PSIA-AASI

Membership is the lifeblood of any association, so we need to know what you like and don’t like about what we do. It’s the people like you who take advantage of PSIA-AASI resources to improve your skiing and riding, sharpen your teaching skills, connect with one another, and inspire tens of thousands skiers and riders across the country. That’s why a prime driver for a member survey distributed in the fourth quarter of 2011 was to gain detailed feedback about how well, or not, the association meets your needs and helps you achieve your aspirations.

“We asked members for input—and they delivered,” said PSIA-AASI Executive Director and CEO Mark Dorsey. “Sharing these results with the membership is a thank-you to those who committed their time to participate in the survey. The overall response is very positive, yet it’s clear that we need to continually improve services and products delivered at division and national levels. Our ultimate goal is for every member to be satisfied with what the association delivers and feel supported in achieving his or her personal goals.”

MEMBERS LIKE WHAT WE DO
Designed by JVA Consulting to measure PSIA-AASI members’ perceptions, motivations, and satisfaction, the survey included a mechanism by which roughly half of the surveys included information about a dues increase slated for 2012–13 and the other half, the “control group,” did not. Other than the inclusion of a sentence about the dues-increase—sent to a randomly selected portion of the membership—the surveys were identical.

Members in the control group said they plan to renew their membership next year at a rate of 97.3 percent. Members notified of a potential dues increase indicated intent to renew at a rate of 95.4 percent. It’s worth noting that, according to Marketing General Incorporated’s 2011 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, only 23 percent of all associations claim renewal rates higher than 90 percent.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents (63.9 percent, or 3,845 members) said that their needs are being met or exceeded (with nearly 10 percent [538] falling into that latter category). About one-third (36.1 percent, or 2,169 respondents) indicated that their expectations are not being met.

CORE AREAS EARN HIGH RATINGS
Members apparently appreciate the work done by PSIA-AASI volunteers and staff, with most members rating those efforts at the highest end of the satisfaction spectrum. The offerings that garnered the most member satisfaction are education materials, member events, and pro deals, which cumulatively scored 4.04 (on a scale of 5, with 5 equating to very satisfied and 1 equating to very dissatisfied). The association’s certification process (at 3.59) and the web-based learning modules (3.50) were rated lowest, albeit still in positive territory.

It’s no surprise that member satisfaction depends in part upon the division with which he or she is affiliated. Eastern Division posted the highest satisfaction score (4.01), and other scores were lower—but all were above the scale midpoint.   

RAVING FANS
Newer members are the association’s biggest fans. The variable appears as length of membership and employment status (for instance, part-time versus full-time) become an issue. As a member reaches the six- to 10-year range, satisfaction decreases—but increases again as members’ tenure in the association reaches 15 years. Satisfaction levels for volunteer and part-time instructors stay basically steady (3.85 and 3.74, respectively), while full-time instructors start at about 4.10, decrease to 3.5, and rebound to 3.8.

This shows us that we need to determine what is of most value in the middle of one’s teaching career and membership, not just those new to the team and the old pros. Still, average satisfaction ratings remain positive and well above the midpoint.

HIGH LEVELS OF SERVICE SHINE THROUGH
The core areas of our business were those rated most highly, as you would expect. Education events earned the highest rating by members for value (4.15) and quality (4.08), while the perceived value and quality for the certification process came in at lowest at 3.66 and 3.55. But all areas of professionalism and service shone through. Close to two-thirds of members surveyed rated value and/or quality either “good” or “great” (69.3 percent [3,851 respondents] and 70.1 percent [3,316], respectively). Relatively few members rated value and/or quality of PSIA-AASI membership “poor” or “very poor” (8.7 percent [451], and 8.4 percent [398], respectively).

WHAT MEMBERS LIKE MOST AND LEAST
When members were asked what they liked most about being a PSIA-AASI member 37 percent (1,383) touted educational aspects of the PSIA-AASI membership. Twenty percent of respondents (747) expressed that they liked the sense of belonging to the ski/snowboard community. Sixteen percent of respondents (601) said that the certification was the best aspect of being a PSIA-AASI member—an interesting contrast to the quantitative data. Twelve percent of respondents (440) identified the level of professionalism as what they like most about being a member.

When asked what they liked least about being a PSIA-AASI member, the majority of responses fell into four categories. Thirty-seven percent of respondents (1,079), representing the largest group of responses, identified cost as their least favorite aspect of the membership. Fifteen percent of respondents’ (546) identified different ways they felt the organization did not represent the needs of all members.

Twelve percent of respondents (421) indicated that they did not like the organization’s events—again, in contrast to the quantitative data. Nine percent of respondents (314) expressed that they did not like the PSIA-AASI certification process.

THE WRAP UP
PSIA-AASI seems to be on the right track when considering members’ satisfaction, perceptions, and motivation. Although there were certain PSIA-AASI member groups that seem to be less pleased with their member experience, there were no extremely negative findings. On the contrary, there were several surprising findings in the positive direction.

The results suggest that PSIA-AASI should focus on learning more about the PSIA-AASI groups that provided lower ratings. These included members from certain divisions, longer-tenured members, and members who are employed full time. This does not mean that these groups performed poorly across the board. Most lower-scoring items were still in positive territory on the particular scale.

In closing, we wish to thank all members who responded to our survey. Your participation and ideas help improve PSIA-AASI for every member.