The Best Day of Your Old System is the First Day of Your New System
If your AMS isn’t doing what you need it to, there’s really no worth in it. There are so many ways a member management system can weigh your association down – slowing processes to a halt or causing duplications of effort. Fortunately, and conversely, with the right AMS solution (and provider), your administrators and members will be empowered to accomplish things more efficiently and with greater ease.
Frankly, the only good experience you’ll have with a solution that isn’t meeting your association’s needs is when you kick it to the curb and implement an AMS that allows your administrators to fire on all cylinders.
Here are a few of the positive impacts you’ll notice immediately when switching from a system that’s getting in your way to one that optimizes your efforts.
- Bespoke
- Let’s get something out of the way right off the bat – your AMS solution customizes to meet your needs, not the other way around. Whatever system you implement, it should fit like a well-tailored suit – or as the saying goes, like a glove. When you get into a solution that is bespoke to match the needs of your administrators and members, you will revel at the fact you ever put up with anything less. It’s funny how we can laugh at our past troubles when we are in better times. This will certainly be the case when you scrap an ill-fitting AMS for one that is made-to-measure. Keep in mind, you invest in a member management system to strengthen your association’s ability to accomplish its current initiatives and future goals. If your AMS isn’t doing its part to make that so, there’s no need to suffer that insufficiency. You’ll never look back once you have a solution that feels like it was made purposely for your association.
- Adaptable
- Your association isn’t an unchanging entity. It moves and shifts with the times – it follows the industry it serves. To evolve successfully, your AMS needs to adapt with you. This is one of the biggest pitfalls associations run into with their solution. Some unforeseen circumstance changes the way they need to do things and instead of being able to react quickly, they lag behind because their AMS doesn’t have the same get-up-and-go as they do. That’s unacceptable. Your association isn’t static, so it makes no sense for your AMS solution to be either.
- Backed
- This one is huge and probably the aspect you will notice most as an incredibly positive change when moving from a faltering AMS to an empowering one. Your solution should be fully backed and supported by the provider. You know that feeling when someone takes a big blanket fresh out of the dryer and wraps it around you – that’s how taken care of you’ll feel when you clearly see (through their words and actions) how your provider will stand behind you and their solution to make sure it works as it should. The worst day of your old AMS is the day there are technical issues with the system and the provider won’t support your members with a resolution – leaving your administrators to troubleshoot something they do not (nor should not) have the expertise to solve. It’s a pretty used and jilted feeling when your investment in a solution doesn’t even buy you end-user support when difficulties occur. However, when you get away from that toxic relationship, and enter into one where the provider cares about you, your members and that their solution empowers you to succeed – that’s just plain comforting. When a service is rolled out and continually supported by the provider (i.e., the way things should be), all past trials can be forgotten.
- Transparent
- Speaking of the provider, when moving from an inadequate AMS to an effective solution, you’ll notice a distinct difference in demeanour from the prevailing provider. They’ll be forthwith with information, and open and honest when you inquire about this or that. You won’t feel uncertain about how something is going to go or in the dark on how a particular feature is supposed to function. Here’s a novel idea – you’ll feel… informed. What’s more, you won’t have to fight tooth and nail to feel like you know what’s going on. The provider will offer up whatever you need to know voluntarily. Your new transparent provider will have you wondering, “why did we live in the dark for so long?”.
- Resourceful
- In your old system, you were bound to a few features and that was it. You wished you could provide your membership with more but you were forced to outsource – driving your members elsewhere. Now, with your new AMS, the resources you can provide include e-learning courses, event management tools, seminar platforms, and much more. Instead of having to send members away, you’re now keeping them in your association’s environment – which is exactly what you want.
- Unlimited
- Insufficient solutions are limited in what they can do and, by virtue of that reality, limit your association’s performance and growth. Conversely, a comprehensive AMS that is supported by a collaborative and dedicated provider is only limited by your imagination. The truth is, the proper solution can be made to do anything (short of making pigs fly) if your association knows what it needs to realize its goals. In a world where your AMS can be what you need it to be at any given time, you’ll question why you’d ever have put up with limitations.
There are so many reasons why implementing the right AMS will make you realize how hindered you were under the regime of a lesser solution. However, you won’t reminisce on those past difficulties too long as you’ll be too busy being empowered to achieve the success you want through the AMS solution you deserve.
Guild is an AMS solution that upholds a high standard of customization, adaptability, and provider support and transparency. If you’d like to learn more about how Guild can make you wonder why you ever did things differently, or if you’d like to schedule a live demo of the solution, click here.
