Monday Night Football

Quincy Club Members had a great time at our annual Fall Social at Main Street Sports Bar.  Members had the opportunity to socialize while watching an exciting game between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears.  Special thanks to David Little for arranging our Monday Night Football party and to all the members who attended.

Rotary Launches New Website

Rotary International launched their new website on August 26, 2013 along with the new Rotary logo. With a fresh new look and a visual design based user experience, Rotary entered the new era of web design with this launch.

This launch comes in time to correspond with ClubRunner's launch of Version 3.0, where we have implemented new themes and are constantly adding even more themes, not to mention giving webmasters the ability to upload their own designs. When RI first announced the redesign initiative of their website, not only did they receive a lot of requests from Rotarians about the ability to mirror the new design for Rotary sites, we too received just as many from our customers.

One of the main priorities for RI was to reflect the Rotary brand using a new color palette, fonts and design elements. As a Rotary International Licensee and a vendor that shares a close relationship with Rotary International, it is our responsibility to promote this new branding and offer Rotary based themes to keep the branding consistent. Later this year and earlier next year, you will begin to see many Rotary inspired themes within the Website Designer 3.0 that will be approved by Rotary International, so your club too will be able to have a theme that is similar to RI's, without any work on your end. 

A lot of clubs have been asking how they would be able to share news from the Rotary site on their own website. As of now, we offer a Rotary RSS feed, which shows the latest Rotary news right on your homepage. We will be discussing other methods of being able to share and integrate ClubRunner sites with RI, and will share that information with you soon.

We have lots more work that co-incides with Rotary's plans in store. Stay tuned for details!

Everyone likes to be heard, acknowledged and have their point made. Whether you are trying to persuade a member to remain part of the club or whether you are trying to convince a prospective member to join your club, persuasion is all about listening.

Most clubs have a goal that is to attract more members to their club, but that's much easier said than done. Effective persuasion is almost like a science that requires one to be patient yet persistent.

• Be Purposeful

Persuasion is a skill that needs to be developed. Truly persuasive people recognize and understand their power and use it sparingly and knowingly, when they know they can accomplish what they are going for. Aggressive persuaders are like telemarketers that constantly try to convince you of something to the point where you lose all interest and are turned off by their approach. When you are trying to persuade a member to join your club, you have to be able to defend your arguments. Why should they join? How will they benefit?  What can your club offer them? Having a purpose behind your reasons for persuasion can instantly make you more credible.

• Listen

Listening is the key to moving the conversation forward. As the person who will be doing the persuading, you already know what your arguments are, and you know why you are persuading the person in front of you. Effective persuasion comes from being able to capitalize on consensus. By listening and focusing on the person in front of you, you are able to gauge how receptive they are to your points and to the subject at hand. By listening for objections, persuasive people are able to make their points more effectively . Finally, by listening for moments of agreements, persuasive people are able to customize their arguments to the person they are convincing. 

• Create Connections

When you are trying to persuade people to join your club who have no prior connections with your club or its members, it becomes very difficult to convince them. The reason is because it is easy for us to dismiss people when we have no relationship with them or any emotional stake in their argument. In order to be truly persuasive, you have to be listening for those shared objectives and common grounds so you can begin to build a connection and relationship. Connections don't have to be limited to relationships, you can also create connections based on emotions and interests. It isn't necessary for the person you are talking to, to know you or any member of your club - learn more about their interests and form a relationship based on similar interests.

• Offer Satisfaction

Patience is a virtue. Persuasive people understand that their arguments might not lead to a decision today but they know that their goal is to find the easiest path to get that 'yes'. As such, you have to be able to persuade the person in front of you that they will be satisfied upon joining your club. When a person sees how satisfied other members in your club are, their interest level will rise as well.

• Acknowledge Credibility

Present them with your club's achievements, past projects and success stories. Present them with how your club has benefited the lives of others. By being able to show your past accomplishments, you are increasing the credibility of your club in the prospects mind and are one step closer in encouraging them to join.

• Know when to remain silent and back away

Successful persuasion is not about winning every time. It's one of the reasons why we get so turned off by people who try to convince us of something aggressively. If listening is important, knowing when to be quiet is just as important. Effective persuaders know when they have made their point and when it's time to end the conversation. Every one needs time to think and reflect on the points presented to them. Allow your prospective members some time to think about whether they want to join your club or not, and follow up with them in a few weeks. Urgency and immediacy don't result in the best decisions, so it's important to just make your points and back away. Given time to reflect on your arguments, if made effectively, you can achieve what you set to do.

Adapted from Inc.com Article: 7 Things Really Persuasive People Do