Committees

A Chamber ambassadors program creates an army of “Chamber Champions.”  They allow us to be multiple places at once and make the most of our limited resources.

But…

This is only true if we design a worthwhile program and staff it with excited volunteers.  Choosing the wrong chamber ambassadors can ensure all our hard work is for naught.

• Selecting the right people with the correction combination of skills and talents.
• Laying our clear expectations of the role.
• Providing incentives to meet these expectations.
• Empowering ambassadors to be our Chamber’s face and voice.

Goals might include:

• Increasing social media shares and posts
• Improving word of mouth marketing about the Chamber
• Becoming better known in certain niche segments of our community
• Creating a mentorship program
• Improving retention or membership sales

Ambassadors have varied roles but knowing what we want to do will help us select the right people for our Chamber Ambassadors group.  For instance, if we want Chamber Ambassadors to be involved in social media, we will want to recruit volunteers who are active on social media accounts.  We want people who enjoy that format of communication.  On the other hand, if you want ambassadors to be more recruitment focused, a sales background or know-how might be more appealing.

It is an honor to be asked to be part of this exclusive group.  Treat it as if we are hiring a member of our staff.  By doing so, we are communicating that this role isn’t something everyone will be selected for.  This creates exclusivity, which should entice people to learn more about our program and want to be involved.

Chamber Ambassador’s duty, questionnaire, so we all know what we are looking for.  Some sample questions:

• If someone said something negative about the Chamber, how would you handle it? How would you handle it on social media?
• How do you think we can get more traffic at our events?
• What’s missing in our membership?
• What do you think you would be doing as an ambassador?
• What part attracted you to apply to be an ambassador?
• How will you increase event attendance?
• How will you increase membership?
• What do you think is your customer service secret weapon? What are you good at?
• How comfortable are you mixing your personal and professional lives? Ambassadors may be required to post and share things on social media that friends and family will see.

While we may have to turn someone down if they are not a good fit for ambassador, consider other volunteer roles they would excel at and position it accordingly.

When it comes to ambassador training, we may consider scripting answers or role-playing with our ambassadors.  While this may feel more comfortable because we have some control over what they are saying about us in public, control comes at a coast and that cost is authenticity.

Empower our ambassadors to tell their stories.  It’s one of the most effective ways to get people to identify with them.  Give them the following prompts to help

• What made you join the Chamber?
• What’s the single bets thing you’ve experienced as a businessperson in this community because of the efforts of the Chamber?
• What problem did the Chamber help you solve in your own business?
• Share what you’ve learned from Chamber membership that you applied to your professional life?
• What aspect/part of the community are you most grateful for?

The title of Chamber Ambassador looks good on a resume and that may be the reason some people desire to join the group.  Or they may want to be an ambassador because it gives them the opportunity to network with people at the decision-maker level.  If our recruits are joining for “selfish” reasons (and that’s not necessarily a bad thing), it may be important to provide them with additional incentives to keep them performing at their highest level.

Decide upon the reward that will best motivate action.  Will we give a pat on the back or offer an awards/points system for desired activities?  We could provide gift certificates to chamber ambassadors who sign new members.

We could use a points program.  We could give ambassadors of list of desired actions (such as visiting a member, attending a ribbon cutting or any other events that we host), each activity has a point value, and once the activity is completed, the ambassadors receive points for it.  The points can then be used for things like discounted or even free event tickets.