How to Improve Your Business by Being a Chamber Champion
What is a Chamber Champion?
Chamber Champions are an active and visible voluntary position at the Blue Springs Chamber of Commerce and play an essential role in member communication and retention. Each Champion is charged with conveying member needs, questions and concerns to Chamber staff, and are a resource to current members while representing the Chamber in the Blue Springs community.
Why be a Chamber Champion?
Being a Chamber Champion can help you promote your business while serving as an important link between the Chamber and the Blue Springs community. Talking about the chamber is an excellent ice breaker, and you’ll have the opportunity to build relationships with business owners and community leaders.
Register to attend our first Chamber Champions meeting on Tuesday, January 25 at 11:30 am. Lunch will be provided.
How to Stand Out as an Chamber Champion
As a Champion, you have multiple opportunites to stand out in our community. A few ways you can connect with other members are:
Welcome new members via email
Call and invite a new or prospective member to attend a Chamber event with you
Network at Chamber events – make it a point to talk with the members you’ve called or responded to your emails.
Encourage non-members to join the chamber
Attend ribbon cuttings, networking events & new member orientations
Remember a Member when doing business – and tell them!
Attend and serve as a Chamber representative at Chamber functions and out in the community
Welcoming a Member to the Chamber
A personal welcome to new members will make you and your business stand out. When they have a question or attend an event, you will be the first person they seek out.
Event Invites
You don’t need to be a marketer as a Chamber Champion– your goal is to be a relationship builder. Try sending a quick, simple email that says “I’ll be at X Event, I hope to see you there” or “I’d love to chat with you at X Event if your going.”
Network at Chamber Events
Don’t forget – you’re a member, too! Networking is a great way to build relationships with fellow professionals, and you never know who will need your services in the future.
As a Champion, I encourage you to look for new members and welcome them and introduce them to other people. Remember your first day of school? Being the new person is never fun, but it only takes one friendly face to change that. You should also look for people that you’ve talked to, either over the phone or through email chains. This puts a face to the name, and again keeps you top of mind and furthers your relationships.
Networking doesn’t end when the event does. Collect business cards so you remember who to follow up with the next day.
Encouraging Non-Members to Join
Hypothetically you love being a chamber member so much that you volunteered as an ambassador. This passion should carry over when you’re talking to other businesses. Connect their needs with the benefits of membership.
Remember A Member
I wouldn’t be a real Chamber person if I didn’t encourage you to do business with a fellow Chamber member. Doing business with a local business just makes sense – for you and our local economy. When you remember a member, please tell them. Most people won’t tell you why they picked you to do business with, which makes it hard for businesses to connect the dots from their Chamber membership to their customer base.
We would love for you to join us for our first Chamber Champions meeting on January 25 @ 11:30 am to see if this opportunity would be a good fit for you! Register here to attend.
If you’re interested in becoming a Chamber Champion, please email ttotta@bluespringschamber.com.