In Search of Actionable Member Value

“We (staff) think we are enlightened and completely understand life in the REALTOR® world … but we don’t. They see things that we can’t and make connections that we don’t think of.” — Marc Lebowitz, ACAR’s Executive Officer.

Marc’s words say it all. To counter this way of thinking, he and the Ada County Association of REALTORS® are embarking on a project to determine their value proposition. Once determined, the next challenge will be how to get the value message out to members and to sustain the value proposition among staff and the board. It’s going to be an exciting journey, and you can follow their progress through this blog.

“For the last four years, ACAR focused almost entirely on doing whatever we could to help members stay in business. This has resulted in doing lots of things for little or no associated income and paying for it with reserves.”

This practice can’t continue. So Marc changed the way the association budgets, and the board now evaluates the total cost of key programs (labor, overhead and direct costs). It is time to make some purposeful decisions about which programs and initiatives best match members’ core needs and values.

The Association President formed a “Question Everything” member group to make sure the value proposition is created from the outside in. Leadership and staff want to avoid seeing the world only through one lens and are committed to seeing the world through the eyes of all of their members. This is the value proposition committee. To that end, ACAR has accomplished two preliminary steps:

1. Committee established – representing the target audience with varied experience and involvement levels. They went through training on value proposition so they can pursue their work wearing a “value proposition” thinking cap.

2. Member Survey conducted – to search out specific value indicators. The committee will learn what members value, what they think is most important, and what business barriers ACAR can help overcome.

Next Up:

The next post tells how member feedback and target audiences helped translate member needs into value points that align with ACAR’s strongest competencies.  Click here to view.

Thanks Ada County for approaching this project with purpose and the right kind of leadership involvement. You are embarking on a new direction for your organization that will take you far into the future.