Case Studies

"Customer" Acquisition and Retention

Challenge:

The Renewable Energy Business Network, a national networking group with 11 chapters, needed to manage its rapid organic growth to ensure member retention while developing a proactive strategy to foster and manage future growth.

Approach:

• Exploration
  
  • We met with the group's volunteer leadership to assess its existing marketing and communications tools, growth history, and goals.
  • We had frank and open discussions with board members to understand both the goals and the ethos of the organization at its founding and in envisioning its future growth.

• Articulation
  • We assessed the results of those meetings to develop strategic recommendations.
  • We developed recommendations for new communication tools, database management, chapter development goals, and sponsorship dollars.

• Implementation
  • We ran quarterly "best practice" calls with all chapter leads, and instituted regular ongoing email communication.
  • We designed a new, bolder logo to increase visibility.
  • We wrote and disseminated a "job description" and training manual for chapter leads.
  • We worked with the board to create a target list of potential sponsors, created tiered solicitation materials, and managed sponsor outreach.
  • We updated the website and made recommendations for a new website.
  • We managed partnerships with other organizations to secure event registration discounts in exchange for marketing, raising the organization's profile.
  • We centralized communications, ensuring that the organization had all chapter member email addresses.

• Evaluation
  • Having created a centralized method for member communications, we were able to track member numbers easily. We also tracked membership numbers in the LinkedIn group and event partnerships.

Results:

In 19 months under our leadership, the organization grew from 5 active and 6 inactive chapters with approximately 3,000 members total, to 16 robust and active chapters with approximately 10,000 members. The LinkedIn group grew from 10,000 members to 30,000 members in the same time period, becoming a top-70 group by size on LinkedIn, and sponsorship increased by more than 700%. Simultaneously, we took REBN through a merger with the Clean Economy Network, managing development of a new set of communication and database tools in the process. The Clean Economy Network is now the largest national membership-based networking, education and advocacy organization in the clean technology and innovation sector.