As the driver of association membership, you’re well aware that retaining current members is preferable to recruiting new members plus regaining ones you’ve lost during the past membership drive timeframe. It’s very related to how businesses think about retaining current clients: according to Gartner, it costs 5x as much to acquire a new customer as it takes to keep an existing one satisfied.
Business leaders who are members of your association, whether they’re large or small businesses, struggle with generating enough qualified leads for their businesses. Others struggle with the best ways to close the leads they do have. A sales and marketing expert who is focused on helping business leaders in your association’ industry can help you members solve these important business issues, bringing immediate value with actionable advice.
One of the top reasons people have joined your association is because of a desire to network with peers in their industry. Events, such as a speaking engagement, are a chance to build community through pre- and post-event social media engagement, in-person attendance, and networking time before and after the event. Hosting a speaker who addresses common pain points opens the door for community members to engage with each other about the problems they’re facing.
An expert sales and marketing speaker brings with them the experience they’ve gained from not only industries like yours, but dozens or even hundreds of others they’ve worked with. Business problems facing an attorney may not seem like the same as those facing a contractor; however, inspiration for creative problem-solving can spark during any discussion. In addition, the expert speaker has knowledge of what’s already worked (and what really hasn’t) that he or she can share with your members, regardless of industry type.
In addition, group learning is an efficient way to learn a new skill in a shorter timeframe, which saves your members time. Ask the speaker about time during the presentation to allow members to learn interactively, increasing their knowledge retention.
According to the 2016 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, 24% of members join to gain access to specialized and/or current information about their business. What better way to solidify the return on their membership dollars than through a knowledgeable expert speaker who can help show them a better way to do marketing and sales?
Look into bringing a sales and marketing expert speaker to your association’s next meeting. Address the actual needs of your members with a subject that will be able to help them immediately. Learn more here.