If you sign a member and tell them that you provide all the things described earlier, then you must follow through. If you are not doing these things already, you are false advertising. If you stop doing these things after you have recruited a member, you have failed to provide the product promised. Failure in providing the product as promised leads to negative reviews. While these reviews are not published in the paper, they are spread by word of mouth.
Word of mouth is the hardest kind of negative publicity there is to overcome.
In a small community, the prospective members you are talking to are now less likely to join because you are not who you claim to be. The bottom line is simple. Follow your organization's guidelines and deliver on the promises you make. Everyone should take the time to review their organizations guidelines and make an effort to make certain everything is being adhered to. Copyright 2001 by Tim McCumber.