Why Understanding Your Member's Needs is the Key to Engagement

Can we all say needs assessment survey?

If you don't ask your members what they want how can you deliver valuable programs?

Many chambers make the mistake of creating programs where no one or not nearly enough show up to make the program profitable.

What do we call a program that doesn't make money?  A member benefit! We're all guilty.  Let's stop doing that today.

I'm a big fan of the Hedgehog Theory discussed in Jim Collins' book Good to Great.  The concept is that your chamber should only be doing programs that:

• You have passion for;
• You are the best at or can be the best at; and
• You make money.

Where those three circles intersect, those are the programs you should focus on and be involved with.

Kick the rest to the curb!

Vision vs Mission Statements

What’s the difference?

One is the BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) and the other is what you do, day in and day out, month in and month out, and year in and year out.

If we search the Internet there are plenty of examples of vision vs mission statements.

In its simplest form, the vision is the highest level of what you want to do and the mission statement is how you’re going to achieve that goal.

A couple of examples:

Vision Statement

• Cure cancer
• Eradicate X disease
• Every high school student graduates

Mission Statement

• Help people live with cancer
• Help people live productive lives with X disease
• Provide assistance to high school students to achiever their best and graduate from high school

I think you get the drift from the examples above.  The way I see it, the vision statement is something that will never be achieved, but is a laudable goal.

The mission statement is what we all do on a daily basis to try and reach that goal.

For more information and resources on putting your vision and mission statement together go HERE.

What Makes a Great Chamber Executive?

Much has been written on this subject matter over time.

For me, I'd like to focus on the following four areas I believe make a great chamber executive:

1. Leader;
2. Visionary; 
3. Communicator; and
4. Flexibility.

Leader - a leader in our field understands that the Board sets policy for the organization and the CEO's job is to implement that policy with his or her staff.

Visionary - a visionary is a person who is able to see how the organization will implement the policy set forth by the Board to maximize the resources available within the organization to benefit the members.

Communicator - if you can't communicate what you and your staff are doing on behalf of the members, you will always be playing catch-up. Keep your communications clear and consistent.  Tell your organizations story to your members and the community.

Flexibility - in your program of work not everything will go perfectly, if it did you wouldn't be challenged and you would become bored. Flexibility will allow you to meet your goals, even though it may be different then originally planned. 

I did a blog post earlier titled "Owners, Managers, Customers."  It's important that you understand this concept.

It's been stated many times before why most executives get fired?  They get on a different page than their Board, a Board member, or there is a financial issue.

Don't let that happen to you!

The Guy

I was watching TV the other day and a phrase that hit home was, “did you call the guy?”

Are you that guy?

Chamber CEO’s, whether male or female, should position themselves as the guy.

What do I mean by that?

As membership organizations, we talk about how our staff should be thought of as an extension of your members’ staff.  We’re here to solve problems and deliver value to our members.

Communication and information – are two key things, amongst many, that your members want for their dues point.

They want the latest information on their industry sectors and any new regulations they may have to adhere too.


They want that competitive edge to succeed in business and your chamber is positioned well to deliver that information and give them that competitive edge.

No matter how you currently communicate with your members, you and your organization always want to be thought of as problem-solvers, or as the title of this blog suggests, you want to be known as The Guy.

Be The Guy!

Why You Should Set Recruitment, Retention and Revenue Goals Each Month

If you don't set recruitment, retention and revenue goals on a monthly basis you really can't measure your success or lack of success with any accuracy.

Membership is a numbers game, right?

You must track your progress on a regular basis.  What frequency are you tracking your efforts?

Obviously, it depends on the resources at your disposal to create these reports to track your success.

For me, I track on a daily basis (money), weekly basis (number of new members) and monthly basis (retention), the three pressure points in membership.

The key for these reports is to try and get them produced automatically. If you don't have to crunch the numbers it makes it a lot easier.  Today's technology allows for setting up these reports fairly easily.

Most chambers I work with use an anniversary due date for their membership renewals.  If you're in this category, it's imperative that you set up these daily, weekly and monthly reports.

And by the way, armed with these reports, will allow you to accurately budget your membership revenue from year to year.

That's an added bonus when it comes to budget time!

For the latest Membership Marketing Benchmarking Reports from Marketing General Incorporated go HERE.

Are You Clearly Explaining Your Value? Learn to Tell Your Story Better

First, you must have a story to tell.  We all do.

Now let's focus on what your story is!  In other words what does your chamber stand for?  Once you can answer that question, then it's time to build your story around it.

Once you've built your story - tell it!  Tell it everywhere and often.

The key.  State your story and don't change it.  One of our Institute faculty members, Tony Rubleski, used to say "use the COPE theory," create once publish everywhere.

That's something to think about.

If you have a consistent message your audience (your members, your community and your legislators) will know what your chamber stands for.

I hope your story is about advocating for your membership at the local, state and federal levels of government and building a stronger community.

Never forget we're here to serve our members.

Here's a great resource on tips written by Jasmine Henry on storytelling found on Writtent.  That blog post can be found HERE.

3 Ways You Can Engage With Your Board & Membership Each Month

What are you doing to engage your Board and general membership with the activities of your chamber?

The following are three easy ways to keep your Board aware of what you and your staff are working on and any accomplishments that you may have made:

1. President's letter;
2. Conference call; and
3. YouTube chat.

President's Letter - what a great way to stay connected with your Board and for that matter your membership.  Are you sending a weekly or monthly "President's Letter?"  It's a great tool to keep everyone informed and up-to-date on the issues of the day.  Great tool to keep your Board and membership informed when your state legislature is in session.

Conference Call - this tool will allow you to have a give and take with your Board members if they happen to have any detailed questions for you based on what the Chamber is working on.

YouTube Channel - many Chamber's have set-up a YouTube channel to communicate with their Boards and general membership.  This venue allows you go show media or have a give and take session with a policy expert on an issues that your Chamber may be facing.

These are just three simple communication tools you could utilize to keep your Board and membership informed.

While there are many more options, I'd find no more than three that work for you and your Chamber and get started today.