How do you find out who your clients are. In a recent survey that the NewPath Network did of over 100 previous attendees to our meetings we found out some interesting facts. The aggregate results on over 30 respondents can be viewed online, and we took away the following about our "clients":
From Q #4:
We do a poor job of providing client leads to our group and an even poorer job of introducing NPOs to our group. We must do better.
From Q #5
Here are the important aspects of our events from our clients view - it clashes with what we thought in some areas - esp. volunteer opportunities.
#1 Networking Opportunities
#2 (tie) Professional Development + Business Guidance/Advice
#3 Lead Generation
#4 Social Events
#5 Opportunity to Meet Non Profits
#6 Entertainment/Food
#7 Volunteer Opportunities
Here's an interesting free form response for the "future speakers" question:
"things that would improve my
understanding of the needs of non profits (besides money) together with
an understanding of how to do business with them successfully"
From
Q #9 Two-thirds of all respondents said a professionally run meetings
would be better than the current approach we take. So that speaks to
the value proposition a professional faciltiator would bring to the meeting. But if you read
the details of Q #10 you can see that if we put an answer like "Maybe"
then there would not be such a majority -- it may be split 3 ways. This means to that a faciltiator will really have to kick it up
a notch to warrant the extra cost of a meeting. One suggestion was interesting:
"consider idea of occasional sessions
of structured, extended time (say 5 - 10 minutes per person) in groups
of 6 to 8 people where each can then talk about what they can or want
to do, and answer questions, without the pressure of "what's my 30
second pitch which I'm thinking about instead of engaging with the
other people here while they talk about theirs". The level of
understanding achieved this way can be far greater, and new
relationships can get nudged along nicely :-)"
That's getting to know our clients. Do you know yours?