BNI Synergy

The leadership team of BNI Synergy, Mr. Ibrahim Mohammed (Straxecute Consultancy), Mr. Abdul Mujahid ( Global Corporate Business Advisors), and Subhash Bawkar (Zenith Marine Services), join us as they celebrate a momentous occasion of reaching a milestone of 60 members in three months and achieving the ‘Platinum’ status, making BNI Synergy one of the largest chapters in the region with 69 members. Moreover, they have also accomplished 20,000 referrals and a 100 million in Thank You For Closed Business.

“The journey has been really amazing. If you look at my stats from the last eight years, I’ve never been absent. So that’s how excited I am to attend every BNI meeting. BNI gives us enough visibility for our business and the opportunity to showcase our capabilities and achievements. The best part is you get connected to many reliable people in BNI with whom I have already started a different venture.

Since I’m into company incorporation, I would need my network of members to do hotel bookings for my clients, website, bookkeeping, and auditing. So whenever I connect with them, these gentlemen go out of their way to help my clients. This helps me in building very strong credibility with my investors and creates enough impression for them to connect me to their contacts, peers, so this is the reason I say it’s a dream journey for me.” Vice- President Abdul, one of the oldest members of the chapter, shares the benefits he has experienced during his time at BNI Synergy.

“BNI is a visionary organization led by a visionary person, and that really helps me a lot in terms of as an individual, as the kind of business I run because I am in the strategy business. So it’s very easy. The learning has been the structure of BNI. How it has evolved over the last so many years, with a small napkin sketch, with Dr. Misner, and now with roughly 300,000 members globally.

“I tell people, what BNI does is exactly what you have to do in your business. So I think BNI has provided that structure and knowledge that can be applied to just about any business. The learning has been that it has made my job very easy because there are a lot of best practices, we get ideas from around the globe, from people who are motivated. So it energizes and gives me ideas that I can take right into my business and apply to my clients and my business. So it’s been a journey of transformation for me.” Chapter president Ibrahim Mohammed tells us about his experience at BNI and how it helped him stay motivated and improved his personal and professional life simultaneously.

“I think we are so close to the 100 member mark that it would be unfair to not focus on that at this point. What was a dream till yesterday became a reality. The LT before us grew the chapter to Golden, and we took it up not as a six-month term; for us, it is 26 terms of one week.

So we work with a laser-sharp focus week by week. I am so blessed to have these two gentlemen supporting that and putting up with me. We are now going to be 70 members, hopefully, next week. So the vision would be for us to be a chapter, the first chapter in the region to hit 100, doesn’t have to be in our term; it could be in the next LT. So that’s the vision for Synergy; we would always like to be associated with it and serve in our capacity.

I think we want to be a chapter where people are happy, they’re building relationships, and that is converting into referrals, which leads to a higher seat value. We want to continue with the same passion synergy, known for building relationships. We are a 14-year-old chapter; we want to take this forward because all of our members, every one of them, are great. I love them all. They’re adding so much value to my life, and we are humbled that we’ve been given the opportunity to lead.” Ibrahim has set the goal for the future of BNI Synergy.

“We ensure that everybody is recognized for whatever contribution they make, and we teach them how to get the maximum benefit out of their membership,” says Abdul.

“High level of engagement with the new members, as well as the senior members, keeping them happy, keeping them engaged, getting going, and meeting new members as we take them out for lunch. We are not having ‘President’s lunch, ‘ but ‘LT lunch.’ So we take the new members out and ensure that they are taken through the proper process of Member Accelerator Program (MAP), and they are trained very well.” Secretary/ Treasurer Subhash gives his insight on the integral factors contributing to the chapter’s growth.

“It’s about the three Ps. Passion. People. Process. This is not what I came up with. This is Dr. Ivan Misner, which was right on the money for me. So in terms of passion, we believe in the ‘Six By Six Rule.’ I say that our term started six weeks before it started. So we had our first meeting on the 22nd of August. So we decided to give this membership and the leadership primetime not spare time.

We make sure that it gives visitors and guests our prime attention first thing in the morning, the last thing when we go to bed; BNI Synergy takes priority for the next six months because we’ve been entrusted with this. On average, we communicate 1000 times a month on our WhatsApp group, the leadership team. I’ve counted them, literally.

So that tells you the amount of communication we do. For us, Monday starts one day before. Sunday becomes Monday, and Monday is a fun day. This is what we’ve taken 26th term of one week, not a six-month term, a lot of planning, and you know, a handful of plans and a bag full of execution.

We believe in recognition. So we have given to date 125 pieces of recognition to different members, 125 mementos, and certificates; we have been able to provide people the various types of recognition that have brought BNI Synergy up. So I think it’s following the vision of BNI, the true philosophy and working on the core values, laser-sharp focus, lots of planning, lots of scorecards, lots of KPIs everywhere to sum it up, because there’s so much going on, and we are thoroughly enjoying it.” Ibrahim shares his thoughts on the key activities that have led to the success of BNI Synergy.

“I will always tell them that you understand the structure, you learn and after about six months or eight months, step up into some role because it requires some commitment, some kind of accountability. So that gives you more confidence, be proactive, and initiate with all these kinds of roles. So I think it will be good. So if new members step up into a role and take some responsibility, take some accountability and work for it.” Subhash shares his words of advice for new members looking to join and take up roles in BNI Synergy.

“Follow the basics. Stick to the fundamentals of BNI. Be accountable. Be responsible. Be credible, and ensure whenever you get a referral from a member, immediately follow up and show your member that you are dependable. Whenever you have a one-to-one with your fellow member, ensure to understand the details and build a deep, meaningful relationship.

Here in BNI, every member has the potential to give you the biggest opportunity of your life, it could be your dream referral, or it could be your cream referral. So you know, whenever you have a one-to-one, please ensure that you understand each other in detail.” Abdul adds.

“I think people need to give their BNI membership a greater sense of purpose, you know, give more meaning to their membership. Once they start seeing that bigger vision and think of it as a journey of transformation from where they are to where they can become, looking at some of the members, who we always highlight, have been around for so many years.

My advice to newer members would be when you come in, bring lots of positive attitude, look forward to learning, don’t rush. Understand that you’re planting the seeds of success, and you’re going to reap the benefit if you stick around, and if you pass the one-year mark, by staying and making sure that you learn, you’re going to make a phenomenal networker. So stay, and the magic will happen, and it does. It has happened for all of us.” Abdul concludes.