Understanding members is key to improving member experience

Member experience is your members’ holistic perception of their experience with your association. Member experience is the cumulative result of every interaction with your association – from navigating your website, to attending your events, to volunteering on a committee or reading your emails. Everything you do impacts your members’ satisfaction, their engagement with your association and their decision to renew and recommend your association to others – so consistently delivering  great member experience is the key to success.

Understanding exactly what your members (and non members) expect from you, their challenges, how they perceive your association and their satisfaction with your performance is the first step on the journey to improving their experience.

Member Research

FineHaus has extensive experience conducting independent quantitative and qualitative member and non-member research for membership associations, through focus groups, online surveys and 1:1 stakeholder interviews.

Our research delivers the customised, independent data-driven insights that you need to assess your performance, inform your strategy and direct your improvement efforts.

Member research areas include:

• How likely members are to recommend your association, including your Net Promoter Score
• Member perceptions of your overall value, membership pricing and performance
• What members most expect from your association – and how well you are delivering on these benefits
• Member engagement and satisfaction with programs, services and resources you offer
• What new programs, services or resources would be valued
• Utilisation and satisfaction with your communications
• Member views on your association’s governance
• Why new members join
• Member renewal intentions and why members haven’t renewed
• Why non-members haven’t joined and what they might find attractive
• Top issues and challenges facing your members, their organisations and industries
• Key opportunities facing your members, their organisation and industries
• Key priorities for your members, their organisations and industries
• Organisational structure, size, revenue and other critical information about member organisations and industries.

Understanding different member needs

Segmenting quantitative research results or conducting focus groups with similar members (or non-members) can give rich and actionable insights into the views and requirements of different member segments. Segmentation can help you uncover if and how member views, satisfaction and experience varies:

• by location (for example, by State or country, regional vs metropolitan)
• by age (by age or generation)
• by career stage or experience
• by membership category
• by type or size of organisation
• by gender, nationality or other demographics.

We work with you to determine the best ways to undertake segment research to deliver insights that can be used to inform your strategy.

Practical Recommendations for Action

Importantly, we don’t just provide you with the research results, then leave you to figure out what to do with them!

Our research includes a list of recommendations to be undertaken by your association following completion of the research. These recommendations are drawn from our sound understanding of the data, combined with our deep knowledge of membership and how membership associations work.

If required, we can then work with you to develop and implement the recommended strategies.

This unique combination of skills, insight and experience is why clients like CANEGROWERS, Occupational Therapy Australia and the Australian Dental Association (VIC & QLD), choose FineHaus to conduct member research to inform their strategies.