Join an Association?

Every industry has and association. Some are so influential that they are nearly a necessity if you are doing business in a particular field. Some are little more than social clubs. When you consider joining an association you need to look at the value and the cost.

If you are a real estate agent it is nearly impossible to do business without joining an affiliate of the National Association of Realtors because the association provides the license training and control the multiple listing services in nearly every market. There are other industries that require licensing and the training is available primarily through associations such as the home builders association in Michigan.

I was deeply involved in the National Home Builders Association affiliate in Chicago; the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago.

The upside of my membership included;

·         Meeting and interacting with others in the industry. I often received leads on land opportunities that did not meet other builder's current requirements but did meet mine.

·         Gave me contacts with lenders and other services

·         Provided training opportunities for me and my employees that I could not have otherwise afforded.  The NAHB convention was one of the largest in the country. The convention gave me the opportunity to research new products and see them first hand that would have been time consuming or impossible to do on my own.

·         Gave our business access to awards programs that aided in advertising including design and construction awards.

·         An association can speak for your industry on legislative issues such as new laws that impact your industry.

·         I was a member of a peer group set up by the NAHB that was one of the most valuable resources I had to build my business.

·         When I served as President of the Association it gave me prestige inside and outside of my industry. Likely more than I earned. 

·         Some associations offer pooled insurance programs that can be lower price than is available to smaller companies.

The downside of membership can include

·         The association can consume more of your time than is appropriate particularly if you get chosen and agree to accept a leadership position.

·         There can be a good deal of association politics with individual members trying to use the association to accomplish agendas more beneficial to their own company than the industry as a whole. 

·         There can be a wide disparity in opinions on what is best for the industry which can be based on the size of the members (large company vs. small), structure (entrepreneurial vs. traditional corporate structure) or other characteristics.

·         Many times at social functions the members actually in the industry (builders for examples) are outnumbered by vendor looking to make sales.

·         I had competitors try and hire my employees at training sessions.

There may even be competing associations in your industry. In Chicago there were at least five that I knew about. Look at them all to see which fits your needs the best. If you are a vendor then look at the association that gives you the best access to your target market but remember to use the association as an opportunity to create relationships and soft sales. If you use every event as a sales opportunity you will likely find that you are alienating your targets instead.