Member engagement is the lifeblood of associations like AEM. Active, engaged and passionate members help the association build momentum for the equipment manufacturing industry and the customers it serves.
It’s why AEM recently made a commitment to enhance its member engagement outreach efforts and launch a new at-risk program to identify and engage organizations who may have considered dropping their AEM membership.
“AEM knows is has so much to offer its members,” said Sara Stromski, the association’s director of membership and customer success. “And while our products, services and opportunities will continue to evolve and change over time, what won't change is our commitment to attracting, engaging, retaining and serving the needs of our 1,000-plus members.”
AEM’s new at-risk program was the direct result of collaboration between, and contributions from, several departments within the association, including sales, marketing, customer service and IT. Research was conducted to identify member companies that left AEM in previous years determine if certain commonalities were present, including:
- Engagement
- Satisfaction
- Years of membership
- Reasons for being a member
- Number of engaged companies
- Company size
- Company type
“We then looked at our entire membership in order to identify current association members who matched up with ones who left, based on those indicators,” said Stromski. “Our thought process was they, too, may be at risk of dropping their membership.”
Efforts were then made to determine who – at least anecdotally – was not at risk of leaving, in addition to adding other candidates who might drop (such as a member who is highly engaged, but who may regularly contact AEM with complaints).
Finally, the association’s membership team was tasked with focusing its time and attention on priority at-risk members for the remainder of 2023.
“Whether it’s through phone conversations, Microsoft Teams meetings, in-person visits, businesses lunches or some other touchpoint, we’re doing everything we can to make a connection with our members,” explained Stromski. “We also communicate the list of at-risk members to representatives in other departments within AEM, just in case someone has already made a connection with the member or has something valuable to bring to our conversation with at-risk companies.”
The work is paying off for AEM. To date in 2023, 31% of at-risk members successfully engaged with two or more service areas within the association. In addition, AEM saw record-low drops in its most recent renewal cycle following implementation of the at-risk program – all in the first full year of its existence.
“Our new at-risk program has provided AEM with valuable and actionable insights to help us prioritize our investment of time, effort and resources into member outreach,” said Stromski. “And, as we continue through this year and look to 2024 and beyond, we’ll be well-positioned to engage our at-risk members and, more importantly, convince them to renew their partnership and involvement with us.”
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