Last month, 235 members, just over 17% of those asked, responded to the Chamber’s Annual Membership Survey. Their input was invaluable to the Chamber Board and Staff as the 2020 business plan development process got underway.
There were no surprises when it came to what keeps our business community members up at night. Shortage of qualified workers was cited by 38.5% of those responding, followed by health insurance costs, 34.6% and the overall direction of state government with almost 34%. Overall 82% of survey respondents are mostly to very satisfied with the Chamber. Advocacy and meeting the needs of members were often mentioned as reasons for satisfaction while those who expressed displeasure with the organization most often noted past support for tax increases and political involvement in their scoring decision.
When it came to organization priorities the members spoke clearly to what the top goals of the Chamber should be; economic development, particularly helping existing businesses grow and create jobs (43.5%), advocating for businesses (39%) and workforce development (24%). Helping the community meet infrastructure needs and enhanced networking options rounded out the top five.
In terms of how our members get their Chamber news over 62% cited the monthly e-newsletter and 33% indicated it was the weekly emails that got their attention. Additionally, 17% cited the quarterly printed newsletter and 8% indicated the Chamber’s Facebook page.
A key question the Chamber asks each year is what is referred to as the net promoter score. Members were asked to rank how likely they were to refer the Chamber to a friend or business peer on a scale of 1(would not refer) to 9 (would enthusiastically refer). The question is used with many businesses to measure customer loyalty and scores can range from -100 to 100. Generally, anything above 0 is considered a good score. The Chamber net promoter score this year was 26 and it was 14 in 2018. By way of comparison Harley Davidson’s net promoter score is -8, Disney’s net promoter score is -7 and Amazon’s net promoter score is 25.
