Dalton—World Floor Covering Association has reported both new memberships and renewals are on the rise following the association’s recent move to a tiered membership structure, according to Freida Staten, vice president marketing and communications.
“The WFCA kicked off 2017 with the greatest number of post-TISE membership sales in our history,” said Staten. “TISE is an important platform for us, as it is where we pick up the lion’s share of our member renewals each year. Interestingly, we had a lot of former members coming back to take another look at WFCA membership. We attribute this to our ongoing efforts to evolve the organization to better meet the needs of constituents in the ever-changing business landscape.”
The WFCA’s tiered membership structure launched this January. The new format allows companies to select a level of membership that is conducive to their individual business needs. Staten explained the three tiers include Sustaining, Leader and Advocate. Sustaining members have access to all entry-level benefits, including signage on WFCA Dealer Locator, WFCA Trade Scholarship reimbursement, the association’s Financial Benchmarking Report, WFCA University, Public Affairs, Savings4Members business services, complimentary access to legal and business primers, a 20% discount on fcB2B programs and additional scholarship reimbursements. Leader-level members get all benefits of Sustaining membership, plus unrestricted trade scholarship reimbursements up to $500 and a 25% discount on fcB2B services. Advocate membership, the highest tier, includes all of the preceding benefits as well as a 30% fcB2B discount, CFI Associate Membership, a 20% discount on all WFCA/CFI training programs, CFI technical services support, access to the CFI installer database and a company listing on cfiinstallers.org.
In addition to a rise in membership, the WFCA has seen significant growth of their magazine, Premier Flooring Retailer, published by Margo Locust, who also publishes Fabulous Floors. The most recent issue of the magazine contained 30 pages more than the previous issue. WFCA attributes this to Locust’s strategic redesign and the magazine’s new, easy-to-read format.
For more information on the WFCA or to enroll as a member contact Ashley Welch or call 706-217-1183.