Membership Sales

After 13 years of experience in rebuilding investment structures for chambers and economic development organizations, Kyle Sexton has discovered the organizational and mechanical adjustments that attract investment and help your chamber grow. In our opening session, Kyle will provide an update on membership models that meet the challenges of today’s economy and allow chambers to demonstrate clear return on investment. Kyle will also explore common challenges and rewards of transitioning to updated membership models, incorporating the lessons he has learned over the years.

Hey membership professionals, get excited by data! Smart data analysis will enhance your understanding of current and prospective members, allowing you to boost program revenue, increase investment, and deepen member engagement. And it’s not as hard (or boring) as you think! This interactive session will include live polling and group discussion to teach you how to develop a data strategy right for your chamber - regardless of its size, current member management software, or history of data collection efforts (even if you have never collected data). Get ready to develop a winning membership strategy through the intelligent collection and use of data.

We all know that it’s much less expensive to retain a current member than to recruit a new one. A member retention plan describes specific, trackable steps to engage and connect chamber members to the resources, contacts, programs, and information most valuable them and their business. In this hands-on workshop, our facilitator will share and lead a discussion on retention plan guidelines and best practices before facilitating peer review and revision of attendee plans. Please bring a draft retention plan to this workshop and be ready to improve on it while sharing your own ideas and suggestions with your peers.

Foundations have enormous potential to create new revenue streams supporting impactful mission-based work, from addressing workforce needs and community health problems to promoting economic inclusion and community vibrancy. Join former Kentucky Chamber CEO David Adkisson, CCE, in a discussion around the strategies for launching or revitalizing a chamber foundation. Dave will cover the opportunities as well as the practical challenges of transitioning to a revenue model in which foundation income plays an increased role, including the practical implications for chamber sales teams.

Resolved: Debates can be fun, civil, and informative, even in 2020. To end our conference day, your peers will be debating some classic chamber membership issues:
• Should non-members be encouraged to attend chamber events?
• Ribbon cuttings: yea or nay?
• Should membership teams sell more than just memberships?

Moderator, David Pruente, Senior Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, Greater Kansas City Chamber
Debaters:
• Terry Graham, Membership Director, Fresno Chamber of Commerce
• Zach Snyder, Member Engagement Manager, Grand Rapids Chamber
• Jasmine Bozeman, Business Engagement Manager, Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce
• Kelly Bates, Member Engagement Manager, Commerce Lexington Inc.

Special guest Jason Cummins, University of Kentucky Executive Associate Athletics Director for the Student-Athlete Experience, will share lessons on leadership and career development for all sales team members. An experienced leadership program developer and trainer, Jason is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and the University of Pennsylvania Wharton business school.

Jason served a twenty-year career in the U.S. Army as an Apache helicopter pilot, including two years in the United States Military Academy as an Associate Professor of Economics, as well as combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He is now responsible for all departmental learning management initiatives and the holistic development of leaders at all levels, while directly overseeing the Impact Leadership Program, the Center for Academic and Tutorial Services (CATS), career development initiatives, and community engagement.

In this session, hear the story of how the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce survived and thrived after a political endorsement precipitated concern and backlash by the community and some chamber members. The chamber used the crisis to engage more meaningfully with members and former members on the importance of investing in the chamber, and to sharpen its focus on its core mission of creating and supporting an environment where all businesses to thrive. A year later, dropped members are re-joining, and the chamber is seeing increased member engagement in its policy and advocacy work. Learn how a trial by fire can be transformational for a chamber sales team and serve as a catalyst for chamber growth in programming, influence, and membership.

What is your professional brand? Do your members and prospects associate you, your attitude, and your communications style with your chamber? You bet they do! You form their first and often most lasting impression of your organization. Your professional brand should highlight your strengths, build trust, and communicate your unique attributes not just to prospects and members but also to your co-workers and peers, chamber leadership, and other members of the community. Join us for a fascinating closing session in which we will explore how to identify your professional brand by focusing on your true, authentic self – and then refine and leverage that brand to achieve sales and professional success.