Autodraft | Blog | Membership engagement | Perpetual
April 17, 2016
|We invented membership. We own this stuff. We built it and own it and live it. Members are our life.
And now they have exploited it for their own nefarious purposes. You have to be a “member” to shop here. You have to be a “member” to buy our shoes. You can be a “member” and we’ll give you your choice of a lite, regular, or robust membership tier. You become a “member” and you’ll never have to think about it again; don’t worry we’ll take care of you.
And aren’t they brilliant!
They, of course, is our for-profit brethren and they are making the methodology of membership shine again.
We, the associations and organizations who began the concepts and constructs of the membership model, should turn around and learn from them. Because they are doing it expertly. Giving members – their customers – what they want, when they want it. Giving their members the option to be a customer for life and never expire.
We have tried our member-get-a-member campaigns. We have ambassadors and point systems. We send direct mail and we urge the managers and educators of our industries to promote membership and reward joining. We get members to join when they get a discount on our conferences and then say goodbye to them until the next event they want to attend.
So with pitchforks raised, let’s take this back. We in the membership business must sharpen our tools, re-envision our work, begin a revolution to be better and to be now.
Perpetual membership can be that thing. Don’t keep doing what you’ve always done. Let’s start doing what works for our friends at Costco and Netflix and Just Fab. Let’s reimagine our membership models and start employing some of these proven methods.
We’d love to hear your ideas for reconstituting membership models today. Comment below and let’s hear more ideas.
Want to explore perpetual membership for your organization? Read about a tool that might help you implement a perpetual membership program for your association.
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