The famous American Express ad declared that “Membership has its privileges,” and that’s as true today as it was when it first aired in the 80s. But what good is a membership if your members aren’t getting everything out of it that they can? Too often, individuals and organizations sign up for memberships, only to not realize its value and not renew.
Most membership organizations probably offer things like access to a wide variety of resources, a member directory, and exclusive events. But are there other benefits that an organization can provide that are either low cost or even budget-neutral through the value they provide to members?
One benefit organizations often overlook is the value members find in meeting and helping each other. That membership directory can come in handy, as can in-person or virtual events. But anyone who’s done a little networking knows that it’s not just about meeting people, it’s about meeting the right people. For organizations with hundreds or even thousands of members, ensuring that members connect with each other in meaningful and useful ways can be, well, a real chore. How can they ensure their members are getting the most value out of the connections the organization offers?
The answer lies in artificial intelligence (AI).
Now, when we think of AI in today’s world, we often think of sophisticated data-crunching operations that provide business intelligence or automated natural language customer service chatbots. But the same principles used in these other settings can also be used to fuel and automate introductions between members of an organization.
By asking each member a few simple questions, we can gather interesting and unique data on members and use that as a basis for introducing them to each other. The cool thing is that we can ask literally anything. This could include work-related questions such as:
- What’s your role at your organization?
- What are your biggest challenges in your job?
- What kind of resources do you need to be successful
But it can also include personal questions:
- What’s your favorite color?
- What kind of music do you like?
- Where is your ideal travel destination?
Best of all, organizations implementing such a system don’t need to have any experience in AI development or be data scientists. Platforms like Zenvoy make it easy to create and implement a member matching system that can be up and running in nearly no time at all.
Ultimately, the goal is to provide a means for people to not only connect over what they need, but to provide them with the opportunity to form a closer bond. Too often, networking is only about who else you know and what you can do for someone. By using AI, organizations can help members develop real relationships that can be highly valuable, and thus increase the value of the membership itself.
