3 Questions to Ask to Help Improve Your Member Experience Strategy

How does your association’s member satisfaction hold up? If you aren’t getting the answers you’d like from member surveys, it may be time to evaluate how you handle member experience. Making sure your members are having a great time at your association is, of course, a must.

‍Everything you do should be centered around providing the best experience for members, from giving them the best professional content and value, to providing events and conferences they can attend, to following them through every problem they have in their lives, and anything else in between. Struggling to get your member satisfaction at a rate that you’d like can take a toll on you and cause more stress than needed. So, if you feel like you aren’t sure how your members are experiencing your association, here are 3 questions you can ask yourself before moving forward.

1. Am I providing enough in onboarding?

Your first question should start with the process of bringing new members on board with your association. Are you doing all that you can to make sure new members are getting the best training and introduction that they could receive?

‍Taking a closer look at member onboarding will allow you to hone in on the very first impressions and experiences that members are going to have with your association. These are the most formative moments that your members will have, with impressions that will stick with them throughout their time at your association. Making sure that you’re doing everything you can when onboarding members can help you set new members up for a great experience in the long run. Provide new members with training and welcome sessions. Send them an onboarding email with all the information they need to use their membership to its potential.

‍You should also be sure that members are given the contact information they need when onboarded. There should always be a designated contact in place to answer any questions, comments, or concerns.

2. Am I over/underspending on members?

Of course you want your association’s members to be happy with the experience they’re getting. You want them to feel like the value they receive outweighs their member dues. Making sure your association is providing members with everything they want without breaking your budget is a tall order, but an important one. You need to make sure you’re doing your best to make the right decisions for everyone involved. Luckily for you, there are some tips you can use to make this a reality. To start, you want to be sure that any software and/or online tools you’re paying for are being used to their potential.

‍Auditing your tech costs can show you when money is good being spent on certain objects, when money should be cut back from things that aren’t being used as much, and when free options can take the place of tools you’ve been paying for. You also want to make sure the services you pay for are ones that members are using. If you survey members and find that there are expensive benefits that members don’t find as useful, you may want to consider pulling funding from them and focusing on benefits that matter more.

3. Are events being attended by members?

Events and conferences are a big money maker for associations. Consequently, they’re also what many associations spend their money on. So, you want to be sure member expectations are being met with what you put your money towards. Checking in on event attendance can tell you a lot about how members are enjoying your events. For example, if attendance hasn’t wavered over time and throughout the years, you’re probably doing something right for members and should continue what you’re doing. Great job!

‍But if your event attendance has seen decreases within event attendance, it could be a direct reflection on overall member experience. With that in mind, collecting data on your events including member satisfaction can help tremendously. By collecting and analyzing this data, you have a better picture at how your events and conferences perform, as well as what you can possibly do to make them better for members. Auditing and analyzing your events can provide clarity for your member's experience dilemmas.

Although these three questions can’t answer every single inkling you have about your members and their time with you, they are a great place to start. Bring these 3 questions to the table the next time you assess your association’s current member satisfaction ratings.