Associations have three options for providing continuing education (CE). They can send their members to third-party learning sites or host their programs. Or they can offer both.
Some associations send members to third-party sites such as Vocalmeet review to complete their CE courses. These sites are convenient and affordable.
But associations that send their members to learning sites risk doing more harm than good.
We’ll examine why you might want to reconsider directing your family members away.
1. You are missing out on important member engagement opportunities.
Other communication channels. Members sent to learning sites by third parties decrease their engagement with your association. They are less likely to visit your site (their courses don’t exist).
By sending your member to another site, you inadvertently restrict their ability to interact and communicate with your association.
Remember that associations are often attracted to members for their professional development opportunities.
These are things you should not be providing yourself. Communicating with them and keeping them informed about your initiatives is difficult. This can lead to member loss!
2. You are missing out on revenue.
Your association is losing a lot of revenue potential if your members enrol in courses on third-party sites.
Your audience is being directed away from your website and any other revenue streams to your site into the hands of an unaffiliated entity.
The opportunity for cross-selling and upselling products and services to your members is then available to these other organizations. Some of these may even overlap with your offerings.
It is important not to discount the convenience of being able to buy multiple products from one platform.
Think about this: Would you rather buy multiple products from different sites or one?
Your members will find it easier to shop at one location, and your association will be able to sell more products if you can cross-sell.
3. You are losing valuable data.
Your association loses valuable data when members enrol in courses on third-party online learning sites. It is vital to gather useful data, such as which courses have been taken, how members are doing, and how satisfied they are, to understand the needs and wants of your members and how you can best cater to them in future. This could help you improve your services.
Information is important for a reason. Analytics is not to be underestimated. They can help you identify areas that need improvement and provide insight into what makes your products more successful.
4. You’re sacrificing quality.
Although it may sound cliché to say that quality is more important than quantity, this fact holds here.You have no control over how the courses are delivered to your members when they take them on third-party eLearning websites. Your members may be receiving low-quality or even incorrect courses. They may be taking courses that don’t meet their needs.Third-party programs are often designed to reach the largest audience. They may not offer courses that meet the specific needs of your members.You know your members better than anyone. So when it comes time to offer quality content relevant to your members, it makes no sense to send them elsewhere.
