One of the key challenges facing membership organisations today is member retention. Members are faced with more choices for their discretionary spend and continue to demand more of their membership and the organisations they belong to.

Our experience shows that members are looking for a number of things when they assess the respective value of their benefits and decided whether to retain their membership:

• Relevancy – members expect benefits linked to the core premise of their membership as well as those that are relevant to their work or lifestyle

• Real value – one of the benefits of belonging is being treated differently and with respect to benefits that means getting a better deal than someone who doesn’t belong

• Ease of access – don’t ask your members to jump through hoops to access the benefits

• Reminder – not all of your member benefits are relevant all the time so take the time to remind them in ways that are appropriate.

A well thought out and executed Member Retention Plan can often be further enhanced through the implementation of a range of external member benefits.

Once you have decided on your range of member benefits then ongoing measurement and review is critical. The team at Member Advantage suggest that you consider the following:

• Benchmarking – how do your members utilise benefits compared to other similar organisations

• Usage – are all the benefits important all the time or is seasonality something to consider

• Satisfaction – how are your members perceptions’ about the value of the benefits being offered

• Customer service – how are members accessing the service, and the customer service level standards.

All of these measures are potential indicators of engagement which is essential for the continued success of your organisation and the success of your member retention strategies.

For assistance with the member benefits component of your member retention strategy please contact us on 1300 853 352 or email programs@memberadvantage.com.au.