As
I read comments on member-get-a-member ideas by association membership
directors at a Linkedin Group discussion, I can’t help from wondering
if they are even considering member retention. An important thought for
association and society executives is; do you want the instant
gratification of a membership spike or the satisfaction of sustainable
organic growth?
Incentives
for Member Recruitment
Giving
current members an incentive for recruiting new members can be a great
way to temporarily boost membership numbers but is a poor method for
true organizational organic growth. This is similar to a sales person
that is only interested in making the sale and not interested in
developing long-term customers. Instant gratification is rarely the best
course of action for sustainable organizational growth.
What’s
the true long-term organizational value derived from an aggressively
competitive member recruiting new members solely for his or her ego and
need for the instant gratification of winning a contest? Can, or will,
this aggressively competitive recruiter also aggressively help to
assimilate the new recruits? I don’t think so, and without successful
assimilation, there will be no retention.
The
Recruitment Myth
Turnstile
membership recruitment is a waste of valuable resources and ultimately
damages an organization’s reputation. Rather than having advocates and
evangelists in the marketplace, praising the benefits of membership;
turnstile member recruitment fosters disgruntled ex-members that extol
the perceived indifference that they experienced while holding
membership. In this situation, your organization would have been better
off not having them as a member in the first place.
New
Member Assimilation
You
know this, your new members receive huge value from attending your
conventions and conferences—when they have a guide and mentor serving
as their pathfinder. The challenge with the above mentioned aggressive
recruiter is that said recruiter has no time to be a pathfinder for
several freshman members.Sometimes
organizations are sophisticated enough to assign first time conference
attendees a mentor, however this is only minimally effective because of
no prior relationship.
The
absolute best is for a member to get a member—only one per year—urge
the new member to attend the organization’s upcoming conference and be
their pathfinder and assimilator throughout the meeting. The new member
feels included, benefits from educational and networking opportunities,
and develops an emotional ownership in their membership of your
organization. This is the crucial foundation for any long-term member.
What’s
Missing?
The
reason that so many member-get-a-member campaigns fail to deliver
long-term members is because the foundation upon which the new members
were sold their membership is one of sand rather than bedrock. What’s
missing is a credible member recruitment tool that explains in
real-dollar terms what the member gets in return for their investment
into the new organization. Without this critical link, member recruiters
can only arm-twist or offer hollow promises of the benefits of
membership. Member recruiters must be able to prove in real-dollar terms
that membership is a good business
decision.
Changing
Member Recruiters Motivation
To
transform your members from aggressive recruiters that are motivated
solely based on the instant gratification of wining a contest or filling
their pockets with incentives; to advocates and hopefully, evangelists,
does take smart planning and implementation. Your current members must
truly understand and believe, to their core, that their association or
society delivers an excellent return on their investment of both money
and time. They must have a strong emotional ownership in the idea that membership is a good business decision. They must also completely
understand how a larger and stronger organization will have the
capability to deliver even more measurable value to every stakeholder.
There is always the fear that if the organization grows too much the
intimacy will disappear. The organization must also demonstrate through
its long-term planning strategy that there are future programs being
developed to sustain the valued intimacy.
Evangelists
or Detractors, the Choice is Yours
How
your organization approaches growth will largely determine results. If
the instant gratification of an immediate membership spike is important
to your organization, you will ultimately develop more detractors than
evangelists. However, if your organization is willing to adopt an
organic grassroots approach to growth, the benefit received by the
organization and its members will be transformational. Take this path
and your organization will enjoy in its ranks, legions of member
recruitment evangelists. Your organization will also enjoy higher than
normal member retention—evangelists stay, while detractors leave.
Do
you really need to give your members a $25 Starbucks card to motivate
them to tell a colleague or competitor why it is a good business decision to hold membership in your
organization?
Copyright
2010 Ed Rigsbee
#
# #
As
an internationally recognized speaker on partnering, Ed
Rigsbee is the Chief Member Evangelist at Rigsbee Research Consulting Group and the
Executive Director of the Cigar PEG, Inc., (US Internal Revenue Service
recognized public charity). He has authored three books and over 1,500
articles on business and organizational collaborations. He travels
internationally delivering keynote presentations and multi-day workshops
on collaboration, partnering, and strategic alliances to Corporate and
Association/Society audiences. Rigsbee is frequently engaged by
associations and societies to facilitate various boards of director
meetings and his proprietary, Member
Value ProcessTM.
Ed
has received the coveted Certified
Speaking Professional designation from the National Speakers
Association, one that is enjoyed by only about 10% of the membership in
the International Federation for Professional Speakers. When you need a
keynote speaker, Rigsbee may be
contacted through www.rigsbee.com
or Ed@Rigsbee.com.
