Redesign for Popular Newsletter

Upcoming  Workshops

  CLARITY BY AXI
The Web Trap

  POLICIES AND PRACTICES
Privacy Policy

BETTER PRACTICES
The Free Event

Strategic Restructuring

TECHNOLOGY TIPS
The Effective PDA

HTML E-mail

REALITY CHECK
Charity=Good

The Networking Myth

TEMPLATES PLUS
Evaluation Forms

Ten Tips to Improve Member Service

Everyone knows that good member service is the key to increased membership retention.  The problem is, how do you know what "good" members service is? Remember, it's the member - the customer - who determines good member service, not the organization.

Still, there are some things any membership organization can do to increase member interaction and to improve the chances that the renewal notice will be returned with a payment. Here are ten specific ideas that can dramatically improve you member service.

1) Create a membership service "culture" in your organization
Everyone on your organization's staff has to be completely committed to improved member service. Remember that you're all "guilty by association" and if a member has anything less than a good experience dealing with anyone on your staff it reflects on everyone on your staff. 

2) Sets quality control standards on everything you do.
Don't be satisfied with adequate service. Establish quality control standards for everything you do. Don't send out a publication if it doesn't meet your standards. Don't put on a meeting or program that doesn't come up to your standards. Let your members know that you think they deserve the best.

3) Personalize wherever you can.
It's not possible for organizations of any size to put every member's name on every piece of correspondence. Still, at least two or three times a year mail merge your correspondence. Show members you care about them, not just people or companies like them.

4) Eliminate some of the assumptions.
To meet and exceed member expectations, you have to know what those expectations are. Be sure to ask the appropriate questions when responding to members' inquiries. Tell members when their request will be filled and when they can expect to get their product or information. When you say "right away," does that mean the same to the member/customer as it does to you? If you're not sure, don't be afraid to ask.

5) Customize your communications
You don't have to have a completely different message for every member, but you can customize to some extent. For example, when you send out the announcement about your organization's annual meeting, attach notes to interest various membership segments. Use messages like "Five Reasons Why New Licensees Should Attend" to one group, "Five Reasons Why Private Practitioners Should Attend" on another, etc.

6) Spend a Day With One of Your Members
This might sound a little awkward, but it's actually a very effective way to gain some empathy for members. Let each member of your staff actually go out and learn what your members face each day. It will help your staff members understand what is important to members and how the organization can help them.

7) Establish Telephone Etiquette Standards
For many members, their perception of then organization is determined but what happened that one or two times they called the association office. Set some guidelines for staffers on how to handle calls, how to transfer calls in a professional manner, how to deal with upset members, etc.

8) Use technology for rapid response.
Email isn't always the appropriate way to communicate with members, but it does allow you to respond in a timely manner. Even if you send out a publication order with a nice cover letter and the publications, send an email to the member to tell him/her that the order has been filled and they can expect it shortly. Take away their doubt about whether or not their order got through.

9) Be sure to confirm the renewal
Most organizations do a good job of acknowledging the receipt of new member applications but sometimes we forget to acknowledge the renewal. Remember that renewing members are paying just as much as new members are-be sure to recognize them, too.

10) Get on your own mailing list.
When you produce all of the correspondence your organization puts out, sometimes you are just too close to it. Go into your member database and add your own name at your home address. Get your organization's materials the way your members do, in the time that they get them. You might start changing some of the things you send out, or at least the way you send them.

Improving member service should be one of your organization's ongoing goals. Whatever you can do to meet and exceed member expectations adds to the chance that members will come back for another year.

Mark Levin, CAE, CSP is a 30-year veteran of the association management field. He has worked with hundreds of organizations and tens of thousands of organization staff and volunteer leaders around the world. His newest book, "Millennium Membership" is available through CSAE at www.csae.com. He also serves as Executive Vice President of the Chain Link Fence Manufacturers Institute. Mark can be reached at www.baileadership.com or via email at mlevin0986@aol.com.

To build better
associations and non-profits by 
delivering unique
and unparalleled expertise, programs
and services
to their staff and
volunteers.