Member Relations: A Core Association Service?
Last week, I attended a golf outing sponsored by one of my Association’s five regions (chapters/components). Including travel time, the event lasted a majority of the day and prevented me from spending an eight-hour workday in the office.
My duties on-site primarily included networking with members. The question, however, is whether member relations is a core association service or if spending an eight-hour workday in the office would have been a better use of my time?
We have a small staff and I wear many hats, including that of member retention, outreach and engagement. Although to some – including a handful of coworkers that spend less time out and about with members – it may seem that member relations is unnecessary fluff.
I mean, stepping back, it is quite easy to see how one full workday spent out of the office during a beautiful, summer day could be confused with playing hooky; however, I believe that showing an interest in our members, attending regional events, networking with key stakeholders and remaining visible is paramount to active, engaged and happy members.
Like marketing, member relations is sometimes the first service to be trimmed from an association’s budget during tough economic times; however, I believe that staying connected to members allows associations like mine to gather and utilize valuable intelligence.
Attending this golf outing allowed me to network with members, informally question them about satisfaction with a variety of Association products/services, demonstrate progress on current initiatives, identify current member challenges and the list goes on.
So, my question to you is this: Do you believe “member relations” is a core association service? What does member relations look like in your association? In what ways does your association leverage member intelligence?
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Comments
Member relations is the thread in the fabric of our association. And stepping out to the regional and local gatherings is also market research and good management practice (remember that management by walking around theory?). One way to leverage that experience is to blog/tweet about it to your members and the community at large. Glad you enjoyed the day!
Posted by: Peggy Hoffman | June 29, 2009 8:40 AM
Peggy:
Thanks for your thoughts. Any recommendations for leveraging this experience with a less technologically-savvy membership?
--aaron
Posted by: Aaron Wolowiec | June 29, 2009 6:37 PM
You sound guilty for having fun (if golfing is fun for you).
Member relations is one of the most important activities you can engage in. Whether it's attending meetings, golfing, going to parties, or meeting members in their offices, you are influencing their perceptions of the association through your interactions with them.
Don't stop.
Posted by: David M. Patt, CAE | June 29, 2009 7:15 PM
Thanks, David. Golfing isn't actually fun for me, though I didn't mind the opportunity to work on my tan (somewhat joking). I definitely agree that these interactions have a profound impact on member perception/satisfaction - perhaps more now than even I originally thought.
Posted by: Aaron Wolowiec | June 30, 2009 8:49 AM
I agree with what has been said here, but I'll address your point about fellow staff who might see member relations as fluff.
You mentioned that while you were at the golf outing, you had the chance to "informally question [members] about satisfaction with a variety of Association products/services, demonstrate progress on current initiatives, identify current member challenges." So, take all of those mental notes back to your coworkers and report that information to them. For the people who don't get out in front of members much but still develop products/services for them, it could be very valuable feedback.
The day after an outing with members, make a point to make the rounds in the office and tell your coworkers what you heard. It might be rather informal and unscientific, but spreading that info around is better than keeping it just inside your head.
Posted by: Joe Rominiecki | June 30, 2009 10:07 AM
Joe:
Thanks for your comments. You remind me of a scenario I see far too often: Time has been spent crafting the survey questions, the questions have been released to the members, the data has been collected and analyzed... and then nothing. Reporting out the data and doing something with this newfound information to purposefully and predictably impact change is the most important reason for conducting a survey in the first place. Without the proper momentum, interest can be lost and valuable resources (both time and energy) can be wasted. Thanks for helping me remember that this also applies to my work in member relations.
--aaron
Posted by: Aaron Wolowiec | June 30, 2009 3:48 PM
Great question Aaron ... For the less techno-savvy crowd, photos work! Have a gallery on the home page of the website or include in the newsletter. But maybe the question is how to make sure the other staff benefit from your travels - lunch recaps, quick emails, water cooler (gosh do we still have those things?) chats.
Posted by: Peggy Hoffman | June 30, 2009 5:06 PM
Peggy:
Great suggestions! Thank you. We definitely shared photos in our biweekly newsletter, which is distributed to all members. But I think you're right. It's not the members we're trying to convince here. Which brings us back to Joe's point. It doesn't really matter what format it takes, the "intel" just needs to get back to the staff.
--aaron
Posted by: Aaron Wolowiec | June 30, 2009 10:47 PM