From the desk of a New BNI Entrant

It was a normal day and I was busy with client meetings and work as usual. My buddy Vandana who is in Florida, pinged me to ask if anyone could help her mom with the ticket booking to Florida.

I had given her a disclaimer that every time she needs something for herself or her parents in India she must check with me.

I referred Sujith Sunny from our chapter who could help her with the tickets. She got in touch with him and I could see both of them were upbeat. Vandana,since the whole process was extremely hassle free. Sujith since, she was the only customer who had asked him what his service charges were. Also she was very clear about the tickets and the flights and the route that she wanted.

Since the parents would be away travelling, they needed a Security system at home - none other than Vasanth from Safe Hands. So he got a referral too, the couple had a detailed conversation from USA to understand what everything meant. None of the other providers had given such details, and the ones that Vandana's mom met, complicated the system explanation. By the end she did not even want to have a security surveillance system installed.

They also needed a house keeping services since the previous one was unreliable and inexpensive. Who other than Taranath to meet the expectation of being reasonable and reliable? Reference provided with the quotes.

Man proposes and God disposes, to their sadness Vandana's mother had a nasty fall and injured her hip, an emergency surgery was scheduled and Vandana flew to India to ensure her mother is well cared for.

Post the surgery, she wanted the post operation support for speedy recovery, so she can take her mom to the USA. She needed 24/7 nurse care, physiotherapy for her  mom. Who better than our Doc Madhusudhan, who took her under his expert team and care.

She again blocked her parent's tickets to USA through Sujth.

RideMix for her airport transfers and probably for her parents when she goes back .

Vandana is so full of gratitude that she did not have to deal with the numerous calls to/from Justdial for these services and that most of what she wanted was just a call away and a trusted reference.

She says that the entire episode of her mother falling at the age of 75 was harrowing and dealing with an 85 year old dad and her mom was far bigger a task than managing the three children that she has. 

However her experience here has been seamless and she realizes what a powerhouse BNI can be. Her nightmare turned into quite a fairytale. 

She is happy that she could just contact one person and get a gateway to so much that she needed. Infact now her relatives and family want to know how she managed to get everything done so efficiently.

She is sure that whenever she is looking at property in Bangalore, she will again get in touch for a dependable person.

At Tampa she runs her own Interior designing firm and jewelry line and is now convinced that she must somehow join BNI and bring to reality what she has envisaged for herself as a business woman.

BNI is not just about give and take, it is a potent ecosystem in itself that supports growth.