One Size Social Doesn’t Fit All

In the Return on Impact book, I refer to associations and companies collectively as organizations.  But they are distinctly different with unique governance models, organizational structures, business and revenue models, challenges and opportunities.  Social is similarly not “one size fits all.”  In this section we will compare and contrast corporate best practices with what member-based organizations are doing, what they should be considering, how they compare in their thinking and approach to solving complex business challenges or taking advantage of compelling opportunities.

Here are some ideas to think about:

• Companies need to think about and treat their customers as members – the relationship becomes more long-term, revenue models more stable, benefits from offerings more member-centric
• Associations need to think and treat their members as customers – they need to learn to compete for mindshare and wallet share, unique value propositions, understand that they always have a choice, and that they will only refer you to others when their situation has been improved
• Why don’t more companies offer “Cisco Certified Engineers” or “Project Management Professional” accreditation where the recipients must invest in initial and continued training and development?
• Why don’t associations offer loyalty programs, credit resources, create OEM / strategic alliance partnerships, capture and monetize its intellectual property into intellectual capital
• How can smaller associations or companies use their agility to move faster on the social maturity continuum?

I’ll highlight examples in leading differently here.