President's Perspective
Expectations vs Reality
Sometimes the line is an S-curve. As members of any association, you are likely to have particular expectations of how that organization is run and how it serves you as a member. You are not only likely to have certain expectations — you are entitled to them.
Expectations are not the same as desires. Expectations are normally based on past experience, whereas desires are just that: desires, and they need not be based on anything.
Most members both expect and desire reasonably quick service from any association they join. They also expect and desire that the organization operate in a fiscally responsible fashion. After all, the more efficient an organization is with its money, the more its members get for their bucks. The problem is what to do when those two perfectly reasonable expectations come into conflict with one another. We have one of those situations, which has a number of members concerned.
Common member expectations include:
- Quick, responsive service.
- Fiscal responsibility and efficient use of dues.
We start the membership renewal process in mid-September and get our first renewal applications back in late September. Because your old membership is good until the end of the year, it has been our policy to process renewal applications as quickly as possible upon receipt (sometimes we get as much as three weeks behind, however), but to hold the mailing of the cards for a large, sorted mailing after we process the first crush of renewals.
This mailing is normally done around the first of November and saves the association several thousand dollars compared to sending cards out as they are processed. While this saves us money, it does create consternation among the membership, as evidenced by the number of emails I've received. This procedure has been used for quite a number of years, but this year has generated more complaints than usual.
The question is: is this the result of a change in expectations, a bigger problem than in past years, or simply the increased ease with which members can send off a complaint via email? Then again, does it matter?
If the membership expects better service than we are providing, we had better do something about it. I don't know what the effect of sending out renewal cards in smaller but still sorted batches will be, but I believe that a weekly mailing should be reasonably cost-effective and should meet the reasonable expectations of the members.
If you live on the West Coast, I'd like to remind you of Convention '99 and the IMS in Pasadena. It's not too late to plan to attend. See you there.
Dave Brown AMA President dbrown@dbproducts.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
