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How the YMCA increased its membership by 60% in three years
Impact
40%
membership conversion rate
10% growth
in membership revenue for 2023 over 2022
1,500-2,000
leads every 60 days set as goal
Organization:
YMCA
Community:
10 centers
Individuals Served:
19,200 families
OVERVIEW
Using data to renew and maintain member relationships
With locations in over 100 countries, the YMCA is arguably the best known recreational nonprofit in the world. Out of 65 million global members, over 19,000 families are serviced by the YMCA of Memphis and the Mid-South.
The YMCA of Memphis and the Mid-South adopted a “sales culture” to usher them into a new period of growth. Recognizing the need to enhance the customer experience, they established a customer-centric approach, using their CRM as the foundation, to better document every individual they interacted with. In collaboration with Traction Rec, YMCA of Memphis and the Mid-South launched Lead Management in Salesforce. Their new system captures, records and analyzes the data to gain insights into the entire membership journey, from initial interest to becoming a member.
Initially converting only 3-4% of leads, the YMCA now achieves a remarkable 35-40% conversion rate, surpassing their membership growth expectations. Thanks to the added support of dedicated sales associates, their efficiency not only benefits membership sales but also enables other staff to focus on their core tasks and strengths.
We’re able to project out our numbers for next year to be higher than they’ve ever been at this association.
Jeremy Long
VP of Membership, YMCA of Memphis and the Mid-South
challenge
Transitioning from initial interest to a YMCA member
The membership strategy at the YMCA of Memphis and the Mid-South mainly rested on hope, explains Jeremy Long, Vice President of Membership. “We hoped that people would walk in the door,” he says. “We hoped they would join, and if they didn’t, we hoped they would come back.” But that strategy wasn’t serving them anymore, so Jeremy took inspiration from his previous career and encouraged his team to adopt a “sales culture.”
Part of implementing a new system for membership growth was finding a tool that would collect data. This would allow them to have a holistic picture of every individual they ever interacted with. Documenting these interactions would be part of the relationship-building process, so individuals could be nurtured all the way to membership sign up.
Solution
Using data to get a 360° view of the prospective member
The first part of leveraging Lead Management in Salesforce to grow membership was capturing and analyzing the data of everyone who interacted with the Y. Questions that needed answering not only included those that pertained to the demographics and interests of individual prospects, but those that looked at the impact of various touch points at the different locations as well:
Where are our leads coming from?
- Where are prospective members first interacting with us?
- Are they looking at our website?
- Did they walk in off the street?
- Did they fill in a form?
What are our leads asking about?
Which location are they most interested in finding more about?
- Have those who have expressed interest in a specific center received a tour?
How successful is our staff in converting leads to members?
The ability to analyze these and other data points allows staff to see the bigger picture — how successful are they in converting leads to members? Additionally, there was now a way to closely track all leads and to follow up on the ones that were forgotten or “lost.”
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WATCH THE VIDEO: A look at the data points the YMCA is capturing to understand its membership sales trends.
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Hiring dedicated sales associates to let others focus on what they do best
Originally, Lead Management was to become the responsibility of the center directors at each Y location; however, Jeremy quickly realized it was too much for them to take on in addition to keeping their facilities running. Taking inspiration once again from for-profits, Jeremy hired two sales associates with the sole task of focusing on member acquisition. He’s found that this combination of technology and people is the secret sauce that has allowed them to be successful in increasing their membership in a short period.
As Jeremy explains, when their operational team was using the system they were only converting 3-4% of the leads that came in. With the expertise of the sales associates, they’ve taken the same system and are now operating at a 35-40% conversion rate, exceeding the Y’s expectations. Not only are the sales associates working more efficiently with their updated CRM, but this also frees up other staff to focus on their individual tasks and what they do best.
I believe the addition of our sales team, utilizing a really great tool with Traction Rec, has really been the key to our success.
Jeremy Long
VP of Membership, YMCA of Memphis and the Mid-South
REsults
Nurturing new members in the long run
Adopting Lead Management has enabled the YMCA of Memphis and the Mid-South to become a proactive, rather than a reactive, organization. They’re no longer waiting for prospective members to circle back to them. With the data they collect, they can now produce additional touchpoints to re-engage the individual based on their personal interests or previous experience with the Y. “How do we make sure we continue to be what we say ‘friendly but annoying’ in our pursuit of new members?” says Jeremy.
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WATCH THE VIDEO: YMCA's Lead Management dashboard and its key measurements of success.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5H1Zrm5D7Vk" title="Key measurements of success for the YMCA's membership growth" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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With the success of this project, Jeremy is planning to hire more sales associates to deal with the overwhelming leads they are now capturing per month. “We have a goal to capture roughly 1,500 to 2,000 leads every 60 days. That actually gives my sales team more leads than they could possibly manage,” says Jeremy, “which is a good problem to have.” With thousands of leads in the pipeline, there are thousands of potential members at their fingertips.
In three years, the YMCA of Memphis and the Mid-South has gone from a low of 12,000 families (during the pandemic) to 19,200 families. Jeremy points to the addition of their sales team, “utilizing a great tool,” as the key to their success. “We’re able to project out our numbers for next year to be higher than they’ve ever been at this association,” says Jeremy. “We’re super excited about the momentum that we’re feeling and excited to see where that can take us.”
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WATCH THE VIDEO: Mastering the art of membership growth
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sC2W8f4c7tM" title="Key measurements of success for the YMCA's membership growth" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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It's in the numbers
<stat_table table_id="1">
<stat left="2,000" right="leads every 60 days" table_id="1"></stat>
<stat left="40%" right="lead conversion rate" table_id="1"></stat>
<stat left="10%" right="growth in membership revenue over 1 year" table_id="1"></stat>
</stat_table>
*Cover photo courtesy of YMCA of Memphis and the Mid-South
