Association Field Report (March 25, 2020)

 
Transcript:
Hi association friends, it’s JP Moery.
Oh my gosh, what an incredible volatile gut punch to the association industry. Make no mistake about it, it’s going to be the biggest challenge many of us, from a business perspective, that we’ve ever been in. However, we also have to think about things that other people have overcome before and think about the health of our teams, our friends, and our family. That’s the most important thing. Make no mistake about it, this is absolutely incredible.
Here’s what I’ve seen in terms of the volatility of the association market here over the last several days. I also want to give some credit to our advisory board member, Kim Gallagher, who gave me some thoughts today. I’m communicating with our advisory board on an almost daily basis and getting their advice. Here’s are some things to think about that I want to pass along to all of our association and business friends.
One. Be a first responder instead of a marketer right now. Think about how you’re going to rush in to help them rather than marketing products and services, like you traditionally did. Build relationships and lift spirits, instead of trying to make sales. It’s very difficult to do in an environment where we’re a sales organization. I’ve talked to my team and it’s all about building relationships and helping by providing information. We’re all set up for that in an outbound way and connecting with people across a lot of different industries. It’s not that hard. It’s not that difficult to see this change in tone and a change in approach makes things helpful.
Two. Reimagine and rethink your value proposition. If you could, pull back and get really clear about what you should be providing, what information you should share, what educational content needs to be delivered, and in what way. Now is the time to accelerate, rethink, and reimagine the experience that your members are getting from you.
Wow, that’s powerful. And I want to thank Kim for passing that along. Friends, we’ve got a battle ahead and we’ve got to fight it to win the war long term. Hope you’re doing well. Let’s hang in there. Talk soon. Bye bye.