Forum - June 2008

These lessons can easily apply to the association or nonprofit world. When The Experience Economy ^II.surfaced in the late 1990s, organizations around the world changed how they treated customers. Some businesses have a tendency to see each interaction with a member as an isolated event instead of a touch point in their overall experience. Admittedly, it is much easier to think members don’t remember what you said to them last week, but customers do remember how you treated them last week, positively or negatively. They will compare you to other businesses, which may or may not be your competition, and rate your performance against their own expectations.

In First, Break All The Rules,^III.four customer expectations are described: • Accuracy — get it right • Availability — available when needed

• Partnership — listen to the customer, be responsive, make them feel like they are on the same side of the fence as you

• Advice — customers feel the closest bond to organizations that have helped them learn

The first two points (accuracy and availability) are your base. They are the minimal expectations of your customers or members. They expect you to have the correct information and they expect you to be available. Meeting these two needs does not put you ahead of the competition but just gets you in the game. You really start to impress your customers when you satisfy the other two expectations — partnership and advice. Customers should believe you are with them in their challenges.

Although staff cannot always relate, they should always empathize with the plight of your constituency. Whatever the problem, the member should know that you will work with them to find the solution. Furthermore, if members can come to you for information and education, you are filling an important void. This connection increases your relevance to members and decreases the chance that they’ll forget you at renewal time.

STEPS TO LOYALTY While we have always heard mention of loyalty in connection with membership and customer support, we have recently seen a greater emphasis and new metrics for determining one’s connectivity to

your organization. For many, experience is the mechanism for growing loyalty. A good experience helps connect people to the organization. There are four major steps an organization should follow to evaluate and improve the customer experience and grow member loyalty.

STEP ONE:

YOUR MISSION STATEMENT What does it mean to provide exceptional service to your members? If your staffers do not share similar answers to that question, the first step is to draft a mission statement. Your department should have a single, concise definition of what you are supposed to do. It should be the guiding principle behind your daily work and the foundation of any new program. Without a shared mission, you cannot reach your potential because everyone will be operating from different perspectives. To some, phone messages should be returned within 24 hours, while others may say 72 hours is acceptable. Without uniformity of service expectations, the members’ experiences are different based on who answers the phone — and the variances can greatly affect their impression of the organization. Thus, having a departmental mission statement is a critical first step in providing member service.

STEP TWO:

THE MEMBER EXPERIENCE

If possible, membership professionals should become members of their associations or at least put their names on the mailing list and seed their addresses on direct mail lists. Instead of focusing on when you send the welcome kit and renewal notice, you focus on understanding what it is like for the member. How do the mailings read? How does the direct mail connect with the Web site? If a person calls, what is the availability of the membership department or program staff to answer questions? These are the elements that affect the service you provide and, ultimately, the member’s experience.

To get a handle on the member’s experience, map what it currently is and then create a separate version of what it should be.

Based on the variety of budgets associated with membership recruitment and retention campaigns, the above ideals may be more or less than you’re able to do. There is no definitive rule. Instead,

the focus is on your unique organization, your unique members, and the unique benefits and experiences you can offer.

Once you have the real world picture and the ideal picture, the next step is to figure out how to elevate the current experience to meet your vision. Depending on the size of your membership, you will have to think creatively about how to change the experience. When funds are limited, focus on major milestones that will have the deepest reach. If you can institute a new telemarketing campaign whereby new members are called after 90 days, this may be the best way to introduce your organization to members and find out more about their specific needs. You will be surprised at the small touches that mean a lot to your members. You should always review what your competition is doing (i.e., join your competition and compare the experience to yours) but also look at for-profits for inspiration.

The experience will help you understand what it’s currently like to be a member and it will help you visualize what you want that experience to be. It’s important to focus on outbound communications, response time and consistency of message. You are examining, at least, the full 12-month membership cycle. Depending on budget, you will incorporate new ideas and begin shaping the current experience to better fit your own expectations. With a smaller budget, you may have to pick the two to four major milestones that will have the greatest impact. With a more robust budget, you can address the entire experience, including considering outsourcing, revamping publications, and generating new community initiatives (listservs, networking opportunities, and more).

STEP THREE:

CUSTOMER LOYALTY

After you’ve created a memorable member service experience, you have to focus on the end result — loyalty. If your experience has met or exceeded all expectations, you have created a constituency that will be more loyal to your organization. You meet their basic needs, but you also offer tangible benefits beyond just being there when they call. You have entered the loyalty zone.