Are you paying attention to your members enough? This week’s guest, author and founder of Demand Networks Anna Caraveli, says that if your organization isn’t built around your members or supporters, you’re sitting on organizational death row. Many associations still focus on the products or service they provide, and are losing participation to organizations that are more actively involved in solving members’ problems. Caraveli thinks that when you treat members like commodities, you lose sight of what they think is valuable. No matter how many people you reach or how many things you do, if you aren’t actually solving problems, you’re destined to be left behind eventually. Caraveli encourages organizations to tap into members’ value beyond revenue they provide – give them the opportunity to be co-creators of content and service.
Beth and Anna discuss:
- The differences between product-centered and member-centered approaches
- Questions to ask members to learn about their problems
- How to convince boards to measure success based off member value
- Why organizations today need to be adaptable
- Examples of organizations that put problem solving first
- Why press mentions and creating new programs shouldn’t necessarily be considered successes
Resources:
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