Monthly Archives: February 2015

How to increase membership for a non-profit organization

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increasing and retaining membershioI’ve been working as a volunteer for a non-profit organization for writers in the Washington, D.C. area. During my time, I’ve developed a list of ideas to help the organization increase and retain its membership. Among other things, I reviewed more than 20 domestic and international non-profit writing organizations to determine how each group manages their membership. Based on my review and observations, I developed a list of suggestions.

This post will not directly report on my findings. Instead, I will outline below a list of suggestions on how any non-profit organization and retain and increase its membership. Here are my suggestions –

1). Engagement: You need to engage your members and make them feel that they are part of your organization. This can be accomplished through creating committees, sponsoring workshops and seminars, and allowing members to publish articles, white papers and other interesting material on the organization’s website.

2). Create a Discussion Board: By creating a discussion board and allowing members to use it, this will help create a healthy community within your organization. It will allow members to exchange ideas and suggestions. Of course, there needs to be ground rules and someone needs to monitor the discussions.

3). Renewal Notices: Be creative. Send more than one renewal notice. Use colorful envelopes. Maybe put a sticker on the envelope reminding members of the upcoming renewal deadline. I once worked for a publishing company that sent out renewal notices in pink envelopes. Odd? Yes, but effective.

4). Recognition: If a member wins an award, receives a promotion, or publishes a book, send him a handwritten congratulations card. You may also make the announcement on your website and social media outlets (with the member’s permission).

5). Webinars: Present webinars that may interest your members. Or, better yet, have your members conduct webinars.

6). Marketing Content: Provide good marketing content on your website that will attract new members. Make sure the material is downloadable and that you obtain contact information, like names, email addresses, and phone numbers.

7). Ask for Referrals: Hey, if your members like your organization, it doesn’t hurt to ask for referrals.

8). Greeting Cards: Send out generic Greeting cards during the holiday season.

9). Ask for ideas: Create a membership committee made up of some of your members. Use it as a springboard for suggestions on retaining and increasing membership. Invite all members to offer their ideas.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions that you want me to add.

 

A shout-out to Peet’s Coffee & Tea in Silver Spring, MD

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good customer service at Peet's CoffeeWorking in retail or a restaurant can be a tough job. You are on your feet most of the day. You normally have to deal with rude or impolite customers. The hours can be long. And let’s face it, the pay isn’t all that great either.

So I was pleased by how well treated I was at Peet’s Coffee & Tea on East-West Highway in Silver Spring, MD yesterday afternoon. When I stopped by to purchase a cup of coffee, I requested a “regular cup.” The person behind the counter said, “We don’t sell regular coffee, but we do sell amazing coffee.”

Playing along, I said, “Well, in that case, I want an amazing cup of small coffee.”

We both smiled and laughed.

Customer service. Sometimes it’s the small things that matter the most.

A smile here. A joke there. It goes a long way to help you improve your brand, encourage more customers, and ultimately, increase your sales.

If you are ever in Silver Spring, MD, I would encourage you to stop by Peet’s Coffee & Tea. The place will cheer up your day.

photo credit: DSC07149 via photopin (license)

Are you unique enough?

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the power of uniquenessSince starting this blog a month ago and also tying this to a Twitter account, I’ve received 9 requests to purchase Twitter followers.

Now, I’m not going to discuss the ethics or wisdom of purchasing followers. I will save that for a future post. However, today I’m going to discuss the power of uniqueness. You see, all 9 of the Twitter followers making the request are using the same Header Photo from 100kfollowers.net. I’m assuming that if I go through one of the Twitter followers of my account, and purchase Twitter followers, that particular follower will receive some type of payment or commission.

But if you are going to offer a service, shouldn’t you at least be a little unique about it? Shouldn’t you try to stand out of the crowd? I mean, when 9 Twitter followers are using the very same Header Photo slogan “Speed Up Your Twitter Marketing Campaign” and are using the very same pictures of different packages and price offers, it makes me suspicious.  I mean, c’mon. You couldn’t find another picture for your Header Photo to make you stand out – even a little?!? What is going to inspire me from purchasing followers from one follower vs. another follower? Nothing.

And that’s where the power of uniqueness comes into play. Many vendors sell or closely sell the same types of products or services. But to make yourself stand out and generate more sales, you need to show uniqueness – at least in the eyes of the consumer. Do you want to buy a suit from Walmart or Brooks Brothers? It depends on your taste and budget. Both retailers have a unique brand that caters to a different market. Walmart is going after the discount crowd while Brook Brothers is going after the fashionable crowd. Who’s right? Both are – because each knows their own market and are going after different consumers.

And really, when you think about it, that’s what branding is all about. It’s about being unique – making yourself look different from your competitors who may sell or closely sell what you are offering.

So the next time you want to sell followers on Twitter – be a little unique. It may go a long way of helping you make more money.

The courage to sell

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the courage to sellFor most of us who have been selling for a long time, it’s almost second nature to us. We don’t even think about it when we make cold calls, or give a presentation or conduct a webinar. You just do it. It’s part of the job.

But take a step back. Do you remember that first cold call you made? Do you remember the first time you stood at an exhibit booth waiting for prospects to walk up to you and ask questions?

How did you feel? Nervous as hell.

Think about for a minute. It takes courage to pick up the phone and call strangers. It takes courage to knock on the doors of strangers. It takes courage to stand at an exhibit booth at a trade show and talk to strangers. I know some people who would rather be unemployed than go into sales. Next, to death and public speaking, selling is probably ranked up there as one of the top things that people are scared of the most. I know one newly hired salesperson who was humiliated by a negative response he received while speaking to a prospect over the phone. It was his first call to a prospect at the company. For the next couple of hours, he didn’t make any more calls. Noon rolled around and he went out to lunch and never returned to work. He didn’t even call his manager and tell her he was quitting. The salesman just disappeared!

And let’s be honest here. Sales professionals are not the most popular people in the world. How many times have you hung up on a telemarketer? How many times have you been interrupted by cold calls from salespeople at work? When you are sitting on a plane and someone next to you says he sells insurance, do you quickly look out of the window and stare at the wing for the rest of the flight? When you see someone standing on a street corner asking for donations for a charity or selling products, do you avoid eye contact and quickly walk away? And don’t you love having a salesperson knocking on your door on a Saturday morning asking if you need energy-efficient windows?

While many of us may love our jobs and the companies we work for, sales professionals are not always…well, treated professionally. In fact, some of us don’t even want to admit that we are sales professionals. We use euphemisms like “consultant” or “account manager.” Or we quickly change the subject. I actually received an email from a contact on LinkedIn who praised me for calling myself a “sales professional” in my job title. He wrote “Nice to see someone with sales still in the title. Also nice to see it teamed with professional. Too many Account Directors or Category Advisors out there. We are all salespeople and some are professionals.”

Be proud you are a sales professional. Because if nothing else, it takes courage to be one.

CRMs, should you switch?

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I recently wrote a three-part series about Customer Relationship Management (CRM). I came across this great article written by Gene Marks in Forbes called “11 Terrible CRM systems for your Company.” I would encourage you to read it.

Among other things, he makes a valid point that CRMs are great tools to use, but you need to ensure that your sales team is properly trained to learn how to use the systems.  I would take it a step further and add that you also need to find a CRM that your sales team likes to use.

I once worked for a division that was required to convert from its existing CRM to the main company’s CRM. However, there was a problem – people in my division didn’t like the main company’s CRM because they found it to be too cumbersome to use. In addition, it was difficult to generate accurate reports. Within a matter of a few months, my division switched back to their old CRM, and essentially told the main company this – “once you improve your CRM, let us know and we will consider using it again.”

Some employers don’t realize that a CRM can make or break you if you don’t select the right one. All CRMs have strong and weak points. While I personally like salesforce.com, there are certainly other tools you can use. Each tool has its strengths and weaknesses.

When selecting a new CRM, what are some factors that you need to consider?

1). Why are you switching to a new CRM? Write down a list of all the problems you are having with your existing CRM. Can you fix those problems yourself or have the vendor fix them for you? Weigh the pros and cons of fixing those problems yourself or with a vendor versus buying a new CRM. Remember, buying a CRM is not like buying a new laptop computer. You have to consider investing time and money in converting your data from one CRM to another. You have to weigh the pros and cons of perhaps losing data during the conversion, and then having to still rely on your old CRM for archival information (this actually has happened to me twice in my career). You have to consider the expense of training your sales, administrative and other staff members in learning how to use the new CRM. You also have to pay a license fee to the new vendor. You have to ensure that your data will be secure in the new CRM.

2). Should you create your own Homegrown CRM? I once worked with a company that was using salesforce.com. While everyone liked the tool, the biggest problem was that the company couldn’t integrate salesforce.com with their order entry system. The order entry process would take between 20 to 30 minutes – a lifetime in sales. To make both the account management and order entry process go a lot smoother and faster, the company decided to create its own CRM. The obvious advantages of having your own Homegrown CRM is that it is tailored to your company’s needs. You can also upgrade the system on your schedule and you don’t have to pay a license fee.

3). Will your employees like the new CRM? It doesn’t make any sense to go through the time and expense of buying a new CRM if your employees don’t like it. I’ve actually heard of salespeople quit their jobs because they found the new CRMs to be too difficult and time-consuming to use, and thus, was hurting their abilities to generate more sales. I’ve gone through CRM Model T, CRMconversions where one day I felt I was driving a Porsche and the next day I felt like I was driving a Model T. While I didn’t quit my job because I was now using a lousy CRM, it certainly made my work more difficult and definitely slowed down my selling process. So before selecting a new CRM, bring your sales team and other employees into the decision-making process. Get their input and advice. If they can trial a new CRM, please have them do a test run before you make a huge investment.

At a bare minimum, the CRM needs to be user-friendly. As a general rule, if it takes more than two days to train your staff, and they still find the new CRM cumbersome to use, you will have a serious problem on your hands. You may have bought yourself a lemon. That applies not just to off the shelf CRMs, but also Homegrown versions too. For example, I once used a Homegrown CRM where it literary took 15 minutes to enter callbacks. Everyone on the sales team became so frustrated with the callback feature, they finally gave up and started using Post-it Notes and Outlook calendar to schedule their calls.

Finding the right CRM for your company is tough. Take your time. Do it right. It will save you an enormous amount of time and money down the road.

photo credit for Model T: Don J Schulte via photopin cc

What would you do with 10,000 sales leads? Part 3

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social media for sales peopleIn parts 1 and 2 of this post, I discussed what I would do if someone gave me 10,000 sales leads to call.

In this post, I will discuss the social media strategies that I would deploy to help our young salesperson.

Background: The firm in question has a great website. Nice pictures of friendly employees and plenty of information about the company. However, I notice some immediate problems.

1). No marketing content. There was no marketing content for prospects to download. No e-books, no newsletter to subscribe to, no white papers or case studies could be found. This is a big mistake. While I’m a big fan of cold calling, you are leaving money on the table by not providing prospects the ability to download content. Why? Because you are hurting yourself by not obtaining contact information, email addresses and phone numbers that you can use to follow-up later.

2). No social media. The firm was not on Facebook or Twitter – two major social media sites that companies must be on these days to enhance their brand and drive more traffic (and leads) to their website.

A website with no marketing content or social media is like a retail store with no free samples or follow-up cards.

What are the two key takeaways from this post?

1). Have a plan in place. Don’t make cold calls until you know why are you calling, who you should be calling, and what value you have to offer. I would rather make 30 good cold calls a day than 100 bad ones. Don’t be a busy fool – be a professional salesperson.

2). Get your social media house in order.  It’s a lot easier to obtain and contact inbound leads through social media than by cold calling a long list of prospects. Cold calling is just one tool in your arsenal to obtain orders. And while there is a debate within the sales community on whether cold calling is effective or not, you should at least have a good social media presence and plan in place. To twist an old saying, you can catch more flies with honey than chasing after them with a net.

Please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions that you would add.