100-plus ideas to steal.Applying these ideas from one association and corporation exec could help you achieve record results with membership, revenue, and staff. Endless meetings, continual reorganization, tons of memos, volumes of procedure manuals, and layer after layer of management--these are just a few of the things you don't don't 1. Contraction of do not. 2. Nonstandard Contraction of does not. n. A statement of what should not be done: a list of the dos and don'ts. want to steal from the corporate world. But there are many ideas you might want to borrow. For the last two years, I had the unusual experience of serving as managing director of a mid-size trade association, the Automotive Industry The automotive industry is the industry involved in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, and sale of motor vehicles. In 2006, more than 69 million motor vehicles, including cars and commercial vehicles were produced worldwide. Action Group (AIAG AIAG Automotive Industry Action Group AIAG Animal Industries Advisory Group ), Detroit Detroit, city, United States Detroit (dĭtroit`), city (1990 pop. 1,027,974), seat of Wayne co., SE Mich., on the Detroit River and between lakes St. Clair and Erie; inc. as a city 1815. . The experience was unusual because I was actually "on loan" to the association and still a full-time full-time adj. Employed for or involving a standard number of hours of working time: a full-time administrative assistant. full employee of IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) . During that time I was able to draw upon all of IBM's resources in areas such as planning, personnel, marketing, administration, and communication. I confess confess v. in criminal law, to voluntarily state that one is guilty of a criminal offense. This admission may be made to a law enforcement officer or in court either prior to or upon arrest, or after the person is charged with a specific crime. to "stealing" many of the company's ideas. Some must have worked, for these were the results at AIAG: * The member turnover ratio improved from -16 percent to +5 percent. * The number of new members doubled. * Nondues revenue increased from 2 percent to 14 percent. * Attendance at the annual conference increased by 80 percent. While it's it's 1. Contraction of it is. 2. Contraction of it has. See Usage Note at its. it's it is or it has it's be ~have true that associations and companies are not the same, both still must focus on identifying and satisfying customers' (members') needs to be successful. Based on that premise, I offer you the following list of ideas to steal. You may find many to be common sense, already in use, or not viable in your association, but even one could make a difference. MARKETING/MEMBERSHIP SERVICES 1. Hold an open house at your offices so that members and prospects can meet staff, board members, and other volunteers and see your products. 2. Send members and prospects a year-in-review document every January January: see month. high-lighting all accomplishments and services of the association. 3. Conduct member blitz blitz n. 1. a. A blitzkrieg. b. A heavy aerial bombardment. 2. An intense campaign: a media blitz focused on young voters. 3. days, during which everyone on staff makes "How are you, and what can we do for you?" calls. 4. Have a special breakfast for your first-year adj. 1. Being in the first year of an experience especially in a U. S. high school or college; - of a person. Adj. 1. first-year - used of a person in the first year of an experience (especially in United States high school or college); "a members at the annual conference. 5. Have a special breakfast for your member companies' voting representatives at the annual conference. 6. Develop a top-opportunity list of prospective members and make sure all staff and board members know who is on it. 7. Maintain a communication log to ensure that information is collected from and distributed to all first-year members--and use the log to communicate the value of membership. 8. Offer a conference fee rebate rebate, partial refund of the total price paid for goods or services. In the United States, rebates were historically given by railroads to favored shippers as a return on transportation charges. to nonmembers who join within a month of the event. 9. Conduct direct mail campaigns, with new-member rebates, prior to the release of new products. 10. Send a "Don't Miss Out" flyer, describing upcoming member-only benefits, to members with their renewal invoice An itemized statement or written account of goods sent to a purchaser or consignee by a vendor that indicates the quantity and price of each piece of merchandise shipped. A consular invoice is one used in foreign trade. . 11. Prepare a membership justification sheet showing hard-dollar savings associated with a member's dues. 12. Use free-trial subscriptions of your magazine or newsletter as a direct mail campaign. 13. Use your magazine or newsletter to highlight your association's activities and member benefits. 14. Use your magazine to reprint reprint An individually bound copy of an article in a journal or science communication the questions (with answers) most asked by your members. 15. Solicit quotes from satisfied members for use in your magazine house ads and mailings. 16. Showcase your association at your conference. Designate des·ig·nate tr.v. des·ig·nat·ed, des·ig·nat·ing, des·ig·nates 1. To indicate or specify; point out. 2. To give a name or title to; characterize. 3. an area on the exhibit floor for your staff to display and discuss products and services. 17. Invest in a high-quality, attractive booth and exhibit at other trade shows and conferences. 18. Develop a multimedia kiosk kiosk Originally, in Islamic architecture, an open circular pavilion consisting of a roof supported by pillars. The word has been applied to a Turkish summer garden pavilion and a type of early Persian mosque. for use as a member "Hall of Fame." 19. Offer a series of executive briefings, limited to members only and featuring a significant speaker. 20. Establish an 800-number help line for member use only. 21. Schedule special quarterly mailings--in distinguishing file folders--of less time-sensitive information. 22. Establish an electronic bulletin board for member use. 23. Recognize your volunteers through awards, letters to management, and magazine features. 24. Schedule a duty manager to be available to take general calls at all times from members and prospects. 25. Develop road shows, where you take selected association speakers and materials to other cities to support members or solicit prospects. 26. Include membership literature or rebate offers with all nonmember product orders. 27. Advertise your products in your magazine or newsletter. 28. Turn an office wall into a "Member Wall of Fame." STAFF RECOGNITION 29. Include membership-related responsibilities in every staff performance plan, and pay for performance. 30. Pay everyone (or no one) a year-end bonus based on member recruitment and renewal. 31. Hang a bell outside the membership manager's office and ring it every time a top-opportunity prospect joins. 32. Hang charts (thermometers or yardsticks work well) in a central staff location, and celebrate when milestones are attained at·tain v. at·tained, at·tain·ing, at·tains v.tr. 1. To gain as an objective; achieve: attain a diploma by hard work. 2. . Reward everyone by throwing a party or closing early. 33. Implement a peer recognition program. Allow a staff member to take another to lunch or to nominate nom·i·nate tr.v. nom·i·nat·ed, nom·i·nat·ing, nom·i·nates 1. To propose by name as a candidate, especially for election. 2. To designate or appoint to an office, responsibility, or honor. another for an award for providing outstanding member service. 34. Institute an executive director's award or a chief elected officer's award for outstanding member service given by a staff member. 35. Develop member recruitment contests in which all staff can participate. 36. Develop a formal staff certification program to qualify staff as duty managers. 37. Hold a board-staff holiday luncheon to allow the board to recognize staff. 38. Encourage staff members to write a brief note to recognize extra effort. Make sure the recipient and manager get a copy. 39. Celebrate Secretary's Day. If you have no one titled secretary, have your managers serve ice-cream sundaes to the whole staff. 40. Say thank you, and say it often. MARKET RESEARCH 41. Conduct a full member survey. 42. Publish informal surveys in your magazine or newsletter. 43. Use your voice mail, fax, or electronic bulletin board to collect informal surveys and other feedback. 44. Conduct exit interviews with non-renewing members. 45. Survey nonmembers to find out why they don't join. 46. Know your competition. Ask your members why they also belong to a competitive organization. 47. Know your exhibitors. Talk to them regularly about their needs. 48. Collect and analyze evaluation forms. 49. "Bribe BRIBE, crim. law. The gift or promise, which is accepted, of some advantage, as the inducement for some illegal act or omission; or of some illegal emolument, as a consideration, for preferring one person to another, in the performance of a legal act. " attendees (with key chains, mugs, free passes, or the like) to fill out evaluation forms. 50. Conduct focus groups. COMMUNICATION 51. Develop a consistent look for all correspondence. 52. Put yourself in the member's shoes and do a "What's in it for me?" check of all standard letters and promotional pieces. 53. Develop a formal listing of all of your member benefits and distribute it to all staff. 54. Create a central member data base (even if it's paper) to allow everyone access to the same information. 55. Conduct staff opinion surveys. 56. Identify the questions most asked by your members, develop a list of brief answers, and distribute it to all staff. 57. Hold regular meetings with all staff. 58. Hold an annual kickoff meeting in January to share successes of the prior year and plans for the coming year. 59. Offer opportunities for staff to meet individually with upper management. 60. Maintain an open-door policy Noun 1. open-door policy - the policy of granting equal trade opportunities to all countries open door national trading policy, trade policy - a government's policy controlling foreign trade . 61. Hold roundtable staff discussions on specific issues and include board members. 62. Offer staff training in delivering presentations, writing, listening, and other communication skills. 63. Provide basic sales training for your staff. 64. Publish a "Who to Call" list, matching staff with categories of member questions. 65. Have staff develop a "Know It All Book" that contains reference materials to assist with frequently asked questions. 66. Document a press relations plan and identify staff to whom media calls should be directed. 67. Schedule staff lunches and breaks to ensure telephone coverage for incoming member calls. 68. Contact all members at least once a year for something other than money. 69. Form cross-functional project teams. 70. Reformat (1) To change the record layout of a file or database. (2) To initialize a disk over again. your buyers' guide to include reference material (product information, association mission statement, "Who to Call" list, and so forth). 71. Hold an annual leadership training session for your board. PLANNING 72. Organize historical files of membership retention rates, revenue sources, and the like, and note trends. 73. Do five-year financial projections. 74. Ensure that your board's strategic plan is current. 75. Complete an annual operating plan. Solicit input from all departments and from volunteers. 76. Review the completed plan with staff, then use it. 77. Develop a management information systems plan to support the strategic plan. 78. Develop a standard, one-page format for each program and project, providing a quick summary. 79. Use binders to organize major project plans, and keep copies for future use. 80. Train someone or hire professional facilitators for critical sessions. 81. Post a bulletin board in the staff office during your conference to collect suggestions for the next year's event. 82. Begin planning for next year's conference with a debriefing de·brief·ing n. 1. The act or process of debriefing or of being debriefed. 2. The information imparted during the process of being debriefed. Noun 1. meeting the day after this year's. HUMAN RESOURCES The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. 83. Conduct an organization chart "sanity check (programming) sanity check - 1. Checking code (or anything else, e.g. a Usenet posting) for completely stupid mistakes. Implies that the check is to make sure the author was sane when it was written; e.g. ." Does the chart make sense? 84. Develop a merit pay Noun 1. merit pay - extra pay awarded to an employee on the basis of merit (especially to school teachers) pay, remuneration, salary, wage, earnings - something that remunerates; "wages were paid by check"; "he wasted his pay on drink"; "they saved a quarter of all system. 85. Implement a consistent performance planning and evaluation system. 86. Implement a formal employee development program. 87. Develop an orientation process for new hires. 88. Develop orientation manuals. These can be used not only for new hires but for board members and other volunteers. 89. Provide a leadership training program for management. 90. Provide team building training for everyone. 91. Document a manager's manual to ensure consistent treatment across departments and divisions. 92. Hold an annual, full-day training meeting for all association staff members that focuses only on topics that will help them better respond to member requests. 93. Conduct a facilities "sanity check." TEAMWORK (product, software, tool) Teamwork - A SASD tool from Sterling Software, formerly CADRE Technologies, which supports the Shlaer/Mellor Object-Oriented method and the Yourdon-DeMarco, Hatley-Pirbhai, Constantine and Buhr notations. 94. Use cross-departmental project teams. 95. Close the office for a day and invite staff, board members, and other volunteers to a summer outing. 96. Use team-building games and exercises to break up long meetings. 97. Rent motivational videotapes. 98. Consider moving office work areas to mix department personnel. 99. Reward good teamwork. Take the whole team to lunch after meeting a final deadline. ADMINISTRATION 100. Price painfully higher for people who are not members. 101. Develop key process descriptions and flowcharts. 102. Keep all standard office forms in a central location. 103. Create a usable USable is a special idea contest to transfer US American ideas into practice in Germany. USable is initiated by the German Körber-Stiftung (foundation Körber). It is doted with 150,000 Euro and awarded every two years. filing and tracking system. 104. Color code Noun 1. color code - system using colors to designate classifications code - a coding system used for transmitting messages requiring brevity or secrecy files for easy retrieval (for example, first-year members, red flags, and top opportunities). 105. Encourage staff to participate on volunteer committees to better understand their support requirements. 106. "Walk like a member"--on a regular basis, open some outgoing mail, call your main number with a question, and take a good look at the lobby area. Darlene M. Miller recently returned to IBM as a management consultant with the company's Interran Resource Group in Washington, D.C., after completing a four-year assignment on loan to the Automotive Industry Action Group, Detroit. |
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