Business Development

Boost Sales Through the Power of Story

Associations have powerful stories that can connect with audiences. Expert storyteller Park Howell explains why selling with story can elevate your association above the competition.

Elevating Business Competencies is Key to Association Revenue Success

PAR announces agenda for the RevUP Summit, the leading association conference dedicated to improving association business.

Ways to Win: Sharpening Negotiation Skills to Get Results

The professional negotiations that revenue producers undertake can determine the success of organizations. While negotiating is often viewed as a skill that a person either has or doesn’t, it can be practiced for optimal success. PAR workshop presenter Susan Borke tells us how.

What Business Development Teams Need to Know About Publishing

When content, marketing and sales teams work together a powerful association ecosystem takes shape. But often these three groups operate with a siloed and disparate approach instead of a strategic one. We interviewed Marlene Hendrickson, incoming AM&P Network president and the Senior Director of Publishing and Marketing for the American Staffing Association, for a publisher’s perspective on a content driven sales strategy.

Executive Take: Simplifying the Sales Process

The association sales process presents unique and complex challenges. How can association sales leaders help their teams navigate the nuances of their organization’s structure and focus instead on building and maintaining relationships? That is the topic of this month’s edition of “Executive Take.”

Top Priorities for Association Sales Leaders

Structuring, supporting and measuring the success of a sales team are top priorities of all association sales leaders. In this article, thee association sales leaders share their experiences building and maintaining successful sales teams.

Why More Sales Staff May Not Be the Answer to Revenue Woes

51% of respondents to PAR’s Association Landscape Survey said their business development practices would improve if they had more staff focused on the task. But as staffing challenges continue to disrupt the global workforce, adding more staff may not be an easy solution – or the right one.

5 Ways Your Sales Team Can Overcome the Biggest Prospecting Pitfall

60% of associations polled in a new Professionals for Association Revenue (PAR) survey reported their sales teams need to allocate more time each week to prospecting for clients, members and event attendees. But do associations need more prospecting time or do they simply need to prospect more efficiently?

Why an Affinity Program Could Be a Win-Win-Win for Your Association

Associations are looking for new sources of non-dues revenue, members want increased value and companies are searching for meaningful partnerships. It can be challenging to find initiatives that meet each criterion, but affinity programs could be the win-win-win solution for everyone involved. In this PARtners @ Work feature, CardConnect shares the partner’s perspective on affinity programs.

RevUP 2023: A Home for Business Development {Video}

From C-Suite to Non-Dues Revenue teams, the RevUP Summit brings together and supports professionals looking to improve their association’s bottom line. Watch this 2-minute video for a glimpse of the RevUP Summit 2022 and join PAR in Annapolis, Maryland on December 6 and 7 for the 2023 event!

Why a Business Development Strategy is Vital to Association Revenue Health

Associations aren’t effectively strategizing. That is one of the key findings from the Professionals for Association Revenue (PAR) Association Business Development Landscape Survey in which 86% of respondents said their organization’s business development strategy is underperforming or non-existent. See why that’s a problem for associations working to remain relevant in a changing economic landscape.

6 Mindset Shifts to Improve Your Association in 2023 {Video}

Small shifts in mindset can spark impactful change within our associations. PAR’s six GOAT Award Finalists are association professionals who are impacting their organizations in transformative ways each year. They each shared one way association professionals can shift their mindset and improve their approach in 2023.

4 Tips to Focus Your Forecasting

Our lives are made up of forecasting – and while planning doesn’t eliminate uncertainties, it does help us prepare for them. Here are 4 tips to get your team started with a focused forecasting plan.

How to Keep Corporate Sponsor Investment in Your Association

Associations are no longer the obvious advertising choice for corporations looking to connect with consumers. Digital outlets, social media channels and corporate websites mean companies have choices – and associations have competitors. But how do associations beat out the competition to increase and keep corporate sponsor investment?

3 Tips for Selling During Times of Economic Uncertainty

Economic uncertainty means different things to different people. But if you are in the business of sales, we think you’ll agree: selling in 2022 is challenging. Global sales and marketing advisor Ryan Dohrn shares three tips for sales teams to survive and thrive during times of disruption.

3 Steps to Making and Maintaining Meaningful Conference Connections

Event sponsorship and exhibits – once the foundation of association sponsorship programs – are now the starting point for companies looking to engage with an association in year-long brand awareness and thought-leadership opportunities. Associations that provide exhibitors with a positive and valuable conference experience have the advantage when it comes to growing relationships… and revenue.

Managing Your Relationship with Your CRM

Customer relationship management (CRM) software is the hottest and fastest growing software on the market. By 2025, it’s expected to reach over $80 billion dollars in revenue. But bring up the term “CRM” to your colleagues and you will likely invoke a smile or a squirm — and often both.

Approach Your Suppliers as Collaborators and Improve Revenue

As more associations get back to a familiar business model in a post-pandemic environment, there is opportunity to change the way organizations are approaching industry suppliers. PAR Leadership Advisory Board Chair Sean Soth shares how association leadership teams can develop a flexible approach to business development to collaborate with industry suppliers.

PARtners @ Work: COACH MEdia

Business development professionals bring unique backgrounds, skills and educational experiences to a profession that no one goes to college to learn. “Sales” isn’t listed among the roughly 2,000 college majors offered by universities across the country – meaning new sales professionals must learn on the job. Read on to find out how COACH MEdia helps them do it.

Poll: Are Sales Skills More Important to Business Development than Ever?

The way organizations sell has changed forever as a result of the pandemic. More members and clients are looking for sales teams to help guide them through a process while providing insight or challenging their held presumptions about your membership, subscriptions, events and partnerships.