just figure BNI out. How many of you know that there is also a Current Member Mentoring program? Now, how many of you are saying to yourselves, “Self, I have been doing this for a few years and I am darn good at referral marketing”?
It is pretty safe to assume that in BNI we are all pretty good at what we do. After all, that is how we got through the interview process to become a member in the first place! That said, almost none of us are experts at referral marketing.
I know in my own membership, asking for a mentor in my third year changed my entire membership. I was struggling. And getting a perspective from another member on how to be better at this was a huge boost for me. Keep in mind, no mentor is going to tell you how to run your business. Current Member Mentoring is about becoming a better member and getting a better return on your BNI investment.
Maybe you are in the second year of your membership and you have the basics down. Have you asked someone for a perspective on how to take it to the next level? I would bet after a year or more in BNI, you may have an entirely different set of questions then the ones you walked in with day 1. Have you reached out to your Mentor Coordinator and asked them to assign you an available mentor?
Current Member Mentoring is set up to be driven by the member who has questions or wants to improve as a member. There is a plan in place and people in your chapter trained to help you. The first step in becoming a better member is asking!
