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One of the core beliefs of AssociaDirect is that design can help improve the membership experience of our clients. Experiences are what shape the brand perception of an organization, and ultimately determine member retention or the success of new member recruitment. Unfortunately not everyone is successful in creating great experience design, and there is no doubt in my mind that you have been a part of a horrible experience. I would like to share a bad experience that I personally had today that could easily be rectified.
My Trip to Staples
In our quest to reduce clutter, and become more organized we made a decision to buy a digital recorder rather than messing with storing those little easily to misplace tapes. So off I went to staples to purchase a recorder. While in the store I find the section containing the recorders only to find a bunch of empty boxes with black and white sheets of paper in them with what is obviously not all the important information, so off I go to find a sales representative.
After I finally locate a sales representative I ask her my questions only to receive a blank stare in return. Not only does she not know the answers to my questions, she does not even know which models are in stock. So I make the best guess I can about which model to pick, and I am informed that she will check to see if it is available.
So I wait…
So the sales representative returns and informs me that it is in stock and will be waiting upstairs in customer service for me. So upstairs I go to customer service, where I find an empty desk.
So I wait…
Finally when someone comes I am given the box and look at the packaging, which still does not answer all of my questions. I end up buying the thing because I know I am not going to get the answers out of the customer service rep, and why would I ever want to put myself through that process again?
So I get back to the office, open the thing, put the batteries in and what do I find? I got the wrong one. You can’t download the recordings to a computer, so now I have to go back and try to exchange this thing to get the right one. At this point I am sure that the return experience is only going to be worse than the purchasing one.
How is this Applicable to Associations?
- Is your staff informed enough to answer my questions?
In all fairness, the representative that found the recorder for me was friendly and helpful, however she was not informed about the product. I ultimately made the wrong purchasing decision because she was not educated enough to actually help me in the way I needed as a customer. Knowledge is what helps people put aside reservations and make a purchase, or in the case of associations become a new member. - Does you organization make it easy to see what membership is like prior to joining?
In this example I was not only uninformed, but I was made to wait numerous times just to find out the information I needed to make a purchasing decision. This process could have been easily avoided, if the store would have just allowed me to interact with the product prior to purchasing it. Apple is a great example of this; people actually want to visit the store so they can just interact with the products. New members will be more likely to join if the experience is not only easy to do, but also enjoyable. - Does your experience of being a member encourage retention?
I will never go back to staples other than to get some general office supplies. I would much rather go to a store with a better experience such as Best Buy where I can interact with the product right away without having to wait through multiple lines. Think critically about whether your organization makes it easy for members to get involved, or what barriers might be in place that are keeping them from doing so.
My experience today at Staples could be easily rectified through design if the company just takes the time to immerse themselves in their process and see what it is like. Displays could be designed to make it easier to interact with the product (and still avoid theft). At the minimum level they could have at least taken the time to design a better information sheet for the products that would actually inform about the product.