Summary: Synopsis Steve Tannuzzo returns this week to continue the dialogue on the subject of substitutes. Priscilla's BNI chapter has rebelled against the directive not to allow substitutes to talk about their own businesses. They think that both substitutes and visitors should be able to give their own infomercials, in order to reward substitutes for making the effort to come to the meeting. Steve says that every chapter offers those same objections when introduced to this ideas. The answer is to consider how much more money your chapter will make if substitutes only speak for the person they are representing. Visitors are there to talk about themselves and sell themselves as potential members; substitutes are there to talk about YOU. It was never the intent of the substitute program to be "visitor lite." If you put your BNI chapter---and your own business---ahead of the good of the substitute, it should be easy to make the change. Inviting a substitute who doesn't know you or your business is an abuse of the intention of the system. If your group is resisting the idea of using substitutes as originally intended, play this podcast for them. How is your chapter handling substitutes? Post your comments here. Brought to you by Networking Now. Complete Transcript of BNI Podcast Episode 387 - Priscilla: Hello everyone and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, CA. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan. How are you and where are you? Ivan: Hi Priscilla. I am at BNI headquarters this week and we are doing something we have almost never done on BNIpodcast.com. We are continuing the dialogue from last week because it was so controversial. When we finished the podcast, we continued the conversation and we wanted to actually continue the podcast. So we have decided to do another continuation of our discussion from last week. I have got on the podcast Steve Tannuzzo. Steve is a freelance contractor writer. He is also an Area Director for BNI Massachusetts. Steve, welcome back to the podcast. I have almost never had someone back two weeks in a row. Thanks for coming back again. Steve: My pleasure. It is just that I am very popular. That must be it. Ivan: That’s what it is! Listen, when we finished the podcast last week, Priscilla kind of started a dialogue that kind of led us into this podcast. So, Priscilla, I am going to let you open it up. Be candid. Talk to us about your chapter and about why we are doing another podcast this week on the same subject. Priscilla: Okay, great. Last week, the two of you were trying to teach all of us that the best method for having success in a BNI group is not to let the substitutes give an infomercial because they are there to substitute for a member and that should be their main goal and purpose. Now, I am in a group and we have been told to do that. We totally rebel against it, and the reason that I think- Ivan: Wait a minute. You rebel, Priscilla? You rebel? Priscilla: We call ourselves No Ordinary Chapter. That is the name of our chapter, and we are kind of- Ivan: Hang on just a second. People often say that BNI is a cult. Have you heard that, right? So if BNI were a cult, everyone would do what I tell them to do. And they don’t. So I am just shocked that you guys aren’t doing what I am telling you to do, Priscilla: Well, this is the perfect example of a renegade chapter because we think that not only should the substitutes be able to give their infomercial, but in addition, the visitors should be able to. The reason I think that people feel- Ivan: The visitors should. There is nothing wrong with the visitors doing it. Priscilla: Okay, well, you know,
