Raise Expectations or Risk Irrelevance

Out of curiosity, I answered his question with a question. What did he think about Anonymous Chamber of Commerce? What stood out that made him want to join? After all these years, first impressions reveal much about an organization.  

“The people seemed nice, but I guess all sales people seem nice. Oh, they said I’d get as much out of it as I put into it, which seemed about right,” he casually added. 

That’s where I stopped him. As a friend of the company, I had some leeway to be more direct. NCDS has seen the full gamut of organizations. Chambers worth joining do not merely create an environment for business, they create irresistible awareness and attraction towards a common ambition, so I knew it wasn’t one of those. 

Instead, it sounded like many chambers or economic development organizations (EDOs): they possess convening power, but no inspirational power. 

You Get Out What You Put In?

It’s not necessarily a bad sign. Anyone who wants to win at business needs to show up; that’s their responsibility. But as a selling point, “you get out of it what you put into it,” revealed one all-important fact about this chamber: its preeminent benefit is to gather professionals, flip on the lights, and make sure Gary brought a couple boxes of coffee. 

They put the onus back on their members while asking for membership fees, instead of providing them with compelling reasons to participate.

In contrast, we’ve observed that the best chambers pursue objectives that cause stakeholders to show up with high expectations, and the chamber fulfills the weight of those expectations with substantial value, leadership, and ambition. If you build what they want, they truly will come. 

Expectations as Indicators

As a CEO or board member, you can build your organization’s influence in the community with relevance—or the knowledge of and alignment with community needs and opportunities. Expectations are one surefire way to measure how you’re doing. Broadly, here are the common indicators for high and low expectations. 

Your Organization Has High Expectations When:

• You maintain a strong, low-churn membership roster
• Investors give once, and then give again
• Your organization holds respect as the instigator of new ideas, bold solutions, and high-impact initiatives
• You have the funding to do what you promised (and the credibility to ask for more)
• Volunteers participate gladly, and the “A Team” of influential business leaders have permanent seats at your strategy table

Your Organization Has Low Expectations:

• New members trickle in, but few stick around
• Investors are scarce or inconsistent
• The primary organizational focus is internal — maintaining operations rather than driving meaningful community and economic outcomes
• Volunteer engagement is a struggle, and respected business leaders only engage for resume-padding opportunities

Our friend’s chamber was somewhere in the middle. It could assemble and guide, but it couldn’t truly influence or attract. Without relevance, it will be limited to the expectations a networking entity might garner, yet eroded by BNI, Rotary, and other organizations. 

While those organizations serve a valuable purpose, chambers and EDOs have a unique opportunity: to lead the charge for transformational change in their communities—if they so choose.

The Levels of Expectation (From Low to High)

To truly understand where your organization stands, it helps to break expectations down into three tiers based on what your members and stakeholders think they’ll get by signing up:

Transactional:

I expect your organization to do things that help me or my company, such as:

• Networking
• Marketing, exposure, & referrals
• Access to community leaders
• Information & professional development

Environmental:

I expect your organization to improve the overall business climate, such as:

• Legislative advocacy & business friendliness
• Public safety, schools, infrastructure, & quality of place improvements
• Workforce development

Leadership:

‍I expect your organization to drive the community’s agenda, deliver bold solutions to pressing needs, and aggressively pursue opportunities for long-term growth and prosperity, such as:

• Focused, intentional projects and initiatives
• Influence & collaboration with elected leaders & key decision-makers
• Accountability measures and transparent reporting
• A clear, respected voice for the business community — one that shapes community priorities

One can see how expectations, if amplified by ambitious (but attainable) promises and goals, correspond to more members, larger investment commitment, energized volunteers, and “A Team” community leaders who want to help drive the change. Ultimately, it means you’re relevant. 

Relevance Beats Routine

Most organizations play it safe by managing expectations. What they don’t realize is that making bigger promises that align with stakeholder needs is an easier path to transformative community and economic development. This is the key to relevance, and setting the bar safely low only perpetuates the status quo year after year. 

NCDS’ designed its Roadmap to Relevance and Revenue to solve this problem alongside you, at far less cost than capital campaigns or expensive strategic planning consultants. In eight weeks of in-person collaboration with NCDS President and CEO Tom DiFiore, you will have a clear path to raise your stakeholders’ expectations, with the tools, strategy, and clarity to exceed them.

If you’re ready to get started, contact us today for a free consultation.