"Here's how you get trade associations to funnel clients to you..."
Hey Offliners,
After thinking about it a little bit more, I've come to the conclusion that being a endorsed service provider, is the holy grail of marketing consulting.
(Endorsed service provider is when the trade association actively promotes you to their members.)
It makes your job so much easier when you are being introduced as "the" marketing expert to every business owner in that industry.
After reading more of Robert Skrob's book, Your Association Shortcut: The Definitive Guide for Generating Customers Through Associations, my eyes have been opened even more.
See, while trade associations are focused on retaining their current members, they are more concerned with those stubborn folks who haven't yet joined the organization.
It's like the bane of their existance.
That's why if you position your products or services as a membership benefit and a membership recruitment magnet, you can literally make a association drool over what you have to offer them.
But, it all starts with giving the associations exactly what they want.
If you do that, they will be extremely motivated to promote you and your services to their entire list of potential members.
Robert refers to this as his "secret sauce" that makes his efforts to create endorsed provider programs so successful.
So, instead of offering the association a program that is only a money maker (which is awesome), you offer a program that is a money maker AND a new member recruitment tool for the association.
Here's his step-by-step blueprint to his strategy of becoming the endorsed provider by trade associations:
Step 1: Create a membership benefit program associations can implement to improve membership recruitment and retention.
Step 2: Develop an up-front bonus item an association can produce and deliver to each of its members.
Step 3: Develop a list of ideas, sales letters, and do-it-for-you resources to train associations how to leverage the value from your benefit offering.
Step 4: Determine how to make your membership benefit program free to the association through sponsorship, new member revenue, product sales commissions, or a special conference.
Step 5: Create marketing materials for the association to include in its new member welcome kits to notify new members about your program.
Step 6: Create a membership marketing sequence associations can use to recruit members based on the value delivered by your program.
I spent a couple of hours thinking about his six step system and how I could begin to really implement it in my own business because I see the power in it.
For me it's a no-brainer.
I just wish he'd written the book about five years ago, so I could've understood why I wasn't having any success trying to break this strategy open.
Now, go close some deals,
Chris
After thinking about it a little bit more, I've come to the conclusion that being a endorsed service provider, is the holy grail of marketing consulting.
(Endorsed service provider is when the trade association actively promotes you to their members.)
It makes your job so much easier when you are being introduced as "the" marketing expert to every business owner in that industry.
After reading more of Robert Skrob's book, Your Association Shortcut: The Definitive Guide for Generating Customers Through Associations, my eyes have been opened even more.
See, while trade associations are focused on retaining their current members, they are more concerned with those stubborn folks who haven't yet joined the organization.
It's like the bane of their existance.
That's why if you position your products or services as a membership benefit and a membership recruitment magnet, you can literally make a association drool over what you have to offer them.
But, it all starts with giving the associations exactly what they want.
If you do that, they will be extremely motivated to promote you and your services to their entire list of potential members.
Robert refers to this as his "secret sauce" that makes his efforts to create endorsed provider programs so successful.
So, instead of offering the association a program that is only a money maker (which is awesome), you offer a program that is a money maker AND a new member recruitment tool for the association.
Here's his step-by-step blueprint to his strategy of becoming the endorsed provider by trade associations:
Step 1: Create a membership benefit program associations can implement to improve membership recruitment and retention.
Step 2: Develop an up-front bonus item an association can produce and deliver to each of its members.
Step 3: Develop a list of ideas, sales letters, and do-it-for-you resources to train associations how to leverage the value from your benefit offering.
Step 4: Determine how to make your membership benefit program free to the association through sponsorship, new member revenue, product sales commissions, or a special conference.
Step 5: Create marketing materials for the association to include in its new member welcome kits to notify new members about your program.
Step 6: Create a membership marketing sequence associations can use to recruit members based on the value delivered by your program.
I spent a couple of hours thinking about his six step system and how I could begin to really implement it in my own business because I see the power in it.
For me it's a no-brainer.
I just wish he'd written the book about five years ago, so I could've understood why I wasn't having any success trying to break this strategy open.
Now, go close some deals,
Chris