Chambers of Commerce are vital to thriving business communities. However, there are consistent key issues that have plagued Chambers from the beginning of their existence. Now, with the internet and social media, these same issues have become herculean. Recruitment, Retention, and non-dues Revenue are the golden goals for all chambers of commerce, and for all business associations.
Events are the bloodline of Chambers. They are non-dues revenue generators and a venue for members to meet prospects in person. Although they are a centerpiece, very few reach their potential for a number of reasons. The networking is usually a sales pitch frenzy, with a majority of the room leaving with pockets filled with business cards they will never address. Most of the attendees are there to meet “buyers” of their product. Most do not know who these fellow targets are and pounce around the room sporadically hoping to land on an interested participant like a hunter after prey. It is a strategy with usually poor results. Additionally, the event managers seldom use a good tracking system to understand who the top “engagers” are so they can incentivize them.
Recruitment and Retention go hand in hand and they are the classic pain points for most Chambers of Commerce. The problem is that the chase turns often times into a turnstile of prospects, members, past members. Members do not see the continuing value and the Chamber has a difficult time justifying their worth. If you throw in the younger generation, the future leaders, the story grows even more serious. Studies show that time is very important to the younger generation. They want to be compensated and, more importantly, enjoy the time they have in meaningful ways. This means that Chambers need to rethink the way they have always done business.
A Chamber executive can get dizzy trying to figure out which of the myriad of platforms or programs to use to manage the organization. Often times they use them all at the same time and that within itself creates another problem.
Our resolution, Bizligo, provides a number of amazing benefits for Chambers of Commerce, especially the bare bones, local chambers with small staff.
Going back to the initial three challenges – Recruitment, Retention and generating non-dues Revenue – Bizligo addresses all of these with ONE integrated online platform, designed specifically with business associations in mind. Instead of a business card, we encourage an e-profile that tells a larger story than just where to find someone. It addresses the other who, what, when, how and most of all why’s of developing business relationships that are long term. We have the ability to strategically look at the members, profile them, and then match them to other businesses who want to meet them for a variety of reasons…not just to sell to them.
Bizligo is a secure & scalable solution that integrates membership data (CRM/database), website (CMS), and bulk email, with an analytical dashboard that provides insight into overall performance of the organization. It has:
