Perspectives and pointers from the FY2016/2017 PEAK Global Winner, EO Utah.

Entrepreneurs’ Organization’s Utah chapter decided to pursue a FY2016/2017 PEAK win due to, at least in part, tradition. The chapter had a history of winning EO’s former rewards program, the Rockstar, and the Board figured the chapter should take part in this latest iteration.

However, they went “after it with a twist,” explains EO Utah President FY2016/2017 Matt Glover. “We felt the program’s retention rate of 95% was artificially high, as our chapter had never renewed much above 90% (with a fair amount of arm wrangling). We didn’t want to retain members who weren’t enthusiastic. So, we said we’d achieve all the checks without worrying about that one because we believe most of the requirements of PEAK are ‘best practices’ for a chapter to follow.”

Turns out, this twist served the chapter well. EO Utah was recently named PEAK Global winner. We asked the chapter to reflect on their experiences and share what helped them achieve their win. Below, we outline three key factors that contributed to EO Utah’s success—lessons that could apply to any group pursuit.