As associations catch on to the value that comes from listening to the Voice of the Member, and more and more associations start asking their members questions, trends are emerging that are paving the path for success. Here are a few that I've found in my research in the PropFuel customer base.
1. Connection, not content
According to Community Brands Technology Adoption Report, "Super Members" are improving on the loyalty spectrum whereas everyone else is falling off. The trend is that associations today need to create a stronger connection with their members rather than focus on the typical discounts and publications, if they want to grow a strong and loyal member base. Capturing the Voice of the Member is a strategic approach to listening and creating a dialog with your members.
2. Continuous insights rather than periodic studies
Annual or periodic surveys have their purpose. It's research. The challenge is that typically you're getting a very low response rate of 10% or so, and it's a snapshot in time. Regular check-in's allow for an association to capture the Voice of the Member at major milestones along the member journey.
3. Merging sentiment with behavioral and transactional data
Most associations know what their members are doing but they don't know why. The behaviors are the WHAT. But behaviors are triggered by sentiment, or desire, and that's the WHY. If you understand the why, then it becomes possible to understand the needs of your members much better.
4. Better technology
Technology is way better today than it was even 5 years ago. AI is actually a useful tool now, and automation is common-place in our marketing. When we talk about Voice of the Member, we're talking about interactive listening — a combination of better listening capabilities combined with better action-centric behavior.
5. Listening beyond the customer
Employee feedback and partner feedback provide another perspective of what we need to know to run a healthy ecosystem.
6. Hyper-customization
Hyper-customization means we're not talking to segments anymore, we're talking to individuals based on their personal interests. Using PropFuel, ask a question and an action will respond to the member based on how they answered — that's hyper-customization.
7. Everyone has a voice
Social media has trained us that we have a voice. Are you giving your members that opportunity?
8. A Focus on Customer Journeys, not transactions
Most organizations have acknowledged that transactions are just a subset of the member journey. The Voice of the Customer is designed to capture feedback at each moment along the customer journey.
Dave Will
While working for SAP, a multi-billion dollar software company, nearly 20 years ago, Dave Will was advised to "Walk faster and smile less, because perception is reality." Dave took this feedback to heart and started a business based on the antithesis of this advice. Fourteen years later, Dave successfully sold Peach New Media, a Learning Management System for associations, which is now part of Community Brands.
Since then, Dave and his leadership team from Peach built an engagement platform called PropFuel, the first Conversational Engagement platform designed specifically for member based organizations to improve member engagement using the Ask, Capture, Act methodology.
Dave lives on the South Shore of Massachusetts with his 3 boys, 3 boy dogs and his formidable wife, Nicole. He's an endurance runner and pretends to work from his boat in Buzzards Bay, MA as much as possible all summer long.