There’s no simple solution to member retention. It’s a constant and persistent issue. Membership professionals are leaders of member retention efforts, but all stakeholders have an impact and influence on whether a member decides to remain loyal to an organization.

Here are 4 ways to retain more members through the good times and the bad:

  1. Under promise and over deliver

This is a great way to keep the membership experience positive and help erase any negatives that occur. If members feel they are always getting something extra, a bonus, more value than they expected throughout the membership experience they will be more likely to forgive those negatives when they happen.

  1. Survey Often

You must constantly ask your members about their needs and their experience with your organization. If you don’t know for sure what they are experiencing then you are just making assumptions. You should survey at least annually and if your members can tolerate it ask more often.

  1. Keep Service Standards High

Good customer service is hard to find and even harder to maintain. Keep your team fresh and invigorated to handle whatever comes over the phone line or internet. There’s no better remedy for attrition than high-quality customer service.

  1. Don’t take their leniency for granted

Members will be patient for only so long before they take steps to find what they need elsewhere and reduce the amount of time they are spending dealing with your inadequacies. Forgiveness for not keeping up with progress is short-lived.

Retention is a mindset for the entire organization that should be ever-present.