5 Questions That Could Change The Way You Manage Your Members

When it comes to managing your association’s members, it’s all about asking the right questions. Most associations know the power behind a good survey. In fact, surveys are a tried and true method to getting to the bottom of your membership. Don’t believe us? Well, According to Folio Magazine, surveying is important for associations today because it is the “most reliable” source for feedback from your members. That’s right, you have all the tools you need to get feedback on any topic you’re looking to improve within your association.

All you have to do is put the effort in and focus on what questions to ask. But choosing your questions can be much harder than anticipated. Sometimes, the most obvious questions to ask can be overlooked, and in the long run your association can miss out on exclusive, valuable information that is seemingly right under your nose.

‍In order to prevent that from happening, it’s time your association start asking the questions that matter. And with our help, you’ll be able to get the feedback from members that you’ve been waiting for. So, here are a few questions your association can ask members that have the ability to impact your member management strategy and keep members satisfied.

1. What are your biggest challenges?

Just like you probably do, your members have a lot on their plate. From trying to enhance their professionals lives, to balancing personal and social responsibilities on top of work, and everything in between, there could be a lot that your members are struggling to accomplish in their day to day life. But without directly asking members what it is they’re trying to tackle, your association will never know exactly how to help  members make their lives easier through benefits and resources.

‍By asking this question, you have a direct answer from members on what challenges they may have and what areas of their daily life they’d like help improving. From those answers, your association’s team can then work on fine tuning and developing benefits that are tailored specifically to help members tackle their challenges, therefore enhancing member satisfaction in the long run.

2. What are you passionate about career-wise?

Do you have a solid idea on what members are looking to improve in terms of their career? Do you know what motivates them to push on in the professional world? If not, you should. Asking members about their professional passions can give you a much clearer picture of their future goals.

Perhaps they’re looking to move up the rungs of their industry ladder. Or, maybe they’re looking to learn more about their profession as a whole. Maybe they just started out in the professional world and are looking to learn the basics. Or, maybe they’re even retired. The list can go on, so you should ask members about their respective passion when the opportunity strikes.

‍This feedback can then help you pick and choose which professional resources you provide are the most valuable to your members. For example, if you have a membership that is made up mostly of young professionals, benefits for retirees may not do them any good, and vice versa. Finding out your members’ professional passions can help you make their desires a reality with minimal effort on your part.

3. Where do you get your industry news from?

If your association is one that thinks highly of itself within its industry, then you should want your members to turn to you for any and all industry news. But if your member engagement is lacking, it could be from a lack of industry updates. In order to make sure your association is doing its best to update members with all goings on in your respective field, you need to make sure members are coming to you for the latest and greatest in news which you can do by simply asking.

For this question, you can either make it a close-ended response and allow members to choose from select options (industry news resources that you list). Or, the other option is to make this an open-ended question. With this, you leave no stone unturned when finding out what other sources your members are turning to.

If the feedback to this question directly points back to your association as being the most popular source of industry news, you’re in the clear. However, if other sources seem to be taking the cake in terms of valuable news, this shows your association it’s time to step up its industry knowledge and reporting.

4. What level of communication do you expect from us?

Communication is one of the most important parts of member management. It’s hard to learn what members are looking for and provide it for them without a proper way to reach out. You also don’t want to overwhelm your members.

There needs to be an appropriate amount of communication between your association and its members- and then only way to find out where that level stands is to ask your membership. It can be hard to estimate what your members are looking for in terms of communication. Perhaps they want monthly outreach from your association, perhaps daily, or perhaps something much different. By asking members what they’d like from your association, you can better gauge and plan your phone calls, emails, and any other message you may want to send out.

5. Do you belong to any other networks/associations?

Finding out more about other organizations your members belong to can not only tell you more about your members, it can also tell you where lucrative partnerships could be had. Think about it, if a majority of your members all collectively support and belong to another organization, it would make sense to contact this group and see if you can’t come up with a way to work together. Whether it’s a joint discount for members, an event sponsored by that organization, etc. There are many ways to incorporate your members’ other ventures into their member experience with your association.

This can also give you insight on any other passions/character traits your members might have. Are your members actively involved in charity groups? What about associations that align with your association’s industry?

‍All of this information can help you shape your presence to align with member interests. Don’t let your members sneak away without asking them these 5 important questions. It could completely save the way you manage members, and bring them a better experience in the long run.