At the end of the day customers care about  the “hole in the wood” and not the “drill”.  They care about the outcome, not how you got there.

What is the “hole in the wood” we offer at 1-ON-1 Connections?  Let us first offer one reference point for the “problem” we are trying to solve. 

For 14 years Marketing General Incorporated has conducted a national survey of member associations/organizations.  

In their 2022 Benchmarking Survey to a sample of 800+ associations, participants could choose up to 3 responses to the question: “What do you believe are the top reasons members join your association?”   The top answer by far at 63% was “Networking with others in the field” with the distant second response being: “Continuing education/professional certification” at 36%

Another question was:  “What do you believe are the top reasons that members do not renew in your organization?”   The top answer at 52% was “Lack of engagement with the organization” with “Lack of value” tying for the second rated response at 34%

Although we know this is not reflective of every organization, the findings are consistent from listening to other organizations we support. 

One of the biggest values an organization can offer to their members is…the members themselves!  The data indicates that renewals are tied to how many relationships a member has in the organization to other members who have added value to their businesses, experiences and lives.  

The speakers, conferences, discounts, curriculum, CE credits and other benefits are all fantastic but what seems to move the needle most is how many other members they know and how they have added value to one another.

The challenge is that members usually meet one another “haphazardly” in organizations via conferences, meetings, small groups, chat boards….or not at all. And there are usually limited resources to do “matchmaking”. 

At 1-ON-1 Connections, this is the problem we are trying to solve. We want to get members engaging and adding value consistently at “scale” to address the ultimate “hole in the wood” which is engagement and retention as a member.

We realized if we could “collide” members together consistently and efficiently based on certain criteria to thicken the “weave” of relationships then the value, and retention, naturally unfolds.

And from direct experience, member organizations often have strained budgets and staffing so we knew it had to be cost-effective and turn-key. That’s why we made it “done-for-you” without any heavy ongoing work required by the organization staff.

As the only fully-managed private label connections program for member organizations and conferences, our objective is to get members/attendees knowing one another better than ever to build stronger relationships to drive experiential value and engagement translating to higher retention and also consumption of the organization’s products, services and programs.

Once we launched 1-ON-1 Connections as a side project to get our own membership organization more connected, word traveled rapidly and now we’re supporting member organizations and conferences globally across Africa, Australia, Europe and the United States with up to 20,000 members.  We utilize the virtual staffing and technology competency of our co-founders to deliver a high-value, turn-key experience.

The program is also designed to help with the retention of sponsors as well. Our platform can be used to make the same connections between members and sponsors. While a transaction may occur if the need is there for the member, we encourage sponsors to use it as an educational and “get to know the members” experience vs a heavy selling effort to build rapport and a relationship. 

In one of our recent launches over 70% of members wanted to meet other members AND sponsors.  It is a game-changer for the value sponsors experience by receiving individual interaction in addition to their logo on materials, a booth at events, etc.

We also serve independent conferences or events put on by member organizations. We found that organizers see value in “colliding” all attendees of a conference many months prior to the event to build relationships and create more engagement at the conference. Imagine if attendees arrived at the event already having met 10 to 20 people via Zoom calls prior to arriving so they already have momentum!  

While there is a great deal more to the program and customization we offer for every Client, below is a high level recap summary of how the program is executed. It’s a simple 4 step process to get it started that is painless, turn-key and managed by our team.

Once you are ready, it’s a simple 4 step process to get it started that is painless, turn-key and managed by our team.

1-ON-1 Connections Program Summary

• It is completely “private label” to your organization. We are not trying to build the “1-ON-1 Connections” brand.  We want your members to feel like you are offering this service to them to add more value to their membership. In fact, some organizations are charging for it as an “add-on” benefit and profit center.  (i.e. for an extra $50 per year you can be part of our 1-ON-1 Acme Association Connections Program)
• No major work required from the organization staff. Our software and staff manage it all.
• To start, all we need from is a list of members and an email account from which our team will handle sending the connections typically once per month “colliding” two members to prompt a meeting. The “connection email” lists each members company, bio, website, LinkedIn profile, and any other data you have to include. We customize the language of the “introduction” email to meet your needs and objectives but will share best practices
• Our proprietary software platform does all the “pairings” so everyone is uniquely matched and is pre-programmed to avoid certain connections (i.e. not pairing current members in existing groups or forums who know one another well. )
• A staff member from our team handles the administration of the program via the email account and only needs a monthly update of members joining or leaving.
• We provide a dashboard report showing stats on connections, open rates, click-through rates and survey results on connection feedback
• To see an “example” of what the 1-ON-1 Connection email looks like between two members just click here

We look forward to working with you to see how we can help strengthen member value and retention for your organization, association or conference!

Want to see a video of how the program works? Click here

Ready to get started and want to have a call with us to learn more? Click here