Phase 1 SME Member Strategy Study: Final Report

1
Phase 1 SME Member Strategy Study Final Report

• Presented to the SME Member Council
• December 20, 2011

2
Study Goals and Objectives/Methodology

• The study objectives for Phase 1are to
• Identify the awareness patterns of primary SME
  products, services and initiatives.
• Identify, from the portfolio of membership
  products, services and initiatives, which
  specific activities are most essential to the
  decision to join and retain membership in SME.
• Identify how the most important activities should
  be combined into the most logical configuration
  of membership categories.
• Identify similarities and differences by key
  audience for awareness, use, activity and
  membership configuration.
• Data was collected online during August 2011 from
  a sample of SME members and prospects.
• SME provided lists for inviting members and
  non-members to participate.
• As an incentive for participation, respondents
  received a coupon for a 50 discount on the
  purchase of an SME product or service.
• A total of 1976 individuals completed the Phase 1
  survey.

3
Executive Summary

• TURF analysis identifies the products and
  services that attract the widest range of members
  by determining which products appeal to unique
  sub-sets of the market.
• This analysis identifies nine products that, when
  offered in combination, appeal to 70 of the
  market.
• At a minimum, these nine products and services
  should be included in the basic SME member
  package.

4
The sample includes a cross-section of SME
members and prospects.

• The sample is diverse with regard to age, member
  status and market.
• The sample includes sufficient responses to allow
  reporting of results for key segments of interest
• The greatest proportion of study participants are
  engineers
• Higher level professionals comprise 28 of the
  study sample.
• Most participants are Caucasian
• Industry makeup is 35 Target, 22 Core, 39
  Other (educators, consultants, etc)

5
Highest Awareness
Moderate Awareness
Tooling U has relatively low awareness
6
When asked about the top five products/services
motivating membership, results mirror the
individual evaluation process.
But Tooling U among the top 5 importance in the
Decision to Join
7
TURF Analysis Total Unduplicated Reach and
Frequency

• It is a form of statistical analysis useful for
  devising optimal configurations or offerings.
• In this study TURF identifies the products and
  services with most impact on the decision to join
  or retain membership.
• It begins by identifying the product or service
  with appeal to the largest number of
  participants.
• Next, it identifies the product or service that
  will appeal to the largest number of individuals
  who are not attracted by the first offering.
• In the example below ME Magazine has the most
  impact attracting about 39 of the sample
  trade show/expo access is second in impact
  attracting almost 11 (Incremental Lift) who
  would not join for ME Magazine and increasing
  total reach to 49 ( Selected)
• TURF continues identifying the next best
  product or service to offer to attract
  individuals who were not interested in the
  previously identified products/services.
• As more of the sample has indicated interest, the
  incremental lift associated with another
  product or service declines until it becomes
  inconsequential to add more products and services
  to the offer.
• In total, this analysis examined the impact of 24
  SME products and services.

8
For the total sample, the top 9 products and
services attract 70 of the market.

• ME Magazine is most impactful followed by trade
  show/expo access and discounts on Lean
  Certification.
• The incremental impact of the remaining items on
  the list is lower because the first three
  products attract about half the sample.

Higher Performing
9
TURF results differ somewhat between SME members
and non-members.

• The top 10 products/services reach or appeal to
  79 of members.
• In comparison the top 10 account for 59 of
  non-members, as non-members are less inclined to
  join the organization.
• With all 24 products and services considered, 62
  of non-members might join compared to 81 of
  members.

10
TURF results should be considered in conjunction
with motivation/importance data.

• Some products are of importance and motivate
  professionals to join SME but do not appear near
  the top of the TURF analysis.
• This may occur because they appeal to the same
  audience that is interested in another SME
  product or service that has already entered the
  TURF hence the second product is not appealing
  to a unique or unduplicated portion of the target
  market.
• Examples include discounts on certified
  manufacturing technician/engineer programs,
  unlimited online training via webinars and the
  SME annual conference.
• These products and services may still be
  important to include in the basic membership
  package.
• Other products and services that are lower in the
  TURF analysis also score relatively low on
  impacting the decision to join SME.
• Examples in this category include affinity
  program for book summary service, credit card and
  SME store discount and VIP experience at expos
  and conferences.
• SME could consider selling these products and
  services separately at a premium or discontinuing
  them.

11
Tooling U-Specific Conclusions

• Tooling U is not a current member benefit
• Tooling U has low familiarity among the survey
  respondents, yet it came back as a recommended
  addition to the base membership benefits suite
• Tooling U was in the top 10 TURF results for both
  members and non-members, and ranked higher among
  non-members
• Tooling U had higher incremental lift among
  non-members, suggesting its reach is more
  powerful for recruitment at the current level of
  awareness/familiarity