by
Roger L. Gamble, Owner, RG
Investments, Seward, NE
TheSeward County, Nebraska BNI Chapter began an Agriculture (AG) Power Team on May 31, 2013. Our objective was to increase referrals with farmers to other members of the power team, as well as to the chapter.
We
held our first attempt to generate more farmer referrals on September 5, 2013;
the chapter-sponsored AG day was geared toward area farmers. Various BNI
businesses had booths and speakers filled the day with topics that were of
interest to farmers. Unfortunately, the event had limited success.
After
the event, our AG power team continued to meet and discuss other ways to refer
farmers to each other. At our meeting on December 29, 2014, we discussed having
“AG Focus” days where one of
the Power Team members would give the 10 minute presentation on a topic that
was related to agriculture. The AG power team members and the rest of the
chapter were encouraged to invite farmers for the presentation. Since March is
Agriculture Appreciation Month, we felt that would be a perfect opportunity to
test our idea. Teresa Dredge (Title Services, Seward) was scheduled to present
on March 4, 2015, but she thought another member of the power team might have a
topic that would draw more farmers to the meeting. The group decided Trenton
Volkmer (The Austin Company Farm Management, Milford) would present information
on recent area farm sales.
On
Wednesday morning, March 4, 2015, our chapter had six farmer visitors for our
7:00 a.m. breakfast meeting. They each had the opportunity to meet members
during our networking time. Each member who brought a farmer guest also
introduced them during the start of the meeting. Trenton made a great
presentation on recent farm sales and passed a number of sales bills around the
room so we could each see the details.
Kerwin
Roth, (Kirby Roth Insurance, Seward) invited his uncle who farms near Seward.
Last year on Mother’s Day, his home
sustained damage during a storm that produced several tornados in the area.
After hearing RJ Zurcher’s (Once Upon a
Lawn, Dorchester) 45 second commercial, he knew he had found someone to help
get his landscape back into shape. When the meeting ended, he spoke in more
detail with RJ about the services he provides. Kerwin’s uncle later told
him that if RJ Zurcher were part of BNI, he must be good since our chapter has
standards for the businesses we accept.
I
had invited a farmer, let’s call him Jerry,
to our Ag Focus Day. He was very impressed with the meeting, and spoke with
several members afterward. When he finished chatting, he drove to see Kendall
Nitzsche at Nebraska Equipment, a Case IH implement dealer, to take advantage
of the parts sale Kendall had mentioned during his 45 seconds. While he was
there, Jerry looked at a new Ford pickup truck that Nebraska Equipment had just
bought from Meyer Automotive (another AG power team member.)
After
completing his business with Kendall, Jerry drove out to Meyer Automotive to
speak with Dan McCright (Meyer Automotive, Seward) about the truck. Dan shared
with the power team that Jerry had been working on trading in his pickup, but
after seeing the new one at Nebraska Equipment, he sealed the deal and traded
his old one.
On
Friday, March 6, chapter member Tom Rief (Sparetime Lounge), Seward had an
appointment with Jerry’s son and his fiancée. Jerry’s son mentioned how
much Jerry said he enjoyed the breakfast Sparetime catered for the BNI meeting,
so the rest must be good as well! With his father’s endorsement, Tom sealed the deal
with Jerry’s son and his fiancée to cater their
upcoming wedding.
As
a result of inviting what we call “consumer visitors,” several members of
the Seward County BNI Chapter gained creditability and sales from one BNI meeting.
These farmers will never join BNI, but they gained exposure to 33 businesses
that they may not have otherwise known about.
The
Seward County BNI AG Power team consists of Kendall Nitzsche of Nebraska
Equipment, Kandi Brown of H&R Block, Teresa Dredge with Title Services,
Trenton Volkmer of The Austin Company Farm Management in Milford, Kerwin Roth
with Kirby Roth Insurance, Dan McCright with Meyer Automotive and Trailer Sales
and myself, Roger Gamble of RG Investments. Without their dedication, we could
not have made the March 4, 2015 “focus day” possible. We are
already looking forward to another successful Ag focus day later this year.