How We Helped The Executives Club of Chicago Double Membership

member value proposition
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The Executives’ Club of Chicago had to urgently revitalize its membership. One of America’s top business forums, their value proposition had changed very little in over 100 years, and their membership reflected that. Weak recruitment and retention had brought the Club close to crisis. A dynamic new CEO, Dr. Margaret Mueller, had rebranded the Club with the help of Energy BBDO, one of Chicago’s most famous ad agencies. She had to align the membership model with the new brand to make it work. She put the entire membership model and value proposition on the table:

How We NailED The Member Value Proposition

Most associations struggle with their member value proposition. In our experience, most associations don’t ask the right questions about value. They focus too much on what members want instead of what they want, but can’t get anywhere else. The perfect value proposition addresses those needs in a way that no one else can. We created the Sequence “Way-to-Play” strategy process to solve that problem and help associations create a value proposition that marries their greatest strengths with members’ unmet needs. The result is a clear understanding of where they have a “Right to Win” that will anchor a great value proposition. (For another example of Way to Play in action, see: How SAE Multiplied Non-Dues Revenue 10X.)

We brought senior staff and Board members together to collaborate on a new understanding of the way they should play and how to bring their most unique assets to bear on what members needed most. The result was:

New Strategy

Membership Doubled

The results have been transformational. When the new member value proposition launched for corporate members, many said that they had wanted to expand their relationship with the Club but did not know how they could. They were happy to pay more and more willing to sponsor. Individual members from far beyond Chicago enrolled. Current members were delighted, and it showed in satisfaction and retention. The Club has enjoyed:

Click here to learn more about how we help associations like Exec Club create a winning member value proposition.

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