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Can You Hear Me Now?
By Erin Dickey
Most problems, rather it is in business or is personal, are due to communications problems. About 1000 phone calls have been made to expired USAPL members in the last few months. I have been finding that the main reason that our members are not renewing is largely due to communication problems within our organization.
In the United States today, the internet has become a part of our daily lives. We can conduct any business, pay bills and even buy USAPL merchandise, all from the comfort of our homes and offices. The problem that I see with this is that we as an organization are relying on the Internet for a majority of our communication. In any Integrated Marketing Campaign it is important to reach your target audience through their preferred mediums.
With such a large master's population I have found that many of them either do not regularly use the internet, only use it for e-mail or don't have it at all. So why are we placing the majority of our meet information on the internet?
One master's lifter that I spoke to said he "Would love to compete", but that he hadn't received any fliers in the mail about meets going on in his state. This was coming from a state that regularly hosts 5-7 meets a year. My further research revealed that most individual mailings had stopped and that all the meet information was being place on the state website. This suggests that we should be investing a small amount of time and money into sending out meet info through the mail. I guarantee that any meet director who does this will see a nice increase in entries and your costs for doing this will be recouped.
Moreover on the subject of mailings I would also like to mention another point. People cherish their right to choose. The right to choose one's own doctor or surgeon has kept our country from socialized medicine. Most people belong to an association related to their profession that gives them the right to choose if they want to attend conferences or read about related topics.
For example, I belong to the Sales and Business Marketing Association through my school. I pay $20 a semester, which puts me on a mailing list and in return I get the right to choose which meetings or employer nights to attend (or not to attend). Over the course of the semester I may attend anywhere from 0-5 meetings. Even if I don't attend any meetings I still know what's going on and I am in the loop, I have the right to choose.
I spoke with a gentleman from Michigan who renewed his membership, even though he was no longer lifting, just to "stay on the mailing list". Michigan has a newsletter that is sent to members about twice a year. It is nothing too fancy, less than 5 pages. A letter from the state chair, meet results, announcements, congratulations etc. This is great for members in Michigan to know what is going on with Michigan lifters. I ask that state chairs consider arranging to have some sort of publication sent out to members in your state to keep them in the loop.
The last point that I want to touch upon is our lack of communication with each other as friends and fellow competitors. I spoke with a couple of upset people who were having problems with certain members in their state. These issues were never brought to the attention of our president.
If you are having a problem within your state of region, please let our elected officials know about it. For example, please refrain from spreading the rumor that your state chair is embezzling millions of dollars to support their steroid habit. When you hear something may be going on take a moment to e-mail an Athlete Representative. It is a lot easier for them to address an issue before it gets out of hand. And as many of you are aware rumors tend to be either completely fabricated or the truth exaggerated three fold. Word of mouth is the most effective form of advertising, but can also be the most detrimental when negative feelings become involved. I ask that everyone, as USAPL members, supporters and sponsors, please do not let our organization become cannibalistic. We have Athlete Reps at the National level as well within our Woman's Committee. They are there to hear your concerns and make sure that they are heard by the proper people.
We need to communicate with each other. We are at an exciting time in our organization, please help us to keep growing and improving your organization. The observations that I have made are right from your very own mouths, so I hope that you will take them to heart and consider how you can open the lines of communication in your state.
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