Generating new business happens in a variety of ways; through current clients, through the sales team, the website and social media but, one of the most effective ways is through networking and being a member of BNI.
Stead Engineering belongs to BNI Kingstown Bevan which meets at The Village Hotel in Hessle every Friday morning at 6:30am. Some people think its crazy getting up so early but this case study demonstrates the effect and value of networking at its best.
Within BNI groups, each member has their own category i.e. accountant, conveyancer, PR, etc. In this case, Martin Baltazar from St James’ Place has the wealth management category and his friend Ian Robson, who owns the world-famous, Magpie Cafe in Whitby where a major fire took out the roof and top floor of the listed building, originally built in 1750. To help, Martin suggested that some of his BNI colleagues would be able to assist.
First of all Martin recommended Noel Parkinson who has the mortgages and wills category and is able to access funding for property developments. Successful in sourcing the finance to help rebuild The Magpie Cafe, Noel then contacted Mike Lingard-Smith from MLS Development Group who holds the project management category and is well-respected for managing large-scale building projects within the energy and construction industry.
Mike then called on us at Stead Engineering to supply and install the steel work for the roof trusses, as well as other parts of the construction.
The works have been extensive, involving road closures and crane operations but all has been managed seamlessly by Mike Linguard-Smith and the client is really happy to be shortly re-opening his restaurant which has been closed since May this year.
In addition to the funding and construction works, Jess Clark from Divine Clark PR who holds the PR category at BNI then tells the story via our website and social media outlets.
So a single referral to help out a friend has turned into hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of business for all of us. This is how it works as a member of one big marketing team. Members of BNI Kingstown Bevan look out for one another on a weekly basis, helping to solve problems for colleagues, friends, family members and other people they come across who might require the products and services of any one of our members.
What we find is that you either get BNI or you don’t. We absolutely do and Stead Engineering thanks the rest of the team for the large contribution it makes to help our business be the major success we are.
Photo caption: Noel Parkinson, Nathan Stead, Mike Lingard-Smith and Martin Baltazar
To make an enquiry on steelworks similar to that undertaken at The Magpie Cafe, please call us on 01482 236556 or email [email protected].
