When thinking about acquiring new members, we typically focus on it from a selling perspective. We think: What can we say to our prospective members that will convince them to join us?
But, there’s a better approach that can be used, and to clearly understand it let’s discuss the three reasons why people do not join your organization.
1 – They don’t want what your organization is offering.
2 – They don’t trust and/or believe what you say about your organization.
3 – They don’t believe your organization will actually work for them.
So, let’s address each one of these.
Number One. There’s not much you can do about this reason. You can’t “sell” someone something they don’t want. Therefore, when it comes to this one, you just have to move on.
Number Two. Here, the prospective member does not believe what you’re saying about your organization, and no matter how you promote it to them, they just won’t buy it.
Number Three. The prospective member may really want what your organization has to offer. They may clearly see how they could benefit from it. But what they do not believe is that they can actually get that benefit for themselves.
Now, we already know we can’t do anything about number one, but the other two are factors that we can help prospects overcome.
There are three “Pillars of Influence” that can be used to speak to your audience:
Pillar One – What You Say About Your Organization
This is what every organization is doing. It’s what you see in TV commercials and 99.9% of advertising. It is the most popular marketing approach and simultaneously the least effective.
Pillar Two – What Others Say About Your Organization
Using third party validation and social proof is an effective way to show prospective members the benefits they can receive from your organization; however, this has become less effective because many organizations are doing it. Consequently, your target audience is literally overlooking it.
Pillar Three – What You Demonstrate About Your Organization
This is the most underutilized yet the most effective marketing approach to use because it initiates something called an “Internal Decision Trigger.”
Here’s the psychology behind it. Pillars number one and two support an external decision. In other words, these tactics are trying to convince the prospect of something, or change their mind about something.
However, when you implement the psychology behind pillar number three, and demonstrate how your organization can actually help the prospect, it allows them to make an internal decision.
This is powerful because research shows that when someone makes an internal decision, they own that decision because no one talked them into it and therefore they will stick with it.
So, the goal is to create Internal Decision Triggers in our prospects by demonstrating the value of what the organization has offer in advance of asking them to make a purchase.
The key here is to not just to tell them about the benefits, but actually help them get some of what they want from your organization before asking them to become an “official” member.
For example, you invite them to an event and introduce them to someone they can do business with or help them solve a problem they are having. Another example would be to invite them to a seminar at no charge in which they will get some value-added benefit they can begin to use right away.
This strategy will help them to easily internalize that your organization is the right one and make joining an effortless decision without the use of high-pressure selling. A win-win for everyone!
