Home

 Accreditation

  Chamber Operations  Message Boards  Site Map
August 2003
Viewpoint
More Ideas that Chambers Need to Consider

In the May issue of this newsletter, I wrote a column outlining some things that I think chambers could do a little bit better.

Here are a few more ideas that I’ve come up with and think I’d probably initiate if I went back into local chamber management:

  • Your Chamber Web Address. Does your office’s voicemail message and on-hold message include your website address? If not, it should as a way to provide more 24/7 customer service.
  • Thank you notes. I don’t care what anybody says, handwritten thank you notes get read. Do a few EVERY week.
  • Member contacts. I think it would be a good idea to have two or three contacts with all of your chamber member companies. Put all of these names on your mailing list. This "two or three deep" marketing might help with membership retention, especially when your key contact gets transferred, retires or leaves the company.
  • "At risk" members. Identify those members that are the most likely to not renew their membership. Give them some special attention. Definitely include those firms that were late paying last year on this list.
  • Chamber bucks. Reward renewing members with some sort of recognition like $10 in chamber bucks that they can use at any chamber event.
  • Use the telephone. Try a focus group via telephone conference call and/or do a regular telephone insta-poll and announce the results to the entire membership. This might be a way to call every member during the course of the year and is a little more high touch than an e-mail survey.
  • Business cards. Collect business cards at ALL chamber events. Make it a regular and expected part of the admission. It’s a great way to find out who’s really attending, it will help update your database and it gives you a great way to collect e-mail addresses.
  • Quit selling involvement. Time poverty is real. Find ways to get your members connected to the chamber without having them attend events or meetings.
  • Notes from board members. Consider having your board members write a note at the bottom of your membership renewal letters to members with whom they have a personal relationship.
  • Visit other chambers. Get two or three of your key volunteer leaders and/or staff members, and get together with your counterparts from another chamber to share best practices and possible solutions to common problems. If possible, pick chambers that are bigger and/or excel in an area in which your chamber could do better.
  • Testimonial from a government official. Getting an elected official to say something like, "we couldn’t have done this without the chamber" or "the chamber’s leadership, input and representation from the business community really made a difference," could do wonders for the chamber’s credibility as the voice of business.
  • In case you missed it. Reprint recent newspaper articles and/or editorials that mention the chamber or were authored by chamber leaders, and send them to your members or select groups of members, like those who are renewing their memberships this month.

Dave Kilby is president and chief executive officer of W.A.C.E. and vice president of the California Chamber.