“First things first.” – Stephen Covey

 

Make no mistake about it, I intentionally published this post as the very first post on The BoMB (i.e., The Business of Membership Blog) because it’s that crucial to the success of your membership program.

[Disclaimer: To many of you what I am suggesting in this post may be perceived as basic, obvious, and maybe even make you say “DUH!!!” out loud. Yet I’ve encountered too many organizational leaders and membership professionals that have not taken this simple step that will improve and grow their membership program.]

So allow me to take a few moments of your time to remind you – if you haven’t already done so – to…

JOIN YOUR ORGANIZATION AS A MEMBER! [sorry for shouting. I’m a bit passionate about this topic.]

Are you so busy asking prospects to “Join Now!” you’ve forgotten to take your own advice?

You must, must, must join your own organization as a member. Yes, the same organization that you are working day and night to try and grow. The same organization in which you are investing so much time and money focusing on membership recruitment and retention.

Why is becoming a member of your own organization so important? Here are 3 answers to that question:

To Experience It For Yourself

How can you truly know what it’s like to be a member of your organization if you aren’t experiencing it for yourself. Think of it this way…would you take a course on how to write and publish a novel from someone who is unpublished? Would you buy skydiving lessons from someone that hasn’t actually jumped out of a plane themselves? Would you take driving lessons from…(uh, nevermind. DC traffic proves me wrong on that one daily.)

When I say experience it for yourself, I mean you need to act like one of your core constituents that has a nagging need for what your organization offers.  If you embody this mentality and perspective, you will gain better insight into your organization’s value proposition and the perception others have of your membership offering.

To Be the First to Know

When you receive a marketing message or member communication or benefit you need to look them over in detail through the eyes of your core member. Open the messages up as soon as you receive them. Read every last word in what you received (even if you were the one to write, proof, and approve that particular piece.) Take action on what the call to action has asked you to do. Don’t just throw the piece on a pile. When you receive it, immediately use the piece how it was intended to be used. You become your own early warning system. When you take on the perspective of your core member and you end up discovering something that needs to be tweaked or changed, you will thank your lucky stars you caught it before one of your members (or, God forbid one of your board members) did. It may be too late to recall the communication or delivery, but at least you will be prepared to respond to any reactions that come at you because of it.

To Become the Expert

Many may remember when the “blue screen of death” showed up during a demonstration by Bill Gates of Windows 98. Embarrassing moments like that can be avoided if you are able to have an intimate knowledge of your log-in process online, the elements of your membership enrollment process, and the pieces of a new member welcome kit. Test, test, and retest your processes, procedures, and systems. Yes, it takes a ton of time, but, trust me, it’s time well invested.

Here are the 3 “Musts” of monitoring the integrity of your membership experience:

  1. You MUST Join as an Outsider

Pick a channel (by mail, email, online, phone) to join on your own from outside the office during business hours. Use the vehicle or channel you want to test to create the new member record in your system. Don’t just add yourself to the database or ask one of your data processors to do it for you. Again, a major part of the experience is prior to the membership activation. The initial transaction of joining is part of the membership experience. This first impression could make or break the anticipated renewal you expect as expiration nears. Better yet, have someone else join for you and listen in or record the call. This is the best method when testing the face-to-face transaction at conferences and other outside events. It’s your chance to “secret shop” your organization’s customer service. Take your own personal credit card and put your money where your mouth is (you can expense it or write it off later.) I’ve done this multiple times within multiple organizations and every time I’ve learned something new or found something to improve on in our interactions with members and prospective members. Do you truly know what shows up on the credit card statement of your members when they pay dues? Does the personalization on the invoices and renewal notices sent to you make sense for you? Does the membership welcome kit really have all of the elements inside that were intended for your particular needs as a new member?

I know you don’t want to appear to be inflating your member counts by purchasing memberships yourself, but a complimentary membership may not (and probably should not) be the same experience as a paid membership experience. Plus, the vast majority of your members have the status of paid and the intent is to monitor their experience.

  1. You MUST Deliver to Your Home Address

Have the mailing address on the membership record be your home address and personal email address. Having benefits and communications sent to the office and work email address doesn’t provide a true experience. Even if you work for a trade association that has businesses or institutions as members, having the benefits come to you directly at an outside address helps to provide a truer member experience and keeps the outsider perspective for you as you handle the deliveries.

  1. You MUST Track the Timing & Quality

As you receive any items in the mail or electronically track all activity in a spreadsheet. Date each item. Describe what it is and the condition it arrived in. Add notes and comments as needed. This will allow you to develop a timeline of the membership experience later and identify conflicts or timings that don’t make sense to the intent of the communication or product delivered. I’ve encountered issues in the past where everyone else on staff believed without a doubt that certain mailings were sent out and delivered on a certain regular schedule and when I tracked these items the data I collected didn’t come close to the perceived schedule. Data doesn’t lie.

One of my favorite books ever is the Four Agreements and I think of it regularly when running my membership program. The one agreement that stands out the most in my mind is the agreement: Don’t Make Assumptions. Don’t assume your membership experience, processes, and procedures are running properly. Seeing is believing. Trust but verify.

So, what are you waiting for? Join Now!!