The Power of Growing Our Networking Group
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You’ve often heard me say that each of us knows around 150 people that we can easily refer to our members. Your family, friends, business contacts, customers, etc…
So imagine when you look across the table at your fellow members, there are 150 people standing behind them, that could become potential customers, or referral partners.
The people in the room are TIER ONE referrals.
The multitudes standing behind each member are TIER TWO referrals.
Number of Tier One Connections
16 x 16 = 256
20 x 20 = 400
32 x 32 = 1,024
Number of Tier Two Individuals
16 x 150 = 2,400
20 x 150 = 3,000
32 x 150 = 4,800
Number of Tier Two Connections
16 (150) x 16 (150) = 5,760,000
20 (150) x 20 (150) = 9,000,000
32 (150) x 32 (150) = 23,040,000
40 (150) x 40 (150) = 36,000,000
This is a geometric progression. Every time we double the size of the group, we quadruple the number of connections. This by itself, is ample reason for wanting to grow our group, but there are several other benefits.
Studies have shown that really interesting things begin to happen once a group gains 20+ members.
Studies done by BNI and other organizations show that, groups under 25 members spend 80% of their time inviting and recruiting new members and 20% of their time building relationships & generating referrals. Groups under 25 (on average) generate $12,000 for each member per year. For a group of 20 that’s $240,000 a year in closed business.
Groups with more that 25 members spend 80% of their time building relationships & generating referrals and 20% of their time inviting and recruiting new members. Groups over 25 (on average) generate $34,000 for each member per year. That’s almost three times as much, equaling, for a group of 25, $850,000 a year in closed business for the group. For a group of 30, it’s $1,020,000. For 40, it’s $1,360,00.
That’s 3x the number of referrals and 3x the closed business.
Now imagine that the average closed business per member increases to $50,000 a year. It IS possible, we just have to be committed to recruiting strong members and helping each other succeed.
Larger groups also have more and bigger Contact Spheres, so a referral to one member often generates business for multiple members in the group.
I’ll leave you with these questions
- Who is in your Contact Sphere?
- Who could be added to make your Contact Sphere better?
