The Delta Media P.R. Clinic

Successful Communications in Anxious Times

By Bernard Gauthier, MA

As I write this, the world economy is undergoing one of its most serious declines in a century, unemployment rates are creeping up and consumer confidence is crashing back to earth after a decade of ascent. This would well qualify, it seems to me, as a time of anxiety – anxiety that could severely challenge the success of your members and, by extension, your association.

Anxious times call for a very different approach to communication. As you plan for the year ahead, be sure your communications with members consistently feature three key qualities: empathy, value and leadership.

Empathy: Your members need to know the association understands what they are going through at this time. Now more than ever, you need to listen carefully to their concerns, issues and questions and reflect these in the messages you send them. Messages that either ignore or are ignorant of the challenges your members face run the real risk of alienating them at a time when every one of their dollars counts. This brings us to the second quality you should strive to communicate in 2009…

Value: Because each of your client’s dollars will seem more valuable and each decision to spend will be given more thought, you need to ensure your members clearly understand and appreciate the ways they benefit from their membership. Your association needs to become very clear about its value proposition to members: how does their membership in your association give them more of what they want in their lives (i.e. money, time, growth, security) and less of what they do not want (i.e. taxes, isolation, interference)? Your value proposition messages need to be crisp, clear, to the point and – most of all – entirely relevant to your members and prospective members. Anything less may lead them to wonder why they spend their money on membership in the first place.

Leadership: In anxious times, people are drawn to individuals and organizations who have a clear plan to overcome the challenges at hand and who are able to communicate real confidence that their plan will work. A solid plan, confidence and communications skills are all the mark of leadership and that’s precisely what your members expect from your association this year. Take the time to communicate your plans with them and ensure (see my point above) they understand how the plan is designed to benefit them. Don’t be reluctant to express confidence in your plan, even in the face of the very real challenges the association might be facing. Most of all, as you reach out to communicate empathy, value and leadership, be sure to create opportunities to listen as your members respond to your messages and look for more information.

Anxious times are not at all the same as times of crisis, and they require a very different, more open and more proactive approach. Anxious times do have one thing in common with crises, however: investing the time and resources now to get the communications right can yield significant and lasting improvements to your association’s relationships with members.

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