Visitor versus guest debate

Ms. Bobbie James

July 14, 2021 05:29

To whom it may concern:

I've been told that they only to consider a visitor to my chapter is the likelihood that they join my chapter.  If this is true, I find this counter productive to the philosophy that we are part of a bigger network and family since the organization has an International reach.

I believe that a guest is someone who is already a part of the BNI family and is visiting a different chapter.  However, a visitor should be someone who is new to BNI and not a member.  With the philosophy of giver's gain, would it be beneficial to introduce all prospects to BNI and get credit for the visitor?  My introduction to someone outside of my chapter to another region that can benefit someone else in BNI isn't that a great example of Giver's Gain?

My point is that every person that is not a member of BNI should be recorded as a visitor.   Everyone who is already a member of BNI that attends a different chapter is a guest.

What's the likelihood that this will be adopted and the process?

Kindest regards,

Bobbie

0

• Official comment

  

  Jeremy Walsh

  July 30, 2021 16:27

  Bobbie,

  Great to hear from you and thank you for your very detailed thoughts. Adding this visitor/guest/substitute designation has been one of our most highly requested features over the years and we are happy to be able to deliver it.  It will, of course, raise the opportunity to have these discussions and clarifications globally!

  Kindly note that everyone and anyone is welcome to visit a BNI Chapter and everyone that walks into a BNI meeting provides some type of value.  Even people that may not be able to apply for whatever reason.  For example, we would welcome my mother to visit to experience the BNI culture even though she has been retired for several years.  She could still utilize the other member resources and provide referrals to the members for any of her friends that might need help.

  The VISITOR, GUEST and SUBSITUTE designations, which are verified by the International Board of Advisors (a member only group that reviews and suggests BNI policy) really are an internal designation that we use among ourselves in BNI and do not relate directly to the fact that we welcome all people to come to a meeting.

  If you go back to the "why" a BNI Visitor designation is associated with being able to potentially submit an app, we do need to look back to the purpose of the Visitor designation and the PALMS report.  One of our core values is Accountability and the PALMS report is our accountability tracker for ourselves and our chapter.

  From that perspective, one of our accountable goals is to continue to grow the chapter.  Growing the chapter requires potential applicants. That is why potential applicants, on their first visit, are tracked in the PALMS and the member is given a "1" in the PALMS report in the V column.  This shows their contributions to helping to grow the group.  Note that a the person marking attendance can override the suggested default and the VP has the final decision about credit in the PALMS report before submitting.

  It is also worth noting that keeping the PALMS report "clean" with true, first time visitors and designating other attendees accordingly also helps to keep many other statistics throughout BNI.  For example the chapter traffic lights has a metric for conversion rate, which is taken directly from the PALMS and divides the number of new members by the number of visitors.  If "guests" and substitutes were included in that metric, it would cause the statistic to plummet.

  Hope this helps to give a better understanding of the "why" behind these designations.
• 

  Mr. KRISHNANATH VENKATARAMAN

  June 15, 2024 07:26

  A small doubt.
  For the feature presentation, the speakers would tell that they would need some specific “visitors”. For eg: Insurance agent used to ask IT Employees or Residents association members as their “visitors”. My question is whether those “visitors” will be considered as visitors or guests and will the member inviting will get the visitor credit? If that is not considered as visitor and if the member is not getting visitor credit, as a member, I won’t be interested in bringing them to the room. This will eventually a lost opportunity for the feature presentation speaker. What would be done here?

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