{"id":695,"date":"2013-01-04T14:51:15","date_gmt":"2013-01-04T14:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.naylornet.com\/associationadvisor\/?p=695"},"modified":"2013-01-04T14:51:15","modified_gmt":"2013-01-04T14:51:15","slug":"three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Little Words Members Use to Describe You"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><em><a href=\"http:\/\/staging.naylornet.com\/associationadvisor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/Breanna-Vanstrom3.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-700\" style=\"margin: 5px 10px;\" title=\"Breanna Vanstrom\" src=\"http:\/\/staging.naylornet.com\/associationadvisor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/Breanna-Vanstrom3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"115\" height=\"115\" \/><\/a>By Breanna Vanstrom, MBA<\/em><\/div>\n<div><em>Guest contributor\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n<p>I recently attended a membership networking group at the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.msae.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Midwest Society of Association Executives (MSAE)<\/a>, an association for association people in our part of the country, where we discussed the perennial topic of surveys.<\/p>\n<p>We delved into the best ways to do them, when to do them, what to ask, what to do with the results, and so on. I\u2019ve been to these survey brainstorming meetings many times, and usually they devolve into which tool is better for online surveys: SurveyMonkey or Zoomerang? That\u2019s great, but the tool used is only as good as the questions asked. And, besides, the debate over the two tools is moot now that SurveyMonkey has acquired Zoomerang.<\/p>\n<p>In this particular gathering, I was pleasantly surprised to hear a fantastic suggestion:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Ask members for two or three words they use to describe the association, and be sure not to give any suggestions.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-682\" title=\"takeaways\" src=\"http:\/\/staging.naylornet.com\/associationadvisor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/takeaways2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"47\" \/><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<table style=\"background-color: #dcdcdc; margin: 5px; width: 95%; border-collapse: collapse; border: black 1px solid;\" cellspacing=\"3\" cellpadding=\"3\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: black 1px solid;\">\n<ul>\n<li>If members use words to describe your association that are vastly different from your own, then you may have some work to do.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Consider adding qualitative questions to your member surveys to uncover perceptions members may have about you\u2014but never seem to articulate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Asking members to describe your organization in three words or less will cut to the heart of how they perceive you and how they value their affiliation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Duh! Maybe you do this or have heard this before. I\u2019ll admit that I had heard it, but had since forgotten.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re all trying to get into the minds of our members to understand just how they perceive the association, and asking for two or three descriptive keywords is the perfect survey entry for that purpose.<\/p>\n<p>You can approach this question from a different angle\u2014asking members to self-identify with a particular category. Do they consider themselves to be tech-savvy, social butterflies, political junkies and\/or perpetual students? The intent here is to develop more targeted communications by placing members into interest groups that match up to our programs and services.<\/p>\n<p>But, by combining the self-identifying information with members\u2019 perceptions of the association, some interesting insights may be found. (That said if members self-identify themselves in a way that is out of line with the programs you offer, what relevance will your association have to their businesses?)<\/p>\n<p>If the words members use to describe the association are vastly different from the words you use to describe your services, then you have some work to do. If some of the words they choose are in line with your desired branding or how you describe your programs and services, you\u2019re on the right track.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Real world exampl<\/strong><strong>es<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Say you launched a call-to-action program to reach out to local elected officials (maybe targeted to your self-identified &#8220;political junkies&#8221;) about a pending bill that would that will impose a service fee on your industry and members. You\u2019ve stressed the importance of being involved and how the bill can impact members\u2019 businesses, especially when issues like this arise. In your survey, members cite the association as being &#8220;advocates&#8221; or &#8220;watchdogs&#8221; for their business. That\u2019s awesome. However, if they\u2019re saying things like &#8220;biased&#8221; or &#8220;impartial,&#8221; that\u2019s\u00a0not awesome.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe you\u2019ve launched a new mobile app to give members easy access to educational resources or to sign up for events from their phones and tablets. You know your members are becoming increasingly tech-savvy and the need for this app has grown. In your survey, if members use words such as &#8220;techy&#8221; and &#8220;accessible,&#8221; you\u2019re moving in the right direction. If not, and you are offering programs you know are of value to members, it\u2019s a clear sign that your communications are not connecting with them or are not getting to the most receptive members.<\/p>\n<p>Asking members to choose two or three descriptive words cuts to the heart of how they perceive you, and those perceptions influence how they value their affiliation with you.<\/p>\n<p>So many times we try to tease out those perceptions from rankings or from &#8220;what do you value most?&#8221; questions. These are helpful pieces to the puzzle, but they\u2019re based on the services we already know we offer.<\/p>\n<p>But, what about the member who doesn\u2019t know we have an affinity program or didn\u2019t realize we have an online newsletter? How valuable is their ranking or feedback?<\/p>\n<p>Thinking beyond membership surveys, we can use this technique to gather insights about other things.<\/p>\n<p>For example, after a class, when members rate the program through a survey\u2014either formally or informally\u2014ask them the one or two words that come to mind when they think about what they just learned. Not only will you find out if the speaker was able to convey the right information, but you may also uncover keywords that resonate with members to help with future class communications.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If a membership survey is on your to-do list, consider adding these kinds of qualitative questions to uncover perceptions your members have about you, but never seem to be able to articulate.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.breannavanstrom.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Breanna Vanstrom<\/a>,\u00a0a member of the Midwest Society of Association Executives, is the Director of Business Development &amp; CRM at 10K Research and Marketing, a division of the Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS\u00ae. She has earned an MBA from the University of St. Thomas (in Minnesota, not the Caribbean, unfortunately), and has obtained the REALTOR\u00ae Certified Executive (RCE) from the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.realtor.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">National Association of REALTORS\u00ae<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A survey question that uncovers member perceptions.<br \/>\n<em>By Breanna Vanstrom, MBA <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,4],"tags":[130,131,132,133],"class_list":["post-695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-membership","tag-breanna-vanstrom","tag-members","tag-midwest-society-of-association-executives","tag-msae"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Three Little Words Members Use to Describe You - Association Adviser<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Three Little Words Members Use to Describe You - Association Adviser\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A survey question that uncovers member perceptions. By Breanna Vanstrom, MBA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Association Adviser\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-04T14:51:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/staging.naylornet.com\/associationadvisor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/Breanna-Vanstrom3.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Breanna Vanstrom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Breanna Vanstrom\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Breanna Vanstrom\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fb7f36b23e56cfbdf6693e8013ff2f8c\"},\"headline\":\"Three Little Words Members Use to Describe You\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-04T14:51:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":921,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/staging.naylornet.com\\\/associationadvisor\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/Breanna-Vanstrom3.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Breanna Vanstrom\",\"members\",\"Midwest Society of Association Executives\",\"MSAE\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Features\",\"Membership\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\\\/\",\"name\":\"Three Little Words Members Use to Describe You - Association Adviser\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/staging.naylornet.com\\\/associationadvisor\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/Breanna-Vanstrom3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-04T14:51:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fb7f36b23e56cfbdf6693e8013ff2f8c\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/staging.naylornet.com\\\/associationadvisor\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/Breanna-Vanstrom3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/staging.naylornet.com\\\/associationadvisor\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/Breanna-Vanstrom3.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/\",\"name\":\"Association Adviser\",\"description\":\"Leadership Strategies &amp; Best Practices for Association Professionals\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fb7f36b23e56cfbdf6693e8013ff2f8c\",\"name\":\"Breanna Vanstrom\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ec06ecc3df094acd41d064b70141683c0f71d39797b016e0467719b6455194f4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ec06ecc3df094acd41d064b70141683c0f71d39797b016e0467719b6455194f4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ec06ecc3df094acd41d064b70141683c0f71d39797b016e0467719b6455194f4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Breanna Vanstrom\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.naylor.com\\\/associationadviser\\\/author\\\/breanna-vanstrom\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Three Little Words Members Use to Describe You - Association Adviser","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Three Little Words Members Use to Describe You - Association Adviser","og_description":"A survey question that uncovers member perceptions. By Breanna Vanstrom, MBA","og_url":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\/","og_site_name":"Association Adviser","article_published_time":"2013-01-04T14:51:15+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/staging.naylornet.com\/associationadvisor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/Breanna-Vanstrom3.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Breanna Vanstrom","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Breanna Vanstrom","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\/"},"author":{"name":"Breanna Vanstrom","@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#\/schema\/person\/fb7f36b23e56cfbdf6693e8013ff2f8c"},"headline":"Three Little Words Members Use to Describe You","datePublished":"2013-01-04T14:51:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\/"},"wordCount":921,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/staging.naylornet.com\/associationadvisor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/Breanna-Vanstrom3.jpg","keywords":["Breanna Vanstrom","members","Midwest Society of Association Executives","MSAE"],"articleSection":["Features","Membership"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\/","url":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\/","name":"Three Little Words Members Use to Describe You - Association Adviser","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/staging.naylornet.com\/associationadvisor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/Breanna-Vanstrom3.jpg","datePublished":"2013-01-04T14:51:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#\/schema\/person\/fb7f36b23e56cfbdf6693e8013ff2f8c"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/three-little-words-members-use-to-describe-you\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/staging.naylornet.com\/associationadvisor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/Breanna-Vanstrom3.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/staging.naylornet.com\/associationadvisor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/Breanna-Vanstrom3.jpg"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/","name":"Association Adviser","description":"Leadership Strategies &amp; Best Practices for Association Professionals","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#\/schema\/person\/fb7f36b23e56cfbdf6693e8013ff2f8c","name":"Breanna Vanstrom","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec06ecc3df094acd41d064b70141683c0f71d39797b016e0467719b6455194f4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec06ecc3df094acd41d064b70141683c0f71d39797b016e0467719b6455194f4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec06ecc3df094acd41d064b70141683c0f71d39797b016e0467719b6455194f4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Breanna Vanstrom"},"url":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/author\/breanna-vanstrom\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}