Promoting co-op ownership is important every day, but owner drives can refocus staff energy, build excitement and remind shoppers about the benefits of ownership. It’s never too early to craft your plan for a successful — and fun! — owner drive.
Start by setting an annual goal for ownership sales, including sales goals for one or two owner drive campaigns each year. Give your campaign a spirited theme with playful messaging — nobody gets excited about an “Annual Owner Drive.” Call it “Own it in October” or “March Membership Madness” instead to pique customer curiosity and build excitement among co-op staff.
Invest in branded tools to execute your campaign. Go big with a bold, welcoming banner that invites shoppers to try ownership, and make it general enough to reuse during every owner drive. Have owner brochures and sign-up forms on hand, too.
Next, provide a pre-campaign refresher training for front end (or all) staff. This is the pep rally for your ownership campaign! Ask your top-selling cashiers to share their strategies for garnering new owners. Offer incentives to individual staff for each owner they sign up, and to the entire team for reaching storewide owner sales goals. NCG also suggests these preferred practices for ownership marketing.
Make your owner drive fun! Offer a freebie or incentive for shoppers who join during a limited time — NCG’s owner benefits research showed that an offer to “Join and Save $20” was very effective in motivating shoppers to join. Focusing only on new owners, however, can make existing owners feel left out. A button, sticker or heartfelt thank you message on a receipt can help current owners feel they are a part of the campaign and valued members of their co-op community. Check out templates for the “Join and Save $20” coupon, shelf signs, posters, stickers and and more in the “Owner Rewards” folder in Dropbox (link at the bottom of the page).
Finally, once your owner drive is underway, report sales results back to staff each week or month and celebrate success together. Document your experiences along the way, noting what worked well and what to avoid, and apply what you learn to your next campaign.
