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November 2006
Get to Know Your SITE Chapter Leaders SITE International Conference Updates SITE Chapter Leadership Council Members
Welcome By Christie Pruyn Director of Chapter & Member Relations
My eldest son, Evan, recently started kindergarten since he is almost 6 years old. As part of my involvement and commitment to his school, I joined the PTA, which is the Parent Teacher Association. This group is comprised of parents and teachers that work together to put together programs for students, fundraisers and benefit the school overall. Recently, I attended my first meeting and went in with the perception that I would know how things are run as I coordinate the volunteers for SITE, have lots of not-for-profit experience and work with committees regularly. I thought I would be a valuable contributor right away.
Of course, there are similarities between all committees – there was a President, a full board at the head table and an agenda. That’s about where most of the similarities ended. Most of the meeting was extremely disorganized with everyone chiming in when they felt like it, no topics fully discussed and a fair amount of chaos. A financial budget for 2007 was distributed, but there was no explanation as to what the figures covered or details offered. I learned that certain volunteers did the majority of the work themselves rather than delegating to other members because it was just easier and there was no recruitment system in place. Members were appointed to the Board without proper notification and voting in an attempt to fill the slots quickly. And, of course, I heard the age-old phrase, “That’s how it’s always been done.” For us new parents, it was eye opening and very confusing.
What I do know, however, and was reaffirmed at this gathering is that people volunteer because they have a passion, vested interest and want to make a difference in their community or industry. That does not change. Everyone in the meeting was there for a common purpose and that is powerful as it connects people and builds bridges.
Our SITE network of chapter volunteers is similar. You volunteer to serve at the local level because you have a passion for the industry and know you contribute to make a difference. Our biggest challenge as a global organization is to span the distance and communicate. All chapters face the same challenges – recruitment, leadership, new ideas – it’s how you adapt and learn that differentiate you.
SITE continues to foster opportunities for learning, networking and communication and chapters are lucky to have such a strong, viable network to tap into. I know your attendance at the SITE chapter events, including the Chapter Leadership Meeting and Chapter of the Year Awards, during the International Conference 2006 in Barcelona will help you network with fellow chapter leaders, get solutions that your chapter can implement and make you feel connected to your peers. Building bridges and connecting is the way to help your chapter be its best and help you grow – personally and professionally.
Remember, communication is paramount. Reaching out to other chapters, keeping in touch with your SITE Chapter Leadership Council liaison and me at SITE Headquarters needs to be an integral part of your communication plan. We are a team and support each other.
I know my involvement with the PTA will grow and I will continue to learn from this experience as my network within the school system builds. I also know in the future, I will be able to add value to this system because I, too, have insight, knowledge and experience to share. All volunteer networks are similar on some level…its how we choose to work with them and what we contribute that make the difference.
I look forward to seeing you all in Barcelona!
Get to know Chapters SITE Leaders
Why are chapters important to SITE? Chapters allow the tourism community to network and build productive relationships. They are a platform for education on industry topics while providing an outlet for business exchange and camaraderie among members. Chapters are the branches that connect back to the trunk of SITE Int'l...without the trunk there would be no tree.
What do you like most about your job / career? My job allows me the opportunity to sell and market a fabulous destination that has so many diverse and unique facets unlike any destination in the world. It also provides the opportunity to work with many destination partners who have a common goal of sharing what makes our city so warm, friendly, fun, exciting and rejuvenating. All the while developing relationships with customers who ultimately become friends...
If money were no object, where in the world would you go for a vacation? I would be very interested to visit Russia...my Grandparents immigrated from Russia to Chile prior to the first World War and I would be curious to visit their homeland.
What are you usually found doing on a Sunday? Sunday's are family days...spending time with my wife and two sons are priority and can range from playing golf, baseball, basketball, hiking or riding bikes...the sun's usually shining...
What are you most looking forward to at the SITE International Conference 2006 in Barcelona? I'm looking forward to the networking opportunity with industry colleagues and customers from around the globe. I studied at the Universidad de Salamanca, Spain, twenty years ago, however, never made it to Barcelona...I'm eager to finally visit such a fabulous city.
Why are chapters important to SITE? It is important when joining SITE to understand exactly the reasons for doing so. Only then will you be able to maximise the returns. It is true to say that SITE is a huge global organization full of industry professionals from all disciplines around the world and so by getting involved at a local level, especially as a new member, helps enormously to understand the roots of the SITE family. It is also a good platform and provides a voice for the International Board to listen to member’s needs and expectations. I would recommend to anybody to get involved at a local level. If for some reason there is not much activity within your chapter then volunteer to help and gather some support around you. It is amazing what can be achieved by a small group of dedicated people.
What do you like most about your job / career? My number one answer to this question is the people. I have had the privilege in my career to have met some truly remarkable characters from around the globe. From these experiences one can learn so much whether they are with clients, colleagues or suppliers and I am pleased to say I have made some good friends along the way in all of these disciplines.
If money were no object, where in the world would you go for a vacation? I am a huge fan of the sun and with this in mind having Necker Island to myself and family would be appealing.
What are you usually found doing on a Sunday? Sundays are usually busy spent with my wife and 3 young sons catching up and spending time together. My wife and I are keen gardeners and the boys help too. We also go cycling (weather permitting) and my wife rides a horse and so sometimes we all go out together on a hack around the Buckinghamshire countryside.
What are you most looking forward to at the SITE International Conference 2006 in Barcelona? Catching up with all of my SITE friends from around the globe, and learning as much as I can take in. There is always something one can take away from the conference whether this be a new contact, learn from best practice or new trends etc.
Developments
SITE International Conference 2006 Updates
Tales from the Front
SITE Belux Chapter recently addressed one of their main challenges in an effort to continue to improve the chapter - increasing participants to their events and attracting new members. They set out with an exciting initiative which they named “SITE Belux Meet & Lunch” and the results have been noteworthy and have landed the chapter as a finalist in the 2006 Chapter of the Year Awards competition. The premise is a short get together with one speaker who is allowed to talk for no more than 25 minutes and networking ensues during lunch. The program is designed to fit into even the busiest schedules. The solution focused on the following key points:
• Bi-monthly Sessions
• Lunch
• 2 Hour Schedule
• Set Program: 12h00: Welcome Drinks 12h30: Presentation 12h50: Q&A 13h00: Lunch 14h00: Ends
• Permanent Venue - Easy Access, Free Parking & Free Welcome Drink
• Open to Everyone Members & Colleagues: 35€ Invitees (by Member – two time maximum attendance): 45€ Non-members: 55€
• Large Promotion (15,000) Due to Partnership with BBT Online e-newsletter
• Non Traditional Educational Subjects:
Since its inception this year, the SITE Belux Chapter has seen record number of attendees at these events. SITE Member, Dominique Andre (OPT), attended and shared the following, 'It's the first time for years that I have attended an event where there are so many faces I don't know'.
SITE Belux Chapter President, Christophe Verstraete, and his entire Board need to be recognized as a chapter example regarding recognizing a problem, addressing it in a new way and making it a success. It is certainly a lesson that all chapters can learn from.
Marketing Information
Members Are Customers, Too: Applying Customer Relationship Thinking By James G. Barnes, Ph.D., MBA Over the past 10 years or so, there has been a growing interest in the concept of customer relationships. Businesses and other organizations have come to the realization that keeping customers happy so they come back to buy repeatedly (and tell their friends) is a solid way to grow a business. What's surprising is that it took some companies so long to realize this—and many are not there yet!
The rather recent focus on customer relationships represents something of a natural evolution in marketing thinking— from the product ("better mousetrap") focus of the 1950s, through sales and service delivery, to an emphasis on bonding with the customer in the 1990s. It also helps that modern information systems now allow organizations to measure the impact of customer loyalty and to capture the value of a lost customer. Suddenly, we are interested in keeping them, and we start behaving like small, neighborhood businesses that have been customer-focused for years.
In this current view of marketing, there exists a great deal of confusion. Many marketing executives regularly confuse retention with a relationship, repeat buying with customer loyalty. I believe there is an important distinction between genuine relationships and those that are artificial or synthetic. A genuine customer relationship is grounded in an emotional attachment to the company or brand—we "love" to shop there; we'd be "lost" if the brand was discontinued. How do you think your membership feels about your organization in this context?
Membership should have its privileges
What is also intriguing, particularly from the perspective of associations, is the growing application in the hard-nosed business world of the concept of membership. American Express has for many years acknowledged that "membership has its privileges." But, many other companies that are practicing a relationships-based approach to their customers have created "clubs" that are intended to treat their customers like members. Most major hotel chains and airlines have programs that reward high-frequency customers.
My research on customers in numerous industries over 30 years has led me to conclude that customers do indeed develop solid, genuine relationships with some firms and brands, but the customer clubs that are aimed at driving repeat business often do not lead to an emotional connection. While real clubs and associations are based on members sharing common interests, objectives, history and values, the members of a frequent-shopper program share only their common interest in accumulating points to be redeemed for rewards.
Genuine relationships, whether with friends and family members or with customers and members, are grounded in a set of characteristics that apply to all forms of human relationships. These include a sense of commitment, trust, regular communications, warmth and affection, understanding, and the sharing referred to earlier. If members are to have a lasting interest in remaining members, they must feel a sense of genuine association with the organization, not one that is based on short-term gratification.
Understand Value Creation Organizations should focus on the kind of value that they are creating for their customers or members. At the end of the day, people associate with organizations, whether for-profit or not-for-profit, in order to derive some form of value. It is useful to divide the various forms of value that may be created by the organization into two broad types—functional and emotional.
Functional value generally is related to the core product or service being offered, to its delivery, and to the various support services that are put in place to facilitate accurate and timely delivery. In the hotel business, for example, it means having comfortable beds, clean washrooms, efficient check-in and check-out procedures, speedy room service, accurate billing, etc. In short, delivering functional value means doing all the things one might expect of a hotel. Increasingly, the delivery of functional value is becoming taken for granted by customers; it represents "table stakes." If you can't get this stuff right, you have no business calling yourself a hotel.
On the other hand, the creation of emotional value generally involves the interaction of the customer with the organization and its people. How do we communicate, how are they treated, how do we deal with them and, ultimately, how do we make them feel? This is the feeling the customer gets, knowing that he or she is recognized and appreciated by a firm; it's the sense of belonging and attachment that develops over time.
I have seen situations in which the successful creation of high levels of emotional value will lead to solid customer relationships that cause customers to remain customers for years, to reject the advances of competing firms or brands, to refer their friends and associates, and to actually pay more for the feeling of belongingness that they experience. How do we create such emotional value and how do we extend the concept beyond the corporate sector into the realm of associations? I would argue that it may, in fact, be easier to establish an emotional connection with members (as compared with customers) simply because their relationship is more likely to have begun as a voluntary act, rather than being the result of a competitive marketing activity.
Creating Emotional Value
I have identified four principles of relationship building through value creation that translate well into the association space.
The first of these relates to personalization and recognition. People like to be called by name and appreciate being recognized as regular and valued customers. They also like to have their successes and accomplishments recognized by others. Customers beam when they are called by name in a retail store or at the check-in counter. They like to be congratulated when they graduate from college or when a grandchild is born. Such a human need for recognition calls for treating members as individuals and for customizing communications as much as possible.
The second principle relates to participating in their success. Most organizations, both business and non-business, exist largely to contribute to their customers' success. We need to be looking for opportunities to make them more successful at what they do and to make them look good in the process. This is a principle that can be applied quite readily in associations that exist to further the professional accomplishments of their members.
The third principle, and one that is central to the notion of associations, is the creation of a sense of community. People join associations mainly to avail of the opportunity to associate with people with similar interests, values, and goals. To create this sense of community, the members of the association must feel that they are actually interacting in a meaningful way with other members. One of the most telling criticisms levelled at frequent-buyer "clubs" by their own members is the fact that they just don't feel like a club—they never meet and members don't associate with other members. The more successful ones have actually done a pretty good job of simulating real clubs through their interactive Web sites.
Finally, genuine customer relationships are cemented when organizations create an element of surprise, when the expectations of their customers are exceeded. Predictability and routine spell the demise of relationships. When customers feel their relationship with a business is going stale, they start looking for other options. Associations and other organizations must from time to time reinvent their value propositions so that members don't get tired in the relationship. They have to be adding new forms of value continuously, by becoming more than the organization their members joined many years ago. This means surprising them every now and then with new offers or new ways of doing things.
What They Really Want
I have, over the years, had opportunities to work with a number of professional organizations and to apply some of my thinking about customer relationships to their strategy development. While the points that follow relate primarily to professional associations in which membership is mandated in order for professionals to be permitted to practice, I believe the principles can be applied in virtually any association.
Essentially, members in such organizations want to get something meaningful from their membership. If they do not get such value, they begin to resent having to pay membership fees in order to practice. Since they are members principally because of their professional status, social aspects of membership are quite secondary, although not absent. How do such organizations continue to be relevant and meaningful to their members?
First, they must be seen as the principal source of information that will allow members to remain current and up-to-date with developments in their field. If that role is usurped by other organizations to which they belong, the relevance of the membership is diminished. Also, in the fast-paced world in which members function, associations must be continuously looking for more efficient and effective ways to get this information into their hands.
Secondly, members genuinely appreciate efforts of their association to make their lives more productive and enjoyable. This is where the exceeding of expectations enters the picture. Whenever an association can look after something for members that has been cutting into their productive time or which represents an unwanted burden, they are creating very meaningful value.
Third, associations must look for opportunities to recognize the accomplishments of members and to celebrate their success. Part of the role of the association is, in fact, to contribute to members' success. It must look for ways to make members look good in the eyes of their clients. In my experience, too few professional organizations have a good understanding of the relationship that their members have with their customers.
Finally, associations can contribute to member relationships by making it possible for them to interact with fellow members. This is important in fostering a sense of collegiality. Communities of members can be established and can meet in person or through technology, not only to discuss professional matters, but to share common issues and challenges with others who are experiencing the same things. This is especially important in solidifying relationships with members who practice in remote areas or in small offices.
Thriving Member Relations
There are, of course, many different kinds of associations; in some, membership is mandatory because of licensing requirements; in others, members opt to join because of a specific interest. It is impossible to address here the many different forms of associations and the implications for member relations, except to suggest that the form of association and the motivations of members will identify needs to be addressed and will dictate strategy on the part of the association.
Failure to address a strategy of member relationships will lead to a situation where potentially large numbers of members are dissatisfied with their membership and with what they are getting from it. Such a situation precipitates membership churn and a constant need to recruit new members to replace those who are resigning. What's needed in all associations is a commitment to the creation of meaningful relationships, those that offer members a sense of belonging to an organization that will address the needs that precipitated their joining. Understanding members' needs and how they can be meaningfully addressed demands insight into motivations and satisfaction levels and a strategy to mean more to members in the future.
James G., Barnes, Ph.D., MBA, is principal, Barnes Marketing Associates, Inc. and author of Secrets of Customer Relationship Management: It's All About How You Make them Feel, published by McGraw-Hill in 2001. He is a member of the faculty of Memorial University of Newfoundland, and served as Dean of the Faculty for 10 years. Dr. Barnes has published seven books, including Marketing, the best-selling marketing textbook in Canada. He may be reached at jimbarnes@barnesmarketing associates.com.
2006 Chapter Leadership Council Recognizing that chapters can learn much from each other, the Chapter Council’s purpose is to create opportunities where leaders can support each other, learn from each other, and be more connected with the Board of Directors.
The Chapter Council is the liaison between the Board of Directors and the chapters. The Council serves to assist in increasing this synergy. The Council is composed of past leaders of SITE Chapters throughout the world, and each works with specific chapters.
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