We bridge the gap between business and technology
Membership organisations are focused on affecting positive change. But their ability to succeed is often blocked by technology challenges that can be difficult or expensive to navigate using in-house teams. Intercloud9 can help.
We provide advice, support and technical assistance to improve the operational efficiency and growth of membership organisations. Addressing the core elements of strategy, change management and technology helps these organisations to quickly clear hurdles and expand their membership in a sustainable way.
As an independent specialist, our project delivery services utilise a multi-disciplinary approach within a flexible support model. Our membership consultancy team is experienced and expertly positioned to helps clients in eight primary areas.
Why do transformation projects fail?
Member engagement continues to be a primary goal for organisations in our sector. New member acquisition is increasingly becoming a priority with more than three quarters of membership organisations focused on growth and extending their service offering.
Technological transformation projects are the key path to achieving this but they come with considerable risk. Not least is the “Jaws effect” created when growing member expectations combine with tightening resources and the cost of living crisis.
Forbes believes that digital transformation fails 70% of the time. McKinsey reports that only 30% of these projects improve performance and that 90% deliver no measurable return on investment.
Member expectations grow because the level of technology in our everyday lives increases every day. Apps such as Facebook, Amazon and TikTok are intuitive, incredibly engaging and set a high bar. Serving a younger demographic is tougher still with Gen Z consuming 90% of content on devices and millennials spend 253 minutes per day on mobile phones.
The temptation for membership organisations is to aggressively pursue technology transformation. But with only 29% likely to stay with their current technology provider, this strategy is evidently not providing lasting solutions.
Three Hurdles to Success
Membership organisations are often focused on finding out which solutions are used by their sector peers and invest considerable resources mapping their current working practices. in 2023, CSO Insights estimated that 71% of buyers fully define their needs before engaging with sales.
At the same time, most vendors in the sector are focused on showcasing their latest features and functions in order to provide an “off the shelf” product. For them, this is good business sense as it simplifies delivery and maximises margins.
In both cases, the member perspective is missing. If members are currently underwhelmed or their online engagement is lacking, doing the same things with newer technology is likely to disappoint.
Without a member-centric approach, it becomes simply an IT project which does not deliver the value and transformation required. The technology becomes the driver rather than the enabler.
Most companies are great at incremental change. Transformational change however is more challenging and attempted far less often. The lack of an employee centric approach can significantly impact the success rate as culture change is crucial.
Adopting a robust framework for change that is accepted and understood across the organisation is also important. Without a truly collaborative culture, the entrenched silo working in membership organisations can breaks their transformation initiatives. Culture change is at the heart of digital transformation.
Only 12% of organisations attempting transformational change sustain their goals for more than three years with an average 42% of financial benefits being lost during the latter stages of a large-scale change effort.
Organisations that succeed with digital transformation are those with change management tools, framework and culture shift approaches that help to embrace change and collaboration.
It’s essential to get the right team in place when you need it. In 2021, Forbes and McKinsey listed a lack of the necessary talent in its top three of reasons why projects do not go to plan.
In our experience there is often talent in-house, but gaps exist in more specialist areas. Because transformation is not done often, there are also very few people with the experience of similar projects within the organisation. Capacity constraints always play a part.
Not all membership organisations need to have specialist change management expertise on board as a permanent resource. But entering a project without it will make a successful and sustainable outcome extremely unlikely.
With longer tenured staff, there can also be a lack of experience of what great looks like. It’s essential to identify the resourcing gaps and fill them when you need them with the skills, experience and knowledge to succeed.
Adopting the Right Alignment
With these elements addressed, membership organisations can ensure that technology solutions are aligned with their strategic goals and member value objectives.
This avoids wasting resources by mapping current working practices. It also encourages vendors to collaborate on a technology roadmap rather than simply showcasing the features of their “off the shelf” products.
We work with membership clients to ensure they avoid the three critical hurdles to a successful transformation project. We help them to adopt the member-centric approach needed to align technology as the enabler of a transformation project rather than the driver.
Are you ready to change?
To learn more about how we can help to improve your membership services, please get in touch and request a call back.