A tourism organization couldn't sell memberships because members got the main benefit, a website listing, for free anyway. Shaun Whynacht says reframe it as a pledge to support local tourism, add a door decal, and suddenly people will pay. The words you use matter more than you think.
Chapters
If you stop and think about why somebody may make a decision to move forward with you as a business or with an organization, it could very well be as simple as one little change. Let me tell you a story. I just recently did a marketing assessment, a marketing evaluation of a tourism-based industry, and they were trying to achieve a higher level of members in their organization. And because they are tourism-based, the really, the benefit of it was to be listed as a member on their website. And while when they started their organization, they basically brought everybody onto the website so that it was visitor-focused, which was a great move. It was a purpose to grow this website so that people that were traveling to the area could look up almost every business that was there. And while that was great, it also created a different problem. The problem that now, what was the benefit to becoming a member? Was it to be on the website? Well, you were already on the website. Was it to be in the newsletter? Well, maybe yes, it could be because you could be in the newsletter. So what we ended up talking about today, and we still don't know yet if this shift is going to be what needed to happen, was changing the focus of the idea of a member. The membership was minimal, right? It wasn't even over $500. But the idea that you are not becoming a member, you are actually pledging or supporting tourism in your area, and by doing so, you would then get these benefits that would come with that. Right? Getting a little decal for your, your door at your place of business that shows that you are committed to supporting tourism in your area. Right? The idea that is not joining, but it is supporting. That little change will probably help them break through that glass ceiling that they're hitting. So what is it in your business that you could change? And I would challenge you to think about the wording that you're using and why your customers are hesitant, right? What is it that they have, those preconceived, pre-programmed aspects around that word that may cause them to step back? Can you change that? Think about it.
