I was reading a blog by Dan Stark the other day regarding what a crummy car lease experience can teach membership based organizations about membership retention and it really hit home with me. In the blog, which is on the NimbleAMS website, Dan talked about how poorly the leasing company (a major financial institution) treated him when his car lease was up. More to the point, he talked about how differently he would have felt if they had handled things a little differently.
To sum up Dan’s experience, the leasing company was impersonal and inflexible and, worse yet, they didn’t seem to care whether he was a long-time, good customer or even whether he might be a future customer. Needless to say, he didn’t lease his next car through them.
The moral of this story, according to Dan, is that our members need personal attention, especially when it’s time for them to renew their membership. If you are sending out something that looks like a bill, you may want to consider changing the format. Instead, try sending out a thank you letter that outlines the benefits they receive from their membership and talk about your organization’s on-going commitment to adding value, working in the membership renewal as part of the overall package.
I think this is spot on advice. Too often members and other constituents are taken for granted. Make sure the each and every one of them knows they are important and that we care about them individually. If time is spent showing some personal interest and they are reminded how they benefit by being affiliated with our organization, they are going to feel a whole lot better about signing that renewal check.
Maner Costerisan specializes in helping small and mid-sized organizations select, configure and implement industry leading Financial Accounting (ERP) solutions. We are a leading partner in moving clients to cloud solutions including Office 365 and Intacct, the leading cloud-based financial accounting software solution for Associations and other Non-Profits. Vision, speed and accuracy are the keys to organizational success. Maner Costerisan understands these principles and has provided them to clients for over 100 years. As a CPA firm, we understand the importance of customer service. We are a professional services firm first and foremost and our focus is on the well-being and business success of our clients. With a highly satisfied client base of over 175 software clients, Maner Costerisan is the premiere mid-Michigan provider of financial accounting and ERP software solutions.
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