In a recent BNI Education Slot, long-standing member and recruiter Jo Finnerty delivered a talk that resonated with everyone in the room. Her message was simple but powerful: every BNI member is a visitor host.

https://youtu.be/Fdgwc3ihkGg

Jo began by reflecting on her early years in business networking. As a recruiter, she regularly attended events across Merseyside and Cheshire, hoping to build professional relationships and generate referrals. What she encountered instead were rooms filled with cliques and closed-off groups. Conversations were difficult to break into, and although she introduced herself with her trademark energy, the environment often left her feeling overlooked.

That changed when she was invited—somewhat reluctantly at first—to a BNI meeting at Leasowe Castle Hotel. From the moment she arrived, the visitor host team greeted her warmly, explained where she would sit, introduced her to the people either side of her, and took the time to understand her business and referral needs. They didn’t stop there. They ensured she was introduced to potential referral partners, made sure she had a drink, and connected her to conversations across the room.

What struck Jo most was the culture of the entire chapter. Unlike other events she had attended, no one was sitting down in closed groups. Every member was standing, engaging, and actively welcoming. She described the feeling as being “loved” from the moment she walked in. By the end of the meeting, she had met every single member of the chapter—including the leadership team—and felt so included that she completed her membership application form on the spot.

At the close of the meeting, the chapter president thanked Jo for visiting and reminded her of the principle at the heart of BNI’s culture: while the visitor host team plays a vital role, every member of the chapter is a visitor host. Each person carries responsibility for ensuring visitors feel welcome, valued, and supported from the moment they enter the room.

Jo’s story highlights an important truth. Visitors don’t just judge a chapter by its leadership team or its structure—they judge it by how they are made to feel. A welcoming, open, and engaging chapter increases the likelihood that visitors will return, apply to join, and contribute to the group’s long-term success.

Her talk serves as a reminder that first impressions matter, and that visitor hosting is not a badge or a title. It is a culture that defines the strength of a chapter. When every member embraces that role, the benefits extend beyond recruitment. It strengthens relationships, builds trust, and creates the type of environment where referrals naturally flow.

For chapters looking to grow and thrive, Jo’s message is clear: don’t leave visitor hosting to the few. Make it everyone’s responsibility.

Full Transcript

Jo Finnerty

[0:00] Like, “Hi, I’m Jo.” Cuz I’ve always been that person. Probably since the womb, my mum said.

[0:07] [Music]

[0:12] So, the title is We are all visitor hosts. We are all visitor hosts. Um, so 13, 14 years ago, I was a recruiter working for another recruitment business and I was starting to go out networking to loads of networking events.

[0:34] And I appeared at events across Merseyside and Cheshire and I was looking to join a group of business people where I could develop business, develop relationships, build relationships, help others, pass referrals, etc., etc.

[1:00] And so I went to loads of places and whenever I walked into a room, there were closed groups, circles of groups. Couldn’t get in. Couldn’t get in. And I would be like, “Hi, I’m Jo.” Cuz I’ve always been that person. Probably since the womb, my mum said, “I came out the womb talking and never stopped.”

[1:16] So, I would just walk in and go, “Hi, I’m Jo. Hi, I’m Jo. Hi, I’m Jo. Hi, I’m Jo.” Because, you know, it won’t kill you, will it? You just do it. You just do it. Push yourself. Even if you don’t feel like it, you still go, “Hi, hi, hi, hi.”

[1:31] And so eventually those groups opened up and they let me in and I what do you do? What do you do? Etc., etc. Um, but I never really felt properly looked after and I never really gelled with all these places that I was going to until one day somebody rang me and dragged me kicking and screaming to a BNI group.

[1:55] And it was at Leasowe Castle Hotel and it was a core group of 25. Core group hadn’t launched. 25 members. And I was met at the door by the visitor host team and they went, “Hi, hi.” And I was like, saying it before I do.

[2:20] And they said, “Right, we’re going to take you into the room. Here’s your seat. This is where you’re going to be sitting. Next to you is this person, and this is what they do. And on the other side, this is this person, and this is what they do. I’m going to introduce you to them in a second. Let me go and take you for a drink. Let’s get you a drink. And then what type of business are you looking for? What is a good strategic referral partner for you? Who would you get business from?”

[2:49] And I said, well, HR, anyone that’s selling into businesses I want to speak to. So, they mingled me around to all these groups of people.

[2:58] And everybody, there were no closed groups. There was nobody sitting down in a chair. Everybody was stood up. Everybody was welcoming. And everybody was genuinely interested in me and my business, which made me feel. What’s How does that make me feel, Martha?

[3:17] Loved. Loved. It really did.

[3:20] And every single person in that chapter had come up and introduced themselves. The leadership team all came up. I’d met every single person. Every single person introduced themselves.

[3:38] And at the end of the meeting when they were giving out application forms to join, they came up and they said, “Are you interested in joining this chapter?” And I said, “Give me that application form now. Right now because this is a group of people that are genuinely interested, looked after me, looked after me from the time that I walked in and talked to me about how they could generate business for me and how I could help them.”

[4:14] And at the end the president thanked me for attending and asked me for what I thought and I said, “This is just the best group that I’ve ever been to, because you all made me feel so welcome and loved.”

[4:38] And he said, well, he said at the end of the day we have a visitor host team but every single member of the chapter is a visitor host and we are all responsible for making every person that walks through that door, from the moment they walk through that door, loved and looked after.

[4:59] No closed groups, no sitting down, no thinking I can’t go and sit next to them, I don’t even know them. Everybody helped each other. So every single one of us is a visitor host, aren’t they, Ray?

[5:14] Yes, indeed.

[5:15] There you go. Thank you.

[5:22] [Music]