I recently attended a webinar entitled, “Engaging Members for Improved Retention Rates,” presented by JP Moery of the Moery Company, through ASAE Learning.
The webinar gave great insight into member engagement and retention by focusing on using your data, adjusting your membership retention strategy, and developing a plan for engagement and recruitment.
The first step to making sure you have a solid engagement and retention program should be to review the current state of your association’s membership and your current level of member engagement.
Key points to review are:
- Changes in your membership over the last year and the last five years
- Membership renewal rate and comparison with previous renewal rates
- Main reasons that prospects join the association
- How members are engaging
Using your data effectively
You have valuable information about your members – use it. Your association’s data may offer key insights to help you identify the most popular member benefits, characteristics of your member segments, and to ensure that your message and mission align. This data will help you develop a solid member engagement and retention plan.
Retention begins with recruitment
It’s easy to lose sight of the big picture, gaining and retaining members, when faced with a ringing phone and an overflowing inbox. Nonetheless that phone call or email may be the one that gains your association a new member, or encourages a member to renew.
New member on-boarding and retention should begin at the membership inquiry and continue through every communication. Show them what your association can do for them and help them realize the available benefits.
Positive, professional, and relevant communication is also key. Focus on ensuring a new member has a positive experience from the beginning, are aware of member benefits, and becomes engaged in the association.
Engagement ideas
- Develop a webinar to teach members how to use their membership and easily access it
- Recognize members as often as possible
- Remind members of their savings by participating in association events at the member rate
- Focus the spotlight on members in newsletters, publications, and online posts
- Engage members through social media
- Engage new members through a member to member outreach program
Develop and implement a member on-boarding and retention program, and communicate it with the entire staff. Also, consider developing talking points for communicating with members during prospect calls and renewal calls. Talking points can help staff listen to the member more effectively, understand what is important to the member, overcome renewal objections, and develop solutions to obtain/retain the member.
Plan to budget as much time for retention as you do for prospecting – you worked hard to obtain that member, and you need to work just as hard at keeping them. It is also important to take the pulse of your membership periodically, perhaps through interviews or surveys, to determine if the association’s focus needs to shift in order to continue to align with the needs of your members.
What is the current state of your association’s membership and engagement efforts?
