MEMBER MANAGEMENT RESOURCES

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A two and a half minute video about FOLA.  Great to share with new members, students, and potential members! 

A quick, 1 minute video on the benefits of membership!  Perfect for sharing on social media! 

A 90 second video on the amazing networking opportunities offered through Law Association membership!  Perfect for sharing on social media!  

A 90 second video on how FOLA and Law Associations serve as your professional advocate.  

A 1 minute video on how FOLA and your local Law Association can be a wealth of information & resources to help you and your law practice.   

Your acquisition funnel is a way of breaking down the journey that new members take to become members and is direct from Sales and Marketing 101! This way of understanding member behavior helps you understand where you gaining/losing applicants, so you can focus your energy where it matters! Consider this commonly accepted way to break down your funnel for member acquisition.

Awareness: The awareness stage of the acquisition funnel includes all the potential members who have been made aware of the value of membership in your organization: Those who visit your website, see your ads, read your content, hear about you through word-of-mouth, etc, are all included here. Your goal is to engage them, and drive them down to the next phase of the funnel;

Consideration: As they would with any purchase, potential members will consider membership in your organization against possible alternatives. They want to know if your membership is worth it, so this is where they do a little research. How do you imagine they do so? Do you offer any resources that can help them learn more about you? Offering these resources is often all it takes to drive prospective applicants to the next phase of your funnel;

Engagement: Typically, prospective members enter the ‘engagement’ phase when they fill out an application for membership. Doing so means that they are done with consideration, and are ready to make a decision. However it’s important to recognize that though they are ready to make the decision to become a member, they haven’t yet! Every second between submitting an application and having it successfully approved offers an opportunity to continue consideration. At any moment between application and approval, a prospect might decide not to become a member after all. That’s why it’s important at this stage to focus on driving your applicants to the next stage;

Approval: Membership approval is the final stage in the acquisition funnel, and is the one that membership managers have the most power over, because they get to decide how long it takes to process an application. The longer the process, the more likely it is that you’ll lose prospects from the engagement phase, making short approval periods very valuable!

Studies show that new member engagement plans grow new member renewal rates by an average of 9.7%.  Plus, they improve not only new member engagement but overall member engagement too. 

However, new member engagement programs are so slow and results may not be evident in the first or even second year.  

In fact, studies show that significant results don’t come until year 3 or later. Wow! That is a long time to wait!  

Are there techniques for developing a program that becomes successful faster? Maybe!

When you start planning your program, or if you are getting ready to revise an existing program, think about your intention. How do you want new members to feel when they receive your new member messages? Warmly welcomed? Excited for more? Tone plays a big role because the right tone can help a new member feel like they are valued, that they belong and confident that more great stuff is coming their way. Or messaging not carefully crafted can feel lifeless and flat, more like an advertisement than like a sincere greeting.

Programs planned to interact with new members until 7-12 months performed best. Commit to following new members longer. Do not stop at 3 or 6 months, keep sending our most at-risk members messaging designed just for them.

Start with the tactics that tend to work best. The most useful new member engagement tactics are emails, phone calls, and engaging them during in-person events (welcoming committees, conference orientation, buddies, and more). Starting your program with a mix high-performing tactics is likely to boost your results.

Remember:  Patience is a virtue!

You do not need a massive, complex, and perfectly polished new member onboarding plan to start engaging new members. Pick any one of these successful tips to engage new members early in order to engage them for life!

1. Train everyone working registration to warmly welcome every attendee.
2. Try calling five new members to welcome them and find out why they joined.
3. Determine if your welcome kit engages new members, if not, consider discontinuing it.
4. Solve a problem for your new members within three days to three weeks of them joining.
5. Cultivate a welcoming tone in your new member messaging.
6. Allow new members to sample one benefit.

*From Smooth the Path

Consider how you can implement these 5 tips to create renewal letters or emails that resonate positively with members and generate more of the outcomes intended:

1. Use a Personal Touch — Everyone wants to be recognized as an individual, so abandon greetings like “Dear Valued Member,” which does the opposite.  This should feel like a one-on-one conversation with one member, not all.

2. Know Your Audience — Rather than use a “one size fits all” message, consider different member segments that have specific things in common (e.g., membership levels, length of time as a member, size of company) so you can customize two or three distinctive renewal messages. 

3. Remarket the Value of Membership — Renewals are “rejoins” and it’s important to reiterate benefits based on what matters to members (hence the importance of tip #2). Although some join and rejoin because of your mission and impact on the industry/community, most members belong to help them achieve their objectives or to solve their challenges. Provide a brief overview of your recent accomplishments and highlight specific benefits that align with their interests (again, tip #2).

4. Make Members Feel Appreciated and Excited About the Coming Year — Knowing that renewals are optional, provide a genuine note of thanks and let members know you appreciate their support. Mention a few upcoming programs or activities that are on the horizon because of their support. Include at least one thing that doesn’t require them to “show up” (e.g., improvements to the directory, new online resource, partnership, initiative that supports the industry/community).

5. Provide Renewal Options — Offer members convenient and multiple ways to renew. State the different ways such as Online (with a link to their member account and include log-in credentials, if possible), Mail (provide the address) and Phone (give them the number). Offer the option to make multiple payments. And attach the invoice for their review and record.

SHOW YOUR MEMBERS YOU LOVE THEM!

• Make this a free event and offer their 1st drink free!  Partner with a local restaurant and offer voucher for future meal at their restaurant.
• Recruit a local professional photographer for member LinkedIn or business portrait sittings (with no sitting fee).   Partner with photographer to see if they will provide a gift certificate for a holiday family session!
• Ensure your entire Board is there and make sure they talk to new members.
• Promote your CPD and other upcoming events - offer 5-10% off for all attendees.
• Encourage mingling - try a networking game.
• Invite a local band to play.
• Talk to other local associations to find out what they do - there are a tonne of ideas out there - go find them!
• Don't forget to take lots of pictures and feature them in your next newsletter and share great pics with attendees!  Share them on social media!
• Think of a theme - maybe taco night?  Tapas theme?