Chapter 1

Understand the Value Before You Start Selling

When I started working at a small specialty health care association more than fifteen years ago, I asked the executive director why individuals joined our association. This was my entrée into working for professional membership organizations, and my primary responsibility at this particular association was to help grow membership; I felt if I could understand why people joined, I’d have a good handle on how to persuade others to join. The executive director had an interesting perspective, as he had been with the organization for more than ten years, and he was also married to one of the members. He told me that individuals typically joined because they had expanded their practice and needed ...

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