They are right in front of you

A membership organization routinely had its members visit their offices for meetings, yet never once did anyone from the office ask members why they were members.

The organization itself believed that its product was “the best thing ever,” but even if that were the case, customers are customers for different reasons.

This particular organization didn’t think it was important to know what their members found most valuable about their membership – they only conducted surveys to ask what products their customers were interested in. Products are generally not, in and of themselves, incentives to stay, as competitors exist. It takes more than a good product to get a renewal. But the organization never bothered to ask.

So when the world turned upside down last year, this organization didn’t know what to keep and what to let go of. 

If they had taken the time to actually get to know their members, they would have immediately known.