Sector Insights Archives | Protech |

Optimising the post-lockdown learner journey via centre portals

Kim Smith — Fri, 13 Aug 2021 15:19:31 +0000

Over the past year, the pandemic has forced the temporary closure of offices, institutions and public centres across the world. For many professional bodies and awarding organisations, home working has enabled them to continue administrating their learning or CPD services. But the examination of many high-level qualifications has been extremely challenging to manage remotely.

In these cases, and for those that prefer an in-person to an online learner journey, the reopening of learning centres is an important step in restarting their career development and returning to normality. This is also the perfect time for awarding bodies to examine the often-arduous administration entailed in supporting these centres.

The correct tool to streamline these processes are centre portals. These authorised-access websites integrate closely with the awarding bodies core CRM database to facilitate the far more efficient management of multiple learning centres and examinations. Centre portals allow administrators within these centres to log-in and access all the information they need to teach and test learners as they move through the course structure. And for the awarding body, this delivers a significant benefit in three key areas.

Centre accreditation

Learning programmes present a substantial revenue stream for professional bodies and awarding organisations. And just like any product, the course itself will have a brand value that dictates its popularity and thus, how much can be charged for it. Any learning centre is a primary touchpoint for this brand and so it is vital that only the best are successfully accredited.

A centre portal plays an important part in this process by helping new learning centres with access to all the information they need to become accredited efficiently. This is centralised within the portal and automatically updated with every correspondence and checklist item recorded. Once complete, the portal continues to support learning centres and maintain operational standards as they accept students and operate examinations. The design and usability of the portal also fulfils another important role by clearly demonstrating the standards that are expected of the organisation and its partners.

Administration

Once the learning centre is accredited and accepting students, the hard work of administration begins. With every learner comes a complete set of documentation that follows them throughout their learning journey. As they acquire qualifying experience, it needs to be added to their records and be available to them and the learning centres handing their examinations. Each module that is attempted, failed or passed then helps to determine the next stage of learning to be delivered. A typical learner journey can have multiple stages such as:

Learner signs up for a qualification
They make payments, complete a registration and a learner record is created
This allows access to a self-service function and a personalised repository of information
Access rights are granted for the appropriate learning materials via a single sign-on
Learner information is simultaneously shared with any e-assessment or essential platforms
Exams are scheduled and conducted either in-person or via a “remote proctored” method where a webcam ensures proper conduct
Results are process and shared with the learner and any necessary professional bodies
The next stage of qualification is determined and offered directly for continuation

Managing this manually is an enormous task for a single organisation. But ensuring that every part of each learners’ journey is current and correct across multiple centres can be exponentially harder. By allowing learner centres to self-service these documents and using an integrated CRM to securely manage the information and handle essential updates and communication, centre portals make this task achievable for all sizes of awarding body.

Centre management

To maintain the highest standards across all learner journeys, it is occasionally necessary to apply restrictions to under-performing or non-compliant learning centres. This can occur due to non-payment of fees to the awarding body or as a result of other concerns that might impinge on the brand value of the qualification itself. These restrictions can take a number of forms but can begin with updates and information being held back from certain centres until a situation is resolved.

Understanding where each centre is in its payment schedule and managing any subsequent restriction manually is extremely challenging. The matrix of CPD, qualifications and centres can be complex and overlapping. A centre portal simplifies this by providing clear analytics to spot any issues in their earliest stages, allowing awarding bodies to take prompt remedial action when required and providing the tools to easily lift restrictions when necessary.

CPD and qualifications products have the potential to support learners’ careers while growing revenue and building brand value for awarding organisations and professional bodies. However, without an integrated solution to reduce manual administration and ensure high standards, these offerings can carry significant risk. A modern centre portal solution places all the information and tools required in a single application and helps ensure that any return on investment is maximised.

Learn how Protech’s centre portal solutions can support awarding bodies by downloading our free eBook or requesting a free one to one consultation here

BOOK FREE CONSULTATION

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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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What have you done for me lately? The Importance of understanding what your members truly value

Kim Smith — Wed, 12 May 2021 14:28:09 +0000

When Protech is approached by organisations, it tends to be because they have decided to embark upon a digital transformation. These clients are keen to modernise their services and differentiate themselves from competitors. In our experience, they usually appreciate the necessary technical investment for this process. However, they often underestimate the cultural change that is also required to ensure success.

We call this change “organisational transformation” and its objective is to modify internal work processes to produce improvements in performance. Often this is considered an outcome of the technology, a by-product that is forced by the implementation of new software and equipment. In fact, the best results can often only be achieved if organisational transformation is prioritised and tackled first.

Asking the right questions

Transforming your organisational processes requires you to truly understand which parts of your service really matter to members. Being able to drill-down and focus the most effort where it will do the most good is crucial. Maximising revenue requires us to simultaneously deliver optimal value while minimising the amount of non-critical or “waste” work. An accurate, comprehensive and up to date knowledge of member value is therefore essential.

To acquire this, organisations need to ask themselves a few tough questions:

Have we contacted, surveyed or met with customer to find out their honest opinion?
Do we know which individual parts of their offering are truly valued by customers and which are not?
When did we last undertake this essential fact-finding work?

When good customer service hides the problem

A further complication that ironically affects highly responsive organisations, is that good customer service can sometimes mask any lack of understanding about what customers need and value. For example, if an organisation resolves a customer issue in a timely and professional manner, the customer will be satisfied, and internal objectives will be met. But it’s unlikely that the customer will be truly delighted.

The more important questions to address would be:

Was the issue related to something the customer truly values?
Could the negative interaction have been averted in the first place?

Without answering these, the organisation loses crucial insight about which technology could be deployed to permanently fix issues.

What this means is that listening to members, openly and regularly, must be the starting point for any organisational transformation. Being able to define exactly what really matters to them has a huge impact on the time and investment needed to serve them, and on the quality of their customer experience. Optimising these elements can in-turn generate additional capacity within an organisation that can be refocused on change and transformation.

What really matters to professional bodies?

At Protech, we have undertaken several studies within our customer base to analyse this question. And while each organisation is different, it is often possible to observe the emergence of some common themes. Understanding the implication of responses allows the development of a business case that places member value at the centre of any future transformation.

Our most recent independent survey of professional bodies was in 2020. In it, we posed two questions to a group of NFP organisations.

Question 1: The first question sought to identify the key driver of member value. We asked: what is the primary reason that members gave for joining your organisation?

The results showed that 48% of members had signed up primarily to develop their own career.

Question 2: With this in mind, we asked about the organisations’ success in responding to this need: have your previous digital transformations helped you to offer a best-in-class CPD service?

The answer was surprising and 80% of organisations reported that previous transformations had not successfully delivered this result.

Modifying the approach to deliver real results

Clearly, there is a disconnect in these two responses. Organisations know broadly in what direction to move but their efforts are not delivering results. In our experience, the reason for this is often that while the digital transformation may have delivered improved technology, the organisational processes have not been tackled with the same focus and rigour. From these responses we can infer that the services and experiences organisations offer are either not meeting their members’ expectations or not truly addressing their needs.

A different approach is required to avoid this situation. We analyse this in more depth in our free eBook “Kickstart2021 by placing members at the heart of your digital transformation”. Our expert demonstration service can walk you through our approach in even more detail.

Following the steps in this guide while keeping the needs of your members at the very heart of your planning maximises any organisation’s opportunity for success.

Download free E-book

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Digital Transformation Planning: where to start

Kim Smith — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 09:32:02 +0000

The last 12 months have been a challenging time for the economy with the focus of most professional bodies needing to switch from growth to survival. But now, with the end of the pandemic hopefully in sight, our organisations have an opportunity to transform their digital services and help their members reignite their careers.

In planning for this type of transformation, there are three factors critical for success. Firstly, we must always place members at the heart of our planning by understanding precisely what they need and value from us.

Secondly, we should consider organisational change as an essential part of digital transformation and undertake steps to ensure internal processes have the bandwidth to properly support our members.

The third factor that is discussed below, is that we must also develop a watertight internal business case and list all the business requirements for any transformation project. In addition to facilitating approvals, this final planning stage ensures that the entire organisation moves as one, and in the same direction.

Developing an internal business case for your project

This step is often overlooked, especially when an organisation feels it is already in agreement or is rushing to implement changes. But the small amount of planning time this saves often introduces significant risk that can undermine the entire strategy and even delay the delivery date.

By developing a business case we are taking the time to properly set objectives and understand how they link to our organisation’s broader strategy. We are ensuring that our project is focused on solving the right issues and servicing the right needs. We are also doing the vital work of reviewing available options and weighing the benefits of different solutions. Each will have a specific implication for our budget and timeline and understanding how to mitigate any risks is essential.

The best business case document should include the following six sections:

Reasons: Why is this transformation project essential and why does it need to happen now?
Options: What choices do we have to achieve this transformation and how do they compare?
Benefits: What are the intended outcomes of the project and how will it improve our members’ lives?
Costs: What budget is needed to properly plan, implement and support the project, and how will it return on this investment?
Timescales: How long will the project take and what project management approach will we be using to ensure it stays on track?
Risks: What things could go wrong and how are we going to avoid them?

Business Requirements: What needs to change and why

Once we are certain that a digital transformation project is affordable, achievable and essential to our members, we need to deep-dive into the specifics of which process need to change to improve the member experience.

There are several ways to do this but, in our experience, achieving coherence is the crucial factor. That means taking a 360-degree view of the project and ensuring every process area is reviewed and represented. The two objectives here are:

To understand for which people, both internally and externally, the technology is being implemented
To clearly identify which processes the technology will support and how each user persona’s experience will improve as a result

Our preferred method of capturing this information is to generate a set of user personas, lay out all of the tasks that they need to achieve and list the reasons why they do them. This should produce a set of technologically agnostic user stories that provide a roadmap for the digital transformation. It should also quantify specifically what each element needs to achieve.

For example:

From Planning to Execution

For any professional body undertaking a digital transformation, a properly developed business case and requirement list will provide the best foundation for success. But there are a number of challenges remaining. We need to adopt and implement a project management approach that best suits the organisation. We must appoint all the essential project team roles and clearly define their responsibilities. And we need to research, interview and select the right technology partner that is both a great organisational fit and can deliver the project with the minimum of budget or deadline risk.

We go into depth on these aspects in our free eBook: “Kickstart 2021 by placing members at the heart of your digital transformation”. Following the steps in this guide while keeping the needs of your members at the very heart of your planning maximises any organisations’ opportunity for success.

FREE E-BOOK DOWNLOAD

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Practical Strategies for A successful Digital Transformation Project

Kim Smith — Wed, 31 Mar 2021 16:45:20 +0000

Embarking on a Digital Transformation but don’t know where to start?

With the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in sight, many professional bodies are looking to progress a digital transformation project. Understanding key areas and considerations throughout the process can be daunting. And just knowing where to start is a key challenge!

This free e-book draws on the lessons we’ve learned over 25 years of supporting professional bodies. It will help you to understand exactly where to start to progress your digital transformation process – highlighting key areas of focus and outlining common pain points.

Learn how to:

Practically deliver a successful organisation transformation
Develop your business case and create your business requirements
Create actionable strategies that deliver the improvements in experience and value your members deserve
Identify the project approach that works for your organisation – Evolution or Revolution?
Understand how to overcome common pain points of a digital transformation process

Download this free e-book now to discover actionable strategies and practical advice.

Download free e-book here

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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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Keep your Members Engaged with Outbound SMS

Kim Smith — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 09:20:21 +0000

ClearCourse Guest Blog: instaGiv

SMS has become one of the most commonly used methods of communication today. Why? Well, because almost everyone either has access to or owns a mobile phone which is most likely within arm’s length of them at all times. Recent research has shown that 98% of texts sent will be opened by the end of the day, and 90% of these will be read within 3 minutes of being received. Outbound SMS can enhance your mobile engagement and marketing strategy by putting you in the hands of your members almost immediately. With instaGiv there are multiple solutions to help you reach your members. Let’s take a look at each of these.

Standard Outbound:This is a fully customisable SMS that you send to your members which you do not require a reply to. These are often used for information or marketing purposes. Keep your members or learners informed with important updates, meeting reminders, renewal information, enrolment information, examination dates, further progression and much more. You may also decide to have a URL within the message to direct traffic to your website, a landing page, or your social media accounts.

Response Request: This allows you to send a recipient list an outbound text, giving them the ability to reply to you. These are often used for call backs, email capture, support for petitions, event sign ups, registrations, voting and much more. Keep your members and learners engaged with a two-way communication channel and collect information you require from them. Our consent feature allows you to grow your opted-in contact list as well as ensure that you are compliant with all consent preferences.

Address Verification: This does what it says on the tin, captures the addresses of your members and learners. All information given is matched to a full UK address which is fully recorded and stored on your instaGiv account.Outbound campaigns with instaGiv are easy to set up and manage. Just upload a list of numbers to the InstaGiv platform, create a campaign and you’re ready to start sending out messages to thousands of members in seconds. You can also schedule messages in advance using the platform, meaning you can make sure important communications are sent out whilst you get on with your day to day tasks.

Like Protech, Instagiv is part of the ClearCourse group. To find out more about InstaGiv’s SMS engagement platform click here

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Minimising the Financial Impact of Event Cancellation

Kim Smith — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 09:39:55 +0000

The largest commercial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is on companies that rely upon face-to-face activities for their revenue. Professional membership organisations fall squarely into this group and right now are unable to derive any income their usual high-value events, conferences, workshops or paper-based examinations.Negotiating this challenge requires a fundamental change in approach. Organisations in this sector need to find different ways to diversify and deliver their services to make them attractive and accessible to members. They also need to quickly develop strategies to recoup the revenue currently in danger of being lost from cancelled events.

Protech has specialised in the membership sector for more than 25 years and have gathered eight ideas to help professional membership organisations navigate this crisis.

Deliver virtual events: The first and perhaps most obvious is to shift to online or “virtual” workshops, training courses and seminars. There are many video conferencing software platforms that can be used for this including Zoom, WebEx, GoToMeeting, Microsoft Teams and Zoho. Running virtual workshops and seminars could both reduce the delivery cost and minimise the number of refund requests. But to succeed, it’s important that these online events provide a similar amount of value for members and attendees as their physical versions. If you were due to hold a large conference, don’t just replace it with one catch-all seminar. Try to pick out the key themes and split them up into a broad series of webinars. Promote these webinars through social media and use an email marketing campaign to target both current and perspective members. To optimise the delivery of virtual events, always aim to integrate your preferred webinar provider with your CRM to automate back office processing. This is something at which our ProConnect platform excels.
Incentivise your CPD activities: Create compelling campaigns that incentivise people to sign up for membership. If your target audience is likely to be working from home, they may have spare time that would usually be taken up with commuting and wish to use it profitably. Incentivise them to complete CPD activities that improve their knowledge and career prospects. Provide a good mix of paid and free learning materials. Structure your approach around helping them through this crisis.
Clarify your value to members and identify key revenue generators: You won’t be the only membership organisation considering this virtual shift, so be sure that you’re providing benefits that are of real value to your members. Also be sure that you fully understand what they value most and use this to inform your decision making. Focus on the key revenue generators which in most cases will be membership and CPD. Heavily promote these to current and prospective members based upon the value proposition developed above.
Use event materials to protect revenues: You may have previously created materials specifically to add value to your conferences. This same principal can apply to virtual events. Content such as statistical industry trends and guides can be offered in a number of ways to incentivise delegates to download for a small fee
Deliver paper-based qualifications online: Consider whether you have the capability to easily move paper-based exams online. If you already have assessment management software readily available for some exams, you can deliver these assessments virtually so that the qualification revenue can still be redeemed. Speaking with your CRM provider about the integrations already in place with assessment providers is the first step. The process of moving to online assessments may be easier than you think.
Provide an option to donate: Often, a professional membership organisation’s main source of income will be its annual conference. The risk of losing this revenue can be compounded by the obligation to honour contracts with venues and event contractors, even following a cancellation. When reaching out to members to notify them of any event cancellation, you should provide an opportunity for them to voluntarily support you if they feel so inclined. An online donation mechanism can help you to recoup some of this lost revenue.
Use text messaging: Targeted messaging that goes directly to your members’ mobile devices will play an important role in interacting more purposely. Understand what matters to members based on their historical preferences and point them in the direction of the targeted message.
Ensure payments can still be taken: Keeping cash flowing is vital to your organisation’s ability to survive this pandemic. But many payments can often be reliant on bank transfers and PDQ machines; methods that are both currently under considerable extra pressure and risk. You can help your members simplify their payment by making use of BACs contingency services although these can often be costly.

This article is part of our 25 page free e-book, how professional membership organisations can drive member value through the pandemic and beyond.

Learn how to:

Adapt your value proposition to resonate with member needs
Practically enhance your member retention
Diversify your qualification approach to protect revenue
Minimise the impact of event cancellation
Ensure that your productivity levels remain high whilst working remotely

Download this free e-book now to discover actionable strategies and practical advice.

Download free e-book here

The post Minimising the Financial Impact of Event Cancellation appeared first on Protech |.

Five ways to Protect Qualifications Revenue

Kim Smith — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 09:01:04 +0000

Qualifications present an important revenue stream for many professional membership organisations. Today though, these services are becoming extremely difficult to operate as the COVID-19 crisis shuts down in-person tuition and tightens operational spending. But while learners also need to minimise non-essential spending, they potentially have more free time whilst furloughed or working from home. If your organisation has a digital-first approach, you may have the opportunity to help learners use their time profitably and prepare for the restart of their careers once normality returns.

The two key elements for success here are an effective digital transformation of processes and a diversification of the qualification offering. Presenting additional benefits to learners while servicing them digitally is imperative to continued revenue and growth.

This digital transformation, and especially its approach to people as well as purely technology, is something that Protech helps organisations to achieve every day. With regard to the important diversification challenge, here are five ways that professional membership organisations could protect their qualifications revenue and drive enhanced value.

Engage learners by tracking them through their journey

Organisations that offer qualifications through centres are often less aware of what stage of their journey a particular learner is in. This passive approach to engagement and administration presents a missed opportunity to enhance revenue. Map out your learners’ journey and identify the various touchpoints that present a chance to engage and communicate.

These give opportunities to offer additional value-added services such as eLearning tools, CPD tracking and activities, journals, qualifications and membership schemes. Each of these diversified offerings provides an opportunity to enhance revenue. A central portal that is integrated with a CRM system will help you to control activity and engagement between learners, registered centres and their organisation. It will support administration and provide the tools to engage with their learners at appropriate points of their learning journey.

Leverage your membership value to endorse online qualifications.

Qualification administration is often an arduous and time-consuming process. If your organisation has a strong, recognised brand you could consider leveraging it to endorse online qualifications provided by other organisations and centres. It’s important to select these opportunities carefully, but this strategy is likely to reduce overheads for administering qualifications.

At the same time, it allows more learners to achieve qualifications under your membership organisation’s seal of approval, bringing further opportunities for engagement with learners.

Minimise costs by providing online e-assessments

AQQ Chief Executive Andrew Hall stated in 2014 that “most UK exams will be digital and paperless by 2018-2019”. So why in 2020, are there still multiple barriers for membership organisations to host their exams online? The challenges arise because different departments often require different systems while learners and other stakeholders continue to demand a personalised, intuitive and streamlined experience. One solution is to provide online e-assessments which significantly reduce paper, copying and distribution expenses.

These can be delivered via two primary routes. Firstly, your organisation can transition its paper-based test locations into a test centre network. This provides the opportunity for learners to take e-assessments at multiple test centres across the globe rather than just those few that have paper-based testing facilities. This strategy has a positive environmental impact and eliminates paper, copying and distribution expenses.

The second route is to provide on-demand e-assessments that allow exams to be conducted anywhere and at any time. To achieve this increased flexibility, all the learner requires is their own internet connection. You will also benefit from reduced manual processes around marking and certification as this should be automatically carried out within the student management or CRM system.

Consider a “direct student” model

While offering qualifications through centres is accepted practice, professional membership organisations should consider moving to a direct student model. Here a learner can simplify their journey by enrolling onto a qualification directly through your website. An approach that simplifies enrolment is likely to increase the number of learners signing up. And if your organisation is already a well-known brand, this strategy could be presented as a self-service option for learners that will also reduce manual processing and centre fees.

Protech has worked with clients who offer the centre and direct student model, or in some cases a combination of both. It is vital to understand the most efficient way to offer qualifications that maximise short- and long-term revenue opportunities.

Grow revenue from related services by building strategic relationships with other learning institutions

You can enhance revenue from other parts of your service offering by building links to other institutions such as universities and training providers who can endorse you. When a learner completes a degree or course, these links can mean that they are then provided with the opportunity to become a member of your organisation for a discounted rate. This allows the learning institution to offer more value to their learner and gives you to opportunity to grow membership revenue and cross-sell other products and services such as apprenticeships, events and further learning.

Click here to find out how Protech’s solution can support your organisations qualifications strategy.

This article is part of our 20 page free e-book, how awarding organisations can drive learner engagement and diversify qualification experience

Learn how to:

Improve the value you are providing to learners and centres.
Diversify your qualification approach to protect revenue.
Vary communication styles with centres and learners to drive engagement.
Ensure that your productivity levels remain high.

Download this free e-book now to discover actionable strategies and practical advice.

Download free e-book here

The post Five ways to Protect Qualifications Revenue appeared first on Protech |.

A Checklist for Driving Member Value

Kim Smith — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 08:58:10 +0000

A recent Memberwise Digital Excellence survey identified member engagement, retention, acquisition and experience as the key goals for professional membership organisations. The currency that underpins all of these is your provision of value. Going the extra mile to provide this member value is more important now than ever, as it builds a positive perception of your organisation and will not be forgotten when normality is resumed. We have assembled a checklist of questions to help you to uncover every opportunity to drive members value.

Have you established what members actually want and need?

Engage with your members to find out the benefits they value. Research competitors, study statistical reports and explore other industry’s professional membership organisations to identify potential benefits. Take a look at what members are saying within online communities and social media pages.

Have you correctly segmented your benefits?

Create a member value proposition based on appropriate demographics. Consider likely member situations and attitudes to drive member benefits. For example, if a younger marketing executive has been made redundant due to the pandemic they are especially likely to value financial help, CPD learning, and training courses.

Are you working closely with partners, sponsors and industry experts?

Restricted budgets and reduced staff may prevent you from providing additional benefits. Consider engaging and teaming up with partners, sponsors and industry experts to reduce costs of delivering further benefits. Consider partnering with an organisation who have developed eLearning content, training courses or qualifications. Provide both free and paid features within these areas to help drive both value and revenue.

Are you signposting all government support programmes?

Help your members stay abreast of official government help and support by making information prominent and easily accessible through all channels. Signpost guidance front and centre through your corporate website, within COVID-19 content hubs, through social media channels and as part of all email campaigns and online communities.

Is your member value proposition clear?

Make sure your membership proposition is prominently displayed on your website. Create a marketing strategy that clearly highlights those benefits most tailored to the current situation. CPD, online assessments, eLearning, and webinars to support members are the most obvious benefits on which to focus. Highlight the outcomes in addition to benefits. For example, attending an online webinar results in increased subject-matter knowledge and practical advice that members can use each day while also gaining CPD points. Engage with your technology provider who is likely to have expertise in optimising the experience for members.

Are you finding innovative ways to engage members?

Review the channels used to communicate with your members to ensure they are still appropriate. It was reported in January 2020 that more than 4.5 billion people now use the internet, while social media users have passed the 3.8 billion mark. Maximising your presence in the areas that have the highest visibility is vital. Consider interactive content such as live videos, webinars, and polls to drive people to your website. Whilst looking for new engagement methods, don’t ignore the older age demographic who may be less technology-focused. Retain more traditional communication channels such as telephone, text or post to also serve them with relevant valuable information.

Click here to find out how Protech’s solution can help you to drive your member value.

This article is part of our 25 page free e-book, how professional membership organisations can drive member value through the pandemic and beyond.

Learn how to:

Adapt your value proposition to resonate with member needs
Practically enhance your member retention
Diversify your qualification approach to protect revenue
Minimise the impact of event cancellation
Ensure that your productivity levels remain high whilst working remotely

Download this free e-book now to discover actionable strategies and practical advice.

Download free e-book here

The post A Checklist for Driving Member Value appeared first on Protech |.