Jay Handler is the co-founder & director of Membership180, a membership development consultancy working with Chambers of Commerce and other membership organizations across the globe, with a focus on long-term, sustainable growth. They stress Engagement, and ultimately Retention, above recruitment of new members on a short-term basis.
As a sought-after speaker, trainer & consultant, Jay’s diverse client list includes small business, corporate brands, Associations, Chambers of Commerce and non-profits. His clients have included Comcast Business Class, the National Kitchen and Bath Association, South Carolina SAE, Carolinas CCE, Minnesota CCE, local Chambers across the country, and internationally at the Engage Mexico Social Media Conference, the Calgary Chamber and the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
Jay is the author of "The 8 M's of Marketing for Organization Management Professionals" and a faculty member for the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation's Institute for Organization Management. Aside from Membership180’s core business of Recruiting, Engaging and Retaining members, Jay offers training to clients in the areas of Marketing/Communications, Generational Marketing, Social Media, Networking, Goal-Setting, Storytelling for Business, and a host of other sales/advertising related topics.
I work in an industry that has been dominated by another company for more than 20 years. At our national association's annual conference, I have access to 750-1000 prospects passing by my booth and the many others in the room. However, the work we do is SIGNIFICANTLY different from this long-standing competitor. In fact, the only way a prospect would ever choose to work with us is if they fully understand the differences and that takes time. In other words, we had to find a way to spend 3-5 minutes with 50-60 of our best prospects...as opposed to 5-10 seconds with each of 1000 prospects.
We have been incredibly successful because our booth was designed to immediately separate our 80/20 Rule prospects from the rest...to create a VIP experience that brought those prospects in to our booth...and afforded us the time we needed to visit with them at length, explaining the real value proposition we offer our clients that nobody else in the industry can.
If this sounds like the sort of situation you find yourself in, and you'd like to spend some time talking about some specific suggestions that will allow you the same opportunities, I invite you to schedule a call. It's worked for us and I'm quite positive I can share some strategies that we've used...strategies that will help you get what you need out of YOUR next show.
Thanks!
Jay