It’s been quite a journey in the 15 years that Prem Mulani has been a BNI Member. The third generation in his family business, Prem knows a thing or two about adapting to changing times. When asked how BNI Insomniacs has been able to transition so successfully to online meetings Prem says, “We were learning on the job, we had to be nimble, we had to be adaptive.”
As always, the focus has stayed on relationships and keeping a pulse on what chapter members are experiencing. “We don’t know what people are going through individually. We really need to be sensitive to the changes people are going through, on the work front and family front.”
Experiencing Changes
Switching to an online model may have become the norm these days, but initially, Prem was skeptical about how well it would work. “Speaking personally, I’ve always been a relationship person,” Prem says. “I’d never really experienced this whole concept of online meetings in any capacity. It was always about meeting in-person and developing relationships.”
Seeing how well the online meetings worked was an eye-opener for Prem and, he’s glad that he’s been proven wrong. “Worldwide we’ve seen this is a game-changing defining moment,” Prem adds. “How people and businesses engage. We’ve all had to adjust, people that have adjusted faster like BNI has, we see the results there.”
“I’m a lot more comfortable [with online meetings] than I was 10 or 11 months ago, that has completely changed.” he chuckles.
Reaching New Heights
The Director Consultant of BNI Insomniacs, Prem is delighted with how the team has grown and adapted. “We are the largest chapter, we surprised ourselves with the growth we achieved last year,” he says.
Prem is quick to credit the leadership team for BNI Insomniacs’ success, “I think I was very lucky with the leadership teams I had in place. They were able to be nimble and adapt; they took it on as a new medium even faster than I did perhaps.”
A key part of this growth has been that the team has kept the focus. When asked what Insomniacs did right Prem said, “We made sure that all members are engaged. There were constant socials going on. That’s what engaged all the members. They felt they were part of this community both personally and professionally.”
During challenging times last year, everyone was stepping in to help each other and create business opportunities, and that made all the difference. “We’ve adapted, we’re able to make this happen,” Prem elaborates. “We’ve seen fantastic numbers in terms of members, in terms of business generated. I don’t think we should give ourselves any excuses, because we know it can be done.”
Prem signs off with some solid advice for up and coming leadership teams, “Keep it lighthearted, keep it engaged, business doesn’t have to be serious. You can have fun while you’re doing the fundamentals.”
