er they joined a chapter, there would be an explosion of referrals. Until that point the confidence curve was rather flat meaning that few referrals were coming to the new member. At the explosion point, the number of referrals zoomed upward. When one WEN member purchased and wore eyewear from Mary Nyitray, that was the explosion point. All of a sudden many members were wearing Mary’s frames.

Do new members have to wait for an opening? Those who are willing to be proactive can find ways to penetrate the surface of the grou

I have watched the dynamics of many groups over the years. There seems to be a surface tension that sticks the members together. They are protective of their group, making sure that the group survives at all costs. When a new person arrives on the scene, the adhesion keeps the new person in quarantine until the group figures out if this person is good or a threat.

At a certain point, one member will offer a connection. This member may help the new person by meeting with them, or even purchasing from them to solve a specific need. In fact, the other members may not even know that the hand of friendship has been extended.

What happens next is fascinating. The seasoned member reports to the group that they have connected with this new member. A good experience means that one by one, other members will link to the new member, until all of a sudden the surface tension breaks apart, allowing the new member to be accepted by the old gang.

Mary Nyitray, owner of Optical Arts, experienced just such a scenario. She joined The Women’s Entrepreneurial Network (WEN) hoping to increase her eyewear business. Nothing happened. Mary was also a cave dweller feeling that she was working only when she was at her store. She did not make efforts to meet members outside the meeting. One year later at the time to renew her membership, she almost didn’t write that check. She’s glad she did, because just about that time one member arrived at the meeting wearing really cool glasses. Questioned about them, the member related that she had purchased them from Mary Nyitray. The word was out. In the second year of her membership, a steady stream of members went to Mary’s shop to get new frames. It became accepted that if you needed glasses, Optical Arts was the only place to go.

Martin Lawson, National Director of BNI, Great Britain, developed the confidence curve to describe this occurrence. He looked at two factors, time and the number of referrals. He drew a graph with the vertical leg labeled number of referrals, and the horizontal leg labeled time. He noticed that for his BNI members, at some point after they joined a chapter, there would be an explosion of referrals. Until that point the confidence curve was rather flat meaning that few referrals were coming to the new member. At the explosion point, the number of referrals zoomed upward. When one WEN member purchased and wore eyewear from Mary Nyitray, that was the explosion point. All of a sudden many members were wearing Mary’s frames.

Do new members have to wait for an opening? Those who are willing to be proactive can find ways to penetrate the surface of the group

need. In fact, the other members may not even know that the hand of friendship has been extended.

What happens next is fascinating. The seasoned member reports to the group that they have connected with this new member. A good experience means that one by one, other members will link to the new member, until all of a sudden the surface tension breaks apart, allowing the new member to be accepted by the old gang.

Mary Nyitray, owner of Optical Arts, experienced just such a scenario. She joined The Women’s Entrepreneurial Network (WEN) hoping to increase her eyewear business. Nothing happened. Mary was also a cave dweller feeling that she was working only when she was at her store. She did not make efforts to meet members outside the meeting. One year later at the time to renew her membership, she almost didn’t write that check. She’s glad she did, because just about that time one member arrived at the meeting wearing really cool glasses. Questioned about them, the member related that she had purchased them from Mary Nyitray. The word was out. In the second year of her membership, a steady stream of members went to Mary’s shop to get new frames. It became accepted that if you needed glasses, Optical Arts was the only place to go.

Martin Lawson, National Director of BNI, Great Britain, developed the confidence curve to describe this occurrence. He looked at two factors, time and the number of referrals. He drew a graph with the vertical leg labeled number of referrals, and the horizontal leg labeled time. He noticed that for his BNI members, at some point after they joined a chapter, there would be an explosion of referrals. Until that point the confidence curve was rather flat meaning that few referrals were coming to the new member. At the explosion point, the number of referrals zoomed upward. When one WEN member purchased and wore eyewear from Mary Nyitray, that was the explosion point. All of a sudden many members were wearing Mary’s frames.

Do new members have to wait for an opening? Those who are willing to be proactive can find ways to penetrate the surface of the grou

ial Network (WEN) hoping to increase her eyewear business. Nothing happened. Mary was also a cave dweller feeling that she was working only when she was at her store. She did not make efforts to meet members outside the meeting. One year later at the time to renew her membership, she almost didn’t write that check. She’s glad she did, because just about that time one member arrived at the meeting wearing really cool glasses. Questioned about them, the member related that she had purchased them from Mary Nyitray. The word was out. In the second year of her membership, a steady stream of members went to Mary’s shop to get new frames. It became accepted that if you needed glasses, Optical Arts was the only place to go.

Martin Lawson, National Director of BNI, Great Britain, developed the confidence curve to describe this occurrence. He looked at two factors, time and the number of referrals. He drew a graph with the vertical leg labeled number of referrals, and the horizontal leg labeled time. He noticed that for his BNI members, at some point after they joined a chapter, there would be an explosion of referrals. Until that point the confidence curve was rather flat meaning that few referrals were coming to the new member. At the explosion point, the number of referrals zoomed upward. When one WEN member purchased and wore eyewear from Mary Nyitray, that was the explosion point. All of a sudden many members were wearing Mary’s frames.

Do new members have to wait for an opening? Those who are willing to be proactive can find ways to penetrate the surface of the grou

ut. In the second year of her membership, a steady stream of members went to Mary’s shop to get new frames. It became accepted that if you needed glasses, Optical Arts was the only place to go.

Martin Lawson, National Director of BNI, Great Britain, developed the confidence curve to describe this occurrence. He looked at two factors, time and the number of referrals. He drew a graph with the vertical leg labeled number of referrals, and the horizontal leg labeled time. He noticed that for his BNI members, at some point after they joined a chapter, there would be an explosion of referrals. Until that point the confidence curve was rather flat meaning that few referrals were coming to the new member. At the explosion point, the number of referrals zoomed upward. When one WEN member purchased and wore eyewear from Mary Nyitray, that was the explosion point. All of a sudden many members were wearing Mary’s frames.

Do new members have to wait for an opening? Those who are willing to be proactive can find ways to penetrate the surface of the grou

er they joined a chapter, there would be an explosion of referrals. Until that point the confidence curve was rather flat meaning that few referrals were coming to the new member. At the explosion point, the number of referrals zoomed upward. When one WEN member purchased and wore eyewear from Mary Nyitray, that was the explosion point. All of a sudden many members were wearing Mary’s frames.

Do new members have to wait for an opening? Those who are willing to be proactive can find ways to penetrate the surface of the group. One option is to schedule meetings with individual members. Another way is to attend every meeting instead of just coming ever so often, which indicates commitment to the group. Smart new members volunteer for a position where there is plenty of visibility like the registration table where each member has to check in. Finally, new members can help the seasoned members to be more successful. Those types of members are wanted additions to any group.

Each chapter, club, group, organization or association will demonstrate a wide spectrum of its willingness to assimilate a new member. Some will have mentoring programs to help the new member get started. Others will take the money and provide little more. Good questions to ask when determining if a group is for you are, “How do you orientate new members?” or “What’s the best way for me to become an active member of this group?”

For the person who has joined a group to get more business, what he or she needs to know is that the group as a whole will not provide any business, however each individual within the group can provide all the business opportunities wanted. It is important to realize that groups exist, people connect. Now, take an active role in making your group pay off for you.