Pawel Podolski

Often overlooked parallels between Professional Services and Membership Bodies

FULL VERSION (SUMMARY)

Every business needs loyal customers to exist, survive and thrive.  In their quest for customer attraction and retention, two seemingly disparate sectors - the professional services industry and membership-based industry bodies share more commonality than many realise.  While the nature of their offerings differs, the underlying principles of customer and member retention are strikingly similar.

Drawing Parallels: Customers and Members

Having earnt my stripes in the dynamic and ultra-competitive professional services world, a few years ago I moved into the realm of industry bodies.  Instead of talking ‘customers’, the terminology turned to ‘members’, however the parallels underpinning these different business models is fascinating.  To the point I have decided to write a short series about how each of these two business models can draw inspiration from each other to better thrive.  Similarities span the articulation of a compelling value proposition, differentiation through business model innovation or even just go-to-market considerations.  Leaders of each type of organisation could learn a lot by putting themselves into the shoes of a CEO or a marketing executive of the other – if you run a professional services organisation, pretend for a minute your clients are members whom you must entice to join your tribe.  And conversely, if your daily job centres around attracting and retaining members – try to view your organisation as a professional services company through which you provide valuable services to your constituents.  

Staying Relevant: A Challenge for Both Sectors

Despite the differences in their offerings, both types of organisations operate in a highly competitive environment, where the value proposition is key to gaining and maintaining the interest of customers or members. In some ways being able to define, and more importantly articulate the value proposition is harder for a membership body – often the ethos behind the company and the skillsets are not akin to promoting services, or maximising value.  But equally, membership bodies despite all odds are often more successful in evolving their offerings to align with changing market dynamics and member expectations, compared to traditional services businesses.

The challenge of how to stay relevant and ‘ahead of the pack’ is a holy grail topic in business.  Let's take the example of a professional services firm that specialises in digital transformation. Perhaps their value proposition is around a unique methodology or successful case studies. Nevertheless, as digital solutions become cheaper and digital transformation more widespread, organisations need to innovate and expand past this, to stay relevant. Perhaps they could offer post-implementation support or develop proprietary technologies to give them a competitive edge vs their competition.

Not dissimilarly, a membership body like the National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA) also needs to continuously reassess its offerings. With online learning platforms becoming more available, the association's traditional seminars and workshops may no longer attract members as they did in the past. They might need to look at different ways of offering their resources, staying ahead of other niche providers – often ironically professional services companies competing for the same customers whom the industry body tries to attract as members.  Membership bodies often don’t have the lucrative marketing budgets, the high-end skillsets nor the abilities of many of their niche service provider competitors, but they have something that often is overlooked in the professional services segment – an inner realisation that to be successful, the membership body must ensure offer industry relevancy.  This could be through tailoring products and services or creating new ways to drive engagement to meet the changing needs of their members – often in very creative and much more intimate ways than professional service organisation bother with – often to their own detriment.  

The Goal: A Loyal Base that Advocates for Your Brand

The journey of customer – client or member retention - by both types of organisations relies therefore on a solid empathy with the target audience, a compelling organisational value proposition, a nimble and relevant business and pricing model, and consistency in delivery of promised value.

So, growing a successful client base in a professional services environment is no different to growing membership in an association/industry body sense.  In fact, professional services organisation could often take inspiration from some of the creative thinking that membership bodies are forced to do, to better understand the needs and expectations of their audience, tailor products and services to their constituents, and continuously innovate their offerings and go-to-market strategy.

The Power of a Compelling Value Proposition

Central to the narrative is the critical role of the value proposition in conveying relevance and differentiation to customers and members alike. A compelling value proposition acts as a link between what organisations offer and what customer truly needs. It’s about crafting a promise that resonates with the customer’s most pressing challenges and goals. For professional services, this might manifest as a pledge of bespoke solutions and thought leadership. Membership bodies, on the other hand, offer the promise of community, advocacy, and professional growth. By looking through each other’s lenses - services firms viewing clients as members and membership bodies treating members as clients—they can refine their messaging to articulate a value proposition that strikes a chord with their audiences.

Innovation as the Key to Adaptation and Growth

Innovation is not just about the adoption of new technologies; it is about reimagining how value is delivered. Professional services organisations are much more included to adopt technical solutions and digital transformation more broadly, leveraging technology to improve their offerings. Membership bodies have also reinvented themselves, expanding their offerings like access to resources and networking opportunities towards online. This trend will continue, further exacerbating the shift from traditional ways of thinking about business and creating a bigger gap between those organisations who embrace technology vs those that don't.  Customers and members alike now expect this new flexibility, choice and innovation.

Education as a Strategic Tool

Education is an often understated strategic tool for both professional services and membership bodies to engage and retain their audiences. By education their constituents, both types of organisations not only impart knowledge - they position themselves as partners in their customers’ and members’ success. For professional services firms, this translates into creating customer education opportunities, to drive higher engagement and reinforce their authority and authority in their given niche. Membership bodies have long recognised this as a means of member engagement and revenue generation. Both types of organisations should therefore consider education as a means of increasing engagement with customers and as a means of demonstrating thought leadership and authority.

Concluding Thoughts

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.