Pawel Podolski

Part 4: Education as a Strategic Tool: Enhancing Retention in Services Industry & Membership Bodies

Professional services firms and membership bodies, while distinct in their operations, are similar in their pursuit of lasting customer relationships. In this part, we explore education as a means of driving customer engagement, expanding market share, and establishing authority with the customer base.  The successful growth of any professional services organisation comes from the predictability and expertise it is able to project on its customers. Equally, membership bodies traditionally anchor their member engagement through training and professional development. Both can benefit from engagement with customers and members by having a well thought through strategy involving 'education'.

Engagement Through Education – A Mutual Pathway

Professional services firms have a golden opportunity to emulate the educational engagement strategies of membership bodies. By crafting tailored educational programs, professional firms can immerse their clients in the specialised knowledge pertinent to their services. This does not merely augment the client's proficiency but transforms the firm's services into an and engagement based on a customer’s learning experience, deepening the engagement roots and elevating customer retention.

Membership bodies understand the importance of education as part of the engagement model, with their members. Both as a revenue stream, as well as to establish themselves as an authority and a go-to place for industry knowledge. It is exactly this model of ongoing ‘education as a service’ that professional services firms stand to benefit from, leveraging their niche expertise to create a compelling suite of educational offerings.

Increasing Wallet Share with Targeted Knowledge Offerings

The offering of ‘education as a service’ opens up additional revenue streams for both sectors. For professional services, it means going beyond the transactional nature of engagements through training of offering of educational modules that clients can subscribe to, creating a steady flow of income and increasing the client's investment in the firm's service ecosystem.

Membership bodies, on the other hand, have a longstanding practice of monetising educational resources. They understand the value from innovating their educational offerings which align with emerging industry trends, to maintain their appeal and justifying the ongoing subscription investment across their members.

Authority through Education – Building a Thought Leadership Brand

Education is a powerful avenue for both sectors to assert their authority. Educating and sharing their knowledge, allows professional services firms to position themselves as thought leaders - not just service providers.

Just like withing membership bodies, professional services organisations can gain from creating platforms for thought leadership through conferences, seminars, as well as creating content that showcase innovation in their field.

Just like across other facets of overlap between the two types of organisations, the strategic use of education emerges as a profound commonality with the power to transform customer relationships. Engaging with customers and members through educating, both types of organisastions can enhance their value proposition, improve customer loyalty, and grow market presence.

Concluding comments: maximise potential by drawing parallels between professional services and membership bodies

As we conclude our investigative series on the ‘Overlooked parallels between Professional Services and Membership Bodies,’ let's synthesise the core thoughts which we have built up throughout our exploration of the topic. 

In Part 1, we unearthed the foundational parallels in customer acquisition and retention strategies, recognizing that both sectors thrive on a loyal customer base that sees enduring value in their offerings. Professional services firms and membership bodies can learn from each other - viewing clients as members and vice versa, can change the way leaders approach solving customer problems.

Part 2 discussed how membership bodies and professional services organisations can learn from each other to articulate better value propositions. Success of both organisations hinges not only on how services are perceived internally, but on how well the story and offerings align with the needs and expectations of customers or members. 

In Part 3, different ways of looking at innovation and revamping business models were explored.  Professional services can adopt the agile and member-focused approach of membership bodies to stay ahead of the curve. Membership organisations on the other hand can learn significantly from professional services firms in ensuring sustainability and growth.

Finally, in this section education was suggested as a valuable tool to enhance engagement, increase market share, and help assert authority with customers. Learning from how membership bodies educate their members, professional services organisations can enrich their client relationships beyond just the transactional. Conversely, by observing the client-focused strategies of professional services, membership bodies can refine their offerings to align more closely with member needs and market demands.

In a competitive landscape that we currently find ourselves in, leaders and CEOs need to differentiate themselves taking a different approach to growth and customer retention. Looking at customers through different perspectives - where professional services organisations view clients as members, and membership bodies view members as customers, helps change the thinking about growth and retention which are based on higher: loyalty, engagement, and customer value creation.