Company News Archives | Protech |

Protech to Exhibit at Membership Excellence 2021 [#MEMX2021]

Kim Smith — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 09:35:36 +0000

– 7^th October / Novotel London West Hotel
– www.membershipexcellence.com

We’re pleased to announce that Protech will exhibit at the MemberWise Network’s popular national conference, Membership Excellence 2021, on 7^th October (London).

The Membership and Association Sector has gone through what can only be described as seismic change over the past 18 months, so with that in mind it is no surprise MemberWise is one of the first to deliver what many are terming “The Reunion” conference.

The core theme of the conference is “Membership in a New World”. Seminar Track topics will include Membership Growth Game Changers (membership organisations that have achieved membership growth during COVID-19), Member Engagement and Communications, and Membership Strategy and Value.

20+ membership expert speakers will share the member focused journeys and will represent leading membership organisations including Protechs client Chartered Management Institute (CMI), BCS (Chartered Institute of IT), The British Horse Society, RIBA, , British Canoeing, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and the British Retail Consortium.

Protech will be located within the exhibition hall on stand 25, where our team will be looking to provide attendees with specialist advice on their membership and technology objectives – lots going on so make sure you pop along. To ensure you get to speak to one of our product experts on what will be a very busy day, book a one to one consultation here

Jenny Watkins, Head of Commercial for ClearCourse Membership Services said: “On behalf of Protech we are pleased to partner with the MemberWise Network as it shows our long-standing commitment to best practice sharing and innovation within the membership and association sector during challenging times.”

You can explore the programme, meet speakers, establish educational learning outcomes, explore the trade exhibition and book your places(s) online today.

Official Exhibitor Offer: As an Official Exhibitor we are pleased to offer prospects and clients exclusive access to our secret Official Stakeholder Pass. This provides unlimited Early Bird pricing (save £55 per person) right up until the event. Instructions: On the booking page click ‘Enter promo code’ enter promotion code ‘MEMX55’ and you will instantly gain access to this discount via the Standard Pass ticket option.

Group Booking Offer: Due to the scale of the conference many delegates attend as part of a delegation and we provide 33% off groups of up to 9 delegates or 40% off delegations of 10 delegates or more.

Visit: www.membershipexcellence.com and book your place(s) today!

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Our team is growing: Digital Marketing Executive role

Kim Smith — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 14:06:02 +0000

Do you have a passion for B2B digital marketing? Our marketing team within ClearCourse Membership Services is growing! We are hiring a full-time Digital Marketing Executive to help drive revenue by promoting technology products and services through coordinated sector specific digital marketing campaigns . Their primary role includes facilitation and implementation of campaigns across digital channels such as website, social media and email marketing

Skills and Requirements for our Digital Marketing Executive:

1+ Years of Experience in Digital Marketing
Bachelor’s degree of 2:1 or above in digital marketing or relevant area
Basic knowledge of marketing concepts and principles
In-depth understanding of digital and social media marketing best practices
Self-starter with the ability to work under own initiative
Ability to work under pressure and without close supervision.
Understanding of how to brand build through a social media strategy
Copywriting, editing and proofreading skills
Proficiency in MS Office, including Word, PowerPoint and Excel
Working knowledge of content management systems and automated marketing software
Strong communication and interpersonal skills
Incredible attention to detail
Excellent organisational, time management and prioritisation skills
Knowledge of video and picture editing software such as Adobe helpful but not essential

Key Responsibilities:

Update and management of CCMS websites including creating and posting blog posts and articles on the company’s website and social media pages
Manage all social media accounts, responsible for implementing the strategy for growth of each channel.
Conduct social media audits to ensure best practices are being used
Maintain digital dashboard of several different accounts
Coordinate with marketing team to actiondigital marketing campaigns
Prepare emails to send out to customers
Monitor key online marketing metrics to track success
Ensure that the brand message is consistent across all channels
Drafting marketing materials for digital marketing purposes (e.g. social graphics, online leaflets etc)
Support Marketing Manager (and wider team) to generate leads and opportunities for business growth
Support events and webinar marketing and delivery

Who should apply:

Those who have held a position of Junior Marketing Executive, Digital / Marketing assistant with the relevant digital experience. Those having just received degrees with proven knowledge and experience within digital marketing.

Although this is a flexible working role where the ideal candidate will predominately work from home, you should be within a commutable distance of the office, based in Aldridge within the West Midlands.

Salary expectations:

£20-25k, dependent on candidate experience

APPLY HERE

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MemberWise Digital Excellence Research 2021/2022 is Revealed!

Kim Smith — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 12:24:09 +0000

The MemberWise Digital Excellence report has been officially launched, with statistically significant research from 719 Association/Membership organisation managers/directors. The report provides an in-depth insight into the digital activity and strategy within the Membership and Association Sector and as an official recognised MemberWise supplier, Protech urges all of our clients and stakeholders to download a free copy of the report, as it provides some valuable and surprising results that could impact on your membership organisations overall strategy.

One of the most surprising statistics within the report is that only 32% of respondents said that they have a digital strategy and only 32% have a digital roadmap or plan – an alarming statistic considering digital solutions should underpin a memberships organisation strategy and Member Value Proposition!

The report also provides insight and statistics into the following areas:

Goals Challenges and Strategy
Member Engagement Measurement/Scoring
Online Personalisation/Automation
Member Value and ‘Digital Only’ Memberships
Online Services, Online Communities & Mobile Apps
Virtual AGMs/Events/Conferences
Online Learning, CPD and Assessment/Examinations
Data, Web Analytics, Websites/Integration/Hosting
CRM/Membership Databases/AMS

The report is free to download digitally or as a hardcopy for Memberwise network members

Download Report

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Benchmark your Membership Focused Development

Kim Smith — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 17:55:44 +0000

The MemberWise Network represents over 8,500 professionals working in circa 3,000 membership organisations and associations.

As a recognised supplier of the leading professional network for the Membership sector, Protech are supporting the networks latest digital focused research project that will enable membership organisations and associations to benchmark and focus their membership development around the following critical areas:

Goals challenges & strategy
Member engagement and scoring
Online personalisation and automation
Member value and digital only memberships
Online services, online communities and mobile Apps
Virtual AGMs/ events and conferences
Online learning, CPD and assessment/examinations
Data, web analytics and integration
CRM and Membership Databases/AMS

We are pleased to announce that we have been formally recognised as an Official Digital Excellence (2021) research champion and we strongly encourage you to take part in this high-profile research project

In return for completing the network’s online survey, you will receive an advanced preview of the Digital Excellence Research Report (2021) you will be amongst the first to establish new and emerging digital focused trends and you could also win one of two £250 John Lewis Vouchers.

The Survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete and your individual responses will remain strictly private and confidential.

Protech is an official MemberWise supplier – our products and services appear here

Take the Survey

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Membership OnTrack Webinar: Kickstart 2021 by Placing Members at the Heart of Your Digital Transformation

Kim Smith — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 16:46:22 +0000

Membership OnTrack Programme

As a recognised MemberWise supplier, Protech will once again be delivering a session around digital transformation for the Membership OnTrack programme. Membership OnTrack is a five month programme of sustained and structured support to help membership organisations get back on track and stay on track.

Membership OnTrack Session Information

Date: Tuesday February 9^th 2021

Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm

Online

Register for the Membership OnTrack programme

Digital Transformation Project Session Overview

Over the past nine months, the pandemic has forced many people to put their career plans on hold and adopt a more cautious financial approach. With the new year however has come hope of a return to normality. Leading professional membership organisations are starting to shift their focus, looking for ways to help members restart their career development.

At the heart of this is digital transformation in partnership with organisational change. Placing members at the heart of your business, then refining your organisation’s culture and digital processes to serve them, will be the critical factor in success.

Achieving this requires an extremely robust planning phase and simply knowing where to start remains a common challenge. The business case, objectives and outcomes need to be clearly understood and communicated. A skilled and motivated internal team needs to be assembled to work alongside the right technology partner and build new systems and processes. And as the project rolls out, proper resourcing and expert course-correction is essential to navigate the risks and hurdles that can often cause a retreat to the drawing board. Throughout each stage, this transformation demands a single-minded focus on reducing waste and adding value to the customer; something that can easily be lost along the way.

In this webinar, Protech will share lessons from its 25+ years of expertise in working with professional bodies on medium and large-scale digital transformation projects.

Takeaway actionable strategies

Understand key areas of focus and recognise common pain points of a digital transformation process.
Learn the importance of organisational development in placing members at the heart of your planning
Develop actionable strategies that deliver the improvements in experience and value your members deserve

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Protech Supports Membership Organisation with Additional Analytics to make Better Business Decisions

Kim Smith — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 09:00:50 +0000

Protech have added a new feature to our ProConnect CRM and web application to provide a leading membership organisation with additional analytics for their online events to support business and marketing decisions.

The membership organisation can now capture and analyse additional analytics including the type and location of events that individual members and organisations are signing up for on their corporate website. This information is then served up within ProConnect CRM so that the organisation can analyse their event delegate demographics. Following this breakdown, the organisation will refine their various segments to ensure relevant content is being served up to individual and corporate members. This new feature has been achieved by enhancing the integration within ProConnect CRM and the clients corporate website.

Dan Jennings, Client Services Manager for Protech said “Communicating information that is relevant to individual members interests is vital in keeping member engagement levels high. These analytics will allow the membership organisation to target the right people for their up and coming virtual events. As a result, more members will attend, and ultimately the organisation will provide enhanced value as part of their membership scheme”.

About Protech

Protech has been providing software for professional awarding and membership organisations for almost 25 years. Today, some of the country’s most respected organisations rely on the company’s About Protech:

ProConnect™ software to engage, communicate and transact with more than 2.5 million learners, members and customers.

The powerful CRM functionality at the heart of ProConnect effortlessly manages qualifications and membership while automating manual processes to minimise operating cost. It ships with a fully featured content management system, making it the perfect tool to construct websites and user portals. ProConnect can also manage events, host content, and operate job boards, forums and blogs. These features allow Protech’s clients to increase the acquisition and retention of members, maximise engagement and enhance member value through an enhanced user experience.

Protech’s aim is to help facilitate the sense of belonging between people and their organisations, enabling them to achieve more together.

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Protech Supports Professional Body to Improve Engagement through Online Communities Platform

Kim Smith — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 09:00:17 +0000

Protech has supported a leading professional body to provide additional member value, by integrating ProConnect with Cantarus online communities platform Discourse.

The online communities platform compromises of a general forum and special interest areas which focus on specific industry related topics. The platform will encourage members to interact with like minded professionals to discuss key challenges and other areas of interest.

Enhancing member engagement is a key goal for the organisation and therefore this new benefit will support our client to drive interaction with its members and ultimately the organisation itself. Prior to the pandemic, the professional body offered lots of networking opportunities for members to attend from smaller events to large conferences. However, due to the current restrictions within the UK, many of these have had to be cancelled. The new platform will provide the interactivity that a large proportion of members will value.

Integration between ProConnect and Discourse will allow the organisation to serve up a personalised experience when individual members log into the community.

Ian Roach, Pre-Sales Consultant for Protech said “Supporting this new benefit for our professional body client will add further value to their membership offering, and crucially, allow the organisation to gain further industry knowledge and insights from members.

About Protech

ProConnect™ software to engage, communicate and transact with more than 2.5 million learners, members and customers.

Protech’s aim is to help facilitate the sense of belonging between people and their organisations, enabling them to achieve more together.

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Protech Supports Membership Organisation to Provide Simplified Direct Debit Processing

Kim Smith — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 16:38:05 +0000

Protech and partner ClearCourse company Clear Direct Debit have worked in conjunction to provide simplified direct debit processing for a leading membership organisation.

Protech has worked with the membership organisation to provide the functionality within ProConnect web to allow members to set up a monthly direct debit as part of the sign-up process when they register to join, renew or re-join as a member of the organisation.

The setting up of the direct debit will allow customers to pay their subscription on a monthly or annual basis, removing the admin burden of making individual monthly or annual payments. From the client’s perspective, it will improve their member retention rate as the new automated process will result in less customers not renewing their membership. From a financial perspective, it will also improve the accuracy of cashflow reporting, which is especially vital within the current economic climate.

The membership organisation has also signed up to Clear Direct Debit’s bacs approved bureau to make their direct debit collections more compliant, efficient and secure. The direct debit collection process will be seamlessly facilitated due to the integration between ProConnect and the Clear Direct Debit solution, vastly improving the previous process that was arduous, time consuming and posed data security and human error risk.

Steven Shiels, Head of Sales and Marketing for Protech commented “Improving our clients direct debit processing will be a key driver for them to retain members during these challenging times. Clear Direct debits bacs approved bureau also pose great benefits in reducing back office manual processing, which will allow our clients time to carry out other value-added tasks.”

About Protech

ProConnect™ software to engage, communicate and transact with more than 2.5 million learners, members and customers.

Protech’s aim is to help facilitate the sense of belonging between people and their organisations, enabling them to achieve more together.

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The Importance of Bacs Training – Now more than ever!

Kim Smith — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 12:46:17 +0000

Our friends at Clear Direct Debit are supporting Protech’s clients by running a free Direct Debit Training course. Find out below why Bacs training is more important than ever, and book your free place.

Blog by Sarah Cottee, Training Manager, Clear Direct Debit

I appreciate that Bacs training isn’t always at the top of the priority list. Often it’s the first casualty of stressed or busy times BUT now more than ever you should be considering Bacs training for your team – and here is why!

Common Issues

The ongoing situation with the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted common issues that a lot of Service Users are facing:

Lack of staff – Staff absent with sickness or having been put on Furlough
Lack of back-up staff / trained members of the team who confidently know how to process direct debits
Manual processes
Difficulties sending letters – mailing houses and offices are closed so staff can’t get into the office to use franking machines / no email addresses have been collected to use as an alternative to the post
An increase in cancelled direct debits
Unable to submit files – Smart card holders are absent or unbale to access systems (again, often because they can’t get in the office).

These issues can cause stress and increase the likelihood of errors creeping in. Often Service Users don’t realise they could make improvements to their Direct Debit processes until something goes wrong. COVID-19 has highlighted this for many. As a result, many organisations are now looking for improvements in their processes and this is why it may be the perfect time to consider training – while these issues and risks are fresh in your mind with the COVID-19 lockdown.

Lack of Knowledge around Bacs

We recently ran some market research with delegates who attended our training courses:

When asked what causes them the most frustration when processing their direct debits 72%, said they were concerned about the lack of knowledge about Direct Debits within the Business.

It’s perhaps not surprising that Bacs training course attendees would highlight a lack of knowledge as a concern. What’s interesting though is the consistency in the explanations around this with 3 main recurring topics of concern:

Being shown how to do a task but not understanding why it is important or why it is being done
Not knowing if they have done the task correctly and receiving no feedback
Concern about lack of knowledge elsewhere in the organisation

When asked what would increase their confidence in managing their direct debit system, 58% felt understanding the Direct Debit rules better would help. Many stated this confidence would help them explain to colleagues what was required as well as reassuring them / creating less stress.

Automation

In Market Research, when asked how they would like their processes to be improved, 49% highlighted a desire to move to a less manual processes.

From our sample, 63% said the most time-consuming aspect of managing their Direct Debit system was all the administration required. This included sending out Direct Debit Instructions manually, chasing return of the DDIs, dealing with rejection reports (Bacs reports) and reconciling failed collections etc. A few respondents highlighted the time required to deal with Indemnity claims – especially during lockdown where numbers have increased.

Respondents identified that any time savings through automating the process would be appreciated. For this reason, many of those not currently operating an AUDDIS system were keen to introduce it. AUDDIS is where Direct Debit Instructions are sent to Bacs electronically rather than via the post and many respondents who have struggled with paper systems were wishing they had implemented AUDDIS / were keen to implement AUDDIS soon.

Paperless Direct Debit

In Market Research, when asked how they would like their processes to be improved, over a third – 36% – expressed a desire to move to Paperless Direct Debits.

As well as introducing AUDDIS, many respondents were keen to look again at introducing Paperless Direct Debits – using online or telephone sign-up. Many recognised this would provide benefits when their customers were unable to get out to post Direct Debit Instructions. Respondents – correctly – identified that it would save them time as well.

The Value of Bacs Training

After attending training 92% of respondents claimed to feel “very confident” about Direct Debits.

The common themes identified in this research included:

The need to streamline processes
The improvements offered by moving to AUDDIS or Paperless Direct Debits
The impact of a lack of training
The need to reduce administration
The benefits of improving knowledge and confidence

Our Accredited Bacs Training can help with all these. We offer a range of training options and these include our online “live” training courses.

Free Online Bacs Training Course for ClearCourse Company Clients!

Tuesday 24th November (Fully booked)

Thursday 26th November

Tuesday 1st December

Direct Debit is the preferred payment method for many customers, but how confidently are your staff able to discuss Direct Debits? How comfortable are they dealing with customer queries and managing error items such as unpaid Direct Debits and Indemnity Claims? Regular Direct Debit Training will make sure that your Direct Debit processes are efficient and compliant with the Bacs Direct Debit Scheme Rules.

Benefits of attending Direct Debit Scheme training:

Increased confidence in user’s knowledge
Streamline processes
Reduced errors
Improved cashflow
Offer a better customer service experience
Reduce admin time

Clear Direct Debit’s Online Training provides a thorough overview of the Direct Debit Scheme. Courses are delivered by their experienced Training Manager via Zoom, using a mix of learning techniques. These include interactive breakout sessions, online whiteboards, presentation slides and discussion points. Training materials are provided and after the course delegates receive a certificate of attendance and ongoing support.

Clear Direct Debit Online Courses are:

Highly interactive discussion-based learning
Full supporting documentation provided
Access to an experienced Trainer
Small focused groups
Follow Up support from industry experts

If you are a client of a ClearCourse organisation book your free place below.

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Why professional development is the key to retaining members in 2021

Kim Smith — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 09:12:00 +0000

Webinar Details

Date: Tuesday 17 November

Time: 11am

Venue: Online

This current period of economic uncertainty is something that we could never have predicted a year ago, with membership organisations shifting their focus on retaining their members. The severity of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to virtually all business sectors being affected in one way or another, with many organisations cutting their workforce due to reduced market demand. This has had a significant impact in the UK, with current statistics showing that:

5 million people are currently unemployed
5% of the population were unemployed between June and August
156,000 fewer 16-24-year olds are employed compared to three months ago

(source: bbc.co.uk)

How can membership organisations help?

With the UK officially in recession for the first time in 11 years, the longevity of the COVID-19 pandemic will be the primary deciding factor on whether the situation worsens and how long it takes to recover. While this is out of our hands, there are steps that professional membership organisations can take today to insulate themselves from the worst effects of this economic situation.

The new How We Live report by Aviva provides insight into the change in people’s attitudes and behaviours over the course of the past year. It goes on to examine the long-term impact for people living and working in the UK.

A key section outlines how workers in 2020 are planning to make changes to their careers as a result of the COVID outbreak. And there are some interesting conclusions:

53% of workers plan to make changes to their career in the next 12 months as a result of COVID-19
1 million UK workers aspire to retrain or learn new skills, with 15% of these people aged within the 25-34 segment
7 million workers hope to gain more academic qualifications within the next 12 months
7 million people plan to move companies but hope to stay in the same industry

Are you providing tangible value to retain members?

These statistics show a huge opportunity for membership organisations to help people recover from the economic crisis. But what steps need to be taken to make the maximum impact?

The first is to step back and analyse the core value that you provide. Keep in mind that simple “club membership” is not going to be enough to retain members.

It was helpful in the past but today, the internet has revolutionised our ability to feel connected for free. A standalone membership scheme will not be enough to drive members to join or renew their membership. Providing value through timely benefits that help members to drive their career will be the key to success. The ability to offer an intuitive, recognised and comprehensive professional development path will become the competitive differentiator that drives people to engage

Free webinar session

As part of the Membership OnTrack webinar series, Protech will be hosting a free webinar to provide membership organisations with actionable strategies that can improve member engagement through professional development. During this webinar, we’ll be addressing four key questions that are central to the success of your organisation’s professional development strategy:

Do you know what your members value? You may think so but when did you last ask them? In our experience, well-written member surveys and interviews often turn up a very different set of results that don’t always support the current membership strategies.
Is professional development at the heart of your member value proposition? The key driver for member acquisition and retention is your ability to help them achieve their personal goals. Do you have clear professional development paths that accomplish this?

Do your processes fully integrate CPD with your products and services? Each qualification, event or resource you offer should clearly provide a positive and tangible outcome for the member. It should move them nearer to their personal goal.
Have you eliminated all the process and technology barriers that have blocked you in the past? Holding data in separate silos makes it impossible to efficiently integrate CPD. It makes qualification-tracking slow and cumbersome for your staff and makes CPD completion an arduous task for members.

Our free webinar ‘Repositioning member engagement to drive professional development’ is part of the Memberwise OnTrack programme. It is scheduled for Tuesday 17^th November at 11am, where we will provide answers to these questions and guide your organisation to support your members though these difficult times.

Find out more

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