Here’s my take on the second set of questions from a recent Webinar I did for WBT Systems on the “5 Keys to E-learning Success for Associations and Professional Bodies.” If you have additional input or a different perspective on any of these questions, I welcome your comments here.
Although online learning can save members time and money as they don’t have to travel to events, there is still a lot of push back on potentially increasing membership fees to pay for an online system. Do you have any thoughts on this?
I’m making the assumption, from the way the question is phrased, that the “push back” is coming from members.
The “save on travel” argument doesn’t have as much power as you would think it might because members view those travel expenditures as discretionary. They could choose not to attend an event or save in various ways on travel, whereas a hike in fees feels like something that’s being forced upon them.
If you have determined that an increase in overall fees really is the best approach (as opposed, for example, to simple charging adequately for the e-learning offerings themselves), you will generally need to articulate clear additional value that members will receive for the price increase, and not just potential cost savings. This value may not be just or even mostly in the e-learning offerings. Or, it may be in parts of the e-learning offering that go beyond just the educational content. For example, the ability for members to much more easily manage their continuing education credits
On a closely related note, it is important for organizations to have an overall strategy with respect to fees and pricing. Too often increases happen on an ad hoc basis when new initiatives like e-learning come up. I’ll save more in-depth thoughts about pricing strategy for a separate post, but one of the strongest arguments for consistently raising fees and prices over time – even by a very small amount annually – is that doing so ensures the organization is able to invest appropriately in new services for members without creating an upheaval an ill will in the process.
How do you become a sales org if you are not traditionally one?
This sort of transition is definitely not something that happens overnight. It’s a long term cultural shift that will involve not only changing the attitudes and behaviors of current staff but also examining hiring decisions as you go forward. You will want to bring people on board who already have an appreciation for the role that sales plays.
In the shorter term, two very important steps are (a) to make sure that leadership is fully on board and is willing to talk often and openly about the importance of sales, and (b) to articulate a vision of “sales” with which people can identify. With respect to the second point, it is important for everyone in an organization to understand that “sales” is fundamentally about an exchange of value. Your organization has something of value, and people are willing to give something of value – in most cases, money – for it.
Too often people identify “sales” with the high pressure tactics of stereoptypical used care salesmen or telemarketers, but these are much more the exception than the norm. If you really stop to think about it, chances are the best sales people you have encountered in your life were people who helped you learn what you needed to know to make the right purchase decision. That is all that a “sales organization” and its staff should be doing. Doesn’t sound so bad, eh?
Do you have any examples of successful marketing campaigns to maximize sales and can a LMS play a role in this?
I’m hesitant to cite specific examples without having obtained permission, so I’ll speak somewhat generically about this one. In general, I’ve found that organizations that use their existing educational events – seminars, conferences, etc. – to highlight and promote their online offerings tend to be successful. This may sound counter-intuitive, but the people who are attending these events are already “sold” on the idea of education from your organization and are often your best evangelists.
Some organizations, I know, will worry that promoting e-learning at place-based events may damage future attendance at these events, but I have yet to find a single data point that confirms this. My belief is that the opposite is true. (No firm data on that either, but I’m working on it!)
Outside of promotion at place-based events, successful organizations recognize that e-learning has to be promoted consistently and at regular intervals over time. Write about it in your print and e-mail newsletters, blog about it, provide good testimonials and case studies on your Web site (video can be particularly effective for these). Make it clear that it is an essential part of your overall value to members.
And don’t bury it. Particularly in your e-mail marketing. I know that management of the e-mail list is a struggle within many organizations, the main worry being that members will get bombarded with too much e-mail. But if you don’t send out targeted e-mails dedicated specifically to your e-learning offerings, you almost certainly won’t get the kind of enrollments you want.
Finally, an LMS can definitely help with effective marketing. For example, an increasing number of LMS offer RSS feeds that enable you to update learners when new things are added to the catalog. Some may also offer good options for e-mailing learners with relevant communications. From the angle of pricing – an important part of marketing – many LMSes allow for bundling of products or various discounting models. These are just a few examples. As a rule, I think it is a very valuable exercise to consider your four “Ps” of marketing – product, price, placement, and promotion – and consider how any LMS you are considering supports each.
Is it common to offer discounted rates to graduate/undergraduate students? Is there a method of verification to control this enrollment (i.e., not allow EVERYONE to enroll as a student to get the cheaper rate)?
I don’t have specific data on student discounts, but I have found it to be a common practice. Whether it is actually handled by the LMS, by your AMS, or by a separate e-commerce system will be a point you want to consider as you plan for implementing e-learning technologies.
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That’s it for the questions from the WBT Systems Webinar, but stay tuned for future Q&A posts. To make sure you see them as they are posted, I highly recommend that you subscribe to Tagoblog by RSS or by e-mail.
JTC
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