Here is Forrester Research on user how to get more value from your CRM implementation:

“The biggest culprit in keeping organizations from fully taking advantage of their CRM implementations is user adoption — a longtime scourge of successful CRM projects.”

Here I am on user adoption:

“While there are many factors that affect long-term success of an AMS, one underlying factor is user adoption. User adoption reflects how well (or not) the staff takes to using the new database.”

Here is Forrester on training:

“‘User training — that typically is given short shrift,’ Band said.”

Here I am on training:

“Training may well be the most important staff-related expense. Let’s face it, when it’s time to trim the budget—any budget—training is one of the first items to go. This is ironic because training is key to the long-term success of any implementation—yet most associations give training very short shrift.” [Editor's note: I wrote this over a year ago.]

It’s nice to see Forrester finally catching up with my analyses.

I have accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin, and I write blog posts here at least twice a week. I don’t spend too much time on any of them, but this analysis from Alan Weiss on the potential for social media to eat away at your time is pretty disturbing. His analysis:

If people visit linkedin twice a day for 15 minutes each time, that’s 2.5 hours in a five-day week. (I’m discounting weekends, though I shouldn’t, because social media wandering is clearly a full-time avocation, but I want to be conservative here.)

If they visit Facebook four times a day for 10 minutes each, that’s roughly 3.3 hours.

If they Twitter six times a day for five minutes each time, that 2.5 hours. (Or 12 times at 2.5 minutes each—you get the idea.)

If they post on their blogs three times a week (rather important to keep a blog active and interesting), and the creation and posting of the item takes 30 minutes (and I think I’m really low-balling this one), that’s 2.5 hours.

And now I’m going to add just two hours to the week, that accommodate reading others’ blogs, replying to commentary, following up social media stuff off-line, updating profiles, uploading photos, and so on.

Drum roll, please: We now have a five-day week on a conventional 40-hour basis with about 13 hours engaged in what is somewhat inappropriately termed “social media.” I understand that those hours may well extend into evening or early morning time. On the basis of a 40-hour week, that’s 33% devoted to this stuff; but even on the basis of a 12-hour day, the percentage is 22%.

So how about you? How much of your time is being eaten by social media?

I recently spoke at a meeting for the Canadian Society of Association Executives on how to use my seven step process for selecting a new association management system. While discussing the seven steps, a member of the audience asked me where the step was for choosing a consultant. I demurred, thinking he was joking, but he was insistent: “No one should embark on this process without a consultant, so I need to know how I select the right consultant for this kind of project,” he said.

Fair enough. I strongly agree that any organization looking to select and implement a new association management system should engage the services of a consultant to assist them in this process. But obviously not just any consultant is appropriate for this type of engagement. Here are four things to consider when selecting a consultant:

1. Body of work – This refers to any intellectual property the consultant has produced and would include things like books, speeches, blog posts, articles, white papers, products, etc. For example, over the past decade in consulting, I have produced over 50 articles published in nearly a dozen different publications. I have written hundreds of blog posts. And I have had a book on data management published by ASAE & the Center for Association Leadership.
2. Content expertise – This reflects how well the consultant understands and knows about your market, in this case, the association market. This is best reflected in the body of work noted in #1 above, but can also be reflected by actual work experience. For example, prior to consulting, I worked for nearly a decade in associations a director of membership, marketing, and customer service.
3. Record of success – How many other clients has the consultant helped in a similar capacity? Your organization shouldn’t have to pay for the consultant to learn on your project. For example, I’ve worked with dozens of associations on selecting and implementing association management software, so the record of success is evident.Incidentally, a consulting firm that has worked with dozens of associations is not the same as a given consultant working with dozens of associations. Make sure the consultant you get has actual experience, not just the firm that employs him or her.
4. How does the consultant charge -  Hourly rates should be avoided at all costs. If a consultant charges by the hour, where is his or her incentive to complete the project in a timely fashion? And do you really want to be making an investment decision every time you need to ask a question? Value-based fees (fees based on the value the consultant brings to the project) are the only ethical method for fees.

So there are four very clear criteria for selecting a consultant. Applying these four criteria will ensure that you get a consultant who can really help your organization through this critical process.

I like to give props to AMS vendors when they do something really smart. I’ve written about Avectra’s publicly available wiki here. The wiki alone is pretty cool. But here is some content which I think is extremely useful and demonstrates nice transparency on Avectra’s part.

The wiki entry explains how the transition from implementation to “support” takes place when you are an Avectra client. This is a challenging exericse for any association working with any vendor, so I’m really pleased to see that Avectra has published this for all to see, clients and non-clients alike. I think this is really smart on Avectra’s part, and I’d love to see more AMS vendors following their lead.

Full disclosure: EDM is an independent third-party consulting firm. This means we have no financial relationship with any of the vendors mentioned in this blog. We provide unbiased opinions on what we see.

This is the last in a series of tips from my book, Put Your Data to Work: 52 Tips and Techniques for Effectively Managing Your Database. I’ve been asked by several people which of the tips are my favorites. So this series of blog posts focuses on five of them. Each of these tips is reproduced verbatim from the book.

Tip # 7 - Pursue success, not perfection

I first heard this phrase from consulting guru Alan Weiss. As humans we can never be perfect, so what is the point of pursuing perfection? We should be pursuing success, in our lives, and with our databases. Databases are designed, developed, and used by humans. By their very
nature, they will not be perfect. And the longer you demand perfection from your database systems, the longer you will feel dissatisfied with your data management systems.

Pursuing success means understanding that your data will never be 100% accurate. It means acknowledging that errors will be made. And it means setting realistic expectations for which processes can be automated and which will always require some manual effort.

For example, you’ll never have 100 percent accurate contact information for your members. But what is “successful”? Do your members move a lot, or not very often? If your primary members are college students, they move a lot, and having 60 percent accurate physical addresses may be considered good. On the other hand, if your members are higher educational institutions, which rarely move, perhaps 95 percent accuracy is a better target. Your organization’s membership and culture will help determine what is successful.

But ultimately it means accepting that being successful means you’re better than you were the day before, and you’re continuing to seek improvement in all that you do.

You can buy the book here (or here if you’re an ASAE member) in e-book or printed version.

This is the fourth in a series of tips from my book, Put Your Data to Work: 52 Tips and Techniques for Effectively Managing Your Database, I’ve been asked by several people which of the tips are my favorites. So this series of blog posts focuses on five of them. Each of these tips is reproduced verbatim from the book.

Tip # 5 - Use a test environment

A test environment is an identical copy of your existing live database (or as near to identical as you can get) that allows you to “play” in the database without fear of creating bad data or damaging the live system. There are three critical reasons for having a test environment:

1. Documentation. To provide effective documentation, you have to be able to work through the process you’re documenting in the same system that your users will use. You’ll need to grab screen-shots and describe, step-by-step, what the user can expect when executing a given process. The only way to do this effectively is within a test environment that mimics your live environment.
2. Training. When training new users, training should always be done in a test environment. When you learn new things, you are already apprehensive about what you have to learn and whether you’ll be able to retain everything you’re told. If you train your users in a live environment, you’re simply adding to their apprehension and lowering their comprehension. When you train in a live environment, the only thing your users are thinking while you speak is, “If I push this button, will I break the whole system?” And then, “Will I get fired for breaking it?”  Train in a test environment, and let your users go wild. Exploring is an important part of learning; give staff the tools to explore and permission to “break” the system.
3. Testing. Finally, a test environment is important for testing new processes. Whether it’s a new membership category, a different way to register for events, or doing fundraising for the first time, you need a test environment to test your new process, to see what kind of impact it has on the system. And of course, once you’ve established the new process, the first thing you’re going to do is document it, which will require, you guessed it, a test environment. (Ah, it all comes together now.)

One additional note: Make sure your test environment has been “refreshed” so that it reflects he same version of the software that users are using in a live environment, and try to have the data itself as recent as possible.

You can buy the book here (or here if you’re an ASAE member) in e-book or printed version.

This is the third in a series of tips from my book, Put Your Data to Work: 52 Tips and Techniques for Effectively Managing Your Database, I’ve been asked by several people which of the tips are my favorites. So this series of blog posts focuses on five of them. Each of these tips is reproduced verbatim from the book.

Tip #47 - Don’t try to gather all data at once

When selling anything, whether it’s membership joins, renewals, event registration, or product sales, collect as little information as possible. What I mean by this is that your sales process should be as simple as possible and present as few hurdles as possible to making the sale. Too many organizations believe that while they’re asking for the sale, they should just go ahead and ask for some additional information. For example, I’ve seen associations that, as part of the membership application process, ask for dozens of demographics data points (e.g., size of organization, focus of work, etc.) that are not relevant to whether or not the buyer can become a member. In other words, the association would accept the organization as a member regardless of what the answers to these questions were. But the association figures it might as well collect that information now.

The first rule of a sale is to get the money. Everything else can come later. The same goes for event registration. Why can’t you take the event registration now, and then follow up with questions about dietary needs, physical limitations, and free events? Other than things they need to pay for (e.g., primary registration and ticketed events), why do you need all that information right now? Can’t you get the registration and then follow up later? How many sales are you losing because you’re making the process too cumbersome?

Another recommendation: Create a follow-up opportunity with new and renewing members to collect additional demographic information as part of your first-touch follow-up. That is, after a member has joined or renewed, create an automatic process whereby the database can remind you one month after the join or renewal for staff to follow up for more demographic data. This allows you to collect the information and show the member that you’re paying attention even after the sale is made.

You can buy the book here (or here if you’re an ASAE member) in e-book or printed version.

This is the second in a series of tips from my book, Put Your Data to Work: 52 Tips and Techniques for Effectively Managing Your Database, I’ve been asked by several people which of the tips are my favorites. So this series of blog posts focuses on five of them. Each of these tips is reproduced verbatim from the book.

Tip # 36 -Search names on partial spelling, not complete spelling

For most databases, searching an individual’s name should be a relatively easy thing to do. But most users make the mistake of doing an “exact string” search on a person’s name, rather than doing a partial search. For example, my last name is spelled “Trochlil.” To search for me in most databases, however, only requires that the user type in “troch” and search from there. Even in a very large database, “troch” will only return a small number of records.

If the list is still too big, an additional step would be to enter “w’ in the first name field (since my first name is Wes) and then search. This would limit the results to just those names that have a first name that starts with “w’ and a last name that starts with “troch.’ Teaching your database users this simple trick can greatly minimize the number of duplicate records that are created in the database, as well as improving the speed of customer service.

REAL LIFE LESSON —

The spelling of my last name is relatively unusual. It’s pronounced to rhyme with “vocal’ but it is spelled with an “lil’ at the end (Trochlil). Very frequently, my name is entered into databases with an “ill’ at the end (Trochill). So when I talk to a company that is looking my name up in their database, I’ll typically only spell the first part of my last name, in the vain hope that they’ll do a partial name lookup. I rarely succeed. As often as not, my last name will be misspelled and I will have to spend several minutes arguing with the customer service rep about my last name:

CSR: “I’m sorry sir, your name is not in the database.”

Me: “Try spelling it “trochill.”

CSR: “I thought it was “Trochlil.’

Me: “It is, but someone probably typed it in incorrectly.”

CSR: “Oh. Here it is. Yep, it was misspelled.”

And on it goes…

You can buy the book here (or here if you’re an ASAE member) in e-book or printed version.

With the recent release of my book, Put Your Data to Work: 52 Tips and Techniques for Effectively Managing Your Database, I’ve been asked by several people which of the tips are my favorites. So this next series of blog posts will focus on that. Each of these tips is reproduced verbatim from the book.

Tip # 38 - “Train” senior management

Perhaps the greatest fear among AMS managers is the thought of their senior management actually changing records in the database. Fear not. I’m not suggesting that you train senior management to process data in your database. What I am saying is that senior management should be taught what is in the database, and what the database is capable of doing. Put together a “training session” for senior management (including the CEO) that will outline what is in the database, how it is managed, who is responsible for managing it, and how the data are used. You will be amazed at the kinds of discussions that will occur in the room as a result of this simple exercise.

REAL LIFE LESSON —

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) has 700-plus staff, more than 100 of whom work in the association’s centralized AMS. During training for database users, one user pointed out that she had learned as much about what other departments in NRECA were doing as she learned about how to use the database. When her boss heard this, he suggested that the senior management of NRECA meet to learn what was in the database and what it was capable of doing. Thus “Senior Management Database Training” was born.

The purpose of the “training” was to provide an overview of NRECA’s database so that each department head could understand what data was being captured, by whom, and for what purpose. The training consisted of a one-hour overview of all the data that was being managed in the database and by which department, followed by a one-hour discussion on how the departments could more effectively use the tools that were available to them. The session was a great success. At one point, department A learned that department B had already collected data that department A was about to survey the members to obtain. With this one meeting, not only did NRECA staff save time and money by not surveying their members for data they already had, but they saved themselves the embarrassment of asking their members the same question within a couple weeks of each other.

You can buy the book here in e-book or printed version.

I’ve seen this quote attributed to Aristotle, among others. Not sure who said it, but it rings true when it comes to database management.

I’ve long been an advocate of decentralized data entry. (See here and here.) But what’s missing in all of this is that while data entry can be decentralized, overall management of the system cannot. Because that which no one owns (or in the case of the data, all of us own), no one will care for.

What I’m seeing more frequently in associations is that job descriptions are including specific data management responsibilities. For example, I’ve seen things like the following included in job descriptions:

• Develop and manage standard reports as needed for all staff throughout the association, producing reports when possible, or interfacing with technical consultants as needed. Exercise good judgment and sensitivity in understanding users’ evolving needs, to maximize the usefulness of the database.  Produce ad hoc reports as required, using SQL programming language to export data from the underlying database.

• Work closely with the Director, Marketing to ensure all relevant data are being analyzed and used to maximum potential in marketing membership, workshops, publications, and other association products and services. As needed, collect additional data, either from members, or from outside sources related to institutional demographics.

• Primary responsibility for management of all facets of dues billing and collection.

• Manage collection and entry of full contact and relevant demographic data related to members, potential members, and non-members, ensuring the continual and smooth flow of information from association staff to appropriate recipients.

• Play a key role in managing database-user relationships. Work closely with internal staff on the use of the information management system, and the continued improvement of data collection and data entry procedures. This includes communicating with all users on a regular basis to ensure that feedback on data accuracy and system functionality is being received and acted upon in a timely manner.

By putting this information specifically in one or more job descriptions, the association is holding this position responsible for data management in critical areas. This is one step closer to creating “ownership” of the database.