Chamber Membership is a must!
Posted by Barrie Kelly on Tuesday 1 December 2009
There are massive benefits in joining a local Chamber and with the benefits so good and the costs so low I don't understand why some businesses don't join their local Chamber
We are lucky in St Helens we have nearly 1250 Members which gives us the highest penetration in the country but some Chambers struggle to make themselves relevant to their local business base. Even in St Helens there are over 3000 businesses who are not benefiting from our Membership services!
I realise that not all Chambers are the same and service levels vary greatly but during any recession businesses need to work harder to generate new business and lower their cost base. And Chambers offer massive support especially for SME's.
Do businesses clearly understand what Chambers can offer? Do Chambers need to work harder to position themselves in relation to other support bodies such as Business Link, Councils and FSB? I can't see membership fees as a barrier as most membership fees start from around £50 per annum.