Setting up your team for success has taken new meaning since the chaotic events of 2020. The countless shifts, pivots, and adaptations that we’ve taken have changed the landscape of the business world and its employees. It’s more critical than ever to have a trained team for membership growth in place for recruitment and engagement. As we move out of the recovery stage of the pandemic, your team must be reinvigorated and reliable. Finding the right people is essential, but without having your own path to success for them already in place, you may miss the mark. Are you ready to talk about success? Let’s dive into the checklist that will get you and your team there!
Elements of Success
1. Path to Success
Transparent and clear: two words that are vital before beginning the onboarding process for new team members and employees! Build and strengthen your core foundation. This will vary based on your Chamber/Association size and budget.
Clearly define (in writing!) the following:
- Job description / expectations
- Compensation package
- Commission / Bonus structure
- Benefits (including flexibility)
- Budget for mileage, cell phone, sales activity
- Annual review
- Position flexibility (remote work, hybrid work environment)
Keep in mind too, that these tools can apply to current staff as well as new hires!
2. Measurements for Success
Get your team started on the right foot, with open expectations and strategic measurements to ensure their success and accountability. There are all types of ways to measure these deliverables, from weekly plans to comparing types of engagement and trends. These measurements are based on your goals and outcomes, and can include:
- All type of activities
- Member engagement
- Recruitment
- New Member Forecasts
- On target with plans
3. Planning for Success
Starting a new position is a lot like starting your first day of school: it’s stressful, you’re self-conscious, and you feel lost. Take away that awkward beginning for your new hires by having an organized, structured approach to training and onboarding! Outline the type of training, along with general office orientation, and give expectations during the process. Make it clear who is doing each piece of the training. Setting someone at ease from the start makes their journey begin on the right foot, and smoothly moves them from onboarding as a new team member into success with your Chamber/Association and membership growth strategies.
4. Set Up for Success
Having the right membership sales tools is key in your team’s success. Discovery worksheets, benefits statements, managing objections tools, and more. However, if you don’t have these, it’s ok! Your new hire can take ownership and create these tools with their ideas in mind. It may take a few extra days or weeks but will allow the new hire to start utilizing their own skills and expertise so they can apply these tools to their success. From recruitment and engagement plans to looking at non-dues revenue, every plan will impact the bottom line and needs ample set up time to best serve your outcomes.
5. Interview Success
Your foundation is now set, and it’s time to search for candidates and start the interview process. We all know this, but sometimes forget, you can train a person into the right person.
But even so, we do want to see what experience they come with and how much training will be needed.
When interviewing, have a script! Keep it consistent, but allow free flow and organic conversation to promote authenticity. You want to see most of the following attributes in your interviewee: excitement, energy, attitude, drive, a sense of teamwork, adaptable, trustworthy, and a solution-type attitude. While an interview is a brief look into someone, a first impression of them is always a strong instinctual guide.
Focus on your path to success by having the right people in the right seats. Know the skills needed and the people who are best able to do the work and keep your Chamber/Association and your team moving forward on the path to success!
Shari Pash is the founder of Strategic Solutions for Growth, a training company headquartered in Grand Rapids, MI. Shari works with Chambers of Commerce, non-profit organizations, and associations in 27 states and throughout Canada. Connect with Shari to learn more about how she can help your organization.