In this BNI Education Slot, Darren Jamieson delivers a practical and insightful breakdown of the BNI Traffic Lights system, focusing on how members can consistently achieve 50 points, the threshold that places them in the “amber” category and supports renewal.

Darren begins by drawing a parallel between business owners managing employees and BNI members participating in their chapters. He highlights that, just like any team, performance must be monitored and managed. This leads to a key concept: every member in a BNI chapter effectively acts as part of each other’s sales team.

https://youtu.be/JIsmxxIKRfk

From this perspective, the Traffic Lights system becomes more than just a scoring mechanism; it is a way to evaluate how effectively that sales team is performing.

He then outlines a straightforward method for achieving 50 points:

• 10 points are earned simply by attending weekly meetings or ensuring a substitute is present.
• 15 points come from conducting regular one-to-one meetings, which are essential for educating fellow members on how to generate referrals.
• 15 points are gained through participation in BNI education, such as training sessions or podcasts.

Together, these activities total 40 points, achieved largely through consistent attendance and engagement.

Darren emphasises that by participating in these core activities, members are naturally more likely to generate referrals. Securing just one referral every two weeks can contribute the additional points needed to reach 50.

He also highlights an additional opportunity: inviting a visitor, even to another chapter, can provide bonus points and further enhance engagement within the wider BNI network.

The overarching message is clear: achieving strong performance in BNI does not require extraordinary effort, but rather consistent participation in fundamental activities.

Darren concludes his talk by reinforcing the importance of accountability, not only monitoring one’s own performance but also recognising that other members are part of a shared sales team. Their activity and engagement directly impact the success of everyone in the room.

Full Transcript

00:18
Before I start, could I just get a quick show of hands — who currently or has previously managed a team or employees in their business?

00:38
That’s quite a few of you. Would you say it’s important, when you manage employees or a team, that you know what they’re doing? Would you set them targets?

00:58
Would you review those targets to make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing? What if you had salespeople in your business?

01:18
Who’s managed salespeople before? How difficult are they to manage? And what happens if they don’t do what you want them to do?

01:38
You shoot them? [laughter] I’m not sure that’s legal in the UK — maybe you’d fire them instead!

01:58
If you have salespeople in BNI — because we are your sales team — would it be useful to manage their performance?

02:18
Because if you come along to a BNI meeting and your sales team aren’t doing what they’re supposed to be doing, there’s not much point being here, is there?

02:38
Luckily, there is a way to manage your sales team within BNI — Traffic Lights. I know some people don’t like them.

02:58
They don’t look at their own Traffic Lights. They don’t think they’re important. But if that was your sales team, you’d pay attention.

03:18
If your sales team weren’t turning up, weren’t bringing in business, weren’t making calls, and weren’t doing what you wanted them to do, they wouldn’t last very long.

03:38
The Traffic Lights exist so you can manage your sales team — and everybody else in the room is your sales team.

03:58
So you should be looking at what everybody else is doing, and they should be looking at what you are doing, because it’s important.

04:18
And if you’re not performing, you might not get renewed. So the leadership team asked me to explain how to get an easy 50 points on the Traffic Lights.

04:38
Because 50 points puts you in amber — and that makes renewal very likely.

04:58
You get 10 points just for turning up. Attend each week or have a substitute so your seat isn’t empty.

05:18
You can even miss one meeting in six months without losing points. So simply showing up earns you 10 points.

05:38
You get 15 points from one-to-ones. Ideally one a week, but you can batch them and do several in one day.

05:58
This is about educating your fellow members so they know how to refer you. That brings you to 25 points.

06:18
You get another 15 points through education — podcasts, training, or events — roughly one hour every two weeks.

06:38
That’s 40 points already, just from showing up and engaging. At that point, you’re very likely to pick up referrals.

06:58
If you bring in just one referral every two weeks, that gives you another 10 points — taking you to 50 points and into amber.

07:18
You can also get another 5 points by bringing one visitor in six months — and they don’t even have to visit your chapter.

07:29
So it’s actually very easy to reach 50 points. When it comes to renewal, it shows you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing.

07:29
But more importantly, don’t just look at your own Traffic Lights — look at everyone else’s, because they are your sales team.

07:29
And they are either working for you… or they’re not. Thank you.