So what is the sales environment of an association in terms of selling memberships and what is the most appropriate motivational profile to hire for that role?
First let’s address the sales environment. Means found that the sales environment was determined by two variables – the degree to which a relationship is required during the selling process and the complexity of the sale.
The Importance of Relationships When Selling Memberships
The least accurate thing you can do right now is to interpret “relationship” to mean “friendship”. The need for a relationship with the sales person during the selling of association memberships is not to be interpreted as meaning that you need to go find an outgoing, chatty, “gift-of-gab” type individual to befriend strangers and persuade them with their charisma to join your club. In fact, that may be the opposite of what you need.
Think of a sales cycle as being either extremely brief as in minutes or much longer possibly even years. In order to sustain a longer sales cycle such as the one that may occur during a membership sale, an appropriate and professional relationship must develop. This relationship can be considered a conduit toward a sale so it is important that the conduit be strong and appropriate.
The strength of this conduit will be determined by how well it reflects the intangibles of the product or service for sale.
In an association environment there are tangibles that can be evaluated directly by the buyer such as the activities of the association, the growth or decline of membership, and the relevance of the association.
However, there are also intangibles that cannot be evaluated directly and must be evaluated indirectly – often by evaluating the representative of the association which during the buying/selling period is the sales person. In an association this is usually someone with a “new member” or “membership development” title – or possibly the executive director. Things like quality, exclusivity, market reputation and culture are all evaluated using indirect methods. The relationship with the sales person is a critical part of this indirect assessment.
The relationship element of the sale is also an important element of the anticipated post-sale experience of a new member and as such they evaluate it prior to agreeing to join. As their most familiar representative of the association, a potential new member understands that they may want to rely upon the sales person for advice, introductions and familiarization if they do join and so they are evaluating this element late in the buying/selling period as fears of buyer’s remorse begin to creep in (based on this you can begin to see how valuable a well thought out program assisting a new member through their first 90 days can be not only in closing more late stage new members but also in retaining them once they are in and through a trial period).
[testimonial author=””]In order to sustain a longer sales cycle such as the one that may occur during a membership sale, an appropriate and professional relationship must develop.[/testimonial]
How Complex Is An Association Membership Sale?
An association membership is typically not an overly complex sale in terms of customization. In fact there are usually very few options or customization opportunities available. Although it is more complex than a simple product purchase it is far less complex for example than implementing a new ERP solution for a business.
However there is an interesting mix of tangibles and intangibles to be evaluated by the buyer and their needs for joining may vary and may not be obvious or clear to the seller (or even the buyer) meaning some discovery and exploration may be necessary to ensure relevance to the potential new member.
Given all this it would be fair to characterize the complexity of an association sale as a moderately complex sale.
Which Motivational Profile Works Best?
So with a high need for a relationship during a moderately complex sale, what does Dr. Means suggest is an appropriate motivational profile?
Based on the two variables identified by Dr. Means the club sales environment is one requiring a “Servicer” motivational profile.
More attentive over a longer period of time than a typical “Responder” (an inside sales person as an example) or a “Closer” (stereotypical used car sales) but not selling something as complex as an “Adviser” (custom IT implementation) the club sales person does not require a lot of technical skill or even significant sales skills but does require a very specific motivational profile designed to establish relationships, use their personal image to represent their product (the association), and to sell through networks and by referrals from existing club members (cold-calling lists of strangers would be painful for this person – but inviting friends of members to come experience the association as his or her esteemed guests would be the definition of a great time). These folks are patient, methodical, self-confident, detailed, and organized.
Assessing Motivational Characteristics
So how can you tell who has a “Servicer” motivational profile or not?
The most accurate way to tell is to use Dr. Means’ Oxicon online assessment tool but for our discussion let’s consider the following four motivational attributes that are assessed by the tool.
With many similarities to McLelland’s Need Theory of Motivation, Means evaluates four needs: Power, Autonomy, Competitive Drive, and Affiliation.
The Need for Power
It makes sense that an individual fitting a motivational profile titled “Servicer” would not have a high need for power over others. A low power orientation is desirable.
[testimonial author=””]Cold-calling lists of executive strangers would be painful for this person – but inviting friends of members to come experience the association as his or her esteemed guests would be the definition of a great time.[/testimonial]
The Need for Autonomy
As mentioned earlier the ideal “Servicer” is methodical but also certainly capable of independent thought and action where required.
Sales, however, is a process that needs to be consistently managed over time so someone with a high need for independent action and desiring a lack of routine would be unsuitable for this role.
Competitive Drive
Someone with a high competitive drive is someone that wants to win and to do so is not afraid to put themselves in win-lose situations.
As a sales person if you can’t bear to frequently put yourself in a situation where you will hear “No thank you” then you are also unlikely to hear “Yes please” very frequently as well.
Needless to say someone with a high (but not obscene) competitive drive is desirable for a “Servicer” sales position.
The Need for Affiliation
The association environment, although exclusive in terms of membership, is intended to be inclusive in terms of experience once a member becomes a part of the community. It is therefore appropriate that the motivational profile of a “Servicer” be aligned with a high need for affiliation, the need to be part of a group.
Compensating the Perfect Association Sales Person
This is not a commission sales person. In fact if you chose that route you would be likely to (i) lose the right person if you already have them or (ii) attract the wrong person to the position.
Both the association and this person want and need structure and order and that includes their compensation package. Some incentives are appropriate but add them onto a strong salary and focus them on achieving tasks related to managing the selling process (KPIs such as number of potential new members hosted per month, leads discovered per month from current members, etc.) but not outcomes related to sales (new members).
Finding The Right Person
So now that you know who you’re looking for go out and find them. They might be teachers that are tired of teaching (one of my clients has had great success with exactly that), nurses tired of nursing, waitresses tired of waiting, or any number of service oriented individuals.
The point is that what you’re not looking for is a high-pressure straight commission sales machine to try and fix your membership problem overnight.
You need a considerate and confident “Servicer” to work a sales process over time and consistently bring new members and financial and social success to your association.
Cal Harrison is the President of Beyond Referrals a sales and marketing advisory firm for the professional services sector and a member of the Canadian Association of Management Consultants. He can be reached at cal@beyondreferrals.com or (204) 293-2411. This article is adapted from an article written by Harrison that appeared in Club Manager Quarterly in 2014. All rights reserved.