Wes’s Wednesday Wisdom

Consumer demands change and technology changes When I work with clients on the selection of a new AMS, I’ll often hear the client say things like “We feel like we’ve failed because we need to find new technology.” But this may be untrue. Very often, changes in consumer demand will require associations to have technology to […]

Why I write Thirty years ago, I started a new job as director of membership for a small trade association. It was my first real membership position, having worked in marketing and communications for four years prior at another trade association. While I knew how associations worked, I had no real idea how to recruit, manage, and retain membership.

DAN – The Data Analytics Network I’m a huge fan of users groups (both internal and external!). After all, users groups are just associations by another name, and having spent my entire career in the association space, I know their value. There is a great, informal group called the Data Analytics Network (DAN) for professional and trade

Process before technology In a conversation with a client recently, I was reminded (yet again) of how important people and process are when it comes to managing data. As we discussed their technology options, the client said, “You know, even if this technology is free, it won’t do us any good if we haven’t established

Opting out and communication preferences Last week’s newsletter discussed the need for associations to collect mobile phone numbers for use in communications. Several readers noted that I didn’t address opt-outs. Opting out should be implicit in all our data management, but I’ll address it explicitly here. As a rule, we need to provide our members, customers,

Are you collecting mobile phone numbers? You should be. Are you collecting (and using) the mobile phone numbers of your members? If you aren’t, it might be time to consider doing it. Here’s the thing about mobile phone numbers: For a certain demographic (e.g., ME), the mobile number is sacred. Only the most important people

Spend less time on data management and more on higher value activities Data management is very often tedious work. It’s important, but it’s tedious, and can also be time-consuming. And any time staff spends on managing data is time they are not spending on higher value activities like interacting directly with members, creating new programs and

Change anything you want, except your name! This is an oldy but a goody, but since it came up with a client recently, I’ll share it again. As a rule, you should allow your members and customers to update any of their primary contact information (e.g., address, phone, etc.) online, EXCEPT for their name. Why?

If you don’t trust your vendor… When I start an AMS selection project with a client, one of the first questions I ask is: “Would you be willing to stay with your current provider if they can do what you need them to do?” In most cases, the client says “no,” because they’ve already decided

Your RFP should go to no more than five vendors! As a rule, when I send an RFP to vendors on behalf of my clients (for a new AMS, LMS, or other software product), the RFP goes out to no more than five vendors. Why only five and not 10, or 20? There are several reasons,