5 Critical Non-Pricing Questions to Ask During the AMS Search.
Community Brands, a collection of purpose-driven companies providing technology and engagement platforms to membership organizations, schools, and nonprofits, created The Ultimate AMS Pricing Guide for Large Associations. With listicles and easy to follow guides, Association TRENDS couldn’t help but share a piece of their document with our association contacts.
Check out the 5 critical Non-Pricing Questions to Ask During the AMS Search.
1. What will the effect on member acquisition and retention be if we do NOT replace an antiquated AMS?
- Are your members frustrated with your cumbersome member portal? How will that affect member retention?
- The current AMS does not facilitate joining online or joining from a mobile device. How will that affect join rates?
- Does your membership team have the ability to use state-of-the art marketing automation tools that work seamlessly with the AMS to place prospective members on a journey to becoming members?
- Millennials expect an Amazon-like experience from your member portal. What are the chances of attracting this critical demographic if your member portal is sub-par?
2. What effect will a new, modern AMS have on retaining and attracting qualified staff?
By 2020, nearly half (46 percent) of all U.S. workers will be millennials who have high expectations of the technology used in a work environment. Having a modern AMS system will be critical to attracting this new generation of workers.
3. Will a new AMS improve market penetration?
Modern AMS systems have the ability to seamlessly integrate to marketing automation systems to give your association visibility into what prospects, potential registrants, and members are doing on your website and with your content. This has the potential to dramatically increase your leads and conversion rate in both your current market and possibly new markets as well.
4. Will the new AMS reduce cycle time?
Cycle time is the period required to complete one cycle of an operation; or to complete a function, job, or task from start to finish. For example, how long does it take association staff to process a new member request? Imagine the labor savings that could occur if the member were to join or renew with no staff intervention via a modern web portal. A very simple example of reduced cycle time came from the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) whose executive director was able to update a board member’s address during dinner using a native app on his iPhone (the board member had not been receiving his monthly magazine).
5. Will the new AMS improve first-time quality?
- Getting things right the first time has been shown to have a very positive effect on member retention as well as repeat event attendance and other association offerings.
- One of the foundational elements of increasing quality is the ability to track key performance indicators related to quality. This business intelligence is the first step in increasing your association’s ability to plan, react, and strategize on how to make the correct first impression.
- Modern AMS systems have:
- incredible reporting and dashboard tools to bring this critical data to the forefront.
- powerful workflow tools to build and execute proper onboarding of new members, event attendees, and others who are going through their first interactions with your association. That 10-step onboarding process your organization has should be highly automated to reduce missing steps.
- the capability to offer targeted member journeys for your new members and prospective members.
This was just a small piece of this incredibly useful toolkit. To download the document in full, visit www.aptify.com/pricing-toolkit.
Want even more information on AMSs? Come to AMS Fest! AMS Fest brings you elbow-to-elbow with other association executives, AMS consultants and AMS vendors that all want to engage in discussions around nothing but AMS. This event is ONLY $350 and each day you’ll benefit from a mix of practical hands-on sessions, keynote speakers, peer-to-peer networking, and platform previews. Click here to view the full schedule and register today!
