Download to read offline
Uploaded byAustin Merritt
Creating the Member WOW
This document discusses creating member engagement through lunch and learn sessions. It suggests considering what makes your organization different, what members love about it, and how to keep members involved. Various engagement strategies are presented, such as mailing, emailing and calling members, using social media, and face-to-face interactions. The importance of listening to members and then taking action is emphasized.
Creating the Member WOW
- 1. welcome! Creating the member WOW! MemberEngagement Lunch and Learn
- 3. who are we? Creatingthe member WOW! Member Engagement Lunch and Learn
- 4. what will we Creatingthe discuss today? member WOW! Member Engagement Lunch and Learn
- 5. Creating the member WOW! MemberEngagement Lunch & Learn
- 6.
- 7. Who do youdo business with where you have an exceptional experience?
- 8. Where are youa member where you feel a strong sense of value in your membership?
- 9. Now think aboutyour organization …
- 10. Members have choices
- 11.
- 13. Value Price
- 15. 3 questions toconsider
- 16. 1. What makesyou different?
- 17. 2. What doyour members love about you?
- 18. 3. Are youkeeping members involved?
- 20. Oneyou deliver 3.Do to One on your promise? Engagement
- 21. 1. Mail yourmembers
- 22. When a mailingcampaign backfires …
- 23. 2. Email yourmembers
- 24. Don’ts! 2. Email • Don’t over email your members • Don’t “spray & pray” • Don’t get blacklisted Do’s! • Do double check your content for relevance • 1 to 1 > Newsletter • Test your subject lines • Pay attention to unsubscribes
- 25. 3. Call yourmembers
- 26. Do’s! 3. Call • Call when people are able to talk • Call with the intention to have a conversation • Segment your database to call the right people • Be able to take action • Close the loop on action items
- 28.
- 29. 4. Face toface
- 30. 4. Face toface Do’s! • Stand • Call members by name • Help the person in front of you • Smile! • Hire right
- 34. What could welearn from Zappos?
- 35. Con ver sation 1 – Noun: exchange of sentiments, observations, opinions, or ideas
- 36. Listen to members…thentake action action!
- 37. Loyalty: Net PromoterScore (NPS) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 PROMOTER
- 38. Listen to members…thentake action Example: NPS = 2 “There are not enough programs there for my children.” How could we enhance this member’s experience? action!
- 39. Listen to members…thentake action Example: NPS = 9 “I love the articles you send to us. This information has really helped me grow in my career. ” How could we enhance this member’s experience? action!
Editor's Notes
- #2 [BRITNEY] Welcome! I’m Britney Summerville, SVP of Impact Services here at Daxko and I am so happy you could join us today!
- #4 [BRITNEY]Daxko is headquartered and based here in Homewood and we serve non-profits across the nation with Operations and Accounting software as well as Consulting and outsourced business processes called Impact Services. So basically, we’re a software company with an intense passion for the customer and member experience.
- #5 [BRITNEY]Today Austin Merritt and I will be talking with you all about how a culture of Member Engagement creates value in your membership, creates a well connected member, creates super fans, and creates donors. Austin and I have 20 combined years at Daxko and through those years and through the creation of our Impact Services, we’ve seen first hand what a huge different engaging your members makes on your bottom line. Today we’re going to share some of those philosophies with you.We will end on time for those of you who need to get back by a certain time, but we’re available if you want to stick around for more discussions or tours of our engagement center.
- #6 [AUSTIN}It’s the little details that keep people coming back again and again. Recognition is the single greatest aspect of a memorable experience.“He remembered my name!” “She noticed my friend is not with me today.” “He congratulated me on my new job.” That kind of recognition is priceless. Personalization, appreciation, and even delight are other high level goals of a member experience initiative.At Daxko, we have the pleasure of spending time in hundreds of organizations across the country, so we get a chance to see the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to exceptional member service. Also through Impact Services, we hear first hand from members and prospective members what they experience when they interact nonprofits. So many membership NPS scores, program NPS scores, and general member feedback directly relates to how they are treated day in and day out.Today we’re going to talk about some minor – yet very impactful – things your team could change TODAY to make a lasting difference in your member’s experience. But first …
- #7 To get us all warmed up, let’s start with some questions.
- #8 This is obscure, but for me, it is Kuerig. They consistently impress me with delivery and even give me free stuff from time to time. Once they shipped my coffee right on time, then I got an email saying they should’ve gotten it to me faster and gave me a discount code for a free box!
- #9 Even a sense of belonging. Places where you feel like you would be missed if you were no longer a member. What is it about these organizations that make you feel this way? Are you that place for your members and if not, what would it take for you to become that place?
- #10 Now think about your organization … If asked the same questions, would your members say YOUR ORGANIZATION is the place where they have an amazing experience? Is YOUR ORGANIZATION where they see amazing value in their membership? Are you that place where members feel that sense of belonging? If not, what would it take for you to become that place?
- #11 There’s a lot of competition for your members’ dollars. Whether for donations, special events, training, etc most people are forced to always weigh their options. In many cases, a member who leaves your organization doesn’t do so because of any sort of problem,they leave simply because they weighed their options and something else seemed more valuable for them at that time. And unfortunately they could not do both.
- #12 So what is going through your members’ minds when making that decision? Basically the value equation scale. In a lot of cases, the initial decision to join might be based on a quick calculation.
- #13 Zoo for example or a discount on an event. But when it comes time to make that decision again next year, they’ve got a year’s worth of experiences to measure and usually more time to consider their decision.
- #14 if after that first year, a member feels that the scale looks like this, what happens???So what are our options in this situation?Notice I said that your member “feels” like this is the value scale. There may be a key difference between what members perceive the value is and what the actual value is.I bet everyone in here could explain to me why your value outweighs your price. The big question is, can your members?While reducing price is definitely an option, our job is to make sure members are always fully aware, and truly feel like they are getting the full value of the membership.
- #15 I am a Southwest-first flyer. Southwest does an amazing job of this. Even if their price isn’t the lowest anymore, they are definitely quick to remind you of the value of flying with them.
- #16 Three questions to consider on when it comes to communicating your value as an organization.
- #17 Everybody in this room has competitors. Whether we are talking about selling a service, a membership, or event, or convincing a donor to support you…they are making a decision between you and someone else. So, if you are going to remind your audience of your value, you have to be able to clearly elaborate how you are different.
- #18 In the software world there is a concept called Customer Development. The basic tenant is “know what your customers love, then do more of that.” So how do you figure out what your members love about you?At Daxko, we are big believers in the Net Promoter Score measurement of member loyalty. It can definitely open your eyes to what is on members’ minds, including what they love about you. If you can identify your members who are highly loyal to your organization, then ask them why that is, Now you can go tell the world about that!
- #19 People are busy and life can pull us away from the best of intentions. Members join your organization with an intent to do something. Don’t leave their success up to chance, rather take it upon yourself to help them along that path.Remind them of the opportunities they have, thanks to their membership, to learn, or get healthier, or meet people, or change the world. Whatever your promise may be, help them along the path by reminding them of the value along the way.
- #20 Or if I join a professional association because I get a discount on to the annual conference, that discount itself may or may not be enough to retain me next year. But if I’ve discovered all of the other amazing benefits of membership throughout the year, and I’m really feeling the impact of my membership, it’s a much easier decision. Lastly, get them doing more in future years than what they are doing this year. Involvement drives mission impact. IF someone joins your organization and you don’t get them involved, you’ve missed an opportunity to deliver on your mission. As you develop that relationship, year over year, you open opportunities to drive a deeper connection and deeper commitment from that member.
- #21 [BRITNEY]It’s probably no surprise that targeted and personalized communication is the best way to engage your members and future members. How many of you keep all of your members in some sort of software database? All of you? If you have the data in a system then you have the ability to be personal and intentional with your communications. Here are a couple of ways you can communicate. These days there are a lot of ways to communicate with your members. If you get it right and it helps member retention – Get it wrong and you could make a situation a lot worse.
- #22 [BRITNEY] Mail is one of the more expensive communication options, but if done well it’s effective. Make a strong effort to avoid the “spray & pray” method where everyone gets everything. Segment your database and send people things that they will be interested in based on their previous interactions with you, their membership type, their occupation, etc. As an example, if I’ve been a member of the zoo for 5 years and then I get a postcard encouraging me to join the zoo that will either confuse me or insult me. It also makes me wonder if you even know I’m a member -- or better yet -- if you care. So in that example, not only have you taken the risk of offending existing members & donors, but you’ve also wasted money on the printing and mailing.***Example of where someone got it right?*** Target?
- #23 [BRITNEY] Mail is one of the more expensive communication options, but if done well it’s effective. Make a strong effort to avoid the “spray & pray” method where everyone gets everything. Segment your database and send people things that they will be interested in based on their previous interactions with you, their membership type, their occupation, etc. As an example, if I’ve been a member of the zoo for 5 years and then I get a postcard encouraging me to join the zoo that will either confuse me or insult me. It also makes me wonder if you even know I’m a member -- or better yet -- if you care. So in that example, not only have you taken the risk of offending existing members & donors, but you’ve also wasted money on the printing and mailing.***Example of where someone got it right?*** Target?
- #24 [BRITNEY] Email is another really effective way to communicate with your members and as a non-profit, email is a lot more affordable. Be careful though! There are a lot of pitfalls with email that you need to be aware of.
- #25 [BRITNEY] Email is another really effective way to communicate with your members and as a non-profit, email is a lot more affordable. Be careful though! There are a lot of pitfalls with email that you need to be aware of.
- #26 [BRITNEY] When it comes to personal communication, this is the most effective way to reach your members. We have an Engagement Center here at Daxko where we call non-profit members on behalf of more than 175 nonprofits across the nation. Here are a couple of things we learned to make calling campaigns really successful.
- #27 [BRITNEY] When it comes to personal communication, this is the most effective way to reach your members. We have an Engagement Center here at Daxko where we call non-profit members on behalf of more than 175 nonprofits across the nation. Here are a couple of things we learned to make calling campaigns really successful. GIVES SOME EXAMPLES OF TYPES OF CALLS YOU COULD MAKE TO MEMBERS/ PROSPECTS TO GET THEM MORE INVOLVEDINCLUDE CVS EXAMPLE, TOO
- #28 And what about amazon.com? They do an excellent job of recommending new items for you to try based on your habits. They call it item-to-item collaborative filtering and it’s a great way to increase their revenue and to help customers.
- #29 [BRITNEY] If you’re not doing some sort of Social Media today then it’s time to start. I guarantee you that people are talking about your organization on Facebook, Twitter (etc.) but are you listening? There are really inexpensive apps that you can sign up for that will monitor when your origanizaiton is mention on social media and notify you so that you can take action. Use social media for more than a megaphone … be a thought leader to create more value with your members!
- #30 [BRITNEY] Front line and the “face” of your organization.
- #31 [BRITNEY]
- #32 [BRITNEY]
- #33 [BRITNEY]
- #34 Now we are going to talk about the importance of creating a conversation with your members. I was talking with a customer of ours at a professional society in California who is currently dealing with some retention issues. The CEO of this society told me that the day before she had just had “debate” with her finance committee over their marketing budget. She wanted to do more outreach and they wanted her to spend less money. Not exactly what we’d call “alignment.” She said something that struck me. She said she told her board that “if we wait until renewal time to reach out, we’ve waited too long.” It struck me because it was such a simple statement, but something that ends up being easier said than done when the day to day stuff takes over. We may have good intentions, but a year can go by quickly sometimes. But today I’m going to challenge you. There are a lot of opportunities that we’ve talked about already to reach out to members and create that conversation. A phone call to thank them for joining or for a gift, a reminder to come to an event, things like that.
- #35 When creating Impact Services, we sent a team to Las Vegas to spend the day with the Zappos team to learn some of their secrets. One of the greatest things we learned was the freedom their staff had to help their customers. Yes, they had processes. Yes, they had goals and parameters, but we listened to call after call where the staff was WOWing customers who called in for support. because they treated every single call like it was the most important call of the day. They have rules, but they never let rules get in the way of an amazing customer experience. Part of their training is to teach staff to make a personal connection – If you hear a dog barking, as about their dog. If buying hiking boots, ask about their hike.
- #36 One other thing that should not be ignored as you consider conversations with your members is member feedback surveying. Most of you probably do some sort of member survey each year, but do you consider this as an opportunity to have a conversation? Would your members see it this way?Is your process for gathering feedback setup to allow for a conversation? One thing that we have seen work extremely well is to avoid surveying your entire membership at once. Instead break it down into manageable chunks and survey throughout the year. Build it into a monthly process of creating dialog with your members.- Remove seasonality, smaller chunk to absorb
- #37 The biggest benefit is that it allows you to truly listen to your members AND take action. It’s not always possible to solve a complaint, fulfill a need, or act on a request, but the worst thing you can do is NOTHING. At least acknowledge member feedback. If you are unable to act on it, explain why. It may not make the member happy right away, but when there is a dialogue, at least they will know they were heard. When there is no dialogue they feel like there is a black hole. When you ARE able to act on feedback, communicate that, too.
- #38 [AUSTIN]As I mentioned before, we are big believers in Net Promoter Score. This is a methodology that was developed by Harvard Business that provides a one question gauge for tracking member loyalty. The question is…
- #39 You’re going to get some negative feedback. And like I mentioned earlier, it’s not always possible to solve a complaint, fulfill a need, or act on a request, but the worst thing you can do is NOTHING. At least acknowledge member feedback. If you are unable to act on it, explain why. It may not make the member happy right away, but at least they will know they were heard. When you ARE able to act on feedback, communicate that, too.
- #40 It’s not always bad feedback!! It’s easy to dwell on the bad, but don’t forget to recognize the good! Contact members with good feedback and thank them for their comments. Ask them if you can post their comments in a future publication.
- #41 Taken you through a lotMore topicsEconomies of scaleTour