The Membership Pipeline: Leads, Sales & Growth

“Give them an opportunity to say no.” While you might think that’s the last thing chamber membership and sales professionals would want to hear, a hard pass might help save time and effort by moving on to a potential member that’s closer to saying yes.

That was just one idea shared by the participants in the September Membership Development Division roundtable call. The chamber professionals spent time sharing techniques and ideas in three areas: building sales pipelines, strategies to seal the deal and working on growth through retention and increasing member investments.

Pipelines to Prosperity

If you’re in membership sales, it’s likely you’ve seen a shift in where referrals are coming from. In the past, among the best opportunities to find new members was by engaging guests at chamber events or even office walk-ins. But where are those leads coming from today? A few suggestions from the group included:

• Procuring business license applications from the city or county government
• Checking the chamber’s social media pages to see the non-members businesses that follow their accounts
• Partnering with local advertising salespeople to trade leads and create a mutually beneficial relationship
• Using members to refer the chamber to their professional circle

The Art of the Sale

You’ve got a good lead – now what? There are a wide variety of techniques that chamber salespeople use to seal to deal. Here’s what a few membership professionals do:

• At the end of a meeting, ask, “Do you see value in the chamber?” If the answer is yes, but you don’t see a membership come through, follow up within a few days with a reminder.
• Share tangible benefits that a new member could use right away, like an e-blast advertisement, job postings or a video profile. Some chambers provide newspaper ads for members or spotlight new members in their newsletters or on social media.
• Ribbon cuttings can create a sense of urgency, especially for new businesses wanting that grand opening.

Growth Mode

With a list of leads, memberships are coming in and now you need to ensure those businesses remain invested in your chamber and its mission. The sales cycle can be tough, but here are a few ideas from those membership-focused minds.

• Ensure communications are relevant to the individual with whom you’re communicating. It could be a simple email sharing an article that brought that member to mind. Focus on what will be meaningful and timely for them.
• Communicate to your members the work your chamber is doing. Share advocacy efforts, mission-driven work and other wins, especially in areas that might be pain points for business owners.
• Try not to feel defeated. Tenacity is important in sales and you never know what the business owner’s situation might be. Work to meet your members where they are.

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