Executive Take: One Question That Matters Most
The relationship between an association and its service provider can make or break the success of a non-dues revenue program. According to PAR’s 2024 Non-Dues Revenue Report, only 11% of respondents said their provider relationship “exceeded expectations.” Clearly, choosing the right partner is critical — and it starts with asking the right questions from the outset. In this month’s edition of Executive Take, we asked three service providers:
What is one question every association should ask of a service provider before beginning a relationship?
"Ask a provider about the landmines and, ‘What are the risks, what are the things I don’t know about the business you're in?’ So, for example, Career Centers can be more volatile than other business lines because there are factors outside of the provider’s and the association's control impacting the success of that business. It could be a legal risk. It could be an implementation risk. Just as you might ask a prospective employee to describe their weaknesses or the things that maybe they're not so good at or worried about, you can do the same thing with a provider and the way they answer that question will tell you a lot about how they approach relationships.”
Jennifer Baker, MSW, CAE
Web Scribble | Association Customer Success Director
“One of the questions I think that it is important to ask is about the implementation process itself. ‘What does that look like? And, what can you as the association do to ensure that that's going to go as smoothly as possible?’ That's going to help make sure you've aligned the right resources on your side and that the right people on your end are thinking ahead to what's going to be needed. I think there's a lot of times when providers find that the folks who are getting things passed off to them have not been super involved in any of the conversations leading up to the sale. And that can be almost a whole new reselling, fixing of expectations, worries about job responsibilities, etc. that needs to get managed. I think it also helps you understand if the provider has thought through what a good implementation experience is going to be. Because, again, this is one of those moments where things can go wrong. It’s change. Different people are now going to be involved. Everywhere I've ever worked, after the sale, the implementation always seems to be the trickiest thing… I think asking some questions about that and being prepared for that is really important before you sign anything.”
Carrie McIntyre
Navigate CES LLC | Principal
Matchbox | Chief Revenue Officer
"I think the most important question for an association to ask if they were going to hire our team would be, ‘Who's going to own the success of this partnership?’ It is expected that when you're entering into any relationship, you're going to be working across multiple stakeholders within an organization. But, there has to be ownership of that relationship and of that process that really does live with someone to manage internal conversations and organization alignment or whatever it might be. I think that's one of the most important questions.”
Brittany Shoul
MCI USA | Senior Vice President, Revenue Strategy & Operations
Editorial Note: These answers were part of a broader conversation conducted by PAR's Director of Content, Carolyn Shomali, as part of a panel discussion for the Association Tech Expert Series hosted by Fonteva and Protech. You can watch the entire recording here of the virtual workshop, Secrets to Success: What Your Association Service Providers Want You to Know.