MAPPING THE PATH TO SUSTAINABLE & PROFITABLE
ENGAGEMENT©
How to
Become
Indispensable
To your
Members &
Other
Stakeholders
1
FROM RE-MAPPING YOUR
LANDSCAPE
TO BECOMING
INDISPENSABLE TO
MEMBERS & OTHER
CUSTOMERS
• Market foresight does not
automatically translate into
relevance & engagement.
• The latter takes place on the
level of insight into people
and human relationships and
is key to 21st century
leadership. It is also the piece
most neglected in association
management theory and
practice
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BUILDING A DEMAND-CENTERED
ARCHITECTURE FOR RELEVANCE IN
THE MARKET PLACE

Our research shows that there are four
pivots to customer connection and
value that, if executed, are “game
changers” for an organization and,
hence, critical for leadership decisionmaking:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Constructing a winning value proposition
and basis of competitive advantage
Moving relationships from the periphery
to the center; understanding and
engaging customers continuously and on
a much deeper level than ever before
Re-thinking & reconceptualizing the
fundamentals of your business from the
demand perspective
Solutions-based products, services and
growth strategies
3
WINNING VALUE PROPOSITION &
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
4
#1
The foundational piece of your
architecture
WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?

“I don’t know what I’d do without VIN. I just don’t think I
could run a successful practice without them”

Every day there are over 500 active message board discussions
ongoing between VINners.



I simply would never have muster up the courage to walk into a
gym, full of fit people—let alone spend money I don’t have—if it
wasn’t for Planet Fitness
When it comes to relaxing over a cup of coffee with a friend; or
work on a report in the comfort of a warm environment and a
fresh cup of coffee--it is always Starbucks.
Mexico’s construction industry is thriving because many
debilitating obstacles to builders’ success have been
removed—from problems with delivery and workforce gaps to
those involving distributors, suppliers lack of skills.
5
WHY DID THESE ORGANIZATIONS
SUCCEED?
6
•
Thinking from the perspective of the customer
•
Defining value by outcomes vs. promises
“Couldn’t live without VIN”
VALUE PROP: COLLABORATIVE, “ONE-STOP SHOPPING”
COMMUNITY FOR A SPECIFIC MARKET SEGMENT


Those who don't "know" VIN, likely think VIN is a web site. But VIN members
(VINners) quickly recognize that…VIN is much more than a web site.
VIN is a place. VIN is home to over 42,000 colleagues.
Like many "sites on the web", VIN has lots of features…Much more than
the sum of its parts ("features"), VIN provides, for the first time in the
history of our profession, what no other organization or service has been able
to. Simply stated, VIN's greatest accomplishments are:

Bringing together veterinarians "world-wide" as colleagues

Bringing instant access to vast amounts of up-to-date veterinary information to
colleagues

Bringing instant access to "breaking news" that affects veterinarians, their patients
and their practice

Bringing easy access to colleagues who have specialized knowledge and skills

Making CE - continuing education - available EVERY day

Empowering our profession…we veterinarians have traditionally worked alone or in
small groups with little contact with colleagues….
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“Would not be
going to the gym
if not for Planet
YOU BELONG!
Fitness”
LOW-COST, NO FRILLS, COMFORTABLE
ENVIRONMENT FOR NON “GYM EXPERTS”
We at Planet Fitness are here to provide a unique
environment in which anyone—and we mean
anyone—can be comfortable. A diverse,
judgment Free Zone where a lasting, active
lifestyle can be built. Our product is a tool, a
means to an end; not a brand name or a moldmaker, but a tool that can be used by anyone.
In the end, it’s about you. As we evolve and
educate ourselves, we will seek to perfect this
sage, energetic environment, where everyone feels
accepted and respected. We are not here to kiss
your butt, only to kick it if that’s what you need.
8
“WHEN I THINK OF
CONNECTION:
THE SOCIAL EXPERIENCE
SOCIALIZING OR WORKING
OVER A CUP OF COFFEE, IT’S
ALWAYS STARBUCKS’
OF DRINKING COFFEE
STARBUCKS. It happens millions of times each week—
a customer receives a drink from a Starbucks barista but each interaction is unique.
It’s just a moment in time – just one hand reaching over
the counter to present a cup to another outstretched
hand.
But it’s a connection.
We make sure everything we do honors that
connection—from a commitment to the highest quality
coffee in the world to the way we engage with our
customer and communicate to do business responsibly
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Removing all
obstacles to
success
PROVIDING
FLEXIBLE
BUILDING SOLUTIONS:
VALUE AT ALL POINTS OF THE VALUE
NETWORK TO POSITION THE INDUSTRY FOR THE
FUTURE


Our aim is to help our customers solve their
building challenges… We strive to create value for
our customers by focusing on more vertically
integrated building solutions rather than
separate products.
We constantly adapt to our customers’ needs
through innovative products and financing
schemes, providing them with solutions for
the challenges they face in their specific
market and business climate.
10
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE
ASSOCIATIONS’ PERCEPTION & DEFINITION OF
VALUE?
From “About AVMA”

Who We Are: The AVMA is a
not-for-profit association…[with]
more than 84,000 veterinarians

Governance

The AVMA Foundation

Student AVMA (SAVMA)

Allied Organizations

AVMA Store (Products)
Members’ Perception: Nice to
attend their conference, read
journal, attend event etc.
(declining membership)
From “Why Join VIN”

As a VIN member (VINner), you are
part of the largest group practice in the
world.
 VINners are up-to-date and
informed. VINners access a daily
veterinary newspaper….[and] a broad
range of sources ….including message
boards where veterinarians , worldwide, share their knowledge and
experiences every day.
 VINners have instant and easy
access to the most comprehensive
searchable online source for veterinary
information.
 VINners can conveniently access
high quality, comprehensive CE
classes from the comfort of their home 11
or office everyday.
Members’ perception: can’t live
without it (steadily rising
AVMA: the association
itself; generic statements
& products
VIN: the customer; specific,
customized solutions that
enable specific outcomes
daily
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VALUE PROPOSITION VS. HYPE
BLUEPRINT FOR IDENTIFYING YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION
AND BASIS FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE & BUSINESS
MODEL

Value propositions are NOT about you but about your customers’
perception and experience of the value they derive from you

You don’t make them up. You discover them & interpret them





They represent the reason a customer should purchase your
product or service over any number of competitors or online
sources: You must be prepared to answer, no only “what’s in it for me?” but
“why buy from you?”
Credibility: Why should your claims be believed in the face of so
much competition? Consumers are weary of all the hype surrounding
them. What you are asking or claiming must not exceed what you are able
to offer and enable. This is why broad, generic claims are inadequate to
differentiate you and build credibility.
Outcomes: Value proposition is not about what you have but about the
outcomes you enable. What outcomes do you want your customers to derive
from your services?
Think of identifying and communicating your value proposition as
an on-going conversation with your various customers—not a sales pitch
or statement
Value propositions must translate into competitive advantage and
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#
Demand-Centric approaches mean that you:
•
Assess the market and develop programs and organizations by
working backward—from the market and customer to the
association, rather than from the association to the market.
•
Shift relationships from periphery to center; take the time to
understand members/customers as whole persons— not just in
terms of their relationships with your association
•
Have the ability to extract what matters the most to them,
rather than take at face value literal answers to questions; and
“reconstruct” how they make sense of the world through their
values, motivations, daily routines, experience of the problems
that keep them up at night.
•
Understand the context for customers’ actions and decisions
both on a daily level and within the larger demand and value
networks.
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#2
FROM INSIDE-OUT TO OUTSIDEIN
Seeing the world through your
customers’ eyes
DISCOVER
SOLUTIONS REQUIRE DEEPER LEVELS OF UNDERSTANDING
& ENGAGEMENT
Factual
understanding
Strategic
understanding:
environment,
trends, issues
Context as
experienced by
customer (daily
work
relationships,
business)
What is implied
vs. what is said;
what matters
most (values,
motivations,
thought)
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LEVELS OF DISCOVERY
Level 1: Listening (passive;
information-driven)
 Level 2: Understanding (ability to
interpret and go beyond what is being
said)
 Level 3: Empathy (ability to think like
your customers; see the world from their
perspective. No more “we” and “they.”

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Redefine
Engagement
& the Paths to
it.
DON’T CONFUSE ENGAGEMENT
MEMBER PARTICIPATION OR
UTILIZATION OF BENEFITS
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WITH
Engagement is how people choose to get value from the user
experiences [your organization]enables. Engagement
represents the purposeful choices users make to get what
they want. Engagement is smack at the intersection of
commanding attention and taking action.” (Michael Schrage
on mobile devices)
Outcome-oriented engagement is not merely
participation. It requires an entirely new level of
understanding of customers as whole persons—not only in
terms of their relationships to your association—and in the
larger context of activities, factors, relationships and industries
#3
RE-THINK
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the fundamentals of your
business from your customers’
perspective as if your
association did not exist
THE STORY OF
CEMEX (CEMENT MANUFACTURING)
Assumptions of “Old Cemex”


Understanding of
customers: assumed
same values as company’s
culture of engineers that
valued precision
Definition of their
business: produce and
deliver on time quality
cement
Value proposition
Dependability,
quality & timely
delivery
20
The “New CEMEX:”
Revising Assumptions


How construction
managers defined their
problems: getting
cement, and other building
materials, when they
needed them within their
chaotic and unpredictable
nature of construction.
Re-definition of the
nature of their
business: from orderly
delivery by CEMEX’
schedule to crisis
management; from cement
producers to emergency
respondents and solutions
providers
New Value
Proposition
Customized and
flexible building
solutions rather
than separate
products.
21
IMPLICATIONS FOR THE WAY CEMEX CONDUCTED
BUSINESS AND PLANNED FOR THE FUTURE



Where it Looked for Models of “Best Practices”
 Emergency departments; fire stations; police stations
Shifts in Business & operational models
 Technology shifts into core business and basis of customer solutions: A
state of the art delivery service that makes highly innovative uses of
technology to offer customers the ease of receiving products whenever
they need them and customize their schedules (24/7 LOAD®)
New directions for solutions-based growth:
 Looking for solutions led them to launch new businesses--especially
financial and training organizations; focus intensively on community
outreach & development; and form coalitions of suppliers and
distributors.
What can be applied: As you look for your next phase of growth
do not simply look at vertical markets or only in terms of
expanding current categories. Consider relationship along
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value networks that increase the success of core customers and
might suggest new lines of business
# 4
CONVERT CUSTOMER INSIGHTS INTO
SOLUTIONS
Solutions
-based
products,
services
and
growth
strategies
23
SOLUTION:
ACCESS
Insight: “Top of mind ”
problems
Getting to details of motives,
daily routines & context

Vets could not afford to
subscribe to many journals
They were frustrated that by
the time information was
published it was outdated
As most vets are generalists,
they urgently needed
immediate access to trusted,
specialist advice depending upon
a few local boarded specialists or
"mavens.”

Instant and easy access
to research through
state-of –the-art use of
technology; entire system
of developing
consultants; capturing
conversations;
aggregating, organizing
and creating multiple
paths to knowledge
Access to thousands of
colleagues (generalists
and specialists) and to
VIN’s specialist
consultants.
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SOLUTION:
CONVENIENCE,
CUSTOMIZATION
Insight: “Top of mind”
problem

Understanding
priorities from the
perspective of the
member

No time or budget to
take CE courses that
were only offered very
few times annually and
at distant locations
Making CE continuing education available EVERY day
through the many
searchable and
interactive resources
on VIN,
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Solution:
Holistic, outcome-oriented
community
 Creating
Insight: “Top of mind”
problem
Understanding &
addressing the primary root
of the various problems
• Isolation from resources,
events like conferences;
peer support
• “We veterinarians have
traditionally worked alone
or in small groups with little
contact with colleagues.”
virtually the largest
veterinary practice in the
world in which vets could be
at the hub of conversations
and ideas that influence their
field; access all resources
they needed when they
needed them; and benefit
from peer support.
26
SOLUTIONS-DRIVEN BENEFITS AND GROWTH: CEMEX
IMPROVING CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS AT ALL POINTS OF THE VALUE
NETWORK
Problem
Solution
Chaotic, unpredictable construction
schedules
On demand delivery via an ATMlike Bulk Cement Dispatch System
Competency gaps/quality lapses
Educational and Training Services
on the use of building materials in
several of the countries where CEMEX
operates
•
.
Needs for market development so that
industry could flourish
Difficulty for small companies to get
financing and grow
Construction financing through a
number of innovative programs and
partnerships that CEMEX has set up
Workforce needs
High school apprenticeship
programs for construction workers
and cement specialists
Threat of being taken over by chains
faced by distributors
Construrama® partnership that offers
their cement distributor network an 27
alternative: “to offer customers an
extensive range of brand-name products
GROWTH BY DELIVERING VALUE TO ALL
POINTS OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS AND
EXPERIENCE


In the UK has invested US$5.5 million in a new
cement bagging plant at its Rugby plant site in
Warwickshire. The new plant has been built following
extensive customer consultation, with many
customers wanting the option of cement in plastic or
paper bags.”
CEMEX does not see the customer only as the enduser and purchaser, but in terms of a continuum of
experiences before, during and after the purchase. Its
role is not just to manufacture the product but to
provide solutions that increase the value of the
product at every stage of this continuum.
http://demandperspective.com/2012/02/05/the-care-and-feeding-of-your-memberslearning-from-a-manufacturing-innovator/
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RESULTS FOR CEMEX’ NEW BASIS OF
COMPETITIVENESS & VALUE
PROPOSITION

Growth into a global industry leader





Annual sales of US$15.1 billion
One of the leading cement manufacturers in the
world
World's leading supplier of ready-mix concrete, and
one of the world's largest suppliers of aggregates
One of the world's top traders of cement and clinker
Close to 44,000 employees worldwide
Expansion through successful acquisitions
around the world & diversification
 Workforce growth
 Industry health
 Mexico’s increased competitiveness

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