Priceless Associations
by Diana LaSalle

Two of the greatest challenges business faces today are attracting and retaining customers. Associations have the added task of keeping members engaged not just for a week or a month, but year after year. Fortunately there’s one solution to all three problems—delivering value through exceptional customer experiences.

When Sandy joined the International Arabian Horse Association she didn’t know what to expect.  As a new owner, the organization’s charter to bring together Arabian horses and the people who love them for competition and fun seemed made to order.  She was pleased when she logged onto the IAHA web site and was able to apply for national membership, find an affiliated club and order program information quickly and easily.  Days later her membership packet arrived and within a week she was attending her first local meeting.  A full and active year later she renewed her membership without a second thought. “When I first joined,” she said, “I thought $80 was a lot for membership, but now it seems a bargain. I’ve made new friends and I’m even thinking of buying a second Arabian horse for competition.  I couldn’t be happier.”

Sandy’s endorsement of IAHA is typical of how members feel about the association, but this wasn’t always the case. For more than a decade the International Arabian Horse Association was hammered by losses.  Membership recruitment was down.  Retention was down.  Participation was down. To their credit they understood that while outside influences like the economy and an aging membership contributed to their woes, the real problems came from within.  The value and experience they delivered didn’t measure up to the cost of membership. Barbara Burke, Executive Vice President of the 28,000-member organization with a grassroots network of 278 clubs, believes their main problem was focus.

“We lost sight of what members really wanted. Our purpose as an organization is to help people enjoy owning and competing with their Arabian horses and to connect with others who share their passion. Yet using our services was anything but enjoyable. Our internal processes were so slow and cumbersome that most members saw us as a frustration, not an ally.  The relationship with our affiliated clubs wasn’t much better.  So we began by making access to information and services easier and more efficient through automation and the Internet.  We put in place relationship-building programs for our clubs such as Club Excellence awards and the Club Summit. We also instituted cultural changes that rewarded employees for taking care of our members.  And it’s worked.” After years of steady declines, the downward trend is reversing itself.  IAHA has had positive retention numbers for the past two years and the mix of members has improved.  Program participation is also on the rise, which has led to increased non-dues revenue.

Central to their success was the recognition that providing both real value and an exceptional experience are necessary to attract and keep members.  “Now we not only have the services and programs people want, we’re easy to do business with,” says Burke. This combination of value and experience is key to solving many of the most challenging issues associations face today. However, in order to deliver this wining combination you first have to uncover your real value.

Determining Value

Most organizations are accustomed to thinking of their membership and program offerings in terms of features and benefits. An association offers education (a feature) and members gain knowledge (a benefit), but value is something more.  It represents not what a product or service does but how it impacts a person’s life. 
For instance a seminar that increases someone’s professional skills might help him do a better job. This benefit of “doing a better job” can result in greater self-esteem, growth, and perhaps even recognition or advancement.  These results are the real value of the seminar. Every benefit an association provides should have identifiable value that enhances the personal or professional life of individuals or fulfills its mission to corporate members. 

When a veterinarian joins the American Association of Equine Practitioners for example, they are eligible to become a part of the 1-800-Get-A-DVM program.  This national AAEP Locator Service helps horse owners find a veterinarian in their community or travel destination. The service is offered free of charge exclusively to AAEP members. If we were to look at the benefits and values of this program in chart form it would look like this.

Membership Feature	Benefit	Value to Member
Free listing in 1-800-Get-A-DVM	Exclusive National Registry Exposure through a national advertising program, promoting excellence of AAEP member vets Access to new clients	Enhanced status as a professional Acknowledged excellence and performance A convenient way to reach prospects and increase business

It’s interesting to note that even though the program was free, in the beginning the members were slow to sign up for it.  This was distressing because not only was the program good for its members, it was also an important part of the association’s community outreach and offered great potential for sponsorship dollars. The problem, however, was not with the program itself but in the member’s perception of its value. No matter how much value you offer, if people don’t recognize it, your chances for success are greatly diminished.

Communicating Value

Psychologists have suggested that as human beings we operate on four levels: physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. (Note: spiritual in this sense does not mean religious, rather it is something that reaches our core being and often involves all levels of consciousness). Performance for example is based on a set of standards.  If a record is processed within 24 hours as promised our mind registers the fact that the association has performed as expected.  This is an intellectual process.   If a person is recognized for an achievement, it is experienced on an emotional level. That’s why so many become teary-eyed at awards ceremonies. The physical on the other hand, is experienced through the senses. If a waiting room has comfortable chairs or a task can be accomplished without creating stress, those impact the physical being.  Appreciation of art however, is spiritual because it resonates within our body, mind and soul. Knowing how people recognize or relate to value is key in crafting communications that sell the value you offer.
 In the following chart we matched the values identified in the AAEP example with the level on which people experience those values and suggest key words that might be used to express its worth.

Value	Level	Key Words
Enhanced Status	Emotional	Exclusive, respected, professional, appreciated, recognized
Acknowledged Excellence	Intellectual	Acknowledged expert
Convenience	Physical	Easy, effortless, convenient

As the chart shows, this particular program reaches members on three levels.  The more levels a benefit impacts, the greater its value so you’ll want to speak to all three if you can.  The bold words in the following message represent the value expressions meant to trigger value recognition in the subconscious.

“When you become a part of 1-800-Get–A-DVM you are joining an exclusive network of recognized experts in equine medicine. There isn’t an easier, more convenient way to reach new clients or to tell them you offer the highest standards in medical care.”
Today, 1-800-Get-A-DVM is one of AAEP’s most successful programs sponsored by Bayer Corporation. When you lead people to the value you offer everyone wins—especially when you combine that value with a rewarding start to finish experience.

Bringing Value and Experience Together

One of the misconceptions many businesses operate under is the belief that once they have created valuable products or services their job is done. The fact is, it’s just begun.  Every day members have experiences with their association that add to or detract from the value it offers. People have communication experiences through advertising, member service representatives and web sites. They have buying experiences through catalogs, online or at events.  They have meeting experiences and even waiting and parking experiences.  It is the sum of all experiences combined with value that ultimately determines the overall worth of what you offer.  Remember IAHA?  It had many services in place for its members but the experience of accessing them was so frustrating it took away from their value.  When operational issues were corrected and the experience improved, the value could be realized, members were happier and the association reaped the rewards.

It is your job as an association to create as many positive, value-adding interactions as possible for your members.  When you do, you have the ultimate offering - what we call the Value Experience - a product or service that when combined with its surrounding experiences delivers such overall value that it transcends the ordinary to become extraordinary or even priceless.  The Value Experience is what members want. It’s what attracts them to you, keeps them coming back and makes them an active part of your member community.   We don’t pretend that achieving this ideal is easy, but it is possible. 

Begin by looking at your association and all its offerings through your member’s eyes. Determine the value of each offering and evaluate the way in which you communicate that value. Then chart each experience they have with your products, services, organization and its representatives to determine its impact on members.  Red-flag negative experiences and do what you can to correct them. Also identify the positive ones and make them part of your value statements.  When AAEP stated that part of the value of the outreach program was “easy and convenient” access to prospective clients they were communicating the value of the experience.

An association can begin this process with one program or one level of membership and expand from there.  What’s important is to incorporate the ideals of the Value Experience into the culture of your organization.  When you do history shows that any business that provides what the customer truly values can achieve real growth - not the growth of past decades that has been eked out by downsizing, and cost-cutting efficiencies, but the real thing. This growth according to a Deloitte & Touche study is double that of organizations that do not put the customer first. It doesn’t matter if your organization is large or small, member or organization based, focused on an interest, an industry or a cause, if you are committed to delivering a Value Experience you will be rewarded with loyal and more satisfied members not just for today but for many years to come.

Diana LaSalle is co-author of Priceless: Turning Ordinary Products into Extraordinary Experiences published by Harvard Business School Press. She also leads True North, a Savannah based company dedicated to helping business understand the Value Experience through seminars, workshops, keynotes, experience audits and evaluations.