Articles

From Small Projects to Long-Term Relationships

How one AMC turned a small, one-time project into a relationship that’s still growing ASAE's AMC Connection, March 2003

You know the old expression, big things come in small packages? Well, in the AMC world, sometimes a new client can arrive in a small package, when you least expect it, and disguised as a project that looks like it could be more trouble than its worth. That’s a lesson I happily re- learned about this time last year when a client called to ask for a few hours help, and ended up asking my AMC to develop a series of projects during the next year.

The initial call came from someone who'd been a client previously. He had been recently selected executive director for a small association involved with pension funds for public sector employees, and where he managed two employees. Hoping to put a fresh face on some of the organization’s documents, he asked if I’d help create a new member recruitment package. That was just the type of small, time-consuming project I was hoping to do less of as I pursued bigger and, I hoped, more lucrative projects. But this request was from someone who’d given me some much-needed work when I started my AMC, and you don’t forget those first- year clients. I was happy to do him a favor; little did I know then who was really giving out the favors.

Our initial planning meeting revealed a need for much more than a membership recruitment letter. This was an organization staging excellent training events and conferences (often inviting nationally known speakers), producing well- respected studies on pension legislative and regulatory issues and performing essential lobbying work on Capitol Hill, all the while doing little to let anyone beyond its current membership base know of its good work. We could send out membership recruitment materials, but what would the prospects know of this association? Would they have they seen press releases about its conferences? Read its executive director’s or board members’ comments in leading industry publications? Seen its monthly or quarterly publications? Clearly, this was an organization that had an outstanding brand, but was doing little to promote it. By failing to let both members and nonmembers know about its programs and products, gaining new members would be difficult. As important, renewals from current members could be difficult if the new contact person had never been to a conference or seen a newsletter. So I suggested that before we spent any money mailing expensive membership recruitment packages to individuals who knew little, if anything, about the association, we develop a strategic marketing plan to outline how we were going to raise awareness of the association and what it was already doing for its members and the industry they represented.

The executive director recognized that he had several opportunities to build awareness of the organization among both members and nonmembers, but also realized that with only three staff members he would need help with all the work. I submitted a proposal, which he accepted, and we began the first step: research. We considered the current state of membership, how they achieved that position, and where membership trends were headed. We also examined what was motivating current members to renew. Finally, we considered what additional programs, products and services they might need to keep existing members engaged, a process that also would make the association more attractive to nonmembers.

Several months later the board approved the plan, and we had a roadmap for building brand awareness. My AMC helped in several areas, especially looking for PR opportunities. Since then the executive director has been quoted in every pension industry publication several times, has become a favorite source of information among reporters working for general news and business media outlets, and has even appeared on CNBC.

Now, almost 12 months after that first phone call, with awareness of the association at an all-time high, the association is about to begin a comprehensive direct marketing campaign to solicit new members. Working on the marketing plan presented several opportunities during the last year to meet with the association’s executive board, resulting in several other small projects. The client is very happy with our work, and especially appreciates that we’ve helped them both highlight the value of their existing programs and identify several new opportunities for programs that they will explore in the coming year. And we expect the additional revenue they will receive to exceed the cost of the recruitment campaign.

This association's name didn’t even appear in my projections for 2002; now it’s become one of my largest clients, and I expect to continue expanding my relationship with this group for many years. I’m also hoping for another phone call or email from a client or prospect with an offer to work on some small project that doesn’t look exciting, but could be the opportunity every AMC hopes for every day.