As a small business owner and the mother of four, Sarah Morrison has sufficient excuses to grab every minute of sleep that she possibly can. Nonetheless, every Wednesday, at 7:15 a.m., you can find the owner of Tuscaloosa Flower Shoppe mingling with a group of about 30 local professionals involved with Business Networking International.
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Sarah Morrison (back row), owner of Tuscaloosa Flower Shoppe, has made more than $305,000 in the past year from referrals through Business Networking International.
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Morrison, director of the Tuscaloosa, Ala., chapter, has been a BNI member for five years. It’s a move she credits with “completely turning around a shop that was close to bankruptcy” when she purchased it in 2007. “I’ve made more than $305,000 just this year from BNI,” she said.
BNI, whose motto is “the giver gains,” is all about giving referrals and gaining business in return. Members come from all sorts of business categories (bankers, hair stylists, realtors, insurance agents, contractors, etc.) and no category can have more than one representative, thus there’s no competition within the group.
At every breakfast meeting, each member gets two minutes to talk about what’s going on in their business and what type of referral would be the most beneficial to them that particular week. In January, for instance, Morrison asks her BNI cohorts for bridal leads, “because I know a lot of people get engaged over the holidays and I want to meet them before other florists do,” she said.
Her biggest windfall, though, has been corporate business. “It’s been huge,” she said. “The people from BNI have introduced me to new clients and then those new clients do the same. They say everybody knows at least 500 people, and I’m definitely finding this to be true.”
BNI works because it builds members an army of supporters, which makes running a business feel more like a team effort.
“We have a saying, ‘Visibility plus credibility equals profitability,’ which pretty much means, if you show up, people get to know you and trust you,” she said. “And people like to do business with people they know and trust.”
Attendance is mandatory, though subs are allowed. On the rare occasion that she can’t make a meeting, Morrison sends an employee in her place. Reciprocation, too, is expected. BNI members fill out a slip for every referral they give, thus the club can track who is or isn’t contributing and individuals can calculate just how much business they can attribute to BNI.
Interested in joining BNI? Morrison welcomes any questions you might have. Contact her at sarah.tuscaloosaflowershoppe@yahoo.com or 205-861-7760.
