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Uncovering Your Value Proposition

July 26, 2013
Uncovering Your Value Proposition

A technology-first approach is often used by associations to decide what they want to invest in, yet I would suggest a different starting point. Instead of considering the technology first, ask instead: What is your association's value proposition?

Technology should be an enabler of opportunity. Yet the opportunity to achieve organizational goals stems not from the technology itself, but rather the way the organization enhances their ability to deliver value to members. The root of that scenario is not your tactical information, but your opportunity to increase loyalty, satisfaction, services and engagement.

Consider the value proposition of our company, Biz-Zone. If we told you that we are a web software company specializing in associations that would be true, but it would not reflect our real value.

Biz-Zone's true value proposition is that we help associations be exceptional online, which helps our client maximize the value they deliver and leads to better membership recruitment and retention. To put it simply: We help bring out your "awesome" online.

Articulating your true value proposition is rarely easy. Often we are too close to our own world, which skews our perspective. Opportunities to capture what constituents think in an unguarded, off-the-cuff manner are incredibly valuable.

The video we put together at this year's CSAE Trillium Chapter Summer Summit shows how video can be a great tool for capturing the things that your members value. In this case the value was focused on an event, rather the organization as a whole. (It was also a great example of opportunities to create event-driven content, which was part of the focus of my session at the Summer Summit!)

In this example the process was simple. We planned ahead so that we had a couple of video cameras and microphones on hand. Then we brought our equipment to the evening networking event and spent about 1.5 hours randomly asking people to answer a simple question - what is the Summer Summit to you - with a single word or short phrase.

The answers were powerful, as you can see for yourself in this short video that includes all of the interviews we did that night:

When planning your next technology project, I would encourage you to think beyond the technology and instead ask yourself how connecting your value proposition to technology can help you meet your strategic goals and of course, bring out your "awesome" online.

 

So Much, So Simple

Whether you need an association management system, content management system, new website or specialized web software, we can help you get a solution that is powerful yet easy to use.

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