It’s Nearly Christmas In July Or Is It ?

Soon it will be the Fourth of July. Time to enjoy family and friends in long sunny days, take vacations and celebrate our blessings. For most of you, the damage is done-Legislatures are adjourning and their members like yours are set to enjoy the season as well. After all, for most of you, you are on a calendar and collecting dues for 2016 is along way off. Right? Not really.

Now is the time for you and your Association or Society associates to plan a launching of your membership renewals beginning the day after Labor Day. Your Post Labor Day strategy should include:

Short weekly updates thanking ALL your active members by name who helped you advance any and all your activities to benefit the membership in the last six months whether you were successful or not. Specific recognition is essential and deserved
An informal identification of all your “silent” members conducted by your team during regular staff meetings or more informal get togethers . Dvvy up the list identified (hopefully a short list. If that is not the case call me.) with your associates / Board Members and find out why they are silent and change their mindset.
Put together a periodic “What Have Done For Me Lately” communication to all your members in simple but elegant way reminding them of all the actions you have taken on their behalf. Be sure to include all victories and losses with some reference to your plans to keep pursuing your setbacks. (Caution: No blame games. It will get back to those who do not support your ideas)
If you conduct any kind of formal membership satisfaction surveys annually, get them completed, publish the results and address the good and the bad and be specific on how you will correct things as quickly as possible. Of course anything you say you are going to do and then not do is a death wish.

These are just a sampling of the basics. If you do things like this , celebrate your insightfulness and customer centric philosophy. If you do not regularly conduct a form of these actions, consider trying some of this out.

Remember it is a privilege to have lots of loyal and dues paying members. Not the other way around. I would welcome your ideas and reactions to my thoughts.

Dennis Bozzi
Vipassana Consulting Inc.
“To see things clearly, the way they really are”.