The other day, my lovely and accomplished wife suggested I help her with a routine household task.
Unfortunately for her, I was busy being mindful, intentionally focused on internal issues, and attempting to harness both non-linear creative processes and logical, linear processes simultaneously. A near-perfect collaboration of this intent had been achieved.
In other words, I was taking a nap.
Upon Martha’s additional leadership, I ended my productive session to help her. This was when I realized I was married to Santa Claus. Whether or not she is in the same room, Martha always knows when I’m naughty or nice.
Later, I had the opportunity to consider how her innate skill translated into our association strategy environment. Because, of course, I did.
Consider some of the following questions – and their relevance to strategy if you are Santa.
- Do you know who you are delivering gifts to?
- Do you know who is naughty or nice?
- Do you know where they are?
- Do you know how to get gifts delivered to them?
- Do they play with what you bring?
Dean, you say (or Mr. West if respectful), what do these have to do with anything?
Well, let’s run with the metaphor and consider that membership or other benefits are the gifts you give to a person you care about. You are, in effect, a professional or industry “Santa”.
Do you know who you are delivering gifts to?
Understanding who you serve is critical to determining what you give or don’t give them. Would you buy a winter coat for someone living in Miami? Would you give a knife to a 3-year-old? Probably not.
You can’t effectively determine what to give them without truly understanding your audience and the nuances between different audiences. In addition, what an audience receives needs to be meaningful to the decision you want them to make.
Offering me a discount when I’m not price-conscious doesn’t help, and giving me a gift that I don’t care about doesn’t help.
At Association Laboratory, the first step is to understand the audiences’ who, what, where, and why and the meaningful differences between audiences that are important to the decision to join.
In addition, after 25 years, we’ve learned to assess how these change over time.
For example, a recent study for the International Coaching Federation showed that as professional coaches gained longevity, they shifted from building coaching competencies to building a coaching practice.
Do you know who is naughty or nice?
There is an old saying that all members are equal, but some are more equal than others. Members are not literally naughty or nice, but their behaviors guide us when determining whether they get presents.
Consider three potential audience scenarios.
- People who are core to our association, its Mission, and corresponding benefits, and the resulting product/service portfolio.
- People who are peripheral to our association
- People who are outside of our association’s scope.
Of course, you can make this more detailed and complicated, but I don’t want to work that hard on my blog today.
The more a person lives in the core market, the more you design specifically for their needs. The more a person is on the periphery, the less time and money you invest to create easy pathways to engage them if circumstances change.
Finally, if they are outside your scope, you ignore them.
Do you know where they are?
Although physical location seems outdated in our digital world, it is an essential strategic puzzle piece. Consider the following.
Jurisdiction—If your market operates in a singular legal or regulatory jurisdiction, it will have different needs than if it is distributed across multiple jurisdictions. This is essential to understanding advocacy strategy.
Distribution—If your market is highly concentrated physically, chapter or other local/regional face-to-face activities are more likely to be successful.
Movement—If your market frequently moves physical location, for example, perhaps they are contract professionals, military personnel, etc., then understanding how this impacts their ability to access you becomes essential to success.
Here is an example of how you might need to think differently.
Association Laboratory has recommended that several of our healthcare clients organize around healthcare institutions, not geographic boundaries because the institutions and referral networks are the actual community, not state or county boundaries.
Do you know how to get gifts delivered to them?
At the end of the day, your association’s members and prospective members need to be able to access your benefits.
For one of our European clients, we discovered that their members frequently moved (globally) as they took jobs with different organizations for relatively short periods. The result was a digital business model because a face-to-face model or strategies focused on mail would never be able to catch up with this movement.
A common mistake associations make is letting leaders or hospitality deal-making (see my rant on meeting planning) determine meeting location decisions.
The result is that meetings are held in a part of the country where nobody you serve lives.
Here’s an example from my own life. I am an ASAE Fellow (FASAE or Finally Allowed to Sit And Eat). The Fellow’s Retreat is one of the most enjoyable events I have attended, although I’ve struggled to go recently.
Last year, the event was held in Vancouver.
As a market, the Fellows are heavily based in DC and Chicago, the two epicenters of the industry. Vancouver is a looooooooong way away, particularly for our DC friends (new slogan “There’s a country to the west of us?”). As you can imagine, attendance was limited.
This year, the event is in Chicago. I’ve blocked the time off and barring unforeseen circumstances (laziness, clients, etc.) I’m looking forward to attending.
The more difficult it is for me to participate with you, the less likely I am to participate.
Do they play with what you bring?
Nothing is more fun than seeing someone’s eyes light up when they receive a great gift. In contrast, watching their puzzlement (or open contempt) and their struggles to generate a reasonably enthusiastic thank you is sad.
How are members and prospects receiving your “gifts”?
Too many associations follow the “If you build it, they will come.” business strategy. Staff or volunteer leaders sit around and come up with ideas and invest time, money, and energy in production, only to watch the disappointment in the eyes of the people they are trying to serve.
You would never randomly give gifts to someone without considering who they are, what they do, and what their needs or interests are (and may become), yet many associations do this daily with members.
Associations have all sorts of diagnostic information to guide gift-giving. What events are attended (and why)? What areas of your website are most trafficked (and why)? What products or services are growing or declining (and why)?
Look at the graphs. Up is good. Down is bad. Use this information to guide research determining the cause and effect of members’ needs on your “gifts” and adjust.
Last Call
Not every gift is a winner. It’s important to remember that you always have another Christmas, another opportunity to improve. Keep working to understand who you are serving and what they need – it’s a process, not a project.
My final thought? Sometimes, the gift you give is different from what you intended.
My wife introduced me to international travel. In my youth, I was more interested in beer, girls, family, and work than worrying about what some lame other country had to offer.
Today, though, I’m fully immersed in global travel (work and play) and can’t imagine my life without it.
This wasn’t a product or service she gave me; it was inspiration.
Think about the incredible “Secret Santa Gift” your association offers. How are your members using you for their enjoyment in ways you don’t even realize?
Be a platform for your members’ success, and your success will follow.
Just some thoughts from My Seat at the Bar.