The Mid-Atlantic Society of Association Executives annual assocation conference was held last week. From the two keynotes and eight sessions two clear themes emerged around member experience and story telling.
Member Experience
- Member experience is how your members feel every time they connect with your association whether online, via phone or in person at events. In fact there could be hundreds of points of contact.
- Delivering exceptional member experience is tricky because member experience happens wherever there’s a touch point with your members. This means everyone at an association from staff to volunteers needs to be aware of and deliver a great member experience.
- Any time a member connects with your association and hits a wall: flawed website, hassled staff member or a frustrating automated phone answering service the negative interaction adds a chink to the brand.
Association Story Telling
- Story telling is far more effective than listing an associations features.
- Great association story tellers craft stories from the member point of view, using their voice/words, identifying their challenges and offering a solution.
- Associations often serve many member segments each with their own problems and world views which complicates story telling. Often one size does not fit all.
For associations to continue to be relevant to their members we need to focus on providing delightful member experiences and attract members through story telling.