How Are You Engaging Your Members in Social Media?

As we all know, social media is here to stay.

Are you engaging members and prospective members to raise your retention and recruitment efforts?

Social media is really the new “Wild West.”

Anybody can create an audience around your issues or community.  Don't let that happen. You need to fill that space.

I’ve made the assumption that you have already captured that space. Are you measuring your program of work in that space?

That’s the question!

How are you measuring success?  Number of visitors, number of responses to your content, the depth of the discussion, or, is it the amount of money generated for your organization?

Only you can decide what criteria you want to use to measure success.

I only want you to measure your efforts in the social media space.

Metrics are a good thing, use whatever tools are out on the web that gives you a sense of your actions.

Good luck!

For a free guide on to how to engage your members through social media from memberclicks go HERE.

The 30 Second Elevator Speech

Ok, you just ran into a potential member on the street corner waiting for the “walk” light.

Do you have a 30 second chamber membership pitch?

It doesn’t need to be elaborate; it just needs to be tight, succinct.

Explain the value of chamber membership: advocacy, networking, building a stronger community.

• What businessperson doesn’t want their chamber advocating for their business?
  
  
• What businessperson doesn’t want to network for new business?
  
  
• And, what businessperson doesn’t want a strong growing community?

Keep it simple, keep it tight!

Give them your business card that reiterates your 30-second speech with your contact information on the opposite side.

In addition, here’s a nice place to use that QR code you’ve recently implemented.

Recruit that new member in 30 seconds!

Standing Committee vs. Task Force

What’s the difference?

In simple terms one is permanent and one is temporary.  One is difficult to disband the other already has a term limit.

Hence, the main reason to create a task force. Standing Committee (permanent) – think finance committee, government affairs committee, annual meeting committee, etc. Task Force (temporary) – think special event, purchasing a building, etc.

While we all know that keeping members engaged helps retention, I definitely subscribe to the philosophy that less standing committee’s is the way to go.

I also subscribe to the idea that the task forces should be chaired by a board member.  This creates continuity for the program of work they are doing.

The task force should involve all interested parties from the membership, not just the senior members of the chamber.

Use the task force process to involve the younger/newer members of your organization.

They are your future after all aren’t they?

What's the Size of Your Board?

There have been many articles on the size of boards and their functionality.

More board members = less flexibility, less functional.  Less board members = more flexibility, more functionality.

If you’re thinking about this for your organization, the first step would be to agree on a set number – 5, 9, or 11 board members.

That’s a good starting point!

No more than 12.  These board members need to be committed to the organization and need to be leaders in the community or industry.

Do you have a list of criteria to become a board member?

In my opinion, smaller boards allow for deeper discussions on the important issues facing your organization and the opportunity to make real change.

If you choose to create a smaller board, a real focus must be made for getting the right people to participate.

The use of task forces can be utilized to create the necessary documents and background materials used for the discussion at the board level.

How many of your current board members fully participate in the process today – is it 5, 9, or 11?

Thoughts!

For additional resources on boards and the size of boards by The Bridgespan Group go HERE.

My ABC's of Networking

Many articles and books have been published on networking.

Networking is an element each of our organizations are involved in to benefit our members.

The key is to stay cutting edge in the field?  Yes, like anything we do there’s a right way and a wrong way.

Here are my thoughts on the ABC’s of networking from what I’ve read or experienced over the years in the business.

• A – Accessible, can people get in touch with you or do they have to go through a gatekeeper?  Networking is about access, you getting to someone or someone getting to you.

• B – Behavior, are you setting up that daily or weekly lunch to gain new contacts?  You have to eat, why not make the most of it and set-up a lunch appointment.  That’s a great way to grow your rolodex.  Do you strike up a conversation with the person seated next to you on that cross country plane ride?  This is where your 30 second elevator speech comes in handy.  The next time you fly, introduce yourself to the person next to you.  It could be a 30 second conversation or it could be a great new contact for you.

• C – Connector, are you a connector?  In other words, when you’re talking/listening to one person about a subject matter, are you instinctively thinking about how you can connect them to someone they don’t even know that could help them in their business?

The ABC’s of networking is all about having a plan of action.  Don’t just socialize, network.

Your network is your net worth.  Think about that for a second.

For a previous blog on Social Capital: What are you worth go HERE.

Until next time!

Rules of Engagement

An engaged member is a retained member!

You know the deal -- recruitment, engagement and retention, are the keys to an overall effective membership plan.

Do you have a formal engagement program for new members?

Does it include:

• A welcome letter w/benefits sheet.
• Do you call them 90 days into their membership thanking them for joining and asking some key questions:

1. Have you visited our website?
2. Have you attended a chamber event?
3. Have you signed up for our grassroots network?

• In this call, it’s important to close w/thanking them for being a member.

While these simple suggestions may seem elementary, they can go a long way in improving your retention rates.

Remember, we all know it’s cheaper to retain a member than to recruit a new member.

Something to think about!

Customer Service

What does that mean?

In our business, I believe it means taking care of our members by providing the best programs, products and services on a daily basis to help them run their businesses.

It also means advocating for them at the local, state and federal levels of government.

There are a lot of customer service “best practices” lists floating around, just Google it.

Having said that, here’s a starting point for your customer service representatives when interacting with your members:

• First and foremost listen to your member and their challenge/complaint;
• Tell them you’re sorry and ask how you can help solve their situation;
• Go out of your way to make it right;
• Ask if there is anything else you can do for them; and
• Thank them for their business/membership.

Empower your employees to make it right on the spot.  If they have to ask and get back to the member, you’ve lost your chance to solve your member’s problem in a timely and efficient manner.

A happy customer will spread the news of how you made it right!

For a neat infographic on 10 best practices to improve customer service from the Salesforce blog go HERE.