Empathy and Associations

Well, of course.

Empathy, that ability to recognize and respond to how others are feeling, is key to market research in associations. We are member driven. We can use surveys to collect data but our best bet is to use our empathy to really understand what drives them. If you don't have empathy, will you really think to ask the question 'what keeps you awake at night' unless you were told it in some marketing course.

And we have so many opportunities to scope our market - annual meetings, trade shows, conference calls, training sessions, site visits. We are much closer to our customers than many commercial enterprises are.

It's not that business doesn't know this. As Brendan reminded me, one of the 7 habits is to seek first to understand. And true curiosity, the real desire to know the answer and the openness to really hear the answer, come from a sense of caring about the other person.

In other management theories, it's called emotional intelligence and authenticity. It all comes down to who do you really care about. If it's just yourself, your plans will lack strength though they often have intelligence.

Hopefully you'll have some empathetic staff to implement them for you.