There’s a lot to be said for the self-service revolution – although, admittedly, it’s not all good. Take supermarkets, for example. Who really wants to be their own checkout assistant?
On the other hand, when it comes to CRM for membership organisations, self-service portals have genuinely reframed membership management by adding value to the member journey – and the membership organisations responsible for curating it.
As membership CRM experts, here are our five reasons why.
1. Empowerment = engagement
Just as many of us don’t relish the idea of swiping our own groceries before packing them, there’s a huge swathe of members who don’t relish the idea of having to join a telephone queue to update their details with a support desk. And this is where the best membership CRM comes in. By offering your membership an intuitive, easy-to-use self-service membership portal, you’re effectively empowering your members. You’re also making it easier for them to engage with you, which ultimately increases retention rates.
2. Give the people what they want
As Microsoft Dynamics 365 membership management specialists, we’ve come to learn that a self-service portal isn’t a nice-to-have. Nor should it be regarded as a peripheral ‘add-on’. Self-service portals for members are in demand from members themselves. Research carried out by Statista revealed that 88 per cent of people actually expect organisations to have a self-service portal. So, if you’re not giving your membership what it wants, you may be leaving yourself vulnerable to retention issues.
3. Round pegs in square holes
When it comes to effective membership management, the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach does not work. By adding a self-service portal to your membership management platform, you’re enabling your members to benefit from an experience that’s personal to them. You’re not bombarding your members with messaging using a scattergun approach and hoping that some of it resonates. You’re providing a platform on which they can engage with your organisation on the things that matter to them. A white paper from Accenture highlighted how 33 per cent of people have abandoned brands that don’t offer a tailored experience. Can you afford to lose a third of your membership?
4. It’s not just about your members
It’s also about your team, too.
If your organisation has a small membership, then maybe you’re happy to commit your team’s time to fielding administrative calls from members (although point 1 should make you question whether or not your members actually like making them). However, what happens when your membership grows? We have customers that have in excess of 500,000 members. At that scale, there simply isn’t the resource to dedicate to individual membership administration. But with self-service portals, there doesn’t need to be! If your members can update their own accounts, it means your team can spend their precious time on other critical tasks – like finding NEW members.
5. Multi-dimensional, not one dimensional
Self-service portals ease much of the burden of managing a large and diverse membership. It’s the touchpoint at which your members can: view announcements and news that relate to them; update their payment details; renew their membership; access resources and find out about events that match their interests; download certificates. Essentially, a self-service portal provides your members with access to anything and everything that’s important to them, which begs the question: why wouldn’t you have a self-service portal?
What's next?
Do you want to offer your members a tailored experience?
Silverbear 365 is a membership CRM system built on Dynamics 365, which includes a website portal designed in DNN, the world's leading content management system built on Microsoft. NET. For more information visit the DNN section of our site via the link, or to speak with one of our team of membership CRM specialists contact us below.
DNN Platform
Contact the team