Greene County BNI Chapter Announces Visitors Day

BEAVERCREEK - The Greater Dayton Professionals Chapter of BNI, Business Network International, will be holding a special visitors day event from 7:30 am to 9:00 am on Thursday, April 8, 2010 at City Barbeque in Beavercreek, located at 2330 B N. Fairfield Road. The special event is free to attend and open to all entrepreneurs, business managers and sales professionals who would like to grow their businesses and expand their professional network.

Originally established in 1999, the leadership team of the Greater Dayton Professionals BNI chapter remains diligent in its efforts to hire the most professional, productive people for the organization. The membership is currently made up of 25 businesses including a marketing firm, real estate agent, mortgage lender, electrical contractor, HVAC service and a law firm. So far in 2010, the members have passed more than $73,000 in closed business.

Gery L. Deer, writer and managing director of GLD Enterprises Media Group, is the vice president and public relations coordinator for the chapter. "We welcome visiting business professionals to any of our weekly meetings," Deer said. "Because potential members apply for a position within a specific professional category, this event provides them with the opportunity to observe the process first-hand and submit an application ahead of the competition."

The international BNI organization was started by professional networking guru Dr. Ivan Misner in 1985 and now has more than 5,000 chapters world-wide. The goal of BNI is to help members develop a profitable referral network free of internal competition, something unavailable from chamber organizations or service clubs. Through the BNI structure, a network of professional connections can grow well beyond the core group and extend the reach of a small business to unrealized potential customers.

In the BNI strategy, each member tries to learn as much as possible about the others to the extent that they can give an informed recommendation to potential clients. Every week members give a 60-second sales training presentation from which the others learn more about their work and what constitutes an ideal referral.

"In order to pass a referral to another member of our chapter, the giver is required to have already communicated with the subject beforehand," Deer explained. "Qualifying the referral in this way before passing it, rather than giving random, unqualified leads, is what separates BNI from other organizations and nearly assures a closed sale."

In addition to providing the opportunity for expanding one's professional network, the Greater Dayton Professionals Chapter of BNI also offers extensive education in the areas of business growth and networking. Each member is required to attend a Membership Success Program which provides the basic instruction for new BNI members, while the Educational Coordinator of the chapter gives weekly networking education presentations to further help people succeed.

The meeting will begin promptly at 7:30 and visitors to the chapter are encouraged to bring at least 30 business cards, as well as any fliers or brochures they wish to distribute to the membership. A brief visitor orientation will be held immediately following the business meeting. For more information go online to www.greaterdaytonpros.com or contact chapter president Sharon Zeljak of Automated Advantage by calling (937) 427-3277.