You're running four Chambers

There is a huge misconception in the chamber industry that a chamber of commerce is a membership organization. Well, of course it’s a membership organization, but it’s actually about four different membership organizations. 

Over the years, Chambers have become pretty good at taking care of a pretty loud segment of the membership with the most needs and the highest sensitivity to price. As a result, you get prices that are too low, values that are too diluted and we end up feeding the churn through fundraisers like Membership Drives which are what I call #FakeDues. But this member profile is just just one of the four profiles. That's right, you're not running a membership organization, you're running four different membership organizations. 

The simple truth is that if you want to grow your chamber of commerce, you have got to attract and cater to the three other business profiles in your membership.

I’ve worked with some incredible organizations and teams. Calgary, Tupelo Mississippi, Nashville, Chapel Hill, Greensboro and Asheville in North Carolina, Springfield Ohio, Columbia Missouri, St. Petersburg and Sarasota in Florida, and tons of others. Several of my my most recent clients are up in membership revenues six digits within their first year using my system. And another tells me that four years after I built their new system, they keep reaching new highs in membership numbers and revenues – even after a 100% turnover in membership staff. 

The biggest challenge faced by chambers of commerce is fueled by this myth that you get to be a strong chamber by having more members. You get to be a stronger chamber of commerce by having the right members. I want you to have the right members because before you get big you have to get good.

The three other business profiles are how you get good, and they’re how you get back to providing value to the businesses you’re concerned about losing as members. I use the four-profile membership matrix as a visual framework to re-build value-based bundles in chambers of commerce across the United States and Canada. If I can help your organization, I hope you'll reach out to me. This is all I do and I love it. I can help you love your membership structure and give you a platform for growth.