Defining a strategy for recruitment and retention

As one of Australia's leading membership organisations and the only independent representative of over thirty thousand highly trained medical professionals, our client faced a significant opportunity to grow its membership base as the industry experiences double digit growth in new specialists entering the profession. However, new government legislation forcing a compulsory national registration of practitioners meant the organisation faced the unparalleled challenge to its long term relevance and security...

What was the question?

In the context of new competitive threats and opportunities, what marketing and communications strategy should be adopted to ensure member recruitment and retention?

What was the approach?

• Assessment of the market threats, opportunities and industry best practice case studies
• Planning, implementation and analysis of the largest independent survey of members and non-members, evaluating member satisfaction, member needs and gaps in current offering and future priorities
• Conducting a program of internal interviews to determine organisational vision and gain cross division stakeholder buy-in
• Conducting a program of external interviews to understand the intricacies of member needs, current reputation and test future positioning
• Segmenting the membership database to determine actionable customer segments, their value, volume, common and unique needs

What was the outcome?

• Our research and analysis indicated that there was an urgent need to regain focus on the organisation's charter of 'serving the interests of members'. This included the importance of services to be tailored around specific member needs
• A suite of actionable recommendations included a clear and unifying proposition to all members and unique propositions to specific segments
• In addition a set of phased marketing initiatives, plans and budgets were developed around a series of objectives consistent with building the proposition, capturing expected growth in member numbers and defending their unique market position.