CHASE25, organised by Hart Square, returned for its 25^th anniversary year on Thursday 5^th July at The Brewery, London and was attended by 600 delegates from the charity, association and not for profit (NFP) sectors.

Delegates had a great opportunity to learn from the main CHASE25 themes which centred around:

• Digital – the risks, challenges and rewards that digital technology and a digital strategy can bring to an organisation
• Leadership – how senior leaders can inspire and pioneer change, stand out from the crowd, ensuring that they take their organisations’ stakeholders with them
• Innovation – today’s buzz word – taking risks, experimenting, driving change and moving away from the traditional way of doing things to embrace new audiences
• Culture – transformation is a cultural shift that employees must engage with, the need to embed new strategies, measure success and get the very best from work force

Steve Shiels, Head of Operations for Protech, presented under the Digital theme and covered the importance of ‘Incorporating the Evolving Needs of Qualifications Delivery Within your Digital Strategy’.

Qualifications delivery is an important topic as an increasing number of professional bodies, membership organisations and associations provide academic/business qualifications and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) to members as a key revenue stream.

“My presentation was very well received, which is always reassuring as it proves what we are saying is resonating with our existing and potential clients,” said Shiels “The Protech stand was busy all day as my team helped delegates to understand how communication, engagement and the conversion of interactions into transactions ensures their organisations become ever closer to their members and customers.”

The successful event, which included the chance to hear the legendary Midge Ure talk about his career and the story behind Live Aid, concluded with a Garden Party allowing delegates, speakers and exhibitors to take full advantage of the wonderful weather.

3. Results Management and Moderation

The third stage of the student lifecycle takes place when the student has completed their exam. What happens at this stage will vary based on exam format i.e. a written exam, multiple choice or an e-assessment.  

If the exam was an e-assessment, the allocated marks (alongside any record information) should simply be uploaded to the CRM solution and then recorded to the relevant student’s record.

Where the exam is a multiple choice, records should be simply allocated to an automated batch so that the outcome of scanned multiple-choice results can be imported at the next stage.

Where the examination is written, an allocation of scripts to markers is completed. Another task that Protech recognises as resource intensive and cost ineffective. Protech’s Awarding Body customers will receive scripts, potentially from around the globe and will sort those into piles for marking.

The allocation process should be underpinned by a rules engine that allows for manual allocation where lower volumes of papers are returned or, can be automated where there are large volumes and specific business rules have to be adhered to. Examples, of the business rules ProTech has embedded into this allocation process are as follows:

• Can an allocation take place for a whole exam or must the allocation only be made up of exam papers for a single centre?
• What papers is an examiner allowed to mark, and how many exams paper can that examiner mark within a single sitting?
• Is the examiner available?
• Should papers be allocated evenly or should an examiner be given a maximum amount of papers before moving onto the next?
• Does the examiner have any affiliation with individual students?

Based on the above, auto allocation takes place, linking examiners to exam papers. A marksheet is sent to each examiner or the mark sheet can made available via a portal.  

Examiners can now mark written (essay-style) and multiple-choice exams. Allocated marks are imported into the CRM solution, or can be submitted via an online portal.

The end goal is to have an overall mark, calculated by a marking structure set against the assessment.

For written multiple-choice exam papers, the exam papers are scanned and a CSV file is generated. This includes the answers to each question and an overall score. If a third-party provider is being used it should be possible to import results into the CRM solution once exam papers have been scanned.

For written (essay-style) examinations, examiners will send their exam mark sheets back to the awarding body in a format that was prescribed in the previous step. The solutionwill then import those files, checking for validation errors and cells which have not been completed. If the file is valid then the solution will record the results.

Crucially, all marks brought into the system will not be logged against the student record. They will be held in the session ready for moderation and the allocation of final marksto take place. There are a number of ways that this can be completed:

The first option for moderation is to redistribute all papers between grade boundaries to moderators for remark, following the process laid out above. The process would then take place once more for a senior examiner to make a decision which mark to carry forward for each paper.

The second option is to do marking adjustments for the whole session. This typically mirrors an exam board meeting where marks are discussed which allows for marks to be uplifted or downgraded for a combination of an assessment/centre/examiner and other variables.

Finally, it is possible to export a sheet of all marks in a session (one sheet per assessment). These can then be vetted, amended and reimported into the system.

4. Results Distribution and Certification

Once marks have been agreed by the exam board they should be finalised within the CRM solutionand recorded against the student. This process should utilise the ‘pass check routine’ within the CRM solution to determine who has passed and who has failed and which students may have been awarded a qualification based on the information know about the candidate’s assessment history in relation to the qualification they are working towards.

Results can be made available to students or the education centre in a number of ways, either to the student themselves (online, email or letter). This communication can include a statement of the individuals’ progress so they are encouraged to keep studying for the rest of the qualification or future qualifications, if appropriate. The communication should also provide the opportunity to market other products and services to the student and to update or gather additional member data.

The results distribution process should enable awarding bodies to chase any outstanding debts with students or organisations. Data within the sales ledger should be utilised to hold back the results where invoices are unpaid.

Certificates for those students who have successfully passed their exam will then be printed, either as a batch process, internally by the awarding body or information can be sent via CSV to a mailing house. This is one stage of the student lifecycle which is not digitised – most awarding bodies and students prefer a hard copy of the certificate.

5. Appeals, Awards and Further Progsession

The last stage represents the end of a typical student’s learning journey. In some circumstances this may necessitate navigation of an appeals process. The approach to an appeals process is often varied. ProTech uses case management techniques developed for its Case Management module, to record and decide on an appeal against marks, combined with the sales function used to take payment for the appeals process

Some awarding bodies will distribute awards to high performing students and ProTech’s Qualifications and CPD module can highlight high scoring results to facilitate this process.

Awarding bodies can use the completion of a qualification to uplift an individual student’s membership level. This will either happen automatically as a result of achieving a qualification, or if the individual is put forward for a membership upgrade. This acts as a good chance to market the benefits of upgrading to the individual which they have become applicable for as a result of their achievement.

Finally, if the exam the student has successfully completed is one element of an overall qualification, or if the student chooses to enrol for further qualifications then the lifecycle starts all over again.

Chase25 – the event for charities, associations and the non-profit sector is back, revamped and reinvigorated with an exciting programme of expert and peer-led themed sessions covering: Digital, Leadership, Innovation and Culture

Date: Thursday 5 July

Venue: The Brewery, 52 Chiswell St, London EC1Y 4SD

Protech’s presentation: Incorporating the evolving needs of qualifications delivery within your digital strategy.

Presenter: Steve Shiels, Head of Operations, Protech

Time: 13:55-14:15

Organised by Hart Square, chase25 will be where charities, associations, membership bodies and not for profit (NFP) organisations come together to: share best practice through peer-to-peer learning, network with their peers and share real life examples.

The way charities, associations and other not for profit organisations do business is undergoing a significant change. Leaders and professionals within the NFP sector need to take brave steps and reassess how they communicate with their members and customers, employees and other stakeholders.

Leaders and professionals need to adapt to new methods of working, create new partnerships and more effectively share and use information to ensure they ride the unstoppable wave of new digital technologies.

Chase25’s aim is to provide leaders and professionals with the tools to successfully navigate the ever changing NFP landscape.

Protech is at the forefront of providing modern CRM solutions which help leaders and NFP professionals take those brave steps required so that they can deliver innovative services which meet the expectations of their members, customers and stakeholders.

Steve Shiels’ session will cover how NFPs often overlook their digital strategy when considering the technologies required to build an IT strategy that will meet their business objectives at the same time as meeting the demands of all stakeholders.

This failing can result in the procurement of a CRM system, the overhaul of a website and integration with other applications to deliver a technology solution which is not ‘fit for purpose’.

With a growing number of professional bodies, membership organisations and associations providing qualifications, as a key revenue stream in addition to membership and events services, Shiels will explore the key principles of digital qualification delivery and the considerations NFPs should make at each stage of the learner lifecycle.

Shiels session will help NFP professionals to deliver a qualification solution that fits within their organisations digital strategy ensuring that it is an essential part of their organisations long term business strategy.

For more information contact: Kim Smith, Marketing Executive, Protech: kim.smith@Protech.co.uk

I have taken this title from that of a recent breakfast seminar hosted by Hart Square (the independent CRM and Technology Consultants) and sponsored by ProTech

ProTech sponsored this seminar as, like Hart Square, we are acutely aware that many educational, accrediting and regulatory bodies are struggling to meet the expectations of their members, students and other stakeholders.

Today’s members, students, learners and educators expect education, accreditation and regulatory delivery to be digital, seamless and paperless. These levels of expectation will only increase as ‘millennials’, who have grown up in an ‘always-on’ world with quick and easy access to the information they want, make up the majority of the workforce.

In his presentation, Allen Reid, Hart Square’s Director of Client Projects, quoted Andrew Hall, Chief Executive of AQA (the UK awarding body) who in 2014 said: “Most exams will be digital and paperless by 2018-2019.”

Reid then answered the question as to why digital and paperless delivery is still so hard in 2018 – because it’s not just about the technology.

Different departments within examining, accrediting and regulatory bodies require different systems whilst at the same time, members, students and other stakeholders demand a more personalised, digital and streamlined service.

Andrew Hall thought that by 2018 all of the different systems i.e. education, membership, finance, contacts, CPD, accreditation, outlook email, etc., would be in all ‘one place’ – no spreadsheets, no paper! He also thought that organisations would have a shared website with student, examiner and centre portals, that all coursework, assessments and results would be available via eLearning solutions from multi-channels on any device.

It is possible today to deploy a CRM solution that is very close to Hall’s vision but this is totally dependent, not only on the functionality of the solution offered by your CRM provider, but also the provider’s ability to provide a seamless CRM and digital solution which meets the needs of your stakeholders. This is why choosing the right CRM provider for your examining, accrediting and regulatory body is crucial.

The first question to ask a potential provider is whether its CRM solution has been developed specifically for the examining, accrediting and regulatory sector and therefore, designed to support members/students from enrolment through to certification. Or, if it is a supposedly a ‘one size fits all’ best of breed solution. It is important to remember that ‘one size fits all’ rarely does and these solutions are not designed to meet the individual CRM requirements of specific sectors.

A one size fits all CRM solution will not have the ‘built-in’ features and functionality that ensures that it ‘talks’ to your website and can therefore seamlessly deliver education, accreditation and regulation services for your students. Nor will it have the capability to deliver membership (in many cases your students will also be your members), accounting, events and community services, etc.

All of these vital tools will have to be ‘bolted’ on to the one size fits all platform in an effort to bring together disparate systems and data.

To come close to Hall’s vision your CRM provider needs to deliver an integrated web and CRM solution or put more simply, a single specialised solution that supports both your online and back office requirements, to deliver the other features and functionality you require i.e. education, accreditation, regulation, membership, accounting/commerce, events and communities, etc. This functionality provides a single view of each and every one of your members/students.

An integrated web and CRM solution also enables examining, accrediting and regulatory bodies to meet the expectations of members for a highly personalised and relevant interactive experience. It delivers the ability to capture data, entered or provided by members each time they interact with an organisation via its website or talk to its membership team. This data is then automatically stored in the CRM system.

The member/student data captured can then be analysed and segmented so that members/students view, via a personalised member portal or are sent, content that exactly matches their profile and preferences, providing a highly personalised and relevant experience.

An integrated solution will also help examining, accrediting and regulatory bodies to cope with two major trends which Hart Square is seeing: firstly the Uber-isation of the not for profit space and the need for organisations to fight back, and secondly the rise of digital automation or artificial intelligence (AI).

Uber-isation is shaking up the examining, accrediting and regulatory space. Organisations offering these services may have become complacent, believing they are the only source of services able to provide what members/educators/students/learners need.

This is no longer the case. There is a plethora of online courses available from the Open University and individual Universities. Why would students pay a subscription fee to a professional body unless they see a real value in doing so?

Examining, accrediting and regulatory bodies must up their game and position themselves as an authoritative voice, an organisation that will look good on a CV. They need to show that they understand what their members/students want by delivering services which are personalised and relevant.

One of the key ways to achieve this is to provide a joined-up user experience for members/students. This means delivering a single point of access for the consumption of e-learning content and the completion of e-assessments. The results of each assessment should automatically be updated and appear within the CRM’s ‘single customer view’ of each member/student, enabling bodies to digitally prompt members/students to move to the next stage of their learning journey.

The increased use of digital automation or AI will have an impact on organisations across all business sectors and therefore every profession. For examining, accrediting and regulatory bodies digital automation/AI plays a key role in ensuring that members/students receive a personalised and relevant experience.

As described above, an integrated web and CRM solution allows data captured to be analysed and segmented against members/students’ preferences. This capability is delivered by digital automation or AI. In addition, rules-based automation additionally allows the interactive engagement between the member/student and the professional body.

In summary, to ensure that examining, accrediting and regulatory bodies meet the expectations of their members/students they must understand that these and other stakeholders have become digital-savvy customers; there are now many options on offer as to where and how members and students can access the services offered, and if they are not offering personalised and relevant services then competing organisations will be.

For more information on how an integrated web and CRM solution can provide the all-important single view of each and every one of your members/students and help you turn the student/member data captured into your most important strategic asset, contact:

Kim Smith, ProTech’s Marketing Executive – kim.smith@protech.co.uk

I have taken this title from that of a recent breakfast seminar hosted by Hart Square (the independent CRM and Technology Consultants) and sponsored by Protech

ProTech sponsored this seminar as, like Hart Square, we are acutely aware that many educational, accrediting and regulatory bodies are struggling to meet the expectations of their members, students and other stakeholders.

Today’s members, students, learners and educators expect education, accreditation and regulatory delivery to be digital, seamless and paperless. These levels of expectation will only increase as ‘millennials’, who have grown up in an ‘always-on’ world with quick and easy access to the information they want, make up the majority of the workforce.

In his presentation, Allen Reid, Hart Square’s Director of Client Projects, quoted Andrew Hall, Chief Executive of AQA (the UK awarding body) who in 2014 said: “Most exams will be digital and paperless by 2018-2019.”

Reid then answered the question as to why digital and paperless delivery is still so hard in 2018 – because it’s not just about the technology.

Different departments within examining, accrediting and regulatory bodies require different systems whilst at the same time, members, students and other stakeholders demand a more personalised, digital and streamlined service.

Andrew Hall thought that by 2018 all of the different systems i.e. education, membership, finance, contacts, CPD, accreditation, outlook email, etc., would be in all ‘one place’ – no spreadsheets, no paper! He also thought that organisations would have a shared website with student, examiner and centre portals, that all coursework, assessments and results would be available via eLearning solutions from multi-channels on any device.

It is possible today to deploy a CRM solution that is very close to Hall’s vision but this is totally dependent, not only on the functionality of the solution offered by your CRM provider, but also the provider’s ability to provide a seamless CRM and digital solution which meets the needs of your stakeholders. This is why choosing the right CRM provider for your examining, accrediting and regulatory body is crucial.

The first question to ask a potential provider is whether its CRM solution has been developed specifically for the examining, accrediting and regulatory sector and therefore, designed to support members/students from enrolment through to certification. Or, if it is a supposedly a ‘one size fits all’ best of breed solution. It is important to remember that ‘one size fits all’ rarely does and these solutions are not designed to meet the individual CRM requirements of specific sectors.

A one size fits all CRM solution will not have the ‘built-in’ features and functionality that ensures that it ‘talks’ to your website and can therefore seamlessly deliver education, accreditation and regulation services for your students. Nor will it have the capability to deliver membership (in many cases your students will also be your members), accounting, events and community services, etc.

All of these vital tools will have to be ‘bolted’ on to the one size fits all platform in an effort to bring together disparate systems and data.

To come close to Hall’s vision your CRM provider needs to deliver an integrated web and CRM solution or put more simply, a single specialised solution that supports both your online and back office requirements, to deliver the other features and functionality you require i.e. education, accreditation, regulation, membership, accounting/commerce, events and communities, etc. This functionality provides a single view of each and every one of your members/students.

An integrated web and CRM solution also enables examining, accrediting and regulatory bodies to meet the expectations of members for a highly personalised and relevant interactive experience. It delivers the ability to capture data, entered or provided by members each time they interact with an organisation via its website or talk to its membership team. This data is then automatically stored in the CRM system.

The member/student data captured can then be analysed and segmented so that members/students view, via a personalised member portal or are sent, content that exactly matches their profile and preferences, providing a highly personalised and relevant experience.

An integrated solution will also help examining, accrediting and regulatory bodies to cope with two major trends which Hart Square is seeing: firstly the Uber-isation of the not for profit space and the need for organisations to fight back, and secondly the rise of digital automation or artificial intelligence (AI).

Uber-isation is shaking up the examining, accrediting and regulatory space. Organisations offering these services may have become complacent, believing they are the only source of services able to provide what members/educators/students/learners need.

This is no longer the case. There is a plethora of online courses available from the Open University and individual Universities. Why would students pay a subscription fee to a professional body unless they see a real value in doing so?

Examining, accrediting and regulatory bodies must up their game and position themselves as an authoritative voice, an organisation that will look good on a CV. They need to show that they understand what their members/students want by delivering services which are personalised and relevant.

One of the key ways to achieve this is to provide a joined-up user experience for members/students. This means delivering a single point of access for the consumption of e-learning content and the completion of e-assessments. The results of each assessment should automatically be updated and appear within the CRM’s ‘single customer view’ of each member/student, enabling bodies to digitally prompt members/students to move to the next stage of their learning journey.

The increased use of digital automation or AI will have an impact on organisations across all business sectors and therefore every profession. For examining, accrediting and regulatory bodies digital automation/AI plays a key role in ensuring that members/students receive a personalised and relevant experience.

As described above, an integrated web and CRM solution allows data captured to be analysed and segmented against members/students’ preferences. This capability is delivered by digital automation or AI. In addition, rules-based automation additionally allows the interactive engagement between the member/student and the professional body.

In summary, to ensure that examining, accrediting and regulatory bodies meet the expectations of their members/students they must understand that these and other stakeholders have become digital-savvy customers; there are now many options on offer as to where and how members and students can access the services offered, and if they are not offering personalised and relevant services then competing organisations will be.

For more information on how an integrated web and CRM solution can provide the all-important single view of each and every one of your members/students and help you turn the student/member data captured into your most important strategic asset, contact info@protech.co.uk

 

A record number of delegates attended Membership Excellence 2018 (#MEMX2018) which was held at The Park Plaza Hotel, London Victoria on Wednesday 25 April. The annual event is the Membership sector’s leading annual membership-focused best practice conference, hosted by the membership and association professional network, MemberWise. ProTech was an official exhibitor at this popular event which helps membership and association professionals to learn, network and benchmark around the challenges and issues they face

65 senior membership professionals and experts, employed by leading membership organisations and associations, took time out of their day jobs to share their membership excellence stories and experiences with delegates via half-hour seminars. The five key track themes included: Membership, CPD & Governance, Member Research, Hack Audience and Partner Show Case.

MEMX 18 was the launch-pad for MemberWise’s Member Value Project (#MV2025) with each delegate given a free copy of the new resource. The Member Value Project focuses on helping membership and association professionals take a more structured approach to optimising and enhancing the value they provide for their members.

The content within the Member Value report has been fully quality assured by 40 membership and association professionals responsible for member value and engagement within their organisations. The report can be downloaded here.

The membership ‘geek’ theme ran throughout the conference, with attendees wearing ‘geek’ glasses and ‘I love membership badges’.

Caroline Chapple, founder of Chapple cartoons, provided a storyboard of the themes throughout the conference:member retention, recruitment, engagement. The key theme, supporting the launch of the Member Value Project, was Enhancing Member Value.

From its stand ProTech handed out case studies highlighting how its clients had overcome key membership challenges within their organisations.

“Once again MemberWise has organised a great MEMX 18 event. Our presence provided the opportunity to network with existing and potential clients. Plus, it’s always good to keep an eye on what are competitors are saying! I am sure that all delegates will have benefited tremendously from the seminar tracks and the insight they will have gained from their fellow professionals,” said Steve Shiels, Head of Operations, ProTech.