6. Women’s chamber. Some cities have a separate and distinct women’s chamber, although it is often a division or activity within the metro area chamber.
7. Two country chambers. Major metro areas often have a significant business connection with one specific foreign country. It might be a British/American chamber or a French/American chamber. It might draw members from both sides of the ocean.
Why Does Having More Than One Chamber Matter?
If you belong to a big chamber in a major metro area, you soon discover you are not the only financial advisor! Actually, there are 35 of them! You discovered this by looking at the member directory organized by category. When you added up the categories of planners, advisors and insurance agents, there were 34 competitors.
Research the other chambers in the area. An online search is a good place to start. The metro area chamber often has a membership category for associations, maybe even one for chambers. Look to see which other chambers are members. Do some online searching. Build a list. Look at the size of each membership, then look at each business directory to determine how many competitors are already members. This should help you decide where the numbers work best in your favor.
Where Are All The Business Owners?
One of the earlier observations was the advisor find themselves surrounded by people asking for your business, yet not having the potential to be your clients. Where are the owners of the big businesses in the area? The simple answer may be they are spending their volunteer time attending meetings and running the chamber, not swapping business cards at networking events. As an advisor, you need to climb the ladder. Join a committee. Volunteer your time. Attend as many events as you can. This should get you closer to the people you want to meet.
As a chamber executive explained: “Chamber membership follows the rule that applies in other areas of your life: You get out what you put in.”
Bryce Sanders is president of Perceptive Business Solutions Inc. He provides HNW client acquisition training for the financial services industry. His book Captivating the Wealthy Investor is available on Amazon.