What’s in it for me?

Very few members bring a reasonable (in my mind ‘reasonable’ equals between six and twelve visitors each year) number of visitors to their chapter. I have covered the possible reasons as to why this might be the case before, but I now have, what I think, is the true reason.

Because, let’s face it, there cannot be a single member who doesn’t know that we need to grow our chapters and why - more business for all. The trouble is that ‘more business for all’ is too generic. What members really want to know is ‘What’s in it for me?’ Now obviously the easy answer is – more business. But as I say, that’s too abstract.

The real reason, I believe, is that most members don’t really know what they want. Therefore, they have no need to try and get it. So, it’s about having a target; or in this case not having a target. Because if you don’t have one. How can you aim for it?

You see most members, I know, are just happy to get whatever value of business that comes their way each year. But how different would it be if they had a (real) target?

Say it was something pretty low like £12,000 a year (£1,000 per month). What would they need to do in order to get that level of business? Simple answer – get a certain number of referrals. Now what’s the best way of getting lots of referrals? Answer: having lots of members. And how do you get lots of members? By having lots of visitors.

So, if every member had a target for the amount of business they wanted from their chapter each year, and had a plan for getting it (number of referrals needed), visitors would become important to them, and they would invite more.

The “What’s in it for me?” question would be answered, as visitors are the best way of reaching your business target – if you have one!

So, if your chapter is looking for more members, why not have a session (maybe the 10 Minutes) on setting a business target for every member of the chapter?

Please let me know what you think and how you get on.