Add value to your membership: Show your members how to market themselves.

Add value to your membership: Show your members how to market themselves

First printed in Western Association News

An association and professional organization has to constantly find ways to add value for the investment their members pay in dues. One way is to speed your members' track to success. You can do this when you stress the importance of marketing themselves and then teach them how to do it.

I'm always taken aback when someone asks me how much time I devote to "marketing." Every single thing we do is marketing. When our members talk to other members at our seminars and conventions or even in elevators, that's marketing. Customer service is part of marketing. When you can sell your members on this concept of life-marketing, you practically guarantee their success. Take every opportunity to emphasize these five vital points to your membership.

1. EMBRACE THE CONCEPT OF MARKETING. I am an unabashed, relentless, promoter of my services and products. I get the drive from the love I have for my business. To fire your members' enthusiasm, encourage them to attend marketing seminars and read books and articles on marketing. Recommend gathering information from colleagues in non-competitive markets about how they attract and retain customers. Remember: our best customer is the hottest prospect for our competitors.

2. USE THE "SCHMOOZE FACTOR." Develop your ability to talk and have fun with customers and clients. I experienced a good example of the schmooze factor with a Super Shuttle driver recently on the way to the airport. Fellow travelers often have many tiny adventures, so I ask them if they're going somewhere fun. This driver jumped into the conversation and kept it lively and wonderfully entertaining for the entire 40 minutes to the airport. We all tipped her at least double because she made the ride so enjoyable. Remember that your "schmooze" talk should be casual and fun, but never inappropriate.

3. KEEP IN TOUCH WITH YOUR CLIENTS. Never let your customers forget you. (A good lesson for Associations too.) One or two months after a sale, write your customers a note, asking how they are enjoying their purchase or if they are benefiting from the service. Call or write again on the anniversary of their purchase. If you see something in a periodical that you think might interest your customers, send them a copy of it along with a note. Write a regular newsletter, including information that will be of value to them as well as news about you and your latest products/services and charges. If you don't already have a web site on the internet, get one immediately. You'll reach people you never expected and can be perceived as a much larger organization than you currently are. A web site also works as a sales and marketing person 24 hours a day and never asks for overtime!

4. GIVE OUT ADVERTISING GIFTS. Encourage your members to give their customers something valuable to keep, those specialty-advertising items with their names on them. I offer handy laminated wallet cards listing 15% and 20% tips. Each time someone refers to it, they also see my contact information. Meet with an advertising specialty firm to see what type of items will be helpful to their customers -- items for their desks, wallets, kitchens, etc. Remember: It is not your clients' job to remember you. It is your obligation and responsibility to make sure they don't forget you!

5. USE CUSTOMERS TO GET CUSTOMERS. When I owned my hairstyling salon, I trained my stylists to ask the clients if they wanted to make their next haircut appointment. I explained it's part of our service to keep their hair looking its best. Have you ever encouraged members to give a stack of their business cards to friends or customers for distribution? How often do you think the cards actually get distributed? I don't leave anything to chance. I always gave my hairstyling clients three of my business cards. "One for you, two for the next two people who tell you how good you look." Two cards are easier and more likely to be handed out than a handful. And you're asking them to give your card only to those who ask about his/her haircut. How can your members make this technique work for them?

Life is a series of sales situations. No matter how successful our members' businesses are, we must encourage them to market themselves and their organizations continuously.

Patricia Fripp used to be a hairstylist. Now she is a San Francisco-based speech coach and speaker on Change, Customer Service, Promoting Business, and Communication Skills. She is the author of Get What You Want! and Past-President of the National Speakers Association. PFripp@Fripp.com, 1-800 634 3035. http://www.fripp.com

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