New CRM System Implementation – Impact on Member Services and Membership Experience
Success achieved
How SEB made it easier for new members to join, increased the retention among their existing members and reduced the administration time for their staff.
Organisation
| Name: | Society for Experimental Biology |
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| Member geography: | International |
| Members: | 2000 members across 58 countries |
| Based in: | United Kingdom |
| Website: |
Introduction
The Society’s membership processes were very administrative heavy requiring a lot of staff time, and in such a small organisation with only 5 staff members this was problematic. Having to spend a lot of time on manual administration, this left very little time for developing and growing our membership base and existing services.
From a customer point of view, membership processes such as joining and renewing were not user friendly and required a lot of effort and time on the customer’s part. This placed barriers for joining and renewing and posed a threat in terms of retention of existing members and acquisition of new members.
Discovery
The SEB carried out an audit of the membership processes as well as the processes for registering for our conferences and the following problem areas were identified.
The joining process was not user friendly:
- To apply for membership you had to fill in a paper application form
- It also required a lot of administration as each application had to be manually entered onto the database
The database was not allowing non-member profiles to be created:
- The SEB previously could not capture non-members as the database would only allow membership registrations. Non-members attending their meetings would therefore have to create a new registration from scratch each time. We were also not able to market membership or other services to these members or monitor how many of them actually became members or purchased any other services from SEB.
Membership Renewal process was administrative heavy and created many barriers for members to renew:
- Members were not able to change category online (i.e. from a student to an early Career scientist membership) and needed to contact the membership office when no longer eligible for your membership category. We were therefore relying on people’s honesty to let us know when their status changed.
- The SEB offered multi-year membership options but members were not able to opt for a multi-year membership online at renewal point. They had to do so by contacting the SEB office
- The SEB had a fixed membership year which ran from 1 October to 30th September. No pro rata option was offered due to the nature of membership benefits offered. This caused discontent amongst members as they were asked to pay for a full year of membership regardless of when they joined. It was also a barrier for joining the organization as most people would wait until the beginning of the membership year to join in order to benefit of a full year of membership. New member application numbers therefore declined between July and September.
Membership database was not integrated with the events database:
- This meant that the SEB had no means of seeing which members attended our conferences but also that members would have to provide their full contact details and demographic details each time they registered for an event
- In addition we would rely on the member’s honesty to select the appropriate registration fee for their category as the registration was not integrated with their member profile
Member’s Area:
- The member’s area was not very informative about member’s accounts. There was a lack of information about member’s expiry date, their membership category, and their membership history (i.e. length of time they had been a member for).
Objectives
The SEB decided that to address the issues we were facing, a new Membership CRM system needed to be implemented. The purpose of this was to:
- Reduce administration time required for membership through automation
- Improve membership processes of joining and renewal
- Improve the data we hold on our members as well as how we use this
- Improve the overall customer experience by making our services more user friendly and efficient
- Reduce barriers for members and non-members alike when joining, renewing, registering for events.
Project period
August 2013 to November 2014
Project Team
- Sabina Baba, Membership Manager (lead)
- three other members of staff
- the conference manager
- the office administrator
Project Partners
The SEB worked with a database consultant in helping us select an appropriate CRM system for the organisation. The implementation of changes in processes was done closely with our database providers. Some features were out of the box and some had to be customised for our needs.
Activities
With a clear idea of how we wanted to improve our processes and services to our members a new CRM system was selected that had the potential to develop solutions for our existing problems.
With the implementation, development and customization of the system, attention to detail from staff and thorough testing and re-testing of processes the following improvements have been made to the processes, which resulted in improved member experience when dealing with SEB but also in significantly reducing administration time for the SEB staff.
Online new member application form
The paper application form has been replaced by an online application form. This reduced administration time for the office and membership is now more accessible for scientist around the world.
Non-member accounts
With the new database, we now have the possibility for non-members to create an account with the SEB when purchasing a service as a non-member (i.e. register for a meeting). Non Member Online profiles are customized so that access to member benefits is restricted but they can apply for membership straight from their profile should they wish to, without having to complete any demographic details.
Improved events registration process
Previously the Membership and Events databases were separate and it was difficult to enquire how many members attended our conferences. In addition, members who wished to register for one of our events had to create an entirely new registration with all their contact details and other preferences in order to register for the meeting. The system would therefore treat them as a brand new person rather than as an existing member.
All membership transactions are now held on member’s records showing us a full picture of the member. Members can also see their order history online and see what purchases they have made on their account. When registering for an event the demographics are now pre-populated and the correct fee is automatically now offered to them based on their membership record and membership category.
Improved membership renewal process
Members are now automatically moved from one member category to another at renewal time
To change membership categories (from student to Early Career Scientist to Full member) members would have to contact us and let us know that they were no longer a student or an Early Career Scientist. We would also rely on their honesty to let us know when they were no longer eligible for the student fee and all the benefits related to that category such as grants.
The new CRM system has been customized so that members are now moved automatically from one membership grade to another, based on their PhD graduation date. At the point of joining as a student or Early career scientist member, members will have to provide documentation confirming their PhD graduation date. The system would therefore offer the Early Career Scientist member category at renewal point for students that have reached their graduation date, and will offer the Full Membership category to Early Career Scientists who reached 5 years since they graduated from their PhD.
Members are able to change membership category online
SEB offers multi-year options for all the membership categories. To change their membership from an annual to a multi-year one and vice-versa members would have to contact the SEB office to do so.
The new system has now been customized to offer the ability to change to relevant multi-year membership options online when you wish to renew.
The system only offers the multi-year option that the member is eligible for (i.e. if the member is a student and due to graduate in 3 years’ time the system will offer them only the student 3 year option and not the student 5 years option).
This has improved the renewal experience significantly for members and removed many barriers for them to renew.
Change Membership Type feature
Email Automation
The automated email feature means that correspondence has been created to welcome new members to the Society provide them with their membership details automatically upon approval of membership application.
Order confirmation emails are also automatically sent to members upon renewing their membership.
In addition renewal correspondence (i.e. renewal reminders and notices) has also been automated and is now sent by the CRM system with no input required from staff.
Discounts
Discounted Price Feature means that an Early Bird Renewal Rate has now been introduced for those who renew before their membership is due to expire. In addition discounted rates have been introduced for Direct Debit payers as an incentive for opting into a recurring method of payment.
Moved from fixed to rolling membership renewal model
The SEB membership year used to run on a fixed basis from 1 October to 30 September. Therefore regardless of when the member would join they would have to pay the full member rate (no pro rata available) and their annual membership would only be valid until the 30th September. This used to be a source of discontent for some members.
The new features available on the new system as well as the reduced administration time allowed us to move to a rolling renewal membership model. As a result membership now starts on the day on which a member joins and hence they now get a full year of membership for their money.
Loyal Member Flag
The SEB recognizes as Loyal Members those members that have has a continuous subscription for 3 years or more with the Society. Loyal Members receive discounted registration rates at our conferences.
To check if a member was a Loyal Member we previously had to look at the membership record and count their subscriptions. Only then they would be allowed the Loyal Member rate at the meeting. They would also have to fill in a special paper registration form to register with the Loyal Member rate for the meeting.
The new CRM system has been set up so that it recognizes all those that have been members continuously for 3 or more years as Loyal Members. As a result they can register for meetings online and the Loyal Member Discount is automatically applied to their shopping cart.
Members online area / member profiles
Previously members would see a limited amount of information on their profile and this was missing their membership category, their expiry date and any detailed information on their membership record.
Improved Member profile
Improved Member Profile
The following are now visible on the member’s profile: membership Category, Expiry date, First Joined Date (the date on which they first joined the SEB), number for years they have been a continuous member for, Loyal Member Flag if they are a Loyal Member, Privacy settings, Interest Group preferences, order history . Members can also add a profile picture to their record.
Member Directory Search
An improved Member Directory Search feature has been introduced for the Member’s Area allowing members to search for other members by: name, University, City, Country and Interest Group. This enables them to better network with other SEB members.
Resource Library
A Resource Library has been introduced where members can download forms, their SEB member logo and any SEB promotional Materials should they wish to pass these on.
Order History
Members are now able to see a history of all their orders with us (membership and conferences) and are able to print receipts of email themselves the receipts.
Challenges
The main challenge was implementing all these changes within such a small team. The membership changes were all carried out by the Membership Manager while the Conference Manager managed the changes for the events registration process.
The main lesson that we have taken from this was that if you are a small organisation like ours you would really need to put everything else on hold and ensure that staff time is dedicated to the success of the project entirely.
Achievements
Reduced barriers to joining
Due to the fixed membership model and paper application form the SEB experienced a low number of applications between July and September (the end of the membership year). As a result of the move to a rolling model and online application forms applications are now received throughout the year and the number of new member application has also seen a 5% increase in the 1st year.
Increased retention of existing members
New Member Number comparison between 2013 and 2014 membership years
Due to improved renewal processes but also automation of renewal communications, the SEB so far experienced a 3% increase in renewal rates. It is still too early to measure the full impact on retention rates but an improvement has certainly been experienced.
We noticed an increase in member numbers during the months of June and September due to moving to a rolling membership model but also an overall increase of 10% in our new member numbers due to the move to online application form.
Reduced Administration time for SEB staff
Improvement and automation of processes resulted in significantly reduced administration time for SEB staff in managing membership processes. This has enables us to start planning membership development initiatives and focus on growing the SEB membership to its full potential.
The benefits to members are that:
- The new processes are member focused. They are more user friendly and require a lot less effort on member’s part and members receive the expected standard of service.
- In addition, due to the improved Members’ Area, members are now more aware of the details on their membership and are better informed about the value of membership.
Conclusions
We are very pleased with the improvements we made to our services and great results achieved. Having gone through the process and we can now definitely see the benefits of carrying out an audit of your membership processes and investing in making improvements. But most importantly we cannot underestimate that putting your customers at the center of everything you do and ensuring that you meet their needs as best as possible is what ultimately constitutes excellence in membership services.
