10 questions modern associations need to ask before choosing an ams
TRANSCRIPT
Copyright © 2014 MemberSuite. All rights reserved.
1. Why Do I Need an AMS?2. How Do I Choose?3. How Do I Implement?4. How Long Does It Take?5. How Can I Customize?6. What Can I Upload & Download?7. Who Sees What?8. Will It Grow With Me?9. Who Will Hold My Hand?10.What’s My Ongoing Relationship?
1. Why Do I Need an AMS?
Imagine having all the technical
functionality to manage your
membership engagement at
your fingertips.
An AMS allows you to automate your
backend processes, including maintaining
your membership database and
communicating across the entire
association, in one web-based system
instead of using spreadsheets.
2. How Do I Choose?
The goal of an AMS is to give you freedom from the mundane tasks.
You’ll want to look at the different modules:
• Membership engagement
• Collecting dues
• Renewals
• Conferences/event registration
• Continuing education
These can all be managed within an AMS, the
best fit depends on the size of your
association’s membership.
3. How Do I Implement
Typically implementation is done
in a series of phases, with the
number of phases depending on
the amount of modules your
organization implements.
Some associations choose to implement over
phases, and others decide to go-live with a
core set of functionality, launching after
phase one and waiting to implement other
modules as their organization is ready.
4. How Long Does It Take?
On average, it takes three to
six months depending on the
features you need customized
in your specific modules.
The most efficient way to implement your
new software is to ensure your executive
team agrees on the requirements and
scope of the project before implementation
starts. Most AMS providers adhere to the
modern model of software delivery.
5. How Can I Customize? You want to be innovative and
serve your members, so your
AMS should be flexible to meet
your needs.
If you have thousands of members renewing
annually, you’ll need a system that can
incorporate auto-renewals. Stop wrestling
with the python of inflexible products and get
ready for membership management software
that was built for you.
6. What Can I Upload & Download?
If you don’t already have an
AMS, your provider should be
able to upload all the data from
your existing spreadsheets.
If you have an old AMS, your new
professional services team should be able
to do the data migration, import it from all
kinds of different systems, then QA the
data to ensure it’s correct. You should be
able to bulk import any record into the
system and also export any amount of
data out of the system.
7. Who Sees What?
Since your AMS runs in the cloud,
providing a service to multiple levels
of your association on one platform,
you can set permissions for what your
members, staff, or officers can access.
For example, what your members see on your
website to register for an event should seamlessly
integrate with your internal back-end system used
to set up the event registration.
8. Will It Grow With Me?
You’ll want to find an AMS
provider whose software can
scale as your association grows.
Use software that was made with you in
mind. Find a modern solution that gives
you the flexibility you need to serve your
membership this year and in the years to
come.
9. Who Will Hold My Hand?
Modern technology companies
call their client services team
“Customer Success” for a good
reason.
From implementation to support, the
AMS you implement has to be
successful. Your members will
acknowledge how slick your new
software is, plus your staff will be
able to operate more efficiently.
10. What’s My Ongoing Relationship? After you’re up and running on your
AMS, you shouldn’t be left alone.
Your Customer Success Manager will check in
with you regularly, providing technology support
and additional training.
When it comes time to renew your AMS
subscription, you’ll have a chance to upgrade
your technology to fit the new requirements of
your association.
In Conclusion – How Did You Answer?
Do you have an AMS which answers all of
these questions, or is there an essential
piece that’s missing?
MemberSuite’s AMS comes equipped with dozens of
modules, a fully-customizable platform, and a
dedicated professional services team who can provide
your association with techonology for the future.
MemberSuite is changing the way modern
associations do business.
Request a demo of our technology today atwww.MemberSuite.com