by
Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE
Associations
can use various technologies to serve their members better.
According to Bob Treadway, Denver based national speaker,
the three most easily implemented and essential are: Voice
Mail Systems, Fax On Demand Systems, and On Line Services,
including electronic bulletin boards and various ways of
creating channels of communication with members.
Let's
take the first one, Voice Mail Systems.Today, most
associations are reluctant to put in Voice Mail Systems
because they feel they're going to be very expensive and
difficult to maintain, and they put a layer of technology
between themselves and their association members. The opposite
is true. Voice Mail Systems can now allow associations to
engage in non-simultaneous communication. Treadway believes
that non-simultaneous communication is one of the most crucial
skills for the future.
Let
me explain what that means. The most difficult challenge
over the next five years will be to have simultaneous communication
with your members, your customers and almost any business.
Voice Mail offers a solution. You can do more than just
leave a personal voice message for a specific individual
in an association. Voice Mail gives you the ability to obtain
information and get help and aid in running your particular
business on the part of your association members.
Most
of the associations that Treadway recently researched were
deeply concerned by the prospect of paying $25,000 to $30,000
for Voice Mail Systems. The good news is that technology
is getting less expensive every year, and it is becoming
much more easily implemented. The combination of reduced
cost and added features makes it feasible for associations
to take another look at Voice Mail. The system offers features
such as: the ability to engage in marketing efforts with
association members whenever they call; a ready vehicle
for people to communicate during non business hours; and
the ability to access different individuals within the association
at any time, whether they are on the phone or off.
The
sole proprietor can also benefit. Here's how: when a caller
gets into Voice Mail, they are presented with several different
options, including the opportunity to: 1) immediately leave
a message without having to listen to a lot of verbiage
2) listen to a list of services and choose services that
they'd like to learn more about 3) listen to a sample presentation
4) leave a Voice Mail message in their own box 5) pick up
a specific Voice Mail message meant only for them and that
only they can access.
All
of these are good examples of how non-simultaneous communication
can work for you to build relationships with your association
members.
The
second example of communication is the Fax on Demand
System. This enables an association member to call the
association offices to obtain specific information on an
educational program, an upcoming meeting, advice on a particular
issue that they might be facing, an update on a legislative
effort that the association might be taking on behalf of
the members, or listen to a menu of different choices that
they can have. The member makes a selection and a return
call will automatically be made to their fax machine by
the Fax on Demand System in the association office. This
is currently used in many marketing organizations including
those selling different forms of technologies. The association
can make this investment at usually a very modest cost.
The
Third example is It is the area of On Line Services
or what the media is labeling the Information Super Highway.
Here is a technology that I think is going to be the most
exciting for associations.
This
communication between individuals in an association is done
through a computer hooked to a telephone system by means
of a modem. What passes from the association or one member
to another is information in the form of text, computer
documents, and written communication. It encompasses such
things as electronic mail, transfers files, transfers graphical
images, and communication with multiple individuals by means
of this On Line Service. It will truly revolutionize the
way associations communicate in the future.
Associations
can access On Line Services in a lot of different ways.
One way is to affiliate or take space on an existing system,
such as CompuServe, America On Line, Prodigy, Delphi, or
another commercial system. The other way is to buy or establish
an address or location on the overall worldwide system known
as the Internet, and allow people to reach you through the
Internet. Probably the simplest way to incorporate On Line
Services is to affiliate with one of the commercial services
that exists now. Meeting Professionals International, the
American Marketing Association, and other organizations
are already doing so.
Some
associations are taking leadership roles. Bob Treadway's
research revealed an innovative organization that is doing
some impressive work on line. They are the National Tour
Association (NTA), headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky.
They are about to roll out their On Line Service to all
of their various members. Their association is made up of
tour operators. Their member companies put together tours
for various individuals who take tours by bus, airline,
boat, and other modes of transportation in locations around
the world. Their membership is already on line, in most
cases, because they are connected to various travel reservations
systems.
The
travel reservation system was one of the first forms of
On Line Services offered throughout American business. The
NTA is offering a dual system. The first system is for NTA
members only, and the second is a system that incorporates
the National Tour Association with various vendors and suppliers
of products to those types of businesses. On the NTA members
only side, they will have electronic mail, directories of
members, the ability for ongoing discussions in the form
of forums and various bulletin board services, and the kinds
of traditional On Line Services that commercial services
have. Members will have the option to conference together,
have meetings where the text of a meeting is taking place
even though the individuals are located in various areas
around the country. It's the text equivalent of a conference
call, meeting or teleconference where the individuals are
hooked together by other means. But it's much less expensive.
NTA is outsourcing the establishment of the On Line Service
to a company that is in Montana. They are looking at this
as not being an expenditure as much as an investment, and
they believe this service will generate significant revenues
for them over the future. They feel that revenues will come
in the form of vendors paying to access different members,
the kinds of usage fees that they will get from their members,
and that they will build and develop a stronger relationship
with their members.
They
also feel that in their particular case time is short; they
won't have much more time to establish this before alternative
commercial services are offered to their membership. NTA
sees their effort as both an offensive and a defensive form
of marketing.
Associations
should also look to future technologies once their organization
is hooked up. In the On Line Services we'll soon see video
versions of the same type of service. Conversations and
meetings will be done on video. The expense of technology
will be reduced dramatically as telephone companies, cable
companies and other suppliers in the business of passing
information between individuals, businesses and groups of
individuals throughout the U.S. and the world compete.
These
new technologies basically provide different means of communication
between associations and their membership. Today, most associations
have only two forms of communication -- the telephone and
the mail. In many cases, they also have fax machines. In
addition, they can communicate with their members in the
most expensive means possible -- simultaneous, face to face
communication typically at association meetings and functions.
But the new technology gives associations more choices.
Computers, telephones, and fax machines give the association
the opportunity to take advantage of these technologies.
If
associations don't take advantage of non-simultaneous communications
in the future, either one of two things will happen. They
will either see their membership flatten out and begin to
decline, or they will suddenly be confronted with another
organization that will compete with them for their members'
loyalty. If the association has members that are members
of their association as well as another association, the
association that does not use high tech will put itself
in jeopardy.
The
barriers to entry into markets are becoming lower and lower.
To compete, associations need to look around at what kinds
of consolidations will take place within various industries.
Associations will begin to band together and form consortiums
or alliances in order to be able to compete more readily.
Cooperation as well as competition are the two things that
associations need to emphasize in the future. Technology
will be the way to accomplish both.
Ms.
Fripp extends special thanks to Bob Treadway for his time
and expertise in preparing this article. Mr. Treadway can
be reached at (916)565-0875.
(1,493
words)
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