Member Models and Their Relation to

Value in a Time of Change

Jodie Slaughter, FASAE President and Founding Partner

McKinley AdvisorsAnd

Michelle Mason, CAE, FASAE, CQIAManaging Director

ASQ#ASAE12 LO1

Membership is dead!

Long live membership!

Is the annualized trend in full, paid memberships for your association over the past 5 years higher, lower or flat?

Flat

Is the annualized trend in full, paid memberships for your association over the past 5 years:

Flat

Lower

Higher

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

23%

28%

44%

18%

38%

44%

37%

26%

34%

27%

29%

44%

CESSE 2012 EIA 2011 EIA 2010 EIA

What do you anticipate will happen with membership over the next 5 years?

forward-looking

Flat

Lower

Higher

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

23%

28%

44%

18%

38%

44%

37%

26%

34%

27%

29%

44%

12%

15%

67%

Estimate CESSE 2012 EIA 2011 EIA 2010 EIA

Same trend with 5 year forward-looking estimate: forward-looking

What concerns you most about membership in your association over the

next five years?

What concerns you most about membership in your association over the next 5 years?

"Open" Journals / Info

Lack of Employer/Govt funding

Competition

Membership Model

Providing/Communicating value

Aging Membership/Attracting Youth

4

4

4

6

11

14

Typical age distribution of an

association’s membership

TODAYUnder 25

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65 or older

0% 10%20%30%40%50%

1%

3%

18%

30%

39%

6%

Forecast age distribution for the

same association in 2025

Under 25

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65 or older

0% 20% 40% 60%

1%

3%

9%

18%

30%

39%

Your Value Proposition

• It’s more than what you say.

• It’s also what you deliver.

How we look to some…

Pay us in advance so that you’ll have lots more to read and the ability to pay us again for access to things that may or may not be relevant for you…

…because it’s the “right thing to do” and you’ll feel guilty if you don’t.

Customer Value Proposition

Job to be done: solves an important problem or fulfills an important need for the target customer

Offering: satisfies the problem or fulfills the need. This is defined not only by what is sold but also by how it’s sold.

Adapted from Reinventing Your Business Model; Mark W. Johnson, Clayton M. Christensen, Henning Kagermann; Harvard Business Review, December 2008

Compare:•Networking Opportunities All Year Long

•Meet Your Next Employer, Client, Hire Here

•Keep Up to Date on Trends in the Field

•Easy Ways to Maintain Your Designation/ License/Credential (so you can keep working, get business, etc.)

is Subjective

• Demographics can matter• Career stage• Job setting• Level of engagement…

• And sometimes they don’t

Q: What affects value in your Organization?

Variable Value

Good of the Order

PersonalBenefits

How do you determine member value in your organization?

How do you know?• You have to be curious• Look at behaviors• Study transactional data• Link to demographics• Ask the right questions• And listen

Your Value Proposition

• It’s more than what you say

• It’s also what you deliver

Living with a mature model

We typically try build our member value proposition around our existing processes and resources…

…this has acute impact on the membership value proposition.

Think about:

Conference committees

Website navigation

Presidential initiatives

Chapter meetings

e-newsletters

Some of our processes and decisions that erode the MVP:

Product development Pricing Brand strategy Incentive compensation Promotional mix Technology platforms Service levels R&D investment

Think about what you offer:

• Is available EXCLUSIVELY to members?

• Addresses ONE job to be done, not ten?

• Is CHEAPER, FASTER or EASIER to obtain?

• Is relevant to nearly ALL of your target audience?

What do you that fits the bill?

Strategies to Enhance the MVP

• REWORK internal structures• Seek BALANCE in the MVP• Focus on the USER EXPERIENCE• Determine what can be made EXCLUSIVE• Test low/no cost CONTENT alternatives• TARGET communications (REALLY)• Invest in MOBILE• Increase FLEXIBILITY in membership

policies

What should you do next to enhance your MVP?

• There WILL be markets and potential members to serve in the future.

• Certain membership drivers are ETERNAL.

• Membership growth is a LAG INDICATOR of a viable customer value proposition.

• Our challenge is to create a BALANCED AND COHERENT value proposition for membership.

The Half-Full Glass:

Really?

Really?

Not if you offer unique value and have the tools to make

it compelling.