client challenge
- Our client was experiencing concerning declines in membership renewals. They were also experiencing lower levels of new memberships.
- They needed to understand why members were deciding against renewing and identify ways to increase membership value to retain existing and attract new members.
decision point approach
- For the initial phase of our research, in-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted with industry thought leaders to gain a better understanding of how our client was viewed in the industry, the evolving role of associations, and changing needs and expectations of potential members.
- For the next phase, we identified the specific member segments that were driving declines in renewals and used that to inform who we interviewed. Virtual IDIs were conducted with a selection of those members. Interviews focused on reasons for non-renewal; impressions of the association, competitors and substitutes; perceived benefits of membership and opportunity areas.
- The third phase was a quantitative study among targeted members to quantify what we’d learned through in qualitative.
impactful solution
- We clearly outlined the reasons for the low renewal rates and provided actionable recommendations to increase the perceived value of membership among existing and potential members.
- We identified competitive benefits that drew members away from our client and prioritized which ones our client should offer to their membership.
- We uncovered that part of the problem was the renewal process itself and recommended ways to overcome these challenges. This was relatively low-hanging fruit that our client had not realized was an issue.
client success
- By updating the renewal process and improving communication with renewing members, our client saw a bump in renewals.
- Our client updated their membership offering by focusing on what was most relevant and valuable to existing members. They refined how they communicated these benefits and narrowed their target for potential members. They expect to see increases in both renewals and new memberships in the future.
