Fail Forward: Learn From Your Failures

I attended an educational session recently, on the title of this blog, conducted by Professor Rita McGrath, from Columbia University.

I found it fascinating!

There are many business books out there that talk about this concept.  In fact, the business community knows this concept all to well.

Statistically speaking, over 50% of small businesses fail each year (Small Business Association statistic).

The key is to learn from these failures and not make them again.  That's what a free enterprise system is built around.  Your small business members understand this concept.

Do you run your chamber like a small business?

Are you trying to be innovative, cutting edge for your membership and delivery value while at the same time learning from your successes and failures?

It's been said before, running a nonprofit (chamber) does not mean don't make a profit.

Be innovative and create value for your members.  Don't be afraid to fail. Learn from your mistakes and move forward.

For a copy of her book go HERE.

For a great resource on performance measurements from The Bridgespan Group go HERE.

3 Steps to an Effective Board Orientation

There have been many articles written on the on-boarding process for new board members - just Google it!

The following three steps can help ensure your next board orientation is a success.

• Official Board Orientation Meeting
• Official Board Orientation Book
• Official Board Role and Program Review

Official Board Orientation Meeting

It's important to have a formal meeting to get the attention of your new board members. It has been suggested to hold it prior to their first official board meeting.  You might want to have your board chair and any other key board members attend too.

Official Board Orientation Book

I think it's important to have a collateral piece that you review in your orientation meeting and something they can take back to the office.  I would suggest you spend some time on creating a professional document that outlines the expectations of board members.  It should be more than just a board member job description.

Official Board Role and Program Review

It's important to review the fiduciary responsibility of the board as well as your current committee structure.  It's also important that they understand the role of the board vs the role of staff.

While I don't suggest you get in the weeds with all the programmatic aspects of your chamber you should identify, at the 30 thousand foot level, your membership trends, advocacy, leadership program, annual meeting, and Foundation work, if you have one.

Set the expectations up front, deliver a great board orientation and your board members will be thankful.

For a great resource on nonprofit boards from The Bridgespan Group go HERE.

3 Steps to Take Before You Sit Down with Your Board to Create a Strategic Plan

The more you prep for your next strategic planning process the better your outcomes will be.

How often do you conduct a strategic planning session or retreat?  How often do you review your strategic plan?

Every year, every other year or once every three years?

Whatever your timeline is, it's important that you do your homework prior to your next retreat.

Here's three things you can do before your next planning session:

• Background materials
• Communicate the process
• Set the stage

Background Materials

Tell the story of your chamber, where you’ve been, where you are now and that will set the stage for where the chamber should go.  Key items to share from a historical perspective should include, but not limited to:

• Revenue - dues vs. non-dues
• Membership numbers - retention rates, etc.
• Program of work - advocacy, economic development, networking, educational programs, etc.

And don't forget to attach real numbers to the above items.  For a previous blog post on program based budgeting go HERE.

Communicate the Process

It's important to be transparent in your strategic planning process.  Get everybody on the same page.  When people know what is expected of them, they will deliver.  Key elements that should be communicated:

• Timing – set a timetable from beginning to end
• Outcomes – set the expectation of what you want when you’re done with the process
• Players - who's responsible and why

Set the Stage

I'm a fan of getting a third party facilitator to run the actual strategic planning meeting. They can keep people focused on the task and it keeps the process business like and not personal.

For a great resource on nonprofit boards from The Bridgespan Group go HERE.

The Fastest Way to Lose a Member

Bad customer service!

Let there be no mistake about the business we're in, and that's the relationship business.

Have you heard the phrase, "take care of your members and they'll take care of you?"

It's so true!

As human beings, we all want to belong to something.  Make your chamber that home for the business community and your business members.

And customer service is where it starts.  Do you have a live voice answer the phone?  In my experience this is critical.  We used to have a rule at my old employer that you would answer the phone on the first ring.

That's the beginning of good customer service.

When calling a main line of a chamber, I don't want to go directly into voice mail without speaking to a person first, or worse, be sent around the organization through what I call the "type the last three digits of the last name" syndrome.

Remember, as stated earlier, we're in the relationship business and that means having real conversations, with real people, in real time.

And what a great opportunity for your staff to say "thank you for being a member."  It just might improve your retention rate along the way.

Just a thought!

3 Ways to Say Thank You to Your Staff

Yes, there are many articles written on the subject and from my standpoint one size does not fit all.

Your staff are unique and will respond differently to praise.

The first order of business is to find out what motivates each of your staff members.  You might just be surprised at the answers you get.

The key to finding out what each team member values, ask them!

I will mention three ways I say thank you since that's the title of this blog.

Empowerment - one of the easiest ways to say thank you is to let them know that you trust them.  Don't micro manage your staff.  Tell them what you want, give them a timeline, and let them deliver.

Recognition - everyone likes to be recognized.  When a staff member does something great, share it with other staff and with your volunteers. Give them the credit.  Make sure it's something worth recognizing.

Thank you - and it's also just saying the words thank you!  It's as simple as that.

What three things are you doing to thank your staff?

For a great blog post titled Top 10 Easy, No or Low Cost Ways to Tell Employees “Thank You” go HERE.

Why Snail Mail Isn't Dead

If you haven't had a chance to read the most recent Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report by Marketing General, Inc. you should.  You can find it HERE.

One key finding, and there are many, is that snail mail is not dead.

While we live in a real-time, social world, sometimes direct mail is just the right formula to get in touch with your members and non-members alike.

I talked about membership recruitment vehicles in a previous post HERE. The point I'd like to get across again is that there is not one silver bullet.

You must test all:

• Direct Mail
• Member-get-a-member campaign
• Email
• Social media
• Etc.

Notice that direct mail is at the top of the list.  It scored the best in the study. It might not be your number one recruitment tool, but don't discount direct mail.

For a blog post on direct mail from the folks at Marketing General, Inc. go HERE.

For the most recent Marketing General, Inc. Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report go HERE.

Good luck!

Empowerment: Turn Your Employees Loose

There have been many articles written about hiring people who are smarter than you.

And by the way, I subscribe to that theory.

So why would you not want to turn your employees loose?

Yes, it's important to set some ground rules, give them a framework from which to work from and turn them loose!

You'll be fascinated by what your employees can do.

I do have one rule -- no surprises, please!

While I don't need to know the details of every aspect of their progress, give me periodic updates so when my manager asks "do you know what John and Mary are doing?" you can respond absolutely and I support it 100%.

In addition, celebrate your team’s victories and learn from any failures and move on.  I love this quote by Henry Ford:

"One who fears limits his activities.  Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again."

Don't limit your staff.  Celebrate and acknowledge their successful work. Give them the credit and watch their backs.

The possibilities for your chamber are endless!

For a previous blog post titled 4Tips For Onboarding New Staff go HERE.