A better Chamber and Association business model Our fear: Chamber - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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A better Chamber and Association business model

Our fear: Chamber and Associations are becoming “Irrelevant”.

The Chamber and Association Challenge

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• “U.S. Chamber and Associations have failed to adapt to

today’s reality and in effect have made themselves irrelevant in the eyes of many business owners. There is a disconnect between what companies want and what Chamber and Associations provide...many Chamber and Associations have a high degree of turnover among their small business

• members. Chamber and Association agendas are often not

aligned with what business owners hope to get out of their membership.” - Mike Peru, Proximo LLC, American Express OPEN Forum

The Chamber and Association Challenge

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• “A survey of 99 Chamber and Association board executives

revealed that over 51% of Chamber and Association execs believe that the very notion of a Chamber and Association is becoming irrelevant.” - Mark Fidelman, Chief Marketing Officer, Fanatics Media

• “Long gone are the days when joining that local Chamber and

Association of Commerce was considered necessary to conducting business in the community. That is now a 20th century anecdote… Some would argue that Chamber and Associations of Commerce are, at worst, a dinosaur and at best an anachronism.” - Chamber and Association Strategies, January 2017

The Chamber and Association Challenge: Retention

DECLINING MEMBER RETENTION

Only 31% of Chamber and Associations report steady or improved member numbers.

The Chamber and Association Challenge: Customer needs

There is a large and growing gap between what small business consumers want in a business association and what Chamber and Associations of Commerce provide.

The Chamber and Association Challenge: Outdated

Chamber and Associations are still

• perating according to an outmoded
• paradigm. Networking and advocacy,

neither of which can truly be considered a benefit, remain central to the Chamber and Association’s value proposition.

The Chamber and Association Challenge: Networking

Networking as a member benefit is weak due to competition and other forms of cheaper or free oppor- tunities to network more efficiently.

The Chamber and Association Challenge: The Owners

Attending Chamber and Association events as an owner is tiresome to being pitched by every sales person. Most owners do not attend Chamber and Association events.

The Chamber and Association Challenge: Advocacy

Most owners/employees feel Advocacy

• ffers no peculiar benefit to Chamber

and Association members. Most feel the local Chamber and Associations are “Parroting” the State and local elected

• fficials, the Media and special interest

groups.

The Chamber and Association Challenge

Chamber and Associations lose between 16-41% of first year members!

The Chamber and Association Challenge Small businesses seek an immediate return on investments & expect more for their money.

The Chamber and Association Challenge Today’s Chamber and Association members are less loyal, with more and better options available. Maintaining Chamber and Association member loyalty is difficult. Members are more interested in the value of a Chamber and Association offering.

The Chamber and Association Solution

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• “Chamber and Associations that recognize

the opportunity and provide benefits and technologies that members find of value will ensure their place in the community.

• Those that adopt a wait-and-see mentality will likely have their role usurped

in the small business community by other organizations like Local First or even the National Federation of Independent Businesses at the national level.” - Eric Groves, Ceo and Co-Founder of Alignable, The Business Journals, 2016

The Chamber and Association Solution

• 74% of members have 20 or fewer employees.
• Cash flow is king, how can we help members?
• They need for better deals on the products and

services they buy.

• More knowledge on how to compete for and

retain employees.

• Benefits that mean something.

Future-proofing your Chamber and Association

Lorraine Clarno, president/CEO of the Beaverton Area Chamber of Commerce in Oregon, says younger business owners “are not

• joiners. They make purchaser of services.”

The Chamber and Association Solution

When included as part of the small business membership, a suite of high-value small business services, can dramatically improve the value proposition of Chamber and Association membership and help address attrition.

Future-proofing your Chamber and Association

In addition!

Chamber and Associations, given their ubiquity and brand recognition, are uniquely positioned to

• ffer small businesses a one-stop-shop for their

networking, education, technology, and services needs.

Future-proofing your Chamber and Association

What is required is a platform that improves acquisition and retention by

• Seamlessly connecting Chamber and Associations of

commerce and their members to unique deals on high- value products and services

• Effectively manages the customer experience
• Evolves to meet changing member needs and desires
• Drives additional revenue to the Chamber or

Association.

“Companies love affinity programs—projects that take groups of similar people and sell them things, usually at some sort of discount. And what better affinity group than a Chamber? This is truly a sea of business consumers…”

• Association of Chamber and Association of Commerce Executives, Revenue Models: An examination of

income trends for Chamber of Commerce, 2013

Future-proofing your Chamber and Association “Invest in affinity marketing where services offered enhance the value of Chamber and Association membership.”

Future-proofing your Chamber and Association

How is all of this delivered, a software solution called

It provides Chamber and Associations with an easy to use, easy to integrate, profitable means of delivering the kind of value today’s small business members need and expect.

The Chamber and Association Solution

Working with Chamber and Associations and its members we designed Concourse, a software technology that includes: Suite of benefits, cross selling, communication, content distribution, and member management.

The Chamber and Association Solution

Consourse is a dynamic marketplace of discounted products and services tailored to the needs and desires of small businesses.

The Chamber and Association Solution GoSmallBiz

• Unlimited Business Consultation
• Sales and Marketing
• Online Learning
• Human resources
• Legal Resources
• Business Planning

The Chamber and Association Solution Concourse goes one step further by extending the value proposition of Chamber and Association membership to a member’s employees. Concourse’s easy to use Benefits Builder allows employers a no hassle means of quickly providing their employees with products and services they’ll appreciate and use.