Welcome to the Member Recruitment edition of Membership Growth Matters.  We have some great information and ideas for you to build your membership … and your member revenue.

One word of advice though – never sacrifice service to, and engagement with, your current valued members, in order to embark on major recruitment campaigns.  From over 30 years of strong corporate sales and service experience – these have always been my priorities (read ‘member’ for customer):

1.         Look after your current customers.

2.         Keep in touch with past customers … if you no longer deal with them, what do you need to do to get them back?

3.         Gain new customers.

That would bear out the old marketing principle:  ‘It costs 5 – 10 times more to gain a new customer than it does to keep a current customer satisfied’. Edition 72 will deal with member retention and engagement.

One of the keys to gaining best results in recruiting new members to your organisation is to establish a sales plan.  This plan is in no way related to ‘flogging’ used cars, mobile/cell phone plans (from telemarketers in exotic locations who talk to you about your weather … what a fantastic way to build rapport!!!) or even bank products.  I do not know about the rest of the world, but a few years ago in Australia, whenever you visited your local bank branch, the teller used to ask ‘are you alright for super, finance, insurance and all that stuff?’ or words to that effect.  They would even have a staff member walking amongst the ever growing queue to see if you wanted a loan or insurance.  This was one very unpopular person!  And yes, the whole concept quietly went away.

Today a membership sales plan is a subtle yet powerful series of actions you need to take in order to follow through and keep in touch with prospective members.  Depending on the type of membership based organisation you are, there are different methods of keeping in touch.  For instance, if you are a B2B association with a sales force and high end membership fees vs an organisation that charges $38 per annum membership – you will obviously employ different strategies.

There are a few ‘one size fits all’ ideas in the first few articles of this edition and some specific ideas for associations in our last article … a lot of which is based on my corporate sales and marketing background (I am an ex IBMer and a few years back, IBM was considered #1 in the world in their sales and business development training – right up there with Rank Xerox).

Also, we have relaunched our e.resources this month  http://www.membershipgrowth.com.au/VISIToureResouce and have some great products for you … to build the sales and service skills of your people, create a more focussed environment of member service excellence, deal with complaints for a win/win outcome and also an offer to join the Membership Growth Library in one of the most comprehensive membership on-line libraries in the world – and growing http://www.membershipgrowth.com.au/MembershipGrowthELibrary

Hope this edition of Membership Growth Matters contains information which will be of benefit and value to you.

Kevin Cahalane

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Announcing the launch of Membership Growth quality resources:

Do you want to deliver a member service excellence program to your team?  How about membership sales training?  Or consider a complete package consisting of member service training, developing a member service culture, designing a member complaint’s system and conducting team meetings?

Welcome to our Membership Growth Resources Centre:  http://www.membershipgrowth.com.au/VISIToureResouce

All of our resources are very competitively priced, they are electronic versions so you can brand, edit, alter programs as well as sprint out only what you need!

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Offering our skills, tools and resources to all Not-for-Profit Organisations –  around the world.

Kevin Cahalane
Membership Growth Matters
kevin@membershipgrowth.com.au
www.membershipgrowth.com.au

‘We will increase your Membership … and earn you more Revenue.’

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In this edition of Membership Growth Matters:

1.         Member Recruitment:  Asking for ACTION vs seeking Permission

2.         THE PUSH AND PULL OF MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT – guest article from Tony Rossell, Marketing General, Inc

3.         Recruiting new members – create a “MAC Attack”

4.         A formula for membership recruitment success

5.         Information for Associations – 10 Steps to Membership Sales Success

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Don’t be afraid if things seem difficult in the beginning. That is only the initial impression. The important thing is not to retreat; you have to master yourself.
Olga Korbut
Gymnast – Four Time Olympic Gold Medallist

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1.         Member Recruitment:  Asking for ACTION vs seeking Permission

How do you build your prospect data base?  Do you have a membership sales funnel?  How about a strong prospect ‘keep in touch’ program designed to gain more members … and member revenue?

These are some of the key areas I have been covering in both seminars and training workshops conducted around Australia over the last 18 months.

One questions keeps coming up:  ‘how do we get permission to follow through with a person, without appearing pushy?’

How about this … don’t ask for permission – ask for action.

Here is an example … a person enquiries and, with some good quality questioning, you determine they are not a member of your organisation but pass all the criteria and therefore they are what I classify as a qualified prospect.  You may also meet this person at an event or function or follow through with them if they contact you via your website (or on Facebook).

Part of the initial engagement process is to offer them a membership pack (either hand out, mail or email).  You say ‘may I send you some membership information’ followed by ‘would it be OK to follow through with you in a week?’

How about making a subtle change:

‘I will send you a membership pack (or, give them one), if you could look it over I will call you in a week and answer any questions you might have, how does that sound?’

What you have just done is to seek a commitment to a modest form of action from the qualified prospect eg ‘look it over’ (please, never say ‘read’ – keep the conversation low key) and ‘I will call you in a week …’.  Incidentally, ending a sentence with a question is a great way to drive a commitment to action and ‘how does that sound’ is so easy for them to respond to in a positive way.

The above is often considered a challenge in gaining permission – consider it, in future, gaining a commitment to action and watch your sales funnel grow!

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Have the dogged determination to follow through to achieve your goal;  regardless of circumstances or whatever other people say, think, or do.

Paul Meyer

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2.         The Push And Pull Of Membership Recruitment

 MGI Senior Vice President Tony Rossell, a frequent writer and speaker on marketing topics, provides insight into the use of the web and social media in the recruitment process and a strategy that is currently working for one association.

Marketers sometimes categorize products as either “push” or “pull”. In a 'pull' system the consumer requests the product and 'pulls' it through the delivery channel. On the other hand, in a push marketing system the sales efforts are initiated by the producer and information is 'pushed' toward the buyer.

Membership in a trade or professional association has traditionally been defined as a “push” product. Most people do not wake up in the morning and say “hey, I really need to join an association today.” Instead, they need to be actively sold.

However, we live in a time of exciting change and the paradigm for membership recruitment is changing with it.

Today, effective membership recruitment often includes a pull strategy as part of the marketing plan by taking advantage of online opportunities and social networking tools.

In fact, in MGI's most recent Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report , 35 percent of association executives reported that prospective members learned about their association through association-sponsored social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. At the same time, 12 percent of associations said prospective members found them through paid banner ads and 8 percent through paid search engine ads.

This obviously does not equal the power of channels like direct mail which was ranked in the same survey as the most effective source for attracting new members. But it shows that these newer channels are becoming more effective.

If this is the case, how is a membership pull strategy deployed?

We are effectively implementing a pull strategy through what we call trading content for contact. Instead of selling memberships, we allow potential members who are seeking specific content to find us through the very content they seek.

The first step is to present valuable information and resources that prospective members can find. This concept takes portions of an association's content and offers it for free through a host of online tools. These include:

• Co-Registration Submissions
• Ad Networks including LinkedIn and Facebook
• Online PR Releases
• Article Submissions
• Blogs
• Social Media Ads
• Affinity Media
• Search Engine and Content Advertising

As prospective members access the valuable content, they also are given the opportunity to opt-in to receiving additional communications from the association. These prospective members who have raised their hand to a relationship are cultivated and given the opportunity to join the association and take advantage of all the products and services available.

In some cases, this ongoing cultivation is built around opting in to an online newsletter.

For example, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has established an electronic newsletter over the past few years that now includes over 260,000 non-member subscribers. The newsletter – NSTA Express – is automatically provided to members and is also offered free of charge to non-members. Subscribers come from visiting a range of education and science web sites along with the NSTA home page and through the “forward to a friend” button in the newsletter.

With the opt-in email relationship, NSTA gains some important opportunities.

1. Express builds awareness and allegiance to NSTA by informing and orienting prospective members to the services, activities, and resources available from NSTA.
2. Express allows NSTA to build a database of those who are interested in science education and since subscribers can self-select the content from three versions, it helps NSTA to know audience interest areas.
3. Express allows NSTA to take the pulse of what topics and issues are most important by reading click-through reports.
4. Express provides a platform for NSTA to promote products and upcoming events … and yes, sell membership.

In a very real sense, by using this pull strategy, the association opens a very large funnel to allow potential members to pull themselves into a relationship at their own pace and as their needs dictate.

And because of the traceability of each stage of the relationship, it can continually be monitored and optimized to make the movement into a full membership relationship as simple and easy as possible.

“Tony Rossell serves as the senior vice president of Marketing General, Inc., in Alexandria, Virginia. A frequent writer and speaker on membership marketing topics, he is a contributing author to two books, Membership Marketing (ASAE 2000) and Membership Essentials (ASAE 2008). Contact Tony at Tony@marketinggeneral.com.”

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Being defeated is often a temporary condition.  Giving up is what makes it permanent.

Marilyn vos Savant

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3…Recruiting NEW Members:  Create a ‘MAC Attack’!

MAC stands for Membership Acquisition Channels and simply means, the more channels you create for member recruitment – the more members you will gain and the more revenue you will earn for your organisation.

Below is a sampling, explained in much greater detail and with numerous examples, in our Membership Growth Toolkit http://www.membershipgrowth.com.au/MembershipGrowthClub

Ø   Turn member enquiries into genuine prospects….every time you are contacted or at every event attended by non-members

Ø   Turn member prospects into genuine sales…design a follow through/keep in touch recruitment campaign

Ø   Use direct mail as an acquisition channel.

Ø   Utilize Email marketing strategies.

Ø   Utilize Telemarketing strategies.

Ø   Develop a ‘keep-in-touch’ program….with any/all of the above

Ø   Capture and utilise leads on a contact management system/data base.

Ø   Media and promotion opportunities…talk membership every time

Ø   Use results from member surveys to gain new members.

Ø   Developing an e.newsletter;  print newsletter;  member magazine.

Ø   Advertising strategies.

Ø   Advertorial strategies.

Ø   Website marketing strategies….and social media strategies

Ø   Events and functions for everyone;  match and game days for sporting clubs.

Ø   Education and training programs…non-members can be prospected when booking…and told how much they will save if they become a member

Ø   Merchandise sales and special offers…target non-members who purchase

Ø   Cross promotion with stakeholders and sponsors.

Ø   Develop a WOMM (word of mouth marketing) strategy…your member service excellence/retention/engagement strategies.

Ø   Conduct a member-get-member campaign.

Ø   Develop a recruiting culture internally – among your staff.

Ø   Develop a new (first year) member retention strategy.

Want to know more about how to make the above a success for your organisation?  Visit  http://www.membershipgrowth.com.au/MembershipGrowthClub    and become a valued member of The Membership Growth Club.

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Achievement requires more than a vision – it takes courage, resolve and tenacity.

Neil Eskelin

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4.         The AIDAS Formula for Membership Recruitment Success

Seeking ways to recruit new members … and who isn’t?  Here is a great formula I learned (and still use) when it comes to getting people on board at your organisation.

Ensure your recruitment marketing and promotion campaigns …

• grab prospects ATTENTION with your offer
• maintain their INTEREST with membership benefits
• give them the DESIRE to join
• motivate them towards ACTION, by making it easy for them to become a member

Once you have got them on board, keep them on board by constantly delivering …

• Member SATISFACTION

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In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer.

Albert Camus

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5.         Information for Associations – 10 Steps to Membership Sales Success

Do you have a sales force – either internal or in the field?  Many associations (particularly B2B) do … in fact I have worked with sales teams in this industry.  Below are the 10 steps to recruiting members – with a high quality membership sales plan.

1.            Long term planning – short term preparation (eg weekly objectives/targets) and having a purpose for every call will ensure success.

2.            A good salesperson makes it a top priority to build rapport and trust.

3.            Question will qualify needs, problems and opportunities – questions will discover needs.

4.            Discover the dominant motive – the reason why – this person will join your organisation.  I refer to it as their ‘hot button’ and it is all your people need to work on.

5.            Make a value based offer – that is the solutions and advantages and benefits they will gain by joining your organisation.

6.            Ensure your people are good at delivering a high quality presentation – involve the prospect, focus on their needs.

7.            Handle any concerns for a win/win result.

8.            Gain commitment – it is not about closing a sale, it is about opening a relationship.

9.            Commence a program of member relationship management – work with your key internal people on this task.

10.          Seek other opportunities from within this (new) member’s organisation … by excellent relationship management, coupled with data base ‘mining’ (drill wide – drill deep).

If you have a sales force – do you coach and mentor individual team members?  If you want to commence or enhance this process, and save yourself time and money – visit:  http://www.membershipgrowth.com.au/SalesCoachMentor and view some information about the Sales Coach and Mentor program – your key to increasing the performance and results of your sales force.

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At Membership Growth, we are here to help you.  We have great membership resources   http://www.membershipgrowth.com.au/VISIToureResouce                     and offer you personalised services – both inhouse and through membership of the Membership Growth Club:    http://www.membershipgrowth.com.au/MembershipGrowthClub

Contact us, when you are ready to discuss your needs (membership development campaigns, sales/service training, member engagement programs, renewals campaigns, revenue building programs and more) … there is no obligation on your part:   kevin@membershipgrowth.com.au or telephone (03) 9840 2963 (in Australia)   (+613) 9840 2963 from overseas.

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Membership Growth Matters e.newsletter - Issue 71

Kevin Cahalane
Membership Growth
Ph: (03) 9840 2963
Fx:  (03) 9840 2967
E:   kevin@membershipgrowth.com.au
W:  www.membershipgrowth.com.au

‘We will increase your Membership … and earn you more Revenue’

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‘To boldly go where no one has ever been before.’
Captain James T Kirk
USS Enterprise
(Star Trek: an American documentary!!!)

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