First, I just want to upfront acknowledge that I realize this posting may rub some the wrong way. I am going to sound like Mr. Smarty Pants. Not my intent though. So if I come across that way, pls forgive me. I am simply sharing what I see, what I sense. Hopefully this will lead to a good discussion and some valuable learning for us all. I care deeply about the ass’n community and therefore this posting.
Something from the recent discussions on membership cards on the ASAE Membership Listserve really hit me. What occurred to me is that as time goes on, we continue to reduce tangibles of membership. And, in the name of efficiency and cost-cutting, now we’re even getting to the point where we ask our members to even print out their own membership certificates, membership cards, etc.
Guys, how much more are we going to cheapen the membership experience? What’s next? Why don’t we just let our members know the web addresses for Google and Amazon? Since we seem to be becoming efficient sources for information dissemination, appealing mostly to the mind, maybe members can instead just do themselves searches on Google and Amazon and find the information they need? In add’n, for those who want to be part of an on-line community, there are plenty of on-line communities coming up to choose from, thanks to blogs, social network sites, etc. – which by the way one can easily find via Google search. So, why do they need us?
It appears to me that as time goes on, we seem to be becoming more and more focused on feeding the members brains with more and more information. Guys, members are so much more then just a mind, a brain. They are living, breathing, emotional beings. Plus they have senses and organs that go beyond just the eyes and the brains. It’s very important we recognize this – if we are going to grow and prosper. Remember, people are not the rational beings as we think they are. In many cases, decisions are made emotionally and then rational is used to justify the decision. Membership is no different.
We need to truly understand what’s behind the stuff we send out. For example, a certificate. If viewed as simply a certificate, it’s nothing more then a piece of paper, worth no more then a few pennies. But when a member “feels important” cause of it, then this piece of paper becomes priceless, for that member.
Look, I am not coming from the view point of saving these cards, certificates and so on. What I am saying is that we need to be having a different conversation in order to move forward. From what I observe, great majority of the conversations seem to revolve around how to achieve operational efficiencies, how to get more members, etc. While I know it’s not intended that way, the conversations seem to be all about us, not the member. And therefore no surprise that we worry about things such as do we raise dues or not, we keep our dues the same for gazillion years in spite that costs continue to rise for fear that members may not renew, etc.
But then, hey, maybe I am the one who has lost it and is missing something.
Majority of my time and energy is spent in the ass’n community. So for a change, I decided to check out some corporate sites, thinking that perhaps I can get some clues from them by seeing how they position themselves and why they continue to grow and prosper while many of us seems to have become stagnant. With this in mind, I spent part of this morning visiting some corporate website of some common household names that we all will recognize. I believe it will be a very safe bet that many of our members are spending tons of money with these corporations, without questioning their “dues” and I bet they “renew” year after year, without any hesitation. And believe me, I don’t think these guys go on operating their businesses year after year without raising their “dues”.
So, what did I learn from these corporate website? Let’s look at 5 companies we all will recognize and many of us actually support.
1. Disney. Their tag line: Dreams Come True. Disney is selling happiness. Result: Revenue, Operating Income, Earnings per Share continue to rise. These guys continue to rack it in. How many of us have been to Disney? And when purchasing their tickets, did we argue with them as to why they have raised their tickets or why it’s so darn much?
2. Marriott. Their mission is providing Exceptional Customer Service. Would you believe that over the last 52 years, they have provided a 16.5% Annual Return. And their stock prices also continue to rise. This is truly exceptional corporate performance, by any standard. How many of us have stayed at a Marriott?
3. American Express. Their tag line: Membership Has it’s Privileges. And Membership Begins with the Right Card. Again, earnings per share and revenue continue to rise. How many of us carry an American Express?
4. Starbucks. Tag Line: Life Happens Over Coffee. What a bargain. Coffee at nearly $5 a cup and there is always a freakin’ line. There’s a lot of livin’ going on over Starbucks. And guess what? Many of those in line at Starbucks are our members and they are not arguing with Starbucks as to why their “dues” continue to rise year after year. How many of us go to Starbucks? Do we ever challenge them and say “Hey, I can get coffee at McDonalds for 79 cents, why is yours so much more?” I bet we just keeping going, because our “Life Happens Over Coffee”.
5. Volvo. Selling Safety. Again, sales, assets, income continue to rise. Do any of us really doubt or challenge their safety statement? If we care about and want safety, we drive a Volvo.
An underlying theme in each of these corporate examples is that they are all appealing to the emotional aspect of our beings, not so much to the mind, the rational part. Very much opposite to what we ass’n mostly seem to be focusing on. Hmmm….what’s the message their.
Having said all this, perhaps the discussion that we all ought be having and the types of questions we need to be asking are as follows:
1. What are we truly selling? How does membership in our organization touch a members life? What happens?
2. What is the membership experience we want to provide?
3. What are the privileges of our membership? I don’t believe these are a journal, a magazine, educational event… We need to go beyond these and truly identify the benefits in a language that resonates with the members. These are simply paths to those benefits.
I am sure there are other questions also. But it is also these sorts of discussions that we need to be having. that we need to be asking ourselves and as a community. While we don’t have the corporate budgets, we do have the community, the passion…These are our resources to use and build on. Finally, we need to recognize that assn’s are a business – so I feel it’s important that we be thinking like Disney, Marriott, American Express and so on. We may even consider inviting folks from these organizations to help us reposition and market ourselves. I am sure we can learn much from these guys.
Well, that’s all for now. Thanks for hearing me out.
Vinay
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Vinay Kumar
GRC Direct – Serving Associations and Non-Profits
One-Stop Shop for Graphic Design, Printing & Mailing
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E Vinay@grcdirect.com
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February 17, 2008 at 1:02 am
I sum it up in two things: positive member experience and value. You need those 2 things, no matter what. Tangibles or not, really doesn’t matter. I don’t want another card to keep in my wallet. I want a username and password I can manage, not a nebulous member number on a card. I don’t need a certificate, I just need to put it on my resume. However, other members may want those things. You have to know your members and provide them a positive experience. But, it is up to you to figure it out.
February 17, 2008 at 11:32 am
I would certainly agree Matt. I also don’t really care about the card nor the certificate. Perhaps each ass’n can add a check off box on their membership applications/renewal forms, asking the member of they want one. If they do, then send it. But don’t have them print out there own. In my mind, it cheapens it
As for positive experiences and value, I would add that as we become more and more active members, we end naturally forming many friendships and those friendships add richness to our lives. Therefore that emotional connection, emotional bond that forms is also very powerful and important to retention.
February 20, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Vinay! I’m so happy to find your blog! Congratulations on this exciting, new initiative. I can’t wait to follow your posts- I’m subscribing to your feed now. You know I’m a big fan…
Excitement for this new blog aside, I do want to thank you for this post. I agree associations need to take a step back and re-examine their focus for members. A couple of your points hit home with me -especially the reminder that decisions (such as membership) are made emotionally and then rational thought is used to justify the decision. It is going to be an important point in the arguement I’m preparing on why our association needs to create an online community presence for members. The collaboration, member interaction (even though online), ownership control, and creative self-expression will go further with members and mean more to them as people then we may realize. As service entities, associations doesn’t offer many tangible benefits…besides a magazine they receive. (You point this out so perfectly.) Even though social networking for members is far from something they can ‘hold’, it is something they can create and own and interact with, and it may end up meaning far more than we can measure right now.
Thanks for all of your great insight!
February 21, 2008 at 12:35 am
Thanks Katie. For now, you will see much duplication between my blog postings and those on the listserves. This is new to me so still learning. Overtime, I hope to have postings also those that my not appear on the listserves. Let’s see where this goes. Best to let it grow naturally over time.
Thanks also for really getting what I was trying to convey in my posting. We too often forget that we’re human beings with many complex emotions. We give too much credit to logic whereas it’s the emotions that really to a great degree dictate what we do. Think about it…feelings of love, fear, insecurity, inadequacy and so on…they are all on the emotional plane and they have huge bearing on what we do, or don’t do. If anyone ever challenges this, ask ‘em what they were like when they fell madly in love with someone. Did they make decisions from logic or emotion? That should easily settle the issue.
Your Fan As Well,
Vinay