Here is another way to look for gaps in your association’s value proposition. Some associations focus heavily on personal success but not at all on team success or success for the industry or profession. Why long-time members are reluctant to leave your association. MORE

One of the best ways to engage members early is by ensuring they have contact with your Association’s Value Trigger Point. How do you identify your Association’s Value Trigger Point? Many times staff don’t know if their association has an Association Value Trigger Point (AVTP) or what it might be. In phone conversations, I ask 3-5 year members this question: when did you first realize the value of this association? MORE

” This happens all the time in association leadership because we are coming at everything with a different perspective than our members. ” “Every year my membership is becoming less of value,” thinks a member. He should be grateful. MORE

Philip Tedesco, CEO of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors , noticed that when they got the Past Presidents’ Council together with the Young Professionals Network, there was more than just a one-way dialogue. New members can bring value to the relationship too. MORE

Their level of engagement depends on all the other competing demands on their time and attention as well as the perceived value of increasing their engagement. In recent interviews with association executives, many said how they define member engagement depends on the individual member. MORE

What makes an association great in the eyes of members? The value of my membership is bigger than the cost of my money and time. The value of my membership is apparent. The association keeps me informed and helps me connect to the right people. MORE

”, an association CEO and big thinker in our industry asked me yesterday. Many indicators point to a member engagement problem for associations. But I do see some association professionals addressing the member engagement problem for their organization. MORE

One of the most frustrating dynamics for association staff is noticing that some members join but then never take another single action. Usually, they are fuzzy on the exact value they will get, but they do expect to get some value. How associations push new members away. MORE

Which means that 70 to 90 percent of our members do not experience one of the top benefits the association has to offer. Instead, let’s talk about how we get a conference-like value to members who never attend. And Association Success is gearing up for SURGE Spring 2018. MORE

At some associations, members do feel this way, and your members can feel like this too. The good news is size is not holding associations back. We become better and better at creating value and experiences they want. My sleep study illustrates the problem with association data. MORE

Member value is complex, and members are evaluating whether they are getting value from the association all the time. But the value of their benefits is not the only element they are considering. Member value is all of these elements and more. MORE

Huge associations have found that when you serve everyone, you end up helping no one. Recognizing the benefits they provided were too generic, these large associations divided their organization into smaller groups with each group serving a particular member type. MORE

Over on Association Success, my friend Arianna Rehak crowd-sourced a great idea (here is her post). So in a very unscientific way, I tallied all of these discussions in my mind, and these are the most impactful articles of 2017: Is It Day 1 or Day 2 for Associations? MORE

Do people like me join associations like this? Is this new iPhone of value to me? If we help then answer yes, their membership is worth it, and yes, people like them join associations like this, we will keep them engaged, very engaged. MORE

The question of association value comes up over and over again. Business leaders frequently ask their representative on an association board or committee to justify the expense of their association participation. The Association Communicates Well. MORE

Once associations start following that rule, they are able to engage younger members with ease. Why Associations Routinely Break the Halfway Rule. Many associations do not honor The Halfway Rule in the eyes of our new and younger members. MORE

I wonder if this is a particularly good time to develop a mantra for the association community? Change is happening and it is happening faster and faster which puts a lot of pressure on associations. Is there a mantra that would help us move our associations ahead? MORE

Working for, consulting to and volunteering in Associations is especially rewarding when you see your peers have lightbulb moments that you know will be a defining point in their involvement. Often these come after long periods of stagnation, frustration and … Continue reading → A Dangerous Mind MORE

Who are the Stephanies in your association? Member Engagement association value association value trigger point attendee engagement creating a member experience delivering value engaged members member engagement member experiences membership value perception of value MORE

This post originally appeared on the Associations Now Leadership Blog on March 7, 2013. In a recent post , Associations Now blogger Joe Rominiecki shared what both he and I regard as a startling fact: 53 percent of associations surveyed in 2011 had raised their dues in the previous three years. To put it another way, during the most severe economic decline in most of our lifetimes, more than half of associations surveyed still moved forward with a dues increase. MORE

Ask engaged members when they realized the value of the association and many could tell you the exact moment. The moment new members understand the value of the association is the Association’s Value Trigger Point (AVTP). MORE

This post originally appeared on the Associations Now Leadership Blog on March 28, 2013. In Part I of this series earlier this month, I identified the association value gap as an underlying structural problem within membership-centric business models. Put simply, associations are unable to drive profitability solely by delivering on the membership value proposition and must find alternative ways to monetize membership to maintain their existing business models. MORE

If I were to build an association, I would pull the most significant insights from all of the research I have conducted. Here is what I would focus on as I created my dream association. One of the core staff values would be to be intensely member-focused. MORE

Louis Institute for Association Leadership (STIAL) meeting got a personal look at the strategies and tactics of the Composite Engagement Score system. I really like the concept of “scoring and tracking” member engagement of your association. Those attending last week’s St. MORE

Related: Storytelling is the new association marketing. Association Marketing Member Marketing association benefits association story telling association value association value trigger point channel developing a story marketing story member benefits member marketing storytelling MORE

This leaves associations in a bind because predicting future trends is tricky. So what role should association’s play? What if we extend this framework to associations? Often, associations report on what the average member is doing or the processes of most members. MORE

A staff member or association member calls them and invites them to join. As a former member of another industry association, they know the value associations can provide. Members often join not knowing very much about what the association can do for them. MORE

Email is ridiculously important to the health of our association because at most associations email is by far the most used channel to communicate with our members. Show first-time readers (prospective and new members) that they do not want to ignore the association’s emails. MORE

Shaming around professional development is unthinkable to many of us but, some professionals say it happens at their organizations and this is a problem association can solve. When associations offer soft skill training (i.e., MORE

Member Experience association value first impression member culture member experience new member offerings new membersRelated: Our members are not crazy. Why new members actually join. The most frustrating thing members do. MORE

The post Who Are the Stephanies in Your Association? Association Value Member Experience association strategy association value first impressions forward thinking member experience member value new members thoughful MORE

Building sustainable business models depends on association leaders adopting a 21st-century sensibility as they imagine and co-create new forms of value in collaboration with their stakeholder networks. The problem for associations is that the member market does not really exist. MORE

On paper, your association has an organizational-type membership structure. This single individual makes the determination to renew based on the value they, themselves get from the association. Why long-time members are reluctant to leave your association. MORE

Lego Value Meal Another subject we tackled at the dinner I mentioned in a previous post was the much-reported sickness of the association value proposition. Just what is the association value proposition that is so besieged ? Associations Leadership MORE

Is the association providing enough value to long-time members? The post Help Others Matter More: Another Way Associations Can Add Value appeared first on Smooth The Path. Related posts: Making members look great! Teaching whole life skills to our members. MORE

Many association members are directors, VP’s and CEO’s. While we would never market it like this, another huge value for some associations is addressing member’s loneliness, helping members cope with loneliness and helping them find others like them so they can be less lonely. MORE

They say there’s a lack of value for them. The association is not covering topics they care about or the issues that apply to them at their level. They say the association is getting stale. They fondly recall the value they once received. MORE

Our member’s reflective-mind may want to explore all the association has to offer but first, the reflective-mind has to overcome the automatic-mind and that is a tough battle to win. When our members attend an association event, their automatic-mind will take them first to registration. MORE

Our thoughts around value are changing. In fact, our perceptions of value are becoming more sophisticated. Some experts define value as quality + price. There’s a new definition for value. Value is one part solution, another part story, another part experience. MORE

Much more often members do not know a thing about the association when they join. Myth #2: Members Join for the Value. These may be the reasons some members join sometimes, but overwhelmingly members do not join for the value. Do not get me wrong; value is critically important. MORE

When I speak about a way to engage new members early in their membership by using an Association Value Trigger Point (AVTP), association professionals often ask me if their association should have just one AVTP or should we have many for our different members? MORE

A professor, a manager, a peer, or someone they respect recommended the association to them. “I am a physician, and because I’m a physician, I joined the physician’s association.” Your association might as well solve them. MORE

If you work for an association where membership is required or an association with a 98% retention rate and no competition, your association might be able to get away with a bit of friction. Related: Association trend watch: member experiences. MORE