Last night, I participated in a Small Business Buzz Twitter Chat (Hashtag #sbbuzz) with staff from chambers of commerce and small businesses around the country.  The discussions centered on how chambers of commerce and small business can use social media to benefit their community and each other and how members can gain benefits from being members of their local chambers.

The question of “What businesses will receive the most value by joining their local Chamber?” sparked some very good discussions. 

A few people replied with things like "The members who receive the most value are often those who add the most value - participate on committees, volunteer, etc."   Yes, it may be true that members who put a lot into their membership will likely get more measurable return in terms of sales, leads, etc.  And, every chamber has at least a few of those power members, however, those members are generally the minority of members. 

My concern lies in making “you get more if you participate” part of the message of the chamber.  Each member has their own perception about how the chamber can/will benefit them. In order to meet/exceed those expectations, the chamber must know at least some of those expectations and strive to meet them on an individual level….and communicate that value as well.  Knowing why a member joined and what's important to them helps you improve your membership retention and increase new member sales through referrals from those satisfied and value-receiving members.

If the answer to “What businesses will receive the most value by joining their local Chamber?” is “the type where the employees work to gain more value” that’s fine, but I don’t think it would be wise for a chamber to say that to their members. ;-)   Otherwise, I'm not sure there is any one type of business that would necessarily benefit more than others.  I suppose a business who sells to local businesses and consumers would gain more benefit than someone who sells to businesses NOT in their community, but even then there are exceptions.

My response to the question was, "The ones that receive the most value are the ones that PERCEIVE the most value. Depends on how the chamber tells the story."

While every chamber has power members that will naturally gain value from their activities, I think the larger effort by the chamber should be placed on knowing which members are most valuable to them from a business perspective and finding ways to demonstrate to each member the value they received based on each members’ definition.  How do you do this?  Through a robust membership management system with CRM features and detailed reporting of course! 

What do you think about the question of “What businesses will receive the most value by joining their local Chamber?”   Do you think it's a good idea to tell member that they get more out by putting more in?   How do you go about communicating value to EVERY member and trying to meet/exceed their personal expectations.  And, lastly, how to you use technology to accomplish this?   Please add your comments below.  Thanks!

Here are some posts on similar topics:

• Communicating Value To Your Members
• Chambers using technology to create and communicate value
• Know your members (and show them that you know them)