Business-Category-Exclusivity

Purpose:
To ensure that members who offer products or services as a primary part of their business have the opportunity to be the exclusive provider within their category, while also maintaining clarity for referrals and protecting the integrity of the chapter’s business ecosystem.

Scope:
Applies to all members and prospective members.

Responsible Parties:
Chapter President to help uphold and communicate the policy; final decisions rest with the Founder of SHE Leads Group.

Policy:
Members who offer a product or service that is a primary component of their business and contributes to the majority of their income may hold exclusivity in one business category. The category must accurately represent their primary business function.

Two businesses may offer similar products or services; however, if those offerings are not a primary source of income, they do not qualify for category exclusivity in that area.

An individual representing a company must personally provide the services tied to the category for which they are seeking exclusivity.

Example:

• A personal lines property/casualty insurance agent works for an agency that can also sell commercial lines property/casualty, but she herself does not sell the commercial lines, then she cannot have business-category-exclusivity for commercial lines; she could only have business-category-exclusivity for personal lines.

Clarification on Overlap:
Exclusivity is not determined solely by identical services. Overlap may also be identified when:

• Two businesses serve a similar ideal client audience
• Their offerings address similar needs or problems
• They compete for the same portion of a client’s budget or discretionary spending

Even if services are not identical, this type of overlap can create confusion within the chapter regarding referrals and positioning.

Decision Authority:
When overlap is identified between an existing member(s) and a prospective member, the Founder of SHE Leads Group will make the final determination regarding chapter placement.

Decisions are based on what best supports:

• Clear and confident referrals among members
• A strong, collaborative chapter environment
• The long-term success of all members within the group

Not all overlap can be fully eliminated, but when overlap is determined to be significant enough to impact referral clarity or member success, an applicant may not be approved for that chapter.

Multiple Businesses:
Sometimes an individual may have two different businesses that are unrelated to each other. A chapter membership is for one business only. To have two separate businesses and occupy two unrelated business categories, the individual would have to pay for a membership for both businesses. The only discount would be there would be only one registration fee.