By Ed Rigsbee, CAE, CSP
State associations, more than national associations, are riding the wave of accelerated member recruitment with the member ROI trend. They are proving real-dollar return on investment (ROI) of membership in order to influence industry members into joining. These associations have realized that the "join because you should" motto died a long time ago. Instead, the “prove to me that membership is a smart decision” motto has taken hold and is indicating there will be no letup of this paradigm any time soon.
Still Hooked on Days Gone By
Unfortunately, far too many associations are still hooked on the opiate of the more senior members belonging to, and attending meetings because they should, regardless of the quality of events or other membership benefits. These folks, in huge numbers, are retiring and/or passing away. In their place is a different breed of industry participant, ones to whom joining because you should is about as foreign to them as your grandfather's Oldsmobile.
There are also those who cling to the fading idea that associations must be mission driven, without concern for delivering member value. Some say that associations that deliver real-dollar member value are nothing more than buying clubs. Perhaps today's mission-driven philosophy might be nothing more than an excuse for non-performance while member-ROI-centric demands that association staff and volunteer leaders perform at the highest levels possible.
Associations that cling to obtuse missions as opposed to delivering high-level member value can imprudently spend the lion's share of time and resources conducting activities—activities that serve the industry and all that are involved without holding membership. Where's the value for those loyal members who annually render their dues payments? Many say that it is non-existent. It's not always easy to be high performing and deliver actual real-dollar value to members—value that the non-members do not receive. However, organizations where staff and volunteer leaders use member ROI, member retention, and member recruitment as their important considerations in decision making—across the organizational silos—are enjoying consistent membership growth.
Forward-Thinking Associations
Progressive association staff and volunteer leaders are taking a different approach to member recruitment and retention—one that centers on member value. They are focusing on how every decision affects member ROI. They:
- See their organization through the eyes of the non-member to better understand why non-members have not accepted the invitation of membership.
- Sell the benefits of membership features. They have learned how to explain the “what's in it for me” to prospective members. They no longer rely on just a list of membership features, erroneously calling them benefits. Additionally, they have learned to differentiate between the features only accessible to an individual or company through membership and the activities that deliver benefit to all in the industry. They are learning how to sell through the window of member-only benefit and relying less on things their organization does that delivers benefit to all.
- Prove beyond the shadow of doubt that membership in their organization is a good business, career, and financial decision by conducting qualitative research sessions to determine what their members believe is the actual, annual real-dollar return on investment of each member-only benefit.
- Discover, identify, and engage their organization's member recruitment evangelists—the members who have been around for a while, are influential, and understand how a larger and stronger organization can deliver more value to members and the industry alike. They arm these member recruiters with effective tools for influencing non-members into becoming paid members.
Member Recruitment Tools
The trend is moving away from the traditional three-pound prospective member packages. Those packages of yesterday were really an effort to baffle with bulk rather than to dazzle with brilliance. Today, nobody will read a box or folder full of information. Member recruiters and prospective members alike want something (hard-copy and electronic) compact, tightly written, and clearly explaining “what's in it for me” in real dollar numbers.
This trend of producing a compact tri-fold member recruitment brochure for the organization's member recruiters has been embraced by such associations as:
- Mechanical Contractors Association of South Carolina;
- Southern Illinois Builders Association;
- Builders and Contractors Minnesota/North Dakota Chapter;
- Council of Engineering Companies of Colorado;
- American Council of Engineering Companies of Virginia; and
- National Association of the Remodeling Industry Central Ohio Chapter.
This tool succinctly communicates the member-only features and how the membership-at-large values each feature in annual real-dollar numbers. The brochure also communicates the “what's in it” for the individual, their company, and their industry. Not every prospect will care about all the features of membership that is offered to them. As such, member recruiters have the ability to discover which features of membership matter to the prospect and then can help them to understand the ROI they can expect from using just those features.
Buying Motives
Selling guilt is like having only one tool in one's toolbox. The days of people joining because they should, have vanished. With that said, selling guilt along with several important reasons to buy can still be effective, in some situations, for getting CEOs to sign up large numbers of their employees. This is something that some member recruiters are discovering. The something else is buying motives.
The organizations that are helping their members to couple the evangelists' tool with the knowledge of buying motives is proving very effective. Association staff and volunteer leaders are starting to understand the difference between a feature of membership and how each of the various features make their members lives better—the benefit of the feature. Each feature of membership relates to one or more buying motives within the framework of non-member decisions to buy (join). The six basic buying motives are:
- Profit/Gain;
- Fear of Loss;
- Avoidance of Pain;
- Comfort/Pleasure;
- Love/Affection; and
- Pride/Prestige.
As association staff members learn how to write benefit statements for each feature of (member-only) membership and do so through the window of one or more buying motives held within the minds of prospects—the power of the written word exponentially accelerates. How well an organization's website communicates member value and ROI has an enormous effect on the organization's member recruitment results.
Getting CEOs Onboard
For years, many chief executive officers (CEO) truly believed that member recruitment was solely the responsibility of the membership department, and focused their energies elsewhere. Today, many CEOs are realizing the importance of everyone in the organization being onboard in the quest for member recruitment. CEOs are working hard to breakdown the silo mentality of the boards of directors and the staff members—becoming member-ROI-centric and charging everyone with the simple question, “How will this action affect member retention, recruitment, and total delivered member return on investment?” After all, membership is everybody's business.
Ed Rigsbee, CAE, CSP, is the author of The ROI of Membership-Today's Missing Link for Explosive Growth, Founder and CEO of the 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity, Cigar PEG Philanthropy through Fun, and President at Rigsbee Research, which conducts qualitative member ROI research and consulting for associations and societies. He can be reached through his website at www.rigsbee.com.