The Chamber as Cheerleader?
October 27, 2009 7 Comments
What would it look like for the Chamber to be a cheerleader for its members? I mean that both figuratively and literally.
One example of being a cheerleader is radically promoting “Buying Local”. I don’t just mean sending out a couple emails, having a badge on the website, creating stickers for people’s windows, or hosting a quarterly event. I’m talking about living it, five days a week, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
What would happen to the perceived value of membership if the Chamber became a cheerleader? I think it would invigorate the membership. It would affirm to members that it’s all about them, not strategic meetings, board meetings and initiatives or even the cash-flow statement. All about the members. It would rebuild trust and re-establish the value proposition.
Bonus – It certainly wouldn’t take many committees or strategic meetings to manage cheerleaders, just practice.
How would that play out on a day to day basis? With 5 or 6 staff people in the squad, what would be the impact? Could large businesses benefit from cheer leading? Give me your thoughts- leave a comment below.
Business, Chris Nordyke, City Leadership
Chris: I agree. The Chamber should be a cheerleader for its member businesses, individually and collectively. This effort should make “being a Chamber member” stand for something significant in the eyes/hearts/minds of (a) members themselves, (b) their customers and prospects, (c) their competitors’ customers and prospects, (d) electeds and other community leaders, and (e) the community as a whole.
The cheer isn’t “buy local.” That has little (no) value to many of the businesses the Chamber has (or would like to have) as its members. It is also ineffective with much of the target audience absent any persuasive arguments as to why doing so satisfies their self-interest – which is a lot different than the lofty “in your and the world’s best interest” too oft’ proclaimed.
The cheer has to be something that first and foremost resonates with members and their customers and prospects. What’s “important” about doing business with a Chamber member? To quote someone I know “show me the value and I’ll show you the money.” :-) Figure out that emotional appeal, supported in rational fact, and then the Chamber wll really have something to cheer about.
Curtis, sorry I keep asking you to clarify your comments but I think its important for us to understand.
Do believe any “Buy Local” campaigns in Corvallis are a waste of resources?
Could the promotion of “Buying Local” be based on intangible benefits like community building, a cool downtown area and businesses with local character?
Perhaps the “Buying Local” campaign isn’t the right choice based on economics alone. Perhaps it “fits” Corvallis best.
Loyan: I think “buy local” can be an effective strategy for any retail-centric economic development effort. I also believe it should be a part of every community’s effort to strengthen its existing base of local businesses. And “buy local” is, in fact, a part of the Prosperity That Fits (PTF) economic development plan for Corvallis and Benton County (PTF action item #4.2). If you read the descriptor in the PTF plan for our “Buy Local” efforts, you’ll note it recommends the communications focus be put on the (ultimate) benefits accruing to a citizen/shopper’s self-interest, rather than seeking to “guilt” them into buying local, as is attempted with the “it’s for your own good and the good of the world” appeals one too often hears.
As you may know, I am a citizen-at-large member of the PTF committee, and currently serve as its Vice Chair. I wholeheartedly support and work to advance all 48 action items in the plan, including #4.2.
I hope the foregoing clarifies things for you. But for added clarification, let me try to do a better job of communicating what I must not have done the first time around. In his original posting about the Chamber as Cheerleader, Chris had suggested that perhaps “Buy Local” should be the Chamber’s “shout out.” I only cautioned that – FOR THE CHAMBER – this is not a message that has benefit to all of its existing or hoped for members. It will not satisfy Chris’ earlier “show me the value and I’ll show you the money” metric for being a member of the Chamber – at least not for some of the businesses in town. That was, and is, the only point I was seeking to point out. End of clarification.
I’d love to see some more comments on this idea of Chamber as Cheerleader.
My “Buy Local” example was simply one manifestation of this idea and likely would not result in the same exact benefit for all members, particularly our high tech, traded sector companies.
I do think this is a worthwhile question to discuss more. How could the chamber more effectively and actively promote it’s members? Besides being fierce advocates for shopping and sourcing locally, how else could the chamber cheer for it’s members?
Assuming cost is not a factor, what could we do? Let the creativity flow…
Again, as I have mentioned in another post, how can the chamber and the board be cheerleaders without active involvement with its members?
As a mascot, I got fans involved by getting up in the stands and getting their attention.
We are doing neither…
The chamber coalition IS its members. There is no Chamber otherwise.
The chamber coaltion staff of less than 3 (minus the Economic Development dedicated staff) attempt to rally the members while innovating, focusing and facilitating the interactions among the members, the community and the government. (They also provide some specialized support, like export licenses)
So then how do the chamber MEMBERs “cheer” for the other chamber members and the community as whole…
1. by getting to know their fellow members and what they do
2. by buying from them when their products and services match their needs
3. by referring business to them when appropriate.
4. Offering advice and support when needed or asked.
This doesn’t have to be cheering. Each member has a role and possibly a responsibility. There is no take in the system without give.
This is the nuts and bolts of knowing who the businesses are in the community, what products and services they offer, to whom they best provide those products and services, and keeping them in mind for both transactions and referrals.
The Chamber Coalition has three major legs:
Membership services and support
Government Affairs and
Economic Development
at the heart, because that’s what a chamber is. A mutually beneficial membership organization for the betterment of a community.
a few thoughts:
Note: The Chamber staff is miniscule compared to the employees of the 600+ members of the chamber, which number in the tens of thousands. How do we – the members (not staff) encourage each of those employees to contribute to the health of the Corvallis/Benton business community?
I like the concept of the “Chamber as Cheerleader” for many of the reasons described above.
What I like best about it is that the analogy implies that there is some rough and tough team out there doing something competitive (other than competing for each other’s limited client base). I’d like to think that rough and tough team is a well-equipped, well-funded, and well-led team of Economic Development players. Instead, it seems like we have one, maybe two heavy hitters, some scrappy walk-ons, and a loose coalition of players wondering in which direction the ball should be played. Somehow, “GO TEAM GO!” only seems to add to the chaos…