SSA Membership

Several have learned to fly. But they are not members of the SSA. If I
can drive home one point in this discussion, when it comes to growing
an organization, such common sense approaches as have been advocated
aren't particularly valuable. They sound good in theory, but fail to
deliver in practice. My experience is that my friends outside the
sport, while they demonstrate interest, are not the types to commit.
Learning to fly does not equate with SSA membership. And while I'm sure
there are many commercial operators would like to see their money, they
present no particular benefit to the society. I will repeat, I have
introduced more pepole than I can count to the sport. About a half a
dozen took several lessons then quit. I am aware of four that soloed.
Only one stayed with the sport more than a year. And he stopped flying
within 18 months of starting. (I don't count my wife, Laura. She claims
to have learned to love soaring despite me.) Combined, they might
represent a total of 4 years dues paying membership in the society over
the last 27 years (since I started flying).

The friends I make outside the sport are not much like glider pilots at
all. One of the reasons I like the sport (among others) is that I meet
a diverse crowd, people I might not otherwise be drawn to other than
the fact that we share a peculiar passion. Soaring is such a major part
of my life that everyone new I get close to winds up coming out to
gliderport. But the adoption rate is low, very low. For those I
introduce, and those I've witnessed introducing others. That's why I
think out time could be better spent aiming at a different kind of
target.

Shawn wrote:
wrote:
No doubt about it, individual marketing yields the best results.
But it
is extemely expensive when compared with "broadcast" marketing.
(How
valuable is your time?) Of the several friends I've brought to the
sport over the years, NONE remain. They gave it a try. One went so
far
as to get his private pilot license. I think he was a member of the
SSA
for several years, even after he stopped flying.

It seems like the people who stick for several years or more are
those
who come to the gliderport to satisfy some need. If you have an
hour a
week to give, supporting them is probably a better bet than a
neighbor
or co-worker who shows interest based on your tales of derring-do.
(I
can get anyone to come out for a visit, some a ride, a few to take
lessons, but commitment only comes from within.) Nurture those who
have
found their own way to soaring. That's our role as SSA members and
proponents of the sport. It's the society's role to make the sport
more
visible so more people will come out to inspect what soaring is all
about, to see if it satisfies the need that drew each of us.

Each of us has our role, and each a set of tools. My problem has
always
been that we are not very smart about how we apply them.

Speaking of a mailing, a 0.5% response rate (as opposed to
adoption/sale) is typical. And that's only with a reasonably
accurate
prospect list (people who have already been exposed to your brand)
and
a well designed marketing instrument with a compelling call to
action.
Given a good list and the right message, if the society was
expecting
more than 50 responses for their 10,000 peices, they were expecting
far
too much. Without a good list and a tailored message, it's simply
wasted effort. And that's the crux of the matter. Marketing is a
science. And with all the competition for bandwidth, nothing much
sells
itself anymore. If you want to sell, you need to practice
intelligent
marketing, and that requires trained, properly motivated people to
create and implement a plan. (PADI sends me at least 5 mail pieces
per
year. I still haven't joined, even though I dive actively, albeit
infrequently. Difference is, I am aware they are sending me
material,
and this may translate into a response and possibly a sale. It will
probably take another dozen pieces, though.)

Yes, we can individually help to improve the health of the society.
But
we'll be more effective, individually, if the society implements a
well-conceived plan for attracting motivated people to the
gliderport,
and leverages us where we have the biggest impact -- meeting and
greeting interested people at our home dromes. Frankly, this is
Marketing 101.

Consider this... approximately 75% of the cost of a $100 bottle of
perfume is marketing (and that's for a well known product and
respected
brand). That is, it costs $75 to sell a bottle of perfume for $100.
That doesn't include manufacturing, distribution, and non-marketing
overhead, or expected profits. If this shocks you, you don't
really
understand the role of marketing in developing value. That's
understandable. Most of us look at the sport from the inside. But
if
you really want to sell it, you need to step outside and see what
value
the sport projects. And understand what value your target
audience/prospects are searching for. This takes education and
discipline.

Competitive marketing is a tough business, and it's high risk. Good
planning, best practices, and objectivity will lower the risk, but
it's
important to limit your efforts to those opportunities that yield
big
payoffs, because you're only likely to hit about 20% of the time.

By all means, invite your friends out to the gliderport. Perhaps
you'll
have more long-term luck than I've had. But it is unlikely that
such an
effort, even practiced by a majority of members would yield much
growth. Of course, I haven't much to go on but my own experience
and a
modest real world understanding of what makes people adopt new
products
or practices.
Soaring is a real challenge. Especially for soaring pilots.

More luck than you? One of the people you introduced learned to fly,

that's phenomenal! If we all did that, just once in our soaring
career,
the sport would be huge (if you consider all the people who are
introduced through other avenues as well). Holding on to those
people
is the responsibility of the sport at large.
One thing to consider about inviting friends to the gliderport; our
friends tend to share the same interests and motivations as us, so
expecting some to take to soaring isn't a big stretch. Kids too,
they
share your genetics. :-)

Shawn

wrote:
Several have learned to fly. But they are not members of the SSA. If I
can drive home one point in this discussion, when it comes to growing
an organization, such common sense approaches as have been advocated
aren't particularly valuable. They sound good in theory, but fail to
deliver in practice. My experience is that my friends outside the
sport, while they demonstrate interest, are not the types to commit.
Learning to fly does not equate with SSA membership. And while I'm sure
there are many commercial operators would like to see their money, they
present no particular benefit to the society. I will repeat, I have
introduced more pepole than I can count to the sport. About a half a
dozen took several lessons then quit. I am aware of four that soloed.
Only one stayed with the sport more than a year. And he stopped flying
within 18 months of starting. (I don't count my wife, Laura. She claims
to have learned to love soaring despite me.) Combined, they might
represent a total of 4 years dues paying membership in the society over
the last 27 years (since I started flying).

However, number of glider pilots times a constant does equal SSA
membership. It's fair to say the number of SSA members depends first on
the number of glider pilots. Grow the sport, grow the SSA. The SSA can
try to attract more non-member glider pilots. Maybe fine for the SSA
budget, but it won't mean more tow planes at the field.


The friends I make outside the sport are not much like glider pilots at
all. One of the reasons I like the sport (among others) is that I meet
a diverse crowd, people I might not otherwise be drawn to other than
the fact that we share a peculiar passion. Soaring is such a major part
of my life that everyone new I get close to winds up coming out to
gliderport. But the adoption rate is low, very low. For those I
introduce, and those I've witnessed introducing others. That's why I
think out time could be better spent aiming at a different kind of
target.

I may have given the wrong impression. We like to think of recruiting
as going out and inviting people to come try our sport. My suggestion,
based on experience, is that we might do better to direct our attention
to those people who discover the sport themselves, who make the effort
to find a gliderport and visit rather than being introduced to it by a
friend. There are pschological reasons why the prior might stick with
the sport longer. It also demonstrates a more active type of
individual, and if there's one thing all pilots seem to share, it's a
lack of passivity.

The successful formula may be something closer to this: the society
invests in branding the sport... encouraging articles in local papers,
use of gliders in advertising, facilitating access to pilots and
gliders to entertainment companies, etc. The local club/commercial
operation puts special effort into creating an enticing experience for
those potential pilots who have made the effort to find the local
gliderport and want to come out and learn more. We should offer open
arms to everyone. But we should pay special attention to keeping the
self-motivated pilot wannabe coming back to gliderport. This is the
person most likely to join the society becasue he's the most likely to
stick with the sport.

From a purely pragmatic point of view, I'd rather invest in the
motivated prospect than the tag along friend.