Qualitative
vs. quantitative.
You need both
and you also need to do focus groups.
How often are
you surveying your members?
In today's world with all the free or nominal fees associated with online surveys, you have no excuse not to do an annual survey and find out what your members want and expect from you.
In today's world with all the free or nominal fees associated with online surveys, you have no excuse not to do an annual survey and find out what your members want and expect from you.
Remember, you
can't serve all members. In fact, I did
a previous blog post on that subject that can be found HERE.
The key, in my
opinion, when conducting these surveys is to be consistent from year to
year. You need to be asking the same
questions so you can get a benchmark to work from.
If you just
change your questions each year, you have nothing to base your results on.
I'm reminded
by the membership survey that Marketing General, Inc. has conducted over the past 7
years. They ask the same questions so
they can have a base and measure changes over time with the same audience. That's data that's worth following.
If you want
their latest benchmarking survey on membership go HERE.
In addition,
do you have a process that all new programs need to go through before you add
them to your program of work?
If not, you
should create a document that is used for all potential new programs the
chamber is considering getting into.
Don't go into any new program blind.
Find out if your membership wants it, is willing to support it, and that
it is sustainable.
That's a
recipe for success!
