MEMBERSHIP SELLING AND
SALES MANAGEMENT INSIGHTS

Recruiting for the Long Run Part 2 – Major Investors

Recruiting major investors for your chamber is very different from recruiting small businesses. Small businesses tend to enjoy the transactional benefits of chamber membership, while major investors tend to see value in the transformational benefits of chamber membership.

What do we mean by that? Chambers court community investors to support their mission and vision.  Larger businesses have well-established sales and marketing systems and do not typically rely on chambers for business-building resources.  Instead, they want to get something accomplished through their chamber.

GETTING THEIR ATTENTION

Prospective investors need chambers to be a force for advocating on behalf of the business community; securing positive change that will make their community a better place to do business, grow jobs, enhance quality of life, and more.

To get their attention, and long-term commitment, chambers must be prepared to substantiate their region’s unique challenges, connect how the challenges specifically impact each prospective investor, and succinctly demonstrate how their chamber facilitates solutions.

The path to connect with prospective investors comes through identifying which economic and/or business concerns stand to have the most profound impact on their industry and/or their specific business interests. The aim is to isolate one or two critical reasons that will compel a C-level leader to schedule a meeting with your chamber.

Each meeting should focus on how the identified economic and/or business concern(s) specifically impacts the prospective investor’s operation.  Doing so naturally prompts a conversation about how the chamber’s actions positively enhance the region.  And, why an investment is critical to support the investor’s business objectives.  

Generally speaking, if a major investor can connect the dots between their business objectives and the work of the chamber, it’s highly likely that they will not only join, but also retain their membership for the long haul.

TARGETED RECRUITING IS A WIN-WIN

Targeted recruiting efforts enhance retention because new members and investors understand what to expect and your chamber understands their objectives.

Strategic targeting of prospective members and investors removes the guesswork out of recruitment, and it allows your team to leverage the high-value activities that provide a proven path to recruit “right-fit” members.  

Armed with an understanding of how to logically connect the chamber as a solution for prospective member and investor problems, membership reps can hone in on prospects who will have a higher probability of retaining.

As always, we encourage you to practice these techniques, make them your own, and let us know how it goes.

Remember, we’re easy to talk to. Feel free to reach out with questions about these techniques or other issues.

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