In a candid and energetic education slot delivered to his BNI chapter, Sauren Ghosh tackled the uncomfortable reality many chapters face — stagnation caused by a lack of visitors.

The talk began with a simple question posed to members: “What happens if your business stops getting new customers?”

The universal answer? It dies

Sauren used this stark truth to highlight the exact same risk BNI chapters face if they fail to bring in fresh blood.

He reminded members that BNI is also their business. Without regular visitors, it won’t grow. And if it doesn’t grow, it starts to decline.

Sauren challenged the group to consider whether objections are really what’s stopping them from inviting people. His conclusion? No — the real problem is that most members simply aren’t asking. He made it clear that success in BNI is based on volume. Ask more people, get more results. Ask no one, and nothing happens.

He openly admitted to getting lazy with his own invites and shared how he’s now holding himself accountable. He’s committed to hitting top traffic light scores again by building a list of 10 potential visitors.

The talk also tied in with the upcoming “Behind the Badge” Visitors Day, encouraging members to use a double-invite strategy. By inviting people for the next meeting and offering the following one as an alternative, members increase their chances of getting guests through the door.

Sauren ended with a direct challenge: write a list, start inviting, and make it happen. Because the future of your chapter, and someone else’s business, might depend on it.

Full Video Transcript

Sauren:
So, morning superstars.

Audience: Morning!

Sauren: Come on. Morning.

Audience: Morning!

00:24
Sauren:
So, the committee has asked me to talk about objections that you might be getting when you’re inviting visitors.

00:33
Sauren:
But let me take a couple of steps back because I want to ask a couple of people a couple of questions. They don’t know this.

Brian, good morning.

Really easy one for you. What happens to your business if you don’t bring in new customers? What will happen eventually?

Brian: It dies.

Sauren: It dies. My goodness. That’s what I wrote down here as well. Isn’t that good?

Joanne, what would happen to your business if you didn’t bring in more customers?

Joanne: It would die.

Sauren: Excellent. Well briefed. Thank you very much.

01:02
Sauren:
So, businesses need new blood. You’re here because you want to grow your businesses.

We need new blood to thrive and grow. Otherwise, we will die and go, won’t we? And we don’t want that to happen.

Our business here — BNI — is our business as well. We need to grow.

01:22
Sauren:
Now, we already know that if we want people to come and visit — that’s all we want them to do — come and visit.

If they decide it’s right for them, they can apply. Membership isn’t a given right.

There’s an application process.

We only want them to apply if it’s right for them.

We want volunteers, not conscripts.

But if they don’t come, they won’t know how good we really are here and how we might be able to help them.

We might be able to do them a massive favour — but if we don’t ask, we’ll never know.

01:56
Sauren:
So imagine if the person that invited you… never invited you.

You wouldn’t have had the business you’ve had through BNI.

02:05
Sauren:
Darren, where are you at in the back there?

How much have you had out of BNI in the last 12 months?

Darren: £165,000

Sauren: And through BNI — 100%?

Darren: Yes.

My business brings in £5 million a year. 73% of that has come through BNI.

So I’ll be eternally grateful. And I will be renewing in March, by the way, in case you were wondering.

I already knew that, but I thought I’d share it with you.

02:43
Sauren:
We need to bring people we care about — people we want to help move their businesses forward.

I think it’s our duty.

We might even help them keep their business during challenging times.

But if we don’t ask, we’ll never know.

We don’t know what’s going on in people’s lives, after all.

03:05
Sauren:
Let me ask you a question — no answer required.

Is objections really our challenge here in getting more visitors?

Or are we simply not asking enough people?

03:13
Sauren:
My business is based on ratios. Ask enough people, show enough people what I do, and I get customers.

Ask no one, get no one.

BNI inviting is exactly the same.

03:26
Sauren:
Now, I’ve not brought visitors for a while.

And I think BNI is a masterstroke because I’m doing this bit here.

So I felt I better ask someone I thought would benefit from coming along to meet someone else.

Helen, thank you very much for coming.

Helen’s come because I wanted to introduce her to my good friend Darren.

Well — invited to meet Darren anyway — because I know Darren has helped people like Helen to grow their businesses.

I’ve come here to help Helen.

If she likes it, she’ll apply. If she doesn’t, she’s had a good time and she’s gone on her way. That’s as simple as it is.

So Helen, thank you again for coming.

04:07
Sauren:

Two words for you — skill versus will.

People don’t invite for one of two reasons:

They don’t know how to — and we keep it pretty simple. We’ve got some scripts and experienced inviters.

Or it’s a mindset change they need.

And I think we all need to take responsibility.

04:32
Sauren:
I’ve started to take responsibility.

First six months, I had maximum points in our traffic light system.

Then I got complacent or lazy or something — and I stopped inviting.

So I’ve got a plan to get maximum points again. It’s a pride thing for me.

And I’m not meeting people all the time like you guys — so I’ve got to make it happen.

04:56
Sauren:

Secondly, we’ve got our Visitors Day coming up.

And I’ve forgotten the name of it. Joe — what’s the name?

Joe: Behind the Badge.

Sauren: Behind the Badge — great. I love it.

We’ve got two weeks until then, if my memory serves.

05:13
Sauren:
So how about this?

When I invite people to events, I say:

“Come next week.”

If they say they can’t, I say: “Great — come the week after.”

The week after is Behind the Badge.

So if we start inviting this week, some will come next week, and some on the 10th.

05:35
Sauren:
The message is — don’t delay.

Have a list for next week. Ten people to invite. That’s what I’m doing.

We’ve all got the responsibility to do that.

Imagine if you invited 10 people and only 2 came — and we all did that.

We wouldn’t fit in this room, would we?

So let’s write a list, let’s start inviting, and let’s make it happen.

Thank you.