Hints & Tips

At refur, we are committed to helping businesses to network more effectively. We love and embrace the concept of business networking; it really does make the world go around. Despite people wanting to run things ‘freely’ and with no rules, the fact is every group needs rules to make sure it is run effectively and retains the spirit that created it. This doesn’t mean the rules need to stifle the spirit, but they help to protect the group from its members and the members from each other.

Being involved in the management or running of a networking group is a wonderful opportunity and a thankless task at the same time. Most independent networking groups have often grown from a group of like-minded business friends into a formal group that meets regularly. Often this growth has been unplanned, and it can lead to issues.

Listed on this page are some of the areas that we have been consulted about by organisations using our system to control their networking/referral meetings or observations we have made over the last 18 years of being involved in and visiting many networking groups.

This section covers the following broad areas of the running a Business Networking/Referral Group.

Meeting Items

Many networking groups share common activities that are conducted as a course of the meeting.

Activity Reports / Statistics

It is essential that members be kept informed as to the effectiveness of their membership, and that of the group as a whole. of the group, and of the group as a whole. Cloud based applications like refur allow for easy reporting by and for the membership.

Group Management

Most networking groups follow an agenda and are covered by a set of rules that cover management and expected behaviour of members.

Visitor Policies

Visitors are the lifeblood of Networking / Referral Groups. A visitor represents the chance of a new member, and even if they don't consider joining, they represent potential business for the group’s members.