Your Membership is Important

by Tom Slater, State Membership Chairman, Timberland Lumber Co.

How many times have you heard or thought "I haven't seen an increase in my business since I joined" or "I find no value in my membership"?

My response to these statements is: "What did you expect to get out of your membership when you joined the association?"

The most common answer is "more business."

Then I follow-up with the question, "Are you married?

If the answer is yes, I ask, “Did you just see her, ask her and she agreed to marry you without knowing any more about you?"

Rarely is that answer yes.

My questions are designed to illustrate that gaining business is more than just mailing a check once a year. You need to provide other members of your association with the opportunity to meet you and to learn about your company’s products and services. Once they are familiar with you and your company, then they will think of you when they or someone else they come into contact with needs your products and services.

The process is two-way. Builders will call associates when they need a product. Associates will refer builders and other associates when someone asks them for their assistance. Through successful interactions, you strengthen relationships and your business blossoms.

When you fail to renew your membership, you lose out. You lose the opportunity to network with prospective customers at association functions. You lose the crucial support of 235,000 other members of the National Association of Home Builders who, like yourself, work to support safe and affordable housing. You lose several hundreds in membership discount opportunities. You also lose the ability to access the greatest housing industry resource stream available from your local, state, and national builders associations.

Your membership plays a huge role in the success of your local, state, and national housing industries. Strength is in numbers and your membership is one of 235,000 national and 7,000 statewide.

Last year, the Indiana Builders Association increased our membership by 20 percent and received recognition in several national membership competitions. IBA ranked fourth in the yearlong retention category, first in the yearlong percentage increase, first in the yearlong numerical increase, and sixth in the yearlong affiliate numerical increase for state associations with 4,000-7,999 members.

We accomplished great achievements through our big membership push last year. But, like a well planted garden, we must continue to work to reap the seeds we sow.

We have identified April 21-25 as statewide membership retention week. If you recruited a new member last year, please take the time this month to pick up the phone and follow up with how that member is doing. Often times, a personal call and an invitation to an association meeting or committee activity will really get the membership ball moving.

I encourage you to get creative with your monthly gatherings to increase participation and retention. The HBA of Howard County is going to have a membership retention party April 23.

The HBA of Howard County is following up this great event with implementing a point system, where a member will get points for different areas of involvement in their association. Points will accrue over the year and at the end of the year rewards, such as discounts on advertising, Home Show booth discount, free meals at monthly meetings, will be presented.

Even if you don't have time to be an active member in your association, your daily membership - which is the cost of a large coffee at McDonalds - helps to support safe and affordable housing in Indiana and the nation. The greater our membership, the greater our ability to impact state and national legislators on housing industry concerns.

Many of you start off every morning with that McDonalds cup of coffee to get you through the day. Realize that starting off every morning with the support of IBA will get your company through the day and the difficult housing market forecast.