MEMBERSHIP SELLING AND
SALES MANAGEMENT INSIGHTS

Kick Your Chamber's Bad Hiring Habits In Membership Sales

Your membership sales reps drive one of the most important elements of your chamber operations – revenue.

So, it always leaves us scratching our heads a bit when we see chambers rushing the process, hiring candidates with little experience, or simply not putting forth the effort to find the best qualified candidates to fill member rep positions.

It seems to be a bad habit that forms over time.

Part of the problem is that chamber leadership just doesn’t have the time they need to seek and find the best hires.

But those “quick-fix” candidates that often end up in the positions may not be the right fit. The rare few that could have a fighting chance for success are sometimes left on their own in a “sink or swim” environment.

These issues converge into a cycle of poor performance and higher than desired turnover within your membership team. There are two things you can do to break the cycle.

DON’T RUSH THE PROCESS

For long-term, sustainable success in membership recruitment and retention, your chamber must have a thoughtful and consistent process for hiring and onboarding membership reps.

Hiring is an arduous, painful activity. But, sorry, you cannot rush it.

You have to take the time to seek quality candidates, review resumes, interview candidates, call the top candidates back for second interviews, and meticulously choose the best fit for the job.

After they’ve been hired, they need training, and beyond that, you need an ongoing process in place to coach them and keep them motivated.

Yes, it is going to take some time. Time that you don’t feel like you have.

But trust us, when it comes to hiring member reps, a thorough, consistent process can actually treat your case of time poverty. Because, the better your process, the less you’ll have to use it.

CHANGE YOUR BELIEFS

We often see cases where chamber leadership has fallen into a belief system that they have to hire less qualified candidates because they can’t afford anything else.

If you are hiring with that mindset, you are part of your own problem.

Your membership sales rep positions are not entry level jobs. They are key positions that have influence over your chamber’s financial prosperity.

You need to hire reps who are capable of driving revenue and paying for themselves.

And you don’t have to interview people with no experience and hope you can teach them.

With a solid plan for training, motivation and compensation in place, you can attract experienced, quality candidates that can be coached to make a very strong living in chamber membership sales - the kind of living that makes them want to make a career at your organization.

Remember, we’re easy to talk to. Feel free to reach out with questions about hiring member reps or other issues.

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