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This speech was delivered by Effective communication makes things happen, empty halls fill up with people, organizations attract the attention, support, and enthusiasm they need and deserve, you reach audiences you want with a message that motivates people to respond. Our message this year is reMEMBERMEMBERship with the words MEMBER capitalized and joined, to represent the new member that we want to attract and the inactive member that we want revitalize. Setting goals is the first step because goals provide direction for the effort. It tells what success will look like. There are two kinds of goals, action goals and image goals. Actions goals are measurable. Our action goal this year is to increase the number of newly exalted Companions by 50 percent! Image goals define how you want to be known or in some way change the way you are seen. One word sums up what our image should be and that word is RELEVANT. We must be relevant in the minds of every member of the Grand Lodge of California. Relevant to every Master Mason to complete his Masonic knowledge, told in allegory, revealed in symbolism and legend, by receiving the Royal Arch Degree for it will be to him the fulfillment of a promise in his search for “Truth” of that which was lost and of that which shall be recovered. In marketing terms this is our Niche. Now How Can We Achieve These Goals? Marketing is a process that helps you exchange something of value for something you need. Whether you sell it or give it away, whether it’s as visible as neighborhood renewal or its province is the human heart, what your organization offers is a product. The product is the something of value to be exchanged for something you need. To market our product, we must to be able to define it so the people we serve can clearly understand what it is and how it meets their needs. If people don’t understand our product, find it difficult to use, or just plain don’t like it, some adjustments will be needed as part of any marketing plan. Our product is what we want to exchange. Once you can identify your public, it is important to know what each value most about your product. People are motivated to use a product or service because of what they believe it will do for them. Now let’s look at the Six Ps of Marketing: Product So Companions what is our product? I hold in my hand a little scrap of paper, 2 ½” by 3 ¾” inches in size. It is of no intrinsic worth, not a bond, not a check or receipt for values, yet it is my most priceless possession. It is my membership card in the “Chapter of Royal Arch Masons.” It tells me that I have entered into a spiritual and material kinship with York Rite Masonry. To practice charity in word and deed; to forgive and forget the faults of my Companions; to hush the tongues of scandal and innuendo; to care for the crippled, the hungry and the sick, and to be just to all mankind. It tells me that no matter where I may travel in the world, I am welcome to visit a place where good fellowship prevails among York Rite Masons and friends. It tells me that should I ever be overtaken by adversity or misfortune, the hands of every Companion on the face of the earth will be stretched forth to assist me in my necessities. It tells me that I have completed the quest for knowledge the recovery of that which was lost in the Third Degree. And finally, it tells me, my Companions, that when my final exit from the stage of life has been made, there will be gathered in my Lodge Room friends and brothers, who will recall to mind my virtues, though they may be few, and will forgive and forget my faults, though they may be many. It tells me all this and a great deal more, this little scrap of paper, 2 ½” by 3 ¾” inches in size. Public A public is a group or category of people defined by their common interest in your product. They are your “customers” or “buyers”. It is easy to define our public as the members of the Grand Lodge of California…the members of the Blue Lodges. Price Every product has a price. In order to attract buyers—and get the most out of each exchange, the price should be right: not too high and not too low. Our price involves time and trust: people must feel that the product is worth the time it takes to participate and we must be able to earn and keep their trust. We must be relevant in the minds of our public. Place Place means the actual physical location or your channels of distribution. Place is a real plus for us because the people that we want to exchange with are already very familiar with our place of business. Production When you are marketing a product, it’s crucial that you have the ability to meet demand, if our Convocations and festival classes are late in starting, ritual is inefficient, or simply doesn’t come through, chances are we will lose our newly exalted Companion. A study by the Technical Assistance Research Programs reveals that 26 of every 27 customers who have had a bad experience won’t complain, and that 90% of them won’t come back later. Promotion Now how are we going to position our organization to achieve our goals? Now how are we going to stand out from the crowd and attract the kind of attention, support, and enthusiasm we need and deserve. How can we achieve our Action and Image Goals? First, we must honestly look at our strengths and weaknesses in order to achieve our goals. If we are to achieve our Action Goal of Increased Membership then we must do so through initial impressions, consistent messages, and the delivering of high quality programs and services over time. We should establish an Ambassador Program between the Lodges and the Chapters to build awareness, involvement, support, and recognition for the important opportunity that we provide for the Master Mason to compete his quest for knowledge…..the recovery of that which was lost. An Ambassador Program will help create an image of Relevancy and motivate people to respond to the unique opportunities we provide. It will help to define our product in terms of its most important benefit…the completion of the quest for knowledge and the recovery of the Lost Masters Word. We should establish a Chapter Mentor Program to retain the interest, participation, and support of our newly exalted Companions and rekindle the support of those members that no longer attend. Top line signers would make excellent Mentors for our new members to remind them of meetings, festival classes, and programs. The ability to meet increased demand will require being prepared! Every Chapter should have a Festival Director or Degree Masters, who meet on a regular basis with the Inspectors and discuss and evaluate the effectiveness of the program. The Degree Master would be responsible for the organization of time … the set-up and tear down of sets, to ensure that candidates for the Degrees are not kept waiting. He would be responsible for the casting and rehearsal for the Degrees. Every Chapter should have a Wardrobe or Property Master, along with assistants, that efficiently store, itemize, evaluate the many costumes and pieces of paraphernalia that are critical to the success of a Festival Classes. Every secretary should have blank application forms to be given to the newly exalted companions at the conclusion of the festival class; because, if we have done our job correctly, and they are impressed and enthusiastic about what they have seen and experienced in the recovery of the Lost Masters Word, they will our best advocate in our promotional program. At the conclusion of a recent festival class at Oxnard Chapter, each of the four candidates congratulated the cast for the job they did in the Royal Arch Degree, and said they needed to improve the ritual at their blue lodge. Our secretary then presented each with blank applications with the encouragement to bring in their friends and to share the important knowledge that they had just attained ….. that which had been lost. Not only did these new companions participate in the next conferral of the Royal Arch Degree but they brought in three new members In conclusion, I would like to leave you with this thought. The single most critical factor in establishing our niche is consistent delivery of top-notch services and programs. There never has been and never will be a substitute for quality. reMEMBERMEMBERship. Thank-you for listening. Grand Chapter
- Royal Arch Masons of California |
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