Good or Bad: The One Category BNI Rule For Trades And Construction Marketing.
For those Trade and Construction business owners who don’t know.
Networking is HUGE for your Trade and Construction Brand and Marketing.
BNI stands for Business Networking International.
It’s an organisation that has ‘chapters’ (networking groups) all over the world. 🌍
And globally, is THE most successful networking organisation of its type.
Intro out the way.
You’re reading this from someone who has had BNI in their life for over 10 years.
And seen the good, the bad and the ugly.
So this point of view looks at both sides of the coin.
To help Trade and Construction business owners understand from the get-go whether BNI is the place for you or not.
Also.
If you are a long-standing member, things to look out for to protect your category within your membership.
So, you get the most out of your experience.
So let’s dive in. 🤿
One member per BNI category:
Pros and cons for your Trade
and Construction Brand
and Marketing?
I’m going to presume you don’t know all the ins and outs of a BNI set up.
A BNI Chapter is set up so that you have one member per seat.
And once that seat has been filled, that category is now locked out.
Example.
A BNI Chapter has the Plumbing seat available.
I.e. There are no plumbers currently as members.
A plumber visits.
Decides to apply.
Acceptance is not automatic.
The chapter do their background research on you and if you will be a good fit first.
(So be sure your Trade and Construction brand and marketing is spot on!).
The plumber’s application is accepted.
Great.
No other plumbers can now join this BNI chapter or come along to visit.
🔒 The category is locked out.
👍🏾 PROS
In theory, this is great.
✅ You go to your weekly networking meetings without ‘competitors’ in the room.
✅ You are at the forefront of your fellow chapter members’ minds when a ‘plumbing’ job (or whatever Trade you are) pops up.
✅ You can position yourself as the go-to expert for your members and their contacts.
Having one member per category/seat is one of BNI’s BIGGEST selling points in my opinion.
There are LOTS of other Networking Groups around nowadays.
Many less formal and less structured.
Which works well for some.
But casual networking meetings often don’t lock out competitors.
You could be one of 20 other ‘plumbers’ in the room.
Meaning your visibility can go down the drain faster that a shot of Mr Muscle in the sink.
Though we should never spend our lives concentring on what our Trade and Construction competitors are doing in their brand and marketing (but focusing on our own business and strategy for our Ideal Clients), it can be difficult to ignore if it’s in our face on a weekly basis.
By being the only Trade in the room for your particular service eliminates any ‘competitor’ worry and allows you to focus on getting to know the other members in the room.
Educating them on how you help your clients.
And helping find them referrals for their business in return for them doing the same for you.
Epic.
❌ CONS
Stay with me on this.
The explanation might be meaty but the crux of it is something you need to watch out for.
Now.
I said that once you join BNI your category is locked out.
Here's where is gets murky.
When it comes to BNI categories, there is a GUIDANCE list that chapters use when recruiting.
It has categories such as decorators, plumbers, roofers, mechanics, florists, DJ’s, graphic designers etc.
BNI is not industry specific.
Any industry is open to join.
I.e., Construction, Hospitality, Finance, Legal etc.
However.
This list is GUIDANCE.
Not gospel.
And chapters are in fact left to their own devices to decide on categories and who can join.
This is worked out by the chapter committees and Director Consultants (managers of the group).
So.
Electrician may be on the list.
However.
As a chapter starts to get bigger, naturally, the groups still wants to grow.
They are a business too don’t forget.
I’ve yet to meet a BNI chapter that has put a cap on how many members they have taken on.
The chapter I was a member of had 84 members at its peak.
(Imagine the amount of referrals and money being passed compared to a chapter of 15!)
And even at 84, there was no plan to cap the numbers.
The biggest chapter I knew of in the UK got to about 110.
I know.
Pretty epic.
100+ businesses in the room every week.
What starts happening, is that categories can start getting broken down to allow for more members.
For example.
Let’s jump back to that electrician.
In a smaller, newer chapter, the sparkie may be offered the electrical seat as a whole.
In a larger, long-running chapter, they may well have broken the seat down into two – domestic and commercial electrician.
Of which you can only apply for one.
Now.
Imagine you are that sparkie.
And you’ve worked out your Ideal Client is a residential homeowner.
You have zero interest in commercial work.
Maybe you’ve dabbled in it in the past but it just doesn’t float your boat.
Not profitable, the hours don’t work for you and you just don’t have the team for it.
Excellent!
Then you taking the DOMESTIC ELECTRICAL seat at a BNI chapter works perfectly for you.
And another Trade taking on the COMMERICAL ELECTRICAL seat - who DOESN’T offer residential work - won’t affect you and your business in the slightest.
In fact.
You may even be able to pass each other referrals.
For the jobs you get asked about but don’t want or can’t do.
Even better! 👏🏼
Way to rock up to your BNI meetings with referrals in hand for another member.
But.
And this ‘but’ is BIG.
What if you hold the DOMESTIC seat.
And another Trade visits your group and applies for the COMMERCIAL spot.
But in fact, not only do they offer commercial electrical work but their business ALSO caters for DOMESTIC.
The rule of BNI is that in the meeting itself, you are ONLY allowed to talk about your specific category (whether the seat is taken or not).
However.
In 121s (these are meetings you have with another member outside the weekly meeting to get to know them more) you can of course talk about whatever you like.
Plus.
What about their marketing?
Their Trade and Construction website – that members will visit.
Their Trade and Construction social media – that members will follow.
Their Trade and Construction vehicle graphics – that are parked outside each week.
Of course, BNI would have no place asking companies to change their entire marketing.
Just because of their membership.
So members begin to learn, one way or another, that perhaps they do fantastic work on the domestic side too.
And though the commercial electrician may not speak about it in the weekly meeting, how might this affect your referrals and return on investment?
⚠️ PRO TIP – IF ALREADY A BNI MEMBER
Do your own research on every Trade that applies to your chapter before they join.
Biggest tip I can give you.
Because this is your opportunity to ensure that their business doesn’t clash with yours.
And you can take your thoughts to the committee before that business is allowed to join.
Once they have been inducted to your group, it is near impossible to fix.
I say ‘every Trade’ because all you will know about this company is what they say in their presentation when they visit (everyone gets 1 minute – usually – to present).
⚠️ PRO TIP – IF NEW TO BNI
Speak to the member helping you with your application and ask them how your category could/will be divided up in the future – if at all.
I.e. Will you be called DOMESTIC PAINTING AND DECORATING, or do you hold the PAINTING AND DECORATING SEAT.
Be clear on your category name and what is put down on your application form.
This is a contract after all.
And chapters must abide by it.
(Though this can be open to change at renewal after a year by the chapter).
Do your own research on the Trades in the chapter before joining.
Check out their social media.
Their websites.
Does anyone else’s business do what you do, but they are in the chapter for a specific category.
Example.
In the chapter I was a member of we had 4 builders.
Technically.
Though ‘not on paper’ by BNI standards.
They all actually offered similar services in their business.
But they each held one of the following categories:
Kitchen.
Loft.
Main Contractor.
Bathrooms.
You may agree/disagree with the breakdown of this.
But as I mentioned earlier, it’s up to the committee and Director Consultant who get the final say.
So every chapter will have a different stance.
Though if members had put in a concern when an application was submitted, this would have been considered as part of the decision making process.
I can tell you that some of these guys that had been in the chapter for years, didn’t pay enough notice when these other Trades visited.
Had they reached out and asked if that business had applied, they may have had a few concerns to voice before acceptance.
Another example.
The Plumbing and Heating seat.
These were two different categories in my chapter.
This actually worked fine for our plumber.
As he wasn’t Gas Registered.
Though the Gas Engineer DID offer plumbing.
Thankfully, that relationship worked out really well.
They got on like a house on fire and passed work to each other.
Though I have seen many instances in chapters where this has not been the case.
And there has been quite a lot of conflict between members.
So is good for you to be aware of all this.
And know what to look out for.
Whether you’re a current member or new to BNI.
Bottom line.
Do some digging before making decisions. 👍🏾
⬇️ Good or Bad: The One Category BNI Rule For Trades And Construction Marketing Rundown:
👍🏾 PROS
1. No ‘official’ competitors in the room.
2. Forefront of member’s minds for referrals for your Trade.
3. Position yourself as the go-to expert.
4. Better visibility for your Trade.
❌ CONS
1. Categories can get murky.
2. Your responsibility to protect your category.
3. Committees and Director Consultants are final decision makers.
4. Positions on categories can change at renewal (1 year later).
🛠 Need a little more help nailing your Trade and Construction Networking for your Brand and Marketing?
Course you do.
First. Let’s work out where you are with all things Networking.
Got 3 minutes?
Take our Trades Quiz to discover how you score with all things ‘Off The Tools’.
We have heaps of tips, tricks, and hacks for your Trade and Construction business in our cheat sheets, videos and ideas waiting for you on the other side… i.e., your results page.
So, you can improve your score. And NAIL your Trade and Construction business.
Nice.