How can you improve your member retention? 

You want to grow our membership and revenue, but the problem is you're losing as many members as you're bringing in and it doesn't appear that you're gaining any ground.

In a membership organization, we know that members who stay for three years are the most likely to stay long-term. So that three-year mark is important to remember. But in the research for my book, Remembership, I found that most businesses are willing to give you one or two years to see if it's a good long-term fit. 

Here are three ways I find that chambers are hurting their own retention.

1. Transactional subscriptions. Join the chamber, get these things. Membership is subscription plus community and if they don't meet other people like them, they are likely to leave. Connect members with others who are like them so they know they have joined a community of their peers. 

2. Paying commissions only for new membership sales. In my two decades in membership, I've learned you GET what you INCENTIVIZE. So I recommend commissions for the new sale, the first renewal/second year and the second renewal/third year. 

3. Email blasts. Wait what? Aren't we supposed to keep in touch with our members? Well of course you are. But an email blast is about you, not them. I hate that fucking term. In fact, you're never going to hear me say email blast ever again after this. Stop telling your members how to help YOU. Instead, send them intelligence, connections and enthusiasm about THEM. 

For information about how you can tap into articles about your members that you actually don't have to write yourself or hire someone to write for you, check out Chamber Today.