Read more for a mention of the Irish Chamber!

Philadelphia Business Journal
By: Bryce Sanders

It sounds like common sense. If you want to add new clients, get involved with your local chamber of commerce.

But not everybody acts on common sense. If you aren’t a member, is it time to take another look?

Practical advice, circa 1776

Consider an extreme example. Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations in 1776. Okay, we (soon to be) Americans had other things on our minds at the time. The man said: “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.”

This sounds cynical. But 245 years later we have many more checks and balances in business and government. His point could also be: “Business people who get together figure out ways to do more business.”

You should get aboard that train.

About the Chamber

Let’s assume you know the benefits of Chamber membership. They offer the opportunity to network. They hold classes. They give back to the community. They represent the interests of the business community. The dues are usually reasonable.

Everyone probably knows a few naysayers. They explain they joined but didn’t get any business. Joining but not showing up doesn’t work. Woody Allen’s movie Annie Hall included the line: “Showing up is 80 percent of life.” A later version going around is “90 percent of success is showing up.” You can’t expect business to come to you. Well, maybe undertakers can.

You’ve also met the people who joined, showed up at a few events, didn’t get any business and got discouraged. “What you put into lifeis what you get out of it.” Clint Eastwood’s point also applies to organizations you join. You must volunteer time, get onto committees and build a reputation for yourself.

Someone’s been sleeping in my bed

Another complaint people voice is: “That other guy has the chamber all sewn up.” They feel the competition is entrenched. Here are a couple of reasons that’s probably wrong:

The chamber has 1,000 members. They can’t all be her clients. No one is that popular.

They might have established a dominant presence 10 years ago. They are an elder statesman. However, they are now putting their time and financial resources into climbing the ladder at the museum or the hospital. They are trading on their reputation at the chamber.

Now you show up, full of enthusiasm. Do they throttle back at the hospital and defend their chamber territory? Maybe not. Put another way: “Just when you thought you were winning the rat race, along comes a f aster rat!”

There’s more than one chamber

The “presence of competitors” argument might have some merit. Joining a gym in the Wall Street area isn’t the best place for a financial advisor to look for clients, because most of the gym members work in the industry. Can this problem be solved?

The geographic strategy

Let’s suppose you are a financial advisor in the Kansas City, Missouri market, which includes both Missouri and Kansas. The Greater Kansas City Chamber is the dominant player, with more than 2,250 members. Reviewing their membership directory, this appears to include 23 members in the insurance industry and 22 representing financial services.

Meanwhile, The Northeast Johnson County Chamber in nearby Mission, Kansas has more than 1,300 members (called business representatives on their homepage).This includes 11 members from insurance and 8 from financial services.

Both chambers serve overlapping markets. One includes fewer direct competitors. It also assumes they are completely committed to active prospecting.

The cultural strategy

Chambers logically cover a geographic footprint. However, specific chambers attract members from different cultural backgrounds. Suppose your business operates in the Philadelphia metro market. Here are a few examples of additional chambers you will find:

• African American Chamber of Commerce, Philadelphia
• Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
• Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia
• Society of Professional Women, Wayne, Pennsylvani (Affiliated with the main line Chamber of Commerce)

The international strategy

Your business is different because it does a substantial amount of business overseas. Metro areas often have chambers of commerce whose aim is to strengthen business ties between the United States and another country. Here are a few examples in the Philadelphia market.

• U.S.-India Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia
• Irish-American Business Chamber and Network (Philadelphia)
• Chilean and American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia
• Philadelphia Israel Chamber of Commerce

How would the phone call start?

What do all these organizations have in common? They are composed of people wanting to do more business. They are sufficiently committed to pay dues, volunteer time and attend meetings.

It’s expected they will make an effort to get on each other’s radar.

When you call a business, it’s highly likely the first person you encounter will be a screener. If you introduced yourself as a fellow chamber member, wouldn’t that would increase the chances of your call getting through?