Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Airplanes are great places to brainstorm. I had my share of airplane time in 2011. Someone recently asked me: "How many miles did you travel in 2011?" I have no idea. The mileage doesn't matter to me. Planes are valuable office time for me. I don't think about how many miles I'm flying, but the time to clearly think and plan while I am in the air.

Here's what I've been thinking and planning about marketing, communications and working with you:

The past 12 months
Lucky me. Thankful for bright, committed Association Executives who strive to get better

nSight Marketing worked with 40+ associations across the US  to help you get to know your members' needs, plan effectively, grow better leaders and think about communications in a more organized way.

The last 12 weeks
Information Gathering

• While I work, I was on my annual Q4 sabbatical. I was multi-tasking of course - working and learning, thoughtful reflection, surveying my team and target audience to get the facts and a basis for new ideas.
• I attend one major communications learning event per year. This one was at Southwest Airlines and the focus was brand and execution.
• I want insight from my customers and target audience, so I asked myself: What are my goals and what do I want to know?
• Analyzed my process and decide if I walk my talk. In other words, I want to make sure that I follow my own beliefs about my communications, and interaction with my current and potential customers.
• Formally asked my employees and support staff what we do well and what we can do better.
• I began getting nervous about starting the year at ZERO. Just like everyone else.
• Started on my plan for the new year. A plan to do better work with the heads and hands around me.

The next 12 days
Focus

• Update my brand promise and value proposition.
• Work with people around me to be sure we implement significant learning events and communications changes for the better.
• Finalize the 2012 plan.
• Stop eating and drinking so much!

The next 12 months
Passionate

• To work with associations who are determined, deliberate and aggressive in building a strong and living value proposition. 
• To help association executives and leaders create and communicate their brand and their value in order to exceed their membership and business goals.  

A wish for you
I wish you quality quiet moments - wherever you can find them.
I wish you thinking back to celebrate.
I wish you thinking ahead to get better.
I wish you a team who helps you get better in delivering the highest quality in every interaction.
I wish you joy in your work - knowing how many lives you touch in a positive way.

Happy New Year!

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

One Association's Story of Building a Communications Plan

If communications are on your Association's radar screen, then the more honest you are about your current situation, the clearer the path is to improving it.

Kudos to Boulder Area REALTORS® Association (BARA) for having the courage and the trust to bring someone in from the outside to change the way communication looks for BARA members. In her own words, here is CEO Veronica Precella's story:

"Each year the Board of Directors of the BARA gather to work on a plan that answers the question “Where are we going?” This year, as the result of an all member survey and two focus groups, it was clear that our communications to our members are inadequate. The entire BOD invested time to create the communications plan so that as we move forward, we move as a cohesive group towards our goals. Everyone has “bought in” and we are clear on the direction the plan will lead us."  

BARA's investment went beyond homework. The Board of Directors and staff attended a full day communications workshop together. After a day of discussion, brainstorming and then reaching consensus on some key communications methods, Veronica and her staff now have a document and a new process to propel their communications forward.

The feedback about the planning day was that the process was thought-provoking and creative. The Board and the staff made some efficient decisions throughout the process. They have new questions to consider and are confident about moving forward.

The plan also includes five benchmarks and measures so the Board can confirm if the new communication approach is moving in the right direction over the next year and beyond. It includes surveying members again next year to determine if the changes made a difference with the key audiences.

Kudos to BARA. Now that the plan is complete, Veronica and her staff of three will implement the aggressive, yet manageable, plan. Creating a plan can help achieve your goals - with a staff any size - if there are enough "eyes on the goal" and the goal is important enough to your future.

If you think one or more of your staff members would benefit from a communications workshop, here is some additional information on creating a simple, usable communications plan. 

One Association's Story of Building a Communications Plan

Thanksgiving 2011 from the WSJ article Countdown to a Food Coma

 This is the aftermath of Thanksgiving, 2011. Below are the cliffnotes from “Countdown to a Food Coma” from a Wall Street Journal article published on 11/22/11. read the full article

Here are strategies for Before, During, and After the biggest meal of the year:

⁃       Day Before: Go for a 30 minutes stroll or more vigorous activity. The benefits of exercise on how fat is processed after a big meal kick in many hours later.

⁃       8AM: Eat a healthy breakfast to rev up metabolism.

⁃       11AM: Avoid the temptation to snack in the kitchen.

⁃       4PM: Thanksgiving Dinner

⁃       After the Feast: Take a leisurely walk. Skip the late-night leftovers, and get back to regular meal sizes and schedules.

Commentary: I didn’t follow a single one of these steps and feel like I've been eating every 4 hours since Thanksgiving eve. From a dietary standpoint, I’m ready to go back to work!

From a thankfulness, family togetherness and filling of the heart (versus the tummy) standpoint, it was a healthy, fulfilling, rejuvenating holiday! I wish it would last a day or two longer!

Donuts anyone?

Thanksgiving 2011 from the WSJ article Countdown to a Food Coma

Planning Goes High Tech and High Output

Imagine there are no flip charts. Imagine if you can. No board table with members sitting in their predictable random order.

With no typical meeting room distractions like fluorescent lights, a laptop and overhead box projecting the slide on the pull-up or pull down screen.

Imagine all the people – board members - in a comfortable, refreshing and unpredicted environment - a relaxing setting that makes you feel good. Sofas, high top tables and bar stools, and bit screens across the living room type feel. Don't like sitting in a sofa all day? Move to the table where you can sit up straight. Need some coffee? Go make your own, one-cup at a time.

The agenda was adaptable and manageable:

• A beamed in webcast - a state economic outlook with a drill down into the local area for this association.
• The presentation on the big screen from a legal update to a discussion on value - what it is, how the association is doing with it, and ideas to communicate better.
• Presentations that were more like a big screen movie than a business meeting - and additional small television screens around the room
• The group focused on the vision and mission when discussing their strategic issues, their goals and what it would take to achieve them.
• Strategic Planning – real collaboration without rush or distraction.

The remote beamed between the walls, and breakout sessions with iPad for each group to document their ideas. It makes the output easy to capture and collect - and readable.

 

Settings like this where technology looks easy usually are not. Association Executive Mark Epstein (Tri Counties Association of REALTORS®) was behind the scenes certain the connections worked and the environment was laid back and easy.

 

When it comes to thinking differently, being strategic, a new, unexpected environment lent to board member focus, thinking clearly and being "there" in mind and body and spirit.

 

The ROI was obvious as we said goodbye. Comments included "relaxed, comfortable, engaged, productive and all on the same page."

Planning Goes High Tech and High Output

Great Marketing Starts with the Member

I hear questions like this once a month:

• “Why do members only complain? They don’t recognize what we do well?”
• "I'd like to create this printed brochure, can you give me your comments?"
• "We started posting all our news to Facebook. What should we expect?"
• "I am thinking about going back to advertising in this publication."

Marketing is more than an activity or two.  Most businesses that have marketing problems that could make so much progress if they had a marketing – and communications process across the organization.

When they don’t, they do things like realize an event is planned, and they rush at the last minute to report the news about it.

Could this be you?

Great marketing starts at the beginning.  And the beginning is the same as the end - your member.

Marketing is the process that establishes your value and commitment to your member, manages the process of member satisfaction, and keeps those members coming back (or coming) to your events and classes in the first place.  So the focus of great marketing is on the members, not just on the marketing tactic.

This means that to develop more effective marketing plan, think closely about your members (or prospects). What should you think about?  Try something along the lines of:

What are their daily problems in their industry?  What would they like you to provide that they could turn to you for help?

What news and information is important to them?
What other services would they like from you that you don’t offer today?
How satisfied are they with your high-value services (list them out)?
How can you help them, and in turn get them to recognize that you are there to help them?

The answers to these questions will help guide you to a sensible choice of creating your marketing tactics, and give you a better idea of what you need to include in your messages.

Great Marketing Starts with the Member

A Letter to An Association Executive

Good morning Association Executive, Executive Director, and/or EVP,

I hope this note finds you well.

I'm in the middle of a 2 -day webinar with all of the Real Estate Associations of Hawaii and Guam! It's the most interesting workshop I've ever done - as you can imagine. Not only the technology link, but the challenges that these associations have living in the same small geography and all wanting to deliver value through their communications.

I was working on today's "part II" and thought of you.

There is a step in this workshop where the group learns about key messages. That includes a combination the BENEFITS and the potential BARRIERS to your members responding to a call to action - whatever it is you want members to do (or to overcome).

As I think about your communications director and the work he/she has to do to really OWN your communications - I believe it begins with a common promise - one that your staff and your board creates together. A promise (or brand) that you can live, and communicate in both live and written interactions with members.

If identifying and communicating your "value proposition" is important enough to your association, it might be something you want to incorporate into your new board's planning early next year. You can do it yourself, or bring someone in from the outside if you need some help to keep you on track.

I think this is a way you can take your staff to the next level of unity and presenting a consistent voice of value to your members...and setting the expectation of what the staff will deliver and what the member can expect from you.

I know this is a little bit "out of right field", but sometimes these ideas just jump in my mind. Today, I decided to stop what I'm doing to tell you about it.

All the best,

Melynn

P.S. Just FYI, if your communications director or YOU would benefit from attending a communications plan workshop (to develop your communications plan for the upcoming year); The next one is a one-day workshop in Dallas in January...I'll link here in the event you want to learn more.

A Letter to An Association Executive

One Association's Journey to Creating Value

by Melynn Sight

Creating value really matters in an association’s strategic plan. Even if the words “creating value” aren’t spelled out, one of the many reason for strategic planning is to use your resources (people, time and money) to focus on key member, industry and/or market issues. To determine value, you could start with this question: “What promise do we make to solve a significant issue for our members?”

Value has many forms - it may be a tool, an emotional benefit that is safe or efficient, or the way an association communicates the key benefits of membership. While it may seem like a daunting task to embark on improving value in your association, most times just putting your head down and going to work is an ideal place to start. Yes, as they say, "Just Do It".

Seeing association leadership in action makes it very clear to me that there are three equal elements to creating value: planning, leadership involvement and implementation. Meet the Nebraska Pharmacists Association.

I take pride in the chance to take part in their path to creating more member value. Here’s what I see in a board and staff that makes the process work:

• Strategic planning narrowed down NPA's 2011 goals to three important ones. Board member names were attached to each goal, making them the lead for developing the operational plan to support the goal.
• There is a real champion for member feedback - the member services director knows that productive planning can't happen without knowing exactly what’s important to Pharmacist members current and prospective customers. A member research project was funded - two surveys: one for members, and one for non-members.
• With the final results, the staff reviewed the findings and key messages. The board received them as well. But it didn’t stop there.
• Last night at 6:30, 12 staff and board members conferenced for 90 minutes to discuss the survey together. First we reviewed the highlights of the survey process and results. Then I gave them three specific conclusions in the form of recommendations, and ideas about possible activities to support them.
• VERY SPECIAL STEP: After the presentation, every board member expressed their one biggest take-away from the report - the top priority that NPA should do to operationally support their strategic plan. Once they were finished, the ED had a list of a dozen insightful ideas about how the board and staff together can focus their efforts to make the right kind of change to chip away at meeting their goals.
• Not only did they spend 90 minutes making progress on their strategic plan, but took a stab at a process to firm up their value proposition - soon they will reconvene to work on their new elevator speech.

How do you spell V-A-L-U-E C-R-E-A-T-I-O-N? A board and staff determined to do the few, right things to grow the organization. Leaders who not only wants to make positive change, but also willing to be part of creating it.

Board and staff lead for a reason - to learn about what members value, and then make the right decisions about what belongs in a strategic - and operating plan to deliver on the promises they make. Congratulations, NPA.

One Association's Journey to Creating Value

Why Would I Brand My Association?

by Melynn Sight

Your members have options. They can 1) Use your service to get what they need, 2) Get their services somewhere else, 3) Get their tools and resources themselves, without anyone’s help, or 4) Do nothing at all. What will it take to get them to choose you?

Whether your goal is to grow membership, or improve value to the member, the better you can articulate your promise, the more members you will attract, and convert from joiners to lifetime members. Loyal members get involved, respond to calls-to-action, read your mailings, and tell their non-member colleagues about you.

Your brand is your promise.

A brand tells your member the one thing that makes your association valuable to them – bar none. The brand is your promise to them. It is a statement – a symbol that describes clearly how every staff person and board member will interact with members. The brand begins with your knowledge of your members’ biggest needs. It reflects your culture, your philosophies, what you’re good at (or what you aspire to be), and ends with promise that never ends.

There is an important, unexpected benefit to branding. When you declare your promise to your members, it’s a unified statement of your value. When a company commits to a promise that “We Try Harder” (like Avis) or “We’re In It For You” (like OKC REALTORS® Association), the staff and leadership is responsible to deliver on that promise.

 It is not only a “marketing promise”,

it is an organizational commitment delivered

in every single interaction.

• People have the obligation to reinforce the brand for their small piece of your business.
• When leadership makes decisions based on the brand, it is a demonstration of their commitment over time.
• Finally, the brand is a tangible way to measure the efforts of your organization, so that each staff member and leader is not only satisfying his/her piece of the pie, but also delivering on the association’s unified brand promise.

Branding doesn’t stop when new leadership takes office, or when a staff member is replaced. Brand building that lasts requires trust and consistency, year after year. You earn your brand by continuing to deliver it over time.

It’s not about your logo.

The definition of “brand” (noun) came from cattle-ranchers, who burn a mark – the “brand” – on the haunches of their cattle to differentiate their cattle from other ranchers. Unlike the literal definition of the brand, this is not what I mean by a brand. In marketing terms, a brand is a distinctive characteristic that sets a product, service, person, or place apart from other products services, people, or places.

The European Brands Association proposes that a “brand is a constant point of reference; a contract, a signpost, a relationship. It is a signpost because it shows consumers a way to fulfill their needs. It is a relationship because trust and loyalty are earned over time.” This may be the most misunderstood and undervalued marketing concept. Let’s explore more below.

Good customer service is not a brand.

Customer service is a basis for running a good business. However, it is difficult to call it a true point of differentiation. You will need to work harder to determine a promise your members will consider valuable and one that gets their attention.

Building your brand and then delivering can actually provide your members a return on their investment.

As Warren McKenna says, “You brand yourself through your people, your places, and your things.”

Branded People – Consider your association staff, volunteers, committee members, and board of directors as “Agents of Change”. From the mailroom to the boardroom, your constituents can be a strategic force for change.

Branded Places – Build events on a philosophy of “anticipate, experience, and remember.” Any physical place is an opportunity to build a relationship. Every place you are in front of your members, at industry conferences, training events, seminars, etc., you have the opportunity to build on your brand.

Branded Things – Develop touch points that can demonstrate value while also providing unique channels to service members: membership materials, websites, brochures, newsletters…the list goes on. The continuity of these vehicles is essential in building a two-way dialogue with your members, to build on your brand.

What’s involved in determining a brand?

• A brand will be useless if it doesn’t help you improve your members’ experience. For your brand to be relevant, you must identify what your members really want (the vital needs). Discover their top three needs through a member survey. Find out what members think is most important.
• A brand can be a way to change the skills or direction of an organization. You must evaluate your desired strengths against your current strengths in order to brand yourself realistically. A branding assessment, though not long or involved, will help you direct your efforts. It can bring your staff and board closer, can bring focus to a trait that requires development, and can position you to attract a more involved membership.
• Ultimately you want to fill in these two blanks:

1. Why would members join if they didn’t have to? In other words, what one valuable member benefit do you want to be known for?
2. If you are known for the one benefit above, how will it help you achieve your association’s goals?

Selected properly, and embraced by your leadership, your brand is an intangible yet invaluable asset. It is the basis of the way you communicate your association’s value.

For more information on branding, click here for nSight Marketing’s one-pager on the topic.

Melynn is dedicated to improving value to your members through communications and committed to the success of trade Associations. She can be reached at melynn@nsightmarketing.com or 913.220.7753.

Why Would I Brand My Association?

Finding and Growing Leaders - Plant Seeds Often and Handle Them with Care

by Melynn Sight

When was the last time you really thought your process of finding and developing potential leaders for your organization? Communication, finding them, and growing them them is vital. Not unlike gardening, the process of growing healthy leaders involves a few important steps. Done properly, you will see seedlings grow into buds, and then into vibrant blooms!

A common practice across associations is to create a once a year, e-flyer along the lines of “We Want You” to volunteer for a committee or a director’s position.

As with any other call to action, there are three rules to follow:

• Determine your target audience (first)
• Understand what they are thinking about the benefit and barriers to this activity. Address them in your pitch.
• Be specific about what you want them to do.

Find them first. Then cultivate them.

Here are ten promising practices about casting your net wider in order to foster the right kind of people for your committees and leadership:

1. Use association events to look for members who are involved in discussion, who are passionate and sound like they are open to ideas and do-ers. If they are involved in Church as a volunteer, they are a good prospect.
2. Look for those with whom you have good business experience (even those on the other side of business dealings).
3. Personally invite aspiring leaders to a board meeting.
4. Take time to make personal phone calls to prospects. If each board member and committee chair made two calls, the effort is minimal and the results can be many.
5. Document brief written or video testimonials from past presidents, board members and committee members to share with prospective leaders
6. Do some informal mentoring for a member you think has leadership potential (you will get as much out of it as they will!)
7. Give constructive feedback.
8. Set up a formal mentoring program with your past presidents and a small group of prospects
9. Develop leadership communities. An experienced group of members, business owners and past president would make a good team to nominate members for leadership.
10. Make leaders accessible (not untouchable); ask leaders to spread out, reach out and speak out about leadership opportunities. Follow the 5 “W”s:

• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why

Then add one more to the list: Welcome them.

These are some ways to fertilize the leadership ground. Good luck in your search for the best unexpected but quality seeds.

Finding and Growing Leaders - Plant Seeds Often and Handle Them with Care

From the Hearts of Many Associations for Joplin, Missouri

by Melynn Sight

I am inspired by outpouring of association and members inquiries looking for ways to help victims of the Alabama, Louisiana, Joplin tornadoes. Being closest to Joplin, only three hours away, the church, civic, corporate, government and even NFL sporting team elbow grease dedicated to helping in the area is inspiring. From stays of one-day to weeks-long doing all kinds of jobs.

Tracy Osborne, CEO of my home town’s Chamber of Commerce and former Joplin resident, is keeping us posted on the grass-roots movement of Rotary clubs, agencies, church groups, construction companies and families helping Joplin clean up their town of 50,000. There are no schools to convene this August. Tracy says 40% of the students have been displaced, since they no longer have a home in Joplin. There are no school supplies or computers or classrooms. Everything will be replaced.

I taught a leadership class recently for an association in Kissimmee, Florida. Two students approached me at different times: the first asked if I could connect her with a reliable place to donate money; her brokerage firm wanted to help. The second said her business is looking to make a collection of supplies that Joplin needs and will send anywhere it’s needed. And just last week, I sat in a board of directors meeting of a large NAR association who approved a significant contribution on behalf of the membership to Joplin relief. From very far away.

Individuals are springing to action; there are heroic efforts every day helping hearts of the homeless and helping survivors begin to put their lives back together. The story that began on the evening news is now in the hands of regular people from near and far giving of their time and treasure. The communities and families will need help for a long time. Thank you for showing the spirit of community.

From the Hearts of Many Associations for Joplin, Missouri

Do What You Can. But Do Something.

Three weeks ago, I lost a good friend to cancer. It’s the second girlfriend I have lost to cancer. I cooked meals, checked in, said prayers; but in retrospect, it’s not enough.

I remember when my dad died. Someone said to me “I just didn’t know what to do, so as a result I ended up doing nothing. I’m really sorry.” I vowed that day I would never be someone who opted for nothing - instead of doing something.

About ten years ago when Mimi was diagnosed with brain cancer, I decided that minute I would grow my hair out and donate it to Locks of Love (they create wigs from live hair for cancer victims who lose theirs). It took almost three years, and Mimi didn’t make it to know that I did it or why, but it gave me something to think about. That no bad hair day would ever be worse than living with cancer.

Three months ago I decided to grow my hair again. Coincidentally, it’s the same time Connie’s Leukemia came back. Connie lost a seven year battle in May. So here I go again. This time it’s for you, Connie. Not that you needed a wig to be beautiful, or graceful, but I want to do something for someone else who isn’t as lucky as I am.

I’m on a campaign that whether it’s a friend who is sick, or tornado relief, or your business: We’ll all be sorry if we work the same plan we always had, or haven’t changed anything about our business (or our life) year after year.

Do what you can. But do something.

Do What You Can. But Do Something.

Keep Your Eye on Your Communications Goals & Test Out Your Plan

Launch and Learn. That’s what happens when you document your plan. And experiment. 

Kudos to Leslie in Palm Beach; to Jackie in Kansas; to Sionara in Nevada and Carrie in Minnesota. For the rest of you who are working on your plan right now: What will you do differently?

Remember it all begins with your communications goals and picking a few specific target audiences. These are the two keys to making real change.

I was impressed with one AEs choice of her target audience: HIGH PRODUCING SALES AGENTS. She is not so worried about the others. Carol and Leslie want to target their communications to the tech savvy. The ones who are looking for help. Those who will see value in what their association offers.

You have to admire a plan that sets aggressive goals and takes on new ideas so you really have to make change to reach them.

I respect those of you who print out your goals and your target audiences and post them in front of your computer screen so you can see them every day. If you don't, the plan will be a good exercise but it won't create real change.

Chris Brogan asked a great question in his recent blog about launching a plan - What are you doing differently? Are you learning from it what needs to change? 

Keep working your plan. Keep iterating. Keep working on it in the "live" environment as best as you can, and keep your eye on those few measurable results that let you know whether you are succeeding or not.

Keep your eyes on your communications goals, and test out your plan.

Keep Your Eye on Your Communications Goals & Test Out Your Plan

Your Audience is on the Go

Imagine this: you are waiting in your car, standing in line at the post office or grocery store, or waiting for a meeting to begin. You are on the train, the bus, or in a taxi. Long gone are the days we sat and enjoyed the quiet time. Today we grab our mobile device to check email or social media. Let’s face it, email was made for mobile devices.

At the NAR conference the past week, I saw more members and staff multitask on their mobile devices than looking at where they were going. Did you notice the same thing?

“On mobile devices, email is far and away the No. 1 activity of how consumers spend their time", says Loren McDonald, Vice President of Industry Relations at Silverpop.

As you craft your weekly email and other marketing pieces, think about your target audience, and write for them. They want snippets of information while sitting at a soccer game, waiting for a lunch date, or even sitting in a meeting. To reach your members, design you content for any device. Don’t expect members to read a long article on the run. Write each topic for your weekly update with no more than 2-3 lines of text. Link to more if members can and want to read it. Insert links that members can touch to read further.

Think of the world as it is, not as the association sees it. It takes some effort to craft a short snippet. If you do, you will connect with more members in prime time - while they are on the go.

Your Audience is on the Go

Why Would I Brand My Association?

Your members have options. They can 1) Use your service to get what they need, 2) Get their services somewhere else, 3) Get their tools and resources themselves, without anyone’s help, or 4) Do nothing at all. What will it take to get them to choose you?

Whether your goal is to grow membership, or improve value to the member, the better you can articulate your promise, the more members you will attract, and convert from joiners to lifetime members. Loyal members get involved, respond to calls-to-action, read your mailings, and tell their non-member colleagues about you.

Your brand is your promise.

A brand tells your member the one thing that makes your association valuable to them – bar none. The brand is your promise to them. It is a statement – a symbol that describes clearly how every staff person and board member will interact with members. The brand begins with your knowledge of your members’ biggest needs. It reflects your culture, your philosophies, what you’re good at (or what you aspire to be), and ends with promise that never ends.

There is an important, unexpected benefit to branding. When you declare your promise to your members, it’s a unified statement of your value. When a company commits to a promise that “We Try Harder” (like Avis) or “We’re In It For You” (like OKC REALTORS® Association), the staff and leadership is responsible to deliver on that promise.

 It is not only a “marketing promise”,

it is an organizational commitment delivered

in every single interaction.

• People have the obligation to reinforce the brand for their small piece of your business.
• When leadership makes decisions based on the brand, it is a demonstration of their commitment over time.
• Finally, the brand is a tangible way to measure the efforts of your organization, so that each staff member and leader is not only satisfying his/her piece of the pie, but also delivering on the association’s unified brand promise.

Branding doesn’t stop when new leadership takes office, or when a staff member is replaced. Brand building that lasts requires trust and consistency, year after year. You earn your brand by continuing to deliver it over time.

It’s not about your logo.

The definition of “brand” (noun) came from cattle-ranchers, who burn a mark – the “brand” – on the haunches of their cattle to differentiate their cattle from other ranchers. Unlike the literal definition of the brand, this is not what I mean by a brand. In marketing terms, a brand is a distinctive characteristic that sets a product, service, person, or place apart from other products services, people, or places.

The European Brands Association proposes that a “brand is a constant point of reference; a contract, a signpost, a relationship. It is a signpost because it shows consumers a way to fulfill their needs. It is a relationship because trust and loyalty are earned over time.” This may be the most misunderstood and undervalued marketing concept. Let’s explore more below.

Good customer service is not a brand.

Customer service is a basis for running a good business. However, it is difficult to call it a true point of differentiation. You will need to work harder to determine a promise your members will consider valuable and one that gets their attention.

Building your brand and then delivering can actually provide your members a return on their investment.

As Warren McKenna says, “You brand yourself through your people, your places, and your things.”

Branded People – Consider your association staff, volunteers, committee members, and board of directors as “Agents of Change”. From the mailroom to the boardroom, your constituents can be a strategic force for change.

Branded Places – Build events on a philosophy of “anticipate, experience, and remember.” Any physical place is an opportunity to build a relationship. Every place you are in front of your members, at industry conferences, training events, seminars, etc., you have the opportunity to build on your brand.

Branded Things – Develop touch points that can demonstrate value while also providing unique channels to service members: membership materials, websites, brochures, newsletters…the list goes on. The continuity of these vehicles is essential in building a two-way dialogue with your members, to build on your brand.

What’s involved in determining a brand?

• A brand will be useless if it doesn’t help you improve your members’ experience. For your brand to be relevant, you must identify what your members really want (the vital needs). Discover their top three needs through a member survey. Find out what members think is most important.
• A brand can be a way to change the skills or direction of an organization. You must evaluate your desired strengths against your current strengths in order to brand yourself realistically. A branding assessment, though not long or involved, will help you direct your efforts. It can bring your staff and board closer, can bring focus to a trait that requires development, and can position you to attract a more involved membership.
• Ultimately you want to fill in these two blanks:

1. Why would members join if they didn’t have to? In other words, what one valuable member benefit do you want to be known for?
2. If you are known for the one benefit above, how will it help you achieve your association’s goals?

Selected properly, and embraced by your leadership, your brand is an intangible yet invaluable asset. It is the basis of the way you communicate your association’s value.

For more information on branding, click here for nSight Marketing’s one-pager on the topic.

Melynn is dedicated to improving value to your members through communications and committed to the success of trade Associations. She can be reached at melynn@nsightmarketing.com or 913.220.7753.

Why Would I Brand My Association?

Stats About Association Membership in 2010

Association Executives and communicators - I think this information will help you do your job better.

• The #1 reason that members joined an organization is to network with others in their field*
• The #1 reason that members did not renew membership in 2010 was because of the perceived lack of value*
• The #1 way the leadership of organizations define success is "growth in member counts”*

Are these statistics true for you?  If you want communications to be valuable, put your goals and the plan on paper, and on purpose.  If you don’t take this step you’ll simply be reporting the news.  Your members will see features, not value.

So how do you best deliver value? Through a communications plan that includes:

1. Knowing clearly what is most important to your members.
2. Knowing your goals, and how your communications will help you reach those goals.
3. Messaging properly.

If you have a system, the people and time to create your plan, you are ready to go! If not, consider the Build a (Communications) Plan Workshop to give you the framework you need.

Go to www.nsightmarketing.com/buildaplan.html to learn more.

*Statistics according to the Membership Marketing Benchmark Report by Marketing General, 2010. To read the full report, click here.

Stats About Association Membership in 2010

Systemize & Improve Your Communications With a One-Day Workshop

When it comes to busy, distracted customers or members, how do you win the battle for more readership?  Wouldn't it make sense to plan your communications knowing what your member needs? With a strong link to your organization's goals? Too often, fully admitting it, communications departments suffer from divided attention syndrome.

Our Build A Communications Plan Workshop is the answer to helping you look at communications in a more systematic way. The goal of the workshop is to help communicators be more relevant to their customers or members -- to deliver value, versus reporting the news.

The workshop will be held in the following locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada on April 21, 2011
Chicago, Illinois on June 9, 2011

During this informative workshop, you'll learn about the “fraction of selection” formula, and how the words you chose will determine readership. Then walk through the ten steps to building an association communications plan and actually do it. Step One is your communications goals, and ends with a budget for communications. And in the middle you’ll learn about how to develop calls to action, communications strategies and tactics to reach those goals.

You may be asking “Why should I consider this workshop? Is it for me or for someone on my staff?” Here are a few reasons why:

• A plan helps direct your focus - beginning with your communications goals.
• A plan makes you set measurements so you can look at communications as a business asset, and not a necessary expense.
• Since communications are a staff project, someone needs to direct the communications. The plan helps the you take the lead in directing your communications. It creates consistency in your messages.
• When you invest in communications education, you will become a better communications leader.

You'll learn the 10-step approach to your communications plan, and be better prepared to meet the goals of your organization. When that link is missing, communications will be busy-ness, versus a true asset to your business.

I hope you will decide today that you, or a member of your organization, should attend our one-day Build A Plan workshop.  This is not a workshop for a packed house; there will be no more than 20 participants in each session. The size of the group encourages interaction and personal attention.To learn more about the workshop or to register, please click here.

Please email me if you would like to talk further or have any questions.  I look forward to seeing you at one of the workshop sessions!

Systemize & Improve Your Communications With a One-Day Workshop

Living Your Brand

One inspiring hour.

Do you ever think about your hourly rate? If you’re in business, you are probably very careful about what you do to fill your most productive hours.

Some things are not about the pay. Today on my way to coffee with someone I connected with over Facebook, I was thinking about my hourly rate. Was this meeting going reveal value in exchange for my time away from my office?

I wish for more inspiring hours like this. I am lucky to meet a lot of people in my work life who are big, great thinkers and excellent communicators. Being around these people help me get better at what I do. I always learn from them. My world is mostly filled with smart and visionary Association Executives and business people. I look for what makes them unusual, successful, and authentic. I often leave a conversation saying to myself “There’s another one.”

Today’s meeting topped the list in a very different way. This wasn’t an association executive; rather, it was a successful, young and caring association member and entrepreneur.  My goal was to learn more about his story. And his personal brand.

A personal brand isn’t about where a person works, or that they are in sales. A strong brand is the one thing that makes a person authentic. David’s brand is the way he cares and wraps himself around other people’s problems - to try to help overcome them. He gets so much satisfaction from helping someone figure it out and solve a problem.

After one hour and a half, I got it. I got what David was all about. He lives his brand…he believes that what he gets is in direct proportion to what he gives.

So here’s the challenge for each of us: Since we all have some level of online presence, how do we live our brand through the tools we use to connect with other people?

David said it well: Think of social media not like a cocktail party, but approach it as Personal Interactive Marketing. Take what you learn and use it to teach others. Be authentic. And let others provide the feedback (and even accolades) about you.

David the REALTOR® is a very inspiring brand.  I like being someone who knows him. Now I know why others want to know him too.

You can find David Van Noy on Facebook and Twitter. And at www.reeceandnichols.com.

Living Your Brand

The Benefits of Creating a Communications Plan

by Melynn Sight

Still not sure that a systematic approach to your communications will change the way your members look at your association? Here’s what three Association Executives from all size associations say about investing the time into creating a communications plan:

"As AE’s, we wear a lot of hats.  To be successful it is important to thoroughly research all issues and initiatives, and impossible to be an expert at everything on our own.  The guidance and direction from an outside expert kept my discussions and actions moving forward in a thoughtful way.

It seems that although we (associations) are all very like minded, we have very different perspectives.  We develop our approach to serve our members based upon our own experiences.  Sharing varying perspectives and considering other approaches greatly enriched the quality of the group discussions, and improved the final product."

-Rob Hulse, Executive Officer
Lawrence Board of REALTORS® (250 members)

“The main benefit of creating a communications plan was determining what information our members really wanted and how they really wanted to receive it. Then, we outlined the steps to actually answer their needs!

Working with other association staff people throughout the process broadened my perspective and ultimately made my plan better than it would have been had I done this on my own.

Once the plan was complete, my Board of Directors was impressed with the plan and thought it did a great job of showing where we are and where we need to go."


-Robin Maccini, EVP
Greater New Bedford Association of REALTORS® (543 members)

“The primary benefit of the plan was that we needed more of a structure and new ideas to better engage our members. Going through this process opened our eyes and minds to what we might be doing wrong, and how we can improve, change and revamp our current process. Also, we were able to see how we can strengthen areas that we might be doing “ok” in, but need a little push to get a better response.

The most valuable steps were (1) identifying our key audiences and (2) learning how we should change our messages to reflect the various personas."

-Diane Streichert, CEO and Liz Peters, Communications Director
Burlington Camden County Association of REALTORS®  (3,700 members)

The Benefits of Creating a Communications Plan

Right on the Money - Professional Development

by Melynn Sight

I sat in the room thinking about the money that associations invest in Professional Development for their staff. The investment instructors make (on their own dime and away from their work) to learn and make connections. More recently, at the Professional Development Director’s Summit in Wichita Kansas, RAPDD was one of the most well-run meetings I have ever attended.

There was healthy balance of staff and educators - Director and teacher and practitioner (including REALTOR®-teachers who came to learn and get better at their positions.)

For me, one of the best parts of the meeting was dedicated people on both sides of education with one mission: delivering more relevant education.

There were many gems to take away from the conference, among them:

• Since this meeting was only about education, people were really focused on making connections and delivering quality education.
• I felt new energy and insight that helped people look at their jobs differently.
• Inspiration to be different, “do" different, and find the more passion for their work.

I was surprised by a few comments:

Education is not important to my association ... Education is on the back seat on the priority list ... I can’t communicate the way I want to about educational offerings ... I’m at the mercy of my communications director to do “that”.

To these objections, I wonder if education is core to their association’s value proposition. I suspect YES. In my perfect world, education directors work with communications staff to determine the best way to wrap education into the communications plan. Making education a bigger part of the value proposition. Maybe it’s a new strategy, and new tactics to get members’ attention to come to class. It involves selling the ideas to the communications director or the Association Exec. Prioritizing education may seem like a difficult or even hopeless activity, and it may take a long time to convince other staff or leaders of your proposition. Yes, association staff, at the end of the day, we are all in sales.

Happy 5th birthday RAPDD.

Right on the Money - Professional Development

A Strategic Plan of Big Dreams

by Melynn Sight

In an MLS board meeting last week, I saw before my very eyes that a little dose of big thinking can be the beginning of very big progress. It was two years ago this month, in a strategic planning session when someone offered up the bold idea: “I’d like to see our MLS become a statewide cooperative of regional MLS centers. That way our MLS  would benefit all of our members across the state.” I think most of the room dismissed the literal vision. The vision of a statewide MLS set the bar higher for operations, marketing and continuing progress in training and education.

Leadership agreed on the steps that prepared them to expand. It would include: (1) Raising awareness of MLS capabilities with current users, (2) Launching a Public MLS site and (3) Creating a talk track and process to open conversations with surrounding MLS organizations.

With the framework in place, the CEO, and her staff went to work.

It takes more than 18 months to accomplish big dreams. Caution to those of you who want your strategic plan to be an 18-month look into the future. There is big progress on some of the plan, and slower progress on other parts. Your lofty strategic issues will realistically be part of a 3 to 5 year plan. I see a CEO and a board showing three qualities: patience, vision, and planning.

How much progress has this board made on their plan? There were visitors to last week’s MLS board meeting: A neighboring association came to the board room to ask if they could join forces, and how could the two boards work together to accomplish it?

This is what you call a plan coming to life. This is a strategic plan.

A Strategic Plan of Big Dreams

Why Would I Belong if I Didn't Have To?

What’s the strongest brands you know? Brands that have been around for a long time - through generations. Brands that are reliable time after time after time. Brands that offer trust about the value you’ll receive when you go there, or buy that product.

I’m on a roll this winter helping associations find their promise. Just yesterday a great comment came up: Why can’t we chose great customer service our brand promise? And so we began to talk about it.

Think of some of the best customer service brands around: Nordstrom, Zappos, and I was introduced to a tire company in Spokane called Les Schwab. We discussed the consistent and significant investment it takes to build a culture and train employees to deliver a promise of impeccable customer service. The money it takes to get shoes from Zappos’ warehouse to your front door in (sometimes less than) 12 hours, and the level of trust and empowerment it takes a team of tire salesmen to fix a flat tire for no charge, in the hopes of a future sale. Even with an occasional snafu, Ford Motor company still delivers reliable and innovate products even after 100 years (without any bailout money).

One of the best reasons why an association should not chose customer service as their brand is that members won’t compare your service to other associations; they will compare it to Nordstrom’s.

For whatever you chose as your promise, you have to be willing to make decisions based on it, and spread it through your culture, and make it part of the way you do business.

Remember, A CHARISMATIC BRAND is any product, service, place, or person for which people believe there is no substitute.

A brand promise is (1) A commitment of added value, (2) Distinguished by some unique characteristic(s) and (3) A basis for daily decision-making and behavior.

As Dr. Glenn Forbes, CEO of Mayo Clinic says: “If you just communicate a value but you haven’t driven it into the operations, into the policy, into the decision-making, into the allocation of resources, and ultimately into the culture of the organization, then it’s just words.”

Pick what you do very well today, or aspire to become, and make it part of your daily work. You can be the Nordstrom of associations in with a unique, compelling promise.

Several associations across NAR have created a brand promise that will get members’ attention and change the perception of members' experiences. I’d love to talk to you about them.

Why Would I Belong if I Didn't Have To?

Ten No-Tech ways to Market On a Dime

by Melynn Sight

Are you are a small association with limited budget? Are you a large association where trade-offs are necessary to fund mission-critical projects? Are you in-between? No matter which describes you, you can always use ideas on how to market on a budget; here is a top 10 list of ways to improve member connections and save money at the same time. If only one of these ideas catches your attention, it will help you focus on the member and get you out of your daily grind. Here goes:

10. Listen twice as much as you speak. Tap into unconventional sources. The greatest way to get ideas is an ad-hoc group of volunteers. And great innovation comes from your new members. Even better, get out more! Even a small association can pay for a little market research one time a year. Caveat: when you come back, be sure to turn it into something valuable whether that means an action, an article, or a debrief to your members.

9. Refocus on fewer, better offerings. The hardest thing for a staff is what to do away with. What is your sacred cow program, one that you do every year that loses money, or you see declining attendance or readership? Give it up for connecting your members’ needs with a new tool.

8. Start using social marketing regularly. Give thought to your posts, and be regular with them. Know who participates in social media and market to them.

7. Give more face time! No matter

Save as Draft

how wired we get, there will always be the need for building face to fact trust. What I mean is make a point to be present at members’ event or meeting. Make a live phone call to new members to introduce yourself and show that you are available.
Do the same things, but do them differently to get better results, like:

6. Change the time you send emails. Most email research says Tuesday through Thursday from 11am to 3pm is the best time; recently, I read “What Americans Really Want…Really”. Dr. Frank Luntz found that the best time to send emails is 6:30am.  He found most people go online within minutes of waking up to check their email. (Sound familiar?)

5. Conduct a communications audit. Print them all out. Step into the conference room Close the door. Lay out your communications side-by-side on your conference room table. Is the member seeing branded documents? Are the benefits and call to action clear? Does the member have to scroll on their monitor to get to the good stuff in your newsletter? Chances are they aren’t reading down there. Invest some time in an unbiased review to identify a few things you’ll change to improve your connections.

4. What’s the current state of your homepage? Just look at it. Have a group of new members look at it and give you feedback. Better yet, Google WeWe calculator and run a test to see if you are focused on your member, or promoting yourself.

3. Ask board members to deliver your key messages to five other members. Key messages are based on the promises you make to your members as an association. They carry through the year and through all of your communications.

2. Ask each board member and committee chair to personally develop a list of 10 easy tasks and then solicit 10 uninvolved members to each do one task. Get more members involved!

1. Tap into your staff. Facilitate a 15-minute meeting where you and staff brainstorm -0- dollar tactics that will really pay off.

Don’t repeat for the sake of repetition. Make some positive change in 2011.

Ten No-Tech ways to Market On a Dime

A Communications Review

Could your business benefit from having an extra set of eyes scrutinize the effectiveness and relevance of your communications? Perhaps you are unsure about how your communications build on your brand, increase loyalty, and better connect with members and even your employees. Whether that’s a committee of volunteers, or an outside view, it might be time to consider a Second Opinion.

The goal of a communications review is to study the flow of information from your communications (to and from your members, prospective members, and the public);the structure, flow, and practices of your staff and documents that touch them. Most important, how well you are achieving your communications goals in reaching each critical audience.

The review identifies the positive highlights of your communications and your process. It identifies communication inconsistencies and suggestions about how create the best possible communications standards and measurements going forward.

The results create a basis for a positive change. It helps you make the adjustments that will improve relevance to your members.

As with any audit, we look at four primary categories in a review:

Irregularities between your association goals and your communications tactics - In other words, communications that don’t provide a direct value link to your communications goals. In the perfect world there is a set of communications tactics (across all platforms) have a common purpose and target audiences; and all of your materials show intentional coordination. 

Compliance in communicating agreed-to messages and adhering to a communications process - The goal is that staff understands and supports the key messages and priority of your association, and there is discipline to focusing on “what’s in it for the member” when delivering member materials. In addition, there is a standardized process for distribution of your communications.

Measurements and feedback mechanisms to track your progress.

Willingness to accept ideas for change - Is yours a culture of continuous improvement and willingness to try different ideas? This is a key indicator of the work you have in front of you to take the recommendations and use them to improve long-term practices and results.

The result of the review is a written assessment, including specific suggestions for improvement.

The way you always communicated in the past is not necessarily relevant today.

Members want to get information, and learn differently. It’s up to you to keep up with the changes and figure out how to tell your story across platforms to make better (and more) connections. Is it time for another head in the game?

A Communications Review