Let’s be honest, today’s members expect a lot from organisations. They want everything to be easy, quick, and fully personalised.

Getting someone from their first sign-up to becoming a true champion of your organisation takes more than just good intentions. You need the right tools to make that journey as smooth as possible.

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system solves all of those problems at once. When it’s set up properly, your CRM becomes the backbone of your member experience, making welcoming new members a breeze and renewing current ones effortless.

Welcoming New Members: Making a Great First Impression

For most organisations, bringing in new members means gathering information, giving them access to resources, and making them feel genuinely part of things. A well-tuned CRM can automate and personalise most of this while making the process easier for the user.

With a CRM guiding the way, your team can:

  • Send warm, personalised welcome emails that actually speak to their interests.
  • Schedule follow-ups or orientation sessions without any manual faff.
  • Give members instant online access to events, portals, and benefits that matter to them.

Yes, this saves you a great deal of time, but more importantly, it makes sure every new member feels special from the first interaction. A smooth welcome is proven to boost early engagement, which is a strong sign they’ll stick around for the long haul.

Easy Renewals: Less Hassle, Better Retention

Renewal time can be a real headache, and this is where a CRM truly shines. It takes all the manual chasing, form collecting and missed deadlines, and transforms them into a simple, efficient process like ticking a box for your team.

A smartly configured CRM enables your organisation to:

  • Automate gentle renewal reminders via email or text, sent at just the right time.
  • Offer simple online renewal portals where members can update details and pay their fees with zero fuss.
  • Track renewal status live, so you can quickly reach out personally to anyone who might be wavering.

These features drastically cut down on admin work and stop members from simply disappearing. In fact, studies show that organisations with automated renewal processes can see up to a 20% increase in members staying on board.

Beyond Renewals: Turning Members into Advocates

The journey doesn’t stop with a renewal.

The ultimate goal? Advocacy – getting members to actively champion and promote your organisation. A CRM helps immensely here, by recording what members do and what they like, allowing you to engage with them in a way nobody else can.

By using the insights from your CRM, your team can:

  • Spot highly engaged members and invite them into leadership roles or special projects.
  • Send communications that really hit home, highlighting opportunities that match their interests.
  • Measure how well campaigns are doing and tweak your approach based on real member data.

Why Investing in the Right CRM Strategy Is a Must

Many people see CRMs as just “another tool,” but their real power lies in how they connect technology with member-focused processes. Getting a CRM will fundamentally change the way you engage with members.

Organisations that take the time to set up their CRM around those key journey points – welcoming new members, making renewals easy, and building advocates – don’t just shave hours off their admin time. They build stronger, lasting relationships with their members.

Final Thoughts

With member expectations constantly changing, a good CRM system presents new opportunities of engagement for any organisation. When you put it to good use, it makes welcoming new members genuinely warm and renewals a no-brainer. With it, you strengthen two of the most vital pillars for a lively, engaged membership community.

If you’re ready to take your member journey to the next level, a CRM tailored to your needs is essential.

CRM Insights help organisations improve their business processes through CRM. Whether you’re just getting started with CRM, aiming to improve your business processes, or looking to optimise and/or integrate your existing systems with CRM. And if you would like to discuss your CRM challenges with one of our experts, you schedule a free consultation here: https://crminsights.co.uk/book-an-appointment/

Charlie Maylin
Charlie MaylinCRM Consultant, CRM Insights