Does Social Media Enforce Loyalty and Honor?

About 40 years ago, business networking groups surfaced with a revolutionary idea that if multiple business owners agreed to shared their customers with each other, they could increase new customers by a multiple of roughly the number of members in a group. This strategy demands that each member of the group represent a unique industry and they are loyal to one another. 

Uniqueness in an industry is essential. Consider if two Realtors were both members of the same business networking group. They would look pretty silly endorsing each other to their customers. That is why the legacy business networking groups like LeTip and BNI make it a matter of policy that “conflicts of interest are not allowed.“

Loyalty is even more critical. Imagine a scenario where a member passes tips each week to other members but they don’t receive tips in return. How long would that member continue to pass tips and pay dues to the chapter? This is why members of these groups are heavily vetted beforehand to ensure that they are worthy of endorsing exclusively to your friends, colleagues, and customers.

For the most part. business networking groups work. Members pay a fee to join, and most earn that fee back quickly in new business from new referrals (tips) that they receive. And they continue to attract new customers at a more rapid rate, as they provide outgoing referrals to other members. Naturally, this includes patronizing other member’s businesses yourself when you are in need of the products or services offered by the fellow members of your group. 

I’ve spoken to hundreds of members of these groups. Many honor their commitment to their fellow members, and many do not. Some attend meetings and only feign loyalty. They show up each week and only pass tips to some members. And when they need a product or service (even those offered within the group), they shop around. This practice is cancerous to groups that rely on honorable men and woman to remain loyal. If you are a disloyal member of a business networking group, this practice (cheating) won’t necessarily hurt your business, but it will affect your group. When loyal members are betrayed, they often just leave the group. It’s the loyal members that are harmed while the dishonorable members continue to get return. The very act of disloyalty causes the loyal members to resign. Over time, honorable men and women fall to the minority, tips and endorsements drastically decline, and chapters dissolve. 

When business networking groups embrace social media, this practice of being disloyal is harder to conceal. Recently, a new initiative was introduced to LeTip chapters that allows members to endorse one another on the major social networks quickly and easily. During the chapter meetings, a social media chair facilitates weekly activities that require members to endorse one another publicly on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and more.

I spoke recently with an outspoken member of a Phoenix chapter who was adamant about not using social media within his chapter. We asked him why he would be against something that would rapidly increase his business and grow his chapter. He disclosed that he patronizes businesses outside of the chapter that are in the same category as some group members. His concern was that if he was required to publicly endorse his chapter members, he’d get pushback from businesses that he currently patronizes outside the chapter. This member prefers to endorse other members privately…on the honor system. 

He fled quickly to avoid more questions, so we never got around to discussing the elephant in the room…that the honor system only works for people with honor.

This social media tool (QID) was developed to grow member businesses and grow chapters, and now we find that it possesses an even more powerful benefit….to unmask members that are disloyal to their commitment to the group. By requiring members to publicly endorse one another, dishonorable members are exposed and become disenchanted. Honorable members get pumped-up and re-engage. Business networking groups only thrive when members respect the rules and respect each other. We just never had a tool to enforce honor or loyalty before. 

Social Media has many benefits. Add loyalty and honor checking to the list.

John Chmela
BlackNet Group