Managing Your Members Using An Online Self Service Portal

By Author: Victoria Walmsley
Total Articles: 1
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One of the easiest ways to manage your members is to give them the ability to manage their membership themselves. Giving them this responsibility not only saves the membership organisation time and money, but also provides an additional level of value to your membership solution.

The majority of people are used to be able to access the services they use online, and membership organisations should be no exception. Making use of membership software and giving your members access to an online portal can mean that you can let your members ensure their own records up to date, book on events and purchase items, without having to provide the staff resource yourself.

There are many possibilities when offering an online self service portal to members:

Member record management
Ensure contact details, interests and other key facts are up to date and accurate
Provide access to member only information and resources
Based on membership level, you can provide access to specific areas
Enable online membership application
Let ...
... potential members register online, saving you time and money by processing manual applications, or applications via phone
Membership payment
Let members pay for their membership (new or renewals) online. This can be integrated into your finance system which means invoicing, tracking and receipting is done automatically
Accept online donations
A key part of many membership organisations is to accept donations. Making this as easy as possible can help boost this part of the business. Taking donations online is quick, easy and secure

A quality self service membership portal can ensure membership organisations can meet their members needs 24/7. Membership applications, renewals, record updates and event registrations can all be carried out anywhere and at any time, with no direct interaction with any physical member of staff at the membership organisation.

Self service portals can also be used to enable visitors to purchase items and merchandise directly from the member organisation. This type of powerful eCommerce offering allows members, and non-members, the ability to purchase products and services online based upon their individual profile. This can include items such as membership subscriptions, training events, conference places, books, and other member related products.

It’s important to understand that it is no longer just young people who are using online services; it’s people of all ages and all walks of life. In order to maintain your membership base and to remain relevant, it’s important that membership organisations embrace this new, modern way of working. Not only does it add value to the membership experience, but it can save time and money by taking away the need for physical resources; staff members can be redeployed into more meaningful, strategic tasks.

Many membership organisations may worry that they lack the IT skills that an online portal would require. However, there are many membership software solutions on the market today that include self service portals. These solutions come with comprehensive support packages, so that the membership organisation has peace of mind that the membership solution they’ve bought will continue to service their requirements for the foreseeable future.

Silverbear Membership Management software is part of the range of solutions from Silverbear Ltd. Used within societies and membership organisations throughout the UK, it supports businesses to build, define, examine, inform and communicate with existing and potential members.

Silverbear is helping membership organisations on a daily basis. For more information on Silverbear Membership Management solution and the benefits of membership software, visit their website at http://www.silverbearmembership.co.uk, email membership@silverbear.co.uk or call 01483 301 333.