Is Your Association Delivering Solutions to the Jobs Your Members Need Done?
A national fast-food chain wanted to sell more milkshakes. So, it set about interviewing customers. Do you want more flavors to choose from? Thicker? Chunkier? More or less chocolate? It incorporated customer feedback, began offering its improved milkshakes and waited for sales to start rising.
It had almost no impact on sales.
Why? Despite having great information about what customers wanted from their product, the company did not understand why its customers bought milkshakes in the first place. A big difference.
Like that organization, smart associations are constantly looking for ways to enhance member value and innovate. They survey their members, tweak and promote the new and improved. More often than not, it doesn’t drive the desired levels of retention or engagement or produce new sources of revenue.
“People don’t want a ¼” drill;
they want a ¼” hole.”
Engaged Strategies identifies what causes someone to engage with your association, choose to become a member or attend your conference. Armed with a deep understanding of the challenges your customers are experiencing, we help you develop new solutions and tailor current offerings to target those needs exactly. More importantly, we help you pinpoint which innovations should be your priorities – which ideas you should develop and launch for maximum success.
Jobs to be done Theory
The first step is to get answers to a simple but complicated question: What jobs do customers need to get done? That question is the foundation of Jobs to be Done (JTBD or “jobs”), an innovation framework developed by Clayton Christensen, the former Harvard Business School professor best known for coining the term “disruptive innovation.”
Jobs theory is based on the premise that people don’t buy products. Instead, they “hire” products to do a “job” for them. For example, people don’t just hire Uber to get from point A to B. They hire Uber to get where they need to go, without having to use cash, and to know exactly when the driver will arrive.
Uber’s now ubiquitous solution has changed our expectations about ground transportation. Why? Because the company understood the challenge customers were experiencing with taxis – all of their frustrations and needs. And it responded by building a solution that addresses those needs or “job”, exactly.
Engaged Strategies helps you put the JTBD framework to work. We show you how to dig deep into the jobs your members need done. We help you identify patterns of those jobs and prioritize them. We work with you to create innovative, tailored JTBD solutions and confirm they are the right jobs with your members. And we guide you in implementing your priority solutions.
In short, Engaged Strategies uses the JTBD framework to take the guessing game out of the innovation process. You will
· Achieve shared agreement among staff about what’s most important to members
· Develop valuable member and business strategy insights
· Identify opportunities to generate non-dues revenue and value for members
Contact us today to get the conversation started.
Additional Information: Associations: “Stop focusing on improving your offerings”