Road to Relevance: 5 Strategies for Competitive Associations

Based on their book, Road to Relevance: 5 Strategies for Competitive Associations, and their work with over 1,400 organizations, best selling authors Harrison Coerver and Mary Byers, CAE provide an introduction and overview designed to help you take the conversation about relevance to the next level. You will learn about associations that have successfully adopted the strategies, gain insight into how to do the same for yours, and get valuable handouts and worksheets designed to aid you on your journey.

There are five interlocking strategies on the Road to Relevance. Understanding all five—and how they work together—is essential for today's association staff and volunteer leaders. The concepts are simple, yet powerful, and help create a sustainable, efficient, and relevant association. Though each module provides a stand-alone look at one of the five strategies, together they present a road map for staff and volunteers, allowing you to operate more effectively in a highly competitive environment.

By viewing the series, you'll:

    • Gain insight regarding competition and how it's changing the future of associations
    • Understand the role of “profit" in a not-for-profit environment
    • Learn how business strategies have positively affected other associations
    • Identify strategies designed to help increase your association's value proposition
    • Hear from two of the leading thought leaders in association management
    • Receive complimentary access to the capstone webcast at the end of these five modules

    The Road to Relevance series has been carefully designed to accommodate your busy schedule. Each strategy is covered in a 60-minute program to be watched at your convenience. Each module may be viewed a total of three times at no additional charge so that you can share with staff and your volunteer leaders.

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      The Road to Relevance starts with identifying and building on your strengths. To do so, however, you have to know what they are. Join us for an in-depth discussion on how to identify your strengths, the importance of matching strength with opportunity and case studies from associations who have successfully deployed this strategy.

      Based on their book, Road to Relevance: 5 Strategies for Competitive Associations, and their work with over 1,400 organizations, best selling authors Harrison Coerver and Mary Byers, CAE provide an introduction and overview designed to help you take the conversation about relevance to the next level.

      Strategy #1 Build on Strengths

      What are your strengths? You need to understand them in order to build on them. This in-depth session takes a look at possible strengths, helps you identify yours and explores how knowing them will lead to focus and clarity in your future financial and human resource decision making. You'll get a list of questions to help you discover your strengths as well as a matrix to help you match your strengths with opportunity.

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      Bill Gates attributes his success to the fact that he “focused in on a few things.” This strategy is powerful for your association as you go through the process of deciding where to focus your energy, expertise and financial resources in order to get the biggest return on investment for your members.

      Based on their book, Road to Relevance: 5 Strategies for Competitive Associations, and their work with over 1,400 organizations, best selling authors Harrison Coerver and Mary Byers, CAE provide information designed to help you take the conversation about relevance to the next level.

      Strategy #2: Concentrate Resources

      Focus is the act of channeling an organization's energy and activity on a central point. Focus doesn't just happen. It takes analysis and judgment. It takes discipline. And once you have it, losing focus is easy. This in-depth session will help you identify where competition is coming from today and why it's important to concentrate resources as a result. It will help begin to think about where your association should be concentrating its resources and how to go about doing it. This session includes a Competitive Analysis Matrix for your use with your association.

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      Are your programs and services the result of a carefully planned portfolio of offerings—or the result of years and years of adding here and there? We bet it’s the latter. If so, this session will help you identify action steps to create better synergy in the future.

      Based on their book, Road to Relevance: 5 Strategies for Competitive Associations, and their work with over 1,400 organizations, best selling authors Harrison Coerver and Mary Byers, CAE provide information designed to help you take the conversation about relevance to the next level.

      Strategy #3: Integrating Programs & Services

      Few associations have a cohesive, well-thought out mix of programs and services that are purposefully integrated and that complement and reinforce each other. Scarce is the association with a menu of products and services that takes advantage of synergy. But lack of synergy means more difficulty in marketing programs and services and less traction when it comes to being the “go to" resource in your industry or profession. This session will help you understand “fit," recognize the value of suites of services, and get ideas regarding what to do with programs that don't fit. This session includes a handout designed to help you figure out “fit" for your programs and services and to identify the “orphans" that don't fit.

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      Associations are a living example of “we’ve always done it this way.” Unfortunately, in today’s competitive environment, “this way” may actually be making it harder for you to compete effectively and affecting the quality of the products and services you are delivering. Get a simple template for starting process discussions in your association in order to break through bottlenecks, road blocks and obstacles to providing an outstanding value proposition for members.

      Based on their book, Road to Relevance: 5 Strategies for Competitive Associations, and their work with over 1,400 organizations, best selling authors Harrison Coerver and Mary Byers, CAE provide information designed to help you take the conversation about relevance to the next level.

      Strategy #4 Aligning People & Processes Efficiently

      To be competitive, an association cannot afford to be inefficient. It cannot misuse or squander resources in ways that don't add value. Like elite athletes, associations are going to have to be in top shape and perform with maximum efficiency to ensure success and relevancy in the future. How can you do this? Learn about “value stream mapping" and how it leads to increases in productivity and efficiency and possible cost-savings for your association. Hear case studies of associations that have increased their turn-around time for members and saved as much at $250,000 as a result of process alignment.

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      Associations are a living example of “we’ve always done it this way.” Unfortunately, in today’s competitive environment, “this way” may actually be making it harder for you to compete effectively and affecting the quality of the products and services you are delivering. Get a simple template for starting process discussions in your association in order to break through bottlenecks, road blocks and obstacles to providing an outstanding value proposition for members.

      Based on their book, Road to Relevance: 5 Strategies for Competitive Associations, and their work with over 1,400 organizations, best selling authors Harrison Coerver and Mary Byers, CAE provide information designed to help you take the conversation about relevance to the next level.

      Strategy #5: Purposeful Abandonment

      The average association creates value by adding things rather than creating valuable things. Has this been your operating philosophy in the past? If so, this session will teach you a methodical process of identifying what should stay—and what should be eliminated from your portfolio of services. You'll learn how to get buy-in from leadership, how to decide what to eliminate and how to create a compelling vision for staff and leaders in order to make the process easier.

    Contact Mary

    13120 SW Seaport Avenue
    Port St. Lucie, FL 34987

    Phone: 217.414.2989

    Website: MaryByers.com

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    About Mary

    Mary helps associations remain relevant in an increasingly competitive environment. The author of Race for Relevance: 5 Radical Changes for Associations and Road to Relevance: 5 Strategies for Competitive Associations, she’s worked with a wide variety of associations (both individual membership and trade groups) and helps volunteer leaders and staff alike create a viable and sustainable future. Learn more here.