Should I stay?

I was asked for a 1-2-1 this week and of course I said yes.

As soon as we had met, coffee arranged, and sat down, the member concerned opened with, 'I need to renew my membership this month and I’m thinking of leaving.’

Well, I guess it cut out the small talk! To be fair I know the member well so I suppose ten minutes rapport building wasn’t really necessary.

My reply was a simple question, ‘Why?’

It turned out that over the past seven months or so he hadn’t got any work from being a member of his chapter and he was asking if it was worth him staying a member. I told him that I couldn’t make that decision for him but that he should consider a number of things about his membership and then, with luck, his answer would be clear to him.

First, what was the real reason that he was a member? Lots of members don’t actually know this.

Second, what did he expect to get out of being a member? Because without a goal he would never know if he had achieved it or not.

Third, if his goal was a financial one, on average, how many pieces of work would he need to achieve it? We then discussed the life-time value of a customer.

In his case it was pretty good, as his clients often worked with him monthly, for a year or more. This knowledge can have a massive difference as to how you view a referral. For example: as a ‘one-off’ appointment you might be looking at £100 but over the life-time of a client the amount could easily be in the thousands.

Fourth, we talked about his 60 Seconds and how it might be improved.

And finally, we discussed what he talked about in his 1-2-1s (and how many he was having) with people and what he chatted about with his fellow members before and after the meeting. Was everything he was doing consistent with his marketing message? Was it helping people to find him referrals?

By the time we had finished our 1-2-1 he had a great deal to think about and we parted with him going to give some serious thought to his renewal.

I’m happy to report that a few days later I learnt that his renewal had been received.

So, how can my 1-2-1 help you?

I think however well you are doing as a member, it pays to, every so often, consider the questions I asked this member. As you never know it may just mean you avoid the ‘shall I stay’ question or, better still, improve the number and quality of the referrals you are given.