How to minimise the costs and maximise the benefits of any membership organisation
Integration is broadly accepted as an organisational objective worth pursuing. Most membership sector experts believe it delivers as many benefits in operational efficiency as it does in customer service. But to truly understand the difference it can make, it’s worth digging a little deeper and looking at the real cost of failing to integrate. If you recognise any of the issues raised below, it’s likely that integration could deliver significant improvements to your organisation.
In our sector, NetXtra defines integration as systems and applications working together to keep an organisation connected, synchronised in real time and accessible via a single interface. Without this kind of cohesive collaboration, an organisation could face four clear risks:
1. Departmental silos
In any membership organisation, technical teams generally know which new services could be developed. Marketing departments know which communication channels might work best, and accounts departments know which member has made which purchase in the past. The real power of this knowledge is in combining it. Only by understanding every way that a member engages with an organisation can we develop properly informed strategies and personalised communications.
2. Disparate systems
When the various software systems within an organisation fail to communicate correctly with one another, we run into the data version of the departmental silo issue. The result is that these disparate systems are forced to do overlapping work with a negative effect on efficiency and accuracy.
3. Data duplication and inconsistency
When data is entered into more than one system, we often need to rely on the operator to make sure it is accurate and not duplicated elsewhere. And the larger a membership organisation becomes, the less manageable this task is. This can result in member communications either being lost or received multiple times. Either outcome can have a detrimental effect on revenue and cause members to lose sight of the value the organisation is trying to deliver.
4. Manual processing
In addition to introducing errors into datasets, manual processing can be an enormous drain on an organisation’s staff and resources. While there is a cost to automation of these systems, removing the duplication of duties frees up many hours that are better invested in growing and nurturing the membership.
Benefits for members
In addition to the efficiency improvements above, a well-managed integration project will also deliver real improvements for members. By providing a single point of entry to all the organisation’s systems, we remove a great of friction from the various user journeys that they need to navigate. Personalised member dashboards, tailored content, targeted events, CPD and location-based features all make the membership experience more enjoyable and fulfilling.
These integrated features also make it far easier for members to extract the maximum value from their subscription. When special offers are personalised or member updates are correctly targeted, they transform from being often-unread emails to valued reminders. They help to strengthen the mutually productive relationship between the member and the organisation.
Where to begin
The first step is to understand the areas in which your business could improve. Take stock of the resources available and place any potential project in the context of your organisation’s wider objectives. Properly defining the scope of any integration project is vital and selecting the right technology partner early can make this far simpler.
This partner’s experience should identify any dead ends before they’re chosen and minimise waste throughout the project. A skilled integrator can often also create single interfaces that enable legacy and existing systems to communicate with new systems. In either case, regular open communication with internal subject matter experts and business leaders is essential.
Finally, aim to include all incumbent systems in your integration project. Bring as many processes as possible into the system and adapt your approach in whatever way is required to realise the optimal efficiency benefit. Again, your technology partner should support you here and their expertise in change management is often the differentiating competency in maximising the return on technical investment.
NetXtra are a team of strategic, creative and digital experts who partner with organisations in the not for profit sector. Call 01787 319393 or email [email protected] for more information.
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