Many years ago the president of a local Rotary club found the path to success in strengthening their club. The solution was quite simple; concentrate on recruiting Rotarians. The problem was the targets were almost exclusively members of other Rotary clubs. Somehow that idea was not passing “Will it Build Goodwill and Better Friendships” part of the four way test.
The reality is that we generally bring in new members who are not already Rotarians. Some of them join out of curiosity of who we are and what we do. Some join in hopes of building a better business network, while others join because a friend invited them and they didn’t want to disappoint a friend. Without a doubt, here are those who join Rotary with their eyes wide open and understand the idea of Service Above Self.
The other reality is that we have a track record of annually losing approximately as many members as we bring in making growth very difficult. Somehow the idea of membership development concentrates on bringing more guests to the club and getting them to join. A lot more effort by Rotary leaders must concentrate on retaining those who join. Membership development should be all about developing Rotarians among are members. I have met many former members and very few former Rotarians.
The recent resignation from my club by someone I sponsored a few years back refocused my attention on the idea of customer service. This fellow experienced a very bad 2013 with some financial challenges, a few personal challenges, mixed with a business challenge and capped off by a medical problem. He joined Rotary for all the right reasons and was involved in more than one service project, but circumstances conspired to make Rotary a low priority on his to-do list for almost nine months. I have no doubt that he would soon return to the weekly meeting and participation in club activities.
His resignation was precipitated by the diligence of the club’s pursuit of past dues and meals. My friend was expecting to pay his dues, but asked for forbearance regarding the meals he did not consume. Now we all expect the club treasurer to be diligent in collecting past due amounts, but I wonder how things might have been with a little less diligence. We will probably collect those past due dues and write-off the cost and payment for the meals. All of that at the cost of a member.
Customer service begins with understanding our members are our internal customers. Without them we have no ability to be of service to our external customers. Almost every member of our Rotary clubs experience tough times and we should be a source of support and strength not a speed bump on the road to recovery.