Lower Hutt born, married with five daughters, a Lay Preacher, and Treasurer of the Church of Christ in Laings Road, Ian had worked in I.T. for forty years. He is also a business coach and now runs PC Patch in Alicetown, a firm much appreciated by several of our members.
Ian had observed how some clubs, including Rotary clubs, are not thriving, and gave his thoughts on how to improve our numbers. As a business coach he often makes a provocative statement or offers a spectacular reward to gain attention and can then begin mentoring. He explained how advice such as, "Just get more members", is not helpful. Similarly, the example of a golfing coach who gave this advice to a tyro, "Just hit the ball so that it lands in the hole." is not helpful. More positively he told of visiting two Rotary Clubs. At one he asked a member what he did. "I'm retired" came the reply. This is not helpful, it is a conversation stopper. At another club, the reply to the same question was, "I made my living as a ....". This is a conversation opener and much more productive. Even if the person did not want to talk about his career, he/she could have said something like, "I now spend my time delivering meals on wheels."
Thus it is important to be welcoming to visitors and prospective members and encourage them to open up. To attract visitors and prospective members we should first target whom we want, whether by name or by profession and actively pursue them, perhaps by a member who already knows them, or who has worked with them. We then need to bring them into the club. Here, Ian's preferred approach echoes that of the Salvation Army: Soap, Soup, Salvation. Give a person what he/she needs (business help, connections, friendship, whichever most applies), make membership and attendance at meetings attractive and enjoyable, and recruitment is most likely to follow.
If you would like to view Ian’s visual presentation, click HERE.
