Annual Membership Fees Boosted by £142k 

OUR CLIENT IS A PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION THAT REPRESENTS THOSE IN THE COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY PROFESSION. THEY REPRESENT MORE THAN 30,000 MEMBERS IN THE UK & ARE THE LEADING PROFESSIONAL BODY IN THEIR FIELD.

FIND OUT HOW WE HELPED THEM BOOST ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEES BY MORE THAN £142K.

WHAT THEY NEEDED

Our client, a professional association in the counselling and psychotherapy field, faced a unique challenge. They needed to introduce a new public register of accredited counsellors, a move that was crucial for field regulation and public protection. However, this required existing association members to join the register, a task that was not without its difficulties.

Existing communications had been successful in persuading most members to act. However, they still needed to contact the remaining ‘hardest to reach’ members, who accounted for about 10 to 15 per cent of their revenue.

Depending on their status, members had to prove they had the prerequisite qualifications for the register, sign the terms and conditions and/or undertake an assessment. As this was the last two months of a two-year project, contacting this subgroup of customers was proving problematic in cases where they had been unreachable.

Given that some of the members had been practising for decades, we approached new register communications with the utmost sensitivity. Our aim was to ensure customers didn’t feel alienated but understood the necessity of the change. We respected their concerns and provided a platform for them to voice their reasons for not joining beforehand. There was a high risk of these members not joining at all – engaging with them before our client’s deadline was crucial.

WHAT WE DID

We worked as an integrated part of our client’s overall multi-channel communications programme. Alongside our calling activity, our client sent out emails and direct mailshots to their customers. We worked with them to follow up on this activity and provide an additional channel to reach their members.

By conducting an in-depth workshop with our client and the calling team, we quickly got to grips with any pressing issues. This allowed us to engage with members on a wide range of topics. We could answer questions and queries about the introduction of the register, the assessment format, registration, terms and conditions. We could book individuals onto assessments, check if existing qualifications were sufficient and send out T&Cs by post or email.

Our calling campaign helped relieve pressure on our client’s customer service team, which was overwhelmed with volume of calls about the new register. Blueberry stepped in to ease the pressure, becoming the first point of contact and registration guide for many members. Our dedicated team of callers handled all queries, ensuring consistency and accuracy throughout the campaign.

WHAT WE ACHIEVED

As a result of our work, two-thirds of those who hadn’t responded to previous communications took some form of action. As a result of our efforts, the number of newly registered members totalled £142,722 in annual membership fees.

As an added value benefit, we gathered detailed feedback from members on their awareness of the register and the joining process. This feedback was invaluable in understanding why individuals or organisations were choosing not to join. It enabled us to provide several actionable recommendations for refining the broader communications strategy to maximise member engagement. For instance, we identified a knowledge gap – the need to stress that members must renew their registration every year. Once we had established this, our client could address this directly, ensuring that long-term membership revenues were not impacted.