1. Enhancing Membership Benefits
March, 2018
Good afternoon everyone – my name is Kathleen Schroeder and I am the Director of Membership at APICS. I’ve been with APICS now for almost three years and in my current role for just over a year. Throughout my time at APICS I continue to be amazed at how passionate APICS members and volunteers are in advancing their career and staying up to date on the latest industry trends and news – what always warms my heart is how much our supply chain professional community wants to give back by being a mentor or networking on the Supply Chain Channel to help out when someone has questions involving a challenge or questions about an APICS certification. It’s such a wonderful community of supply chain professionals.
In 2017, we implemented some new and enhanced features to add value to membership but we have plans to do so much more.

2. Executive Summary
Strategic Priority – APICS Membership Growth Strategies
Key Messages/Takeaways
Membership benefit initiatives will be focused on creating new pathways for member access, convenience, enriched content and to address specialized interest/causes.
Individual member benefits are being enhanced and structured for the future.
M-Reb Reporting and Payment update
Today I’d like to share with you ways in which we are revitalizing our value proposition to prepare ourselves for growth in both bringing new members to APICS and more importantly, building and retaining relationships with members.
We’re focusing on member benefits and the value APICS has to offer. We’re also reviewing our current benefits to make enhancements or create new benefits so that we are evolving with industry trends and staying relevant to members. Lastly, I’ll be providing an update on M-Reb and Corporate Membership programs.
Overall, our expected outcome mentioned here is our membership growth strategies are aimed at increasing member retention and community engagement.
Expected Outcomes: Increased member retention and community engagement

3. The APICS Chapter Governance Structure Needs Updating
Concept of MEMBERSHIP has changed dramatically in the last 10 to 15 years
The pace of change is accelerating
20-25 years ago, associations were the leading venues for professional networking
Now it’s social media platforms like LinkedIn
Membership is now more transactional
Individuals are less likely to be members for life
Individuals join to get the information they need at different career points
How can we get there?
By enhancing association-level member benefits
By helping chapters innovate new programming
By enhancing community meetings (e.g. district meetings)
By having a clear and easy way to communicate the APICS member value proposition
By working together to discover new membership success models
Now as you are all aware, the traditional path of joining an association and being a lifelong member is simply not same any more.
The pace of change is accelerating and the traditional membership is now most recognized by social media platforms like Instagram or LinkedIn. It’s now more transactional where you are paying more for convenience like Amazon Prime or bulk discounts like Costco. You don’t have to be locked in for 12 months, you can use the “membership” as you need it like Netflix or Hulu. Membership is also more fluid where members may only join when it’s convenient at different points in their career. The main theme for all of these examples being ACCESS and CONVENIENCE. It’s quick, easy and there when you need it.
To keep up with this new desired membership platform, APICS needs to evolve as well…
If we don’t act now, where will the APICS Community be in 5 years?

4. The majority of new paid chapter members leave within two years
Length of APICS Chapter Membership
Professional and Enterprise members represent ~24.4K or ~94% of paid chapter members
<2 years
75% of Enterprise members
64% of Professional members
High churn rate
Potential for long-term membership!
>2 years
Enterprise has remained challenged
Professional retention stabilizes and grows!
On this slide we have prepared some data to show the trends of our Enterprise and Professional membership from 2017 – our largest two segments. It’s no secret that many of our members join to earn one of our APICS certifications. As you can see and are most likely well aware that once they have achieved a certification they no longer renew their membership. The membership team needs to clearly and easily communicate the value of an APICS membership once you’ve utilized the certification discounts and achieved certification. One of our top responses from the Exit Survey is that their employer will no longer pay for membership. Again, the value proposition is not speaking to employers nor individuals.
The majority of chapter members leave within two years. We prepared some data to show the trends.
This slide details “length of APICS chapter membership” for the two largest chapter paid membership groups – Professional and Enterprise members.
We are looking primarily at length of membership of <2 years and >2 years.
The Orange line shows enterprise (5.9k members)
The blue line is professional (18.5k members)
75% of enterprise and 64% of professional leave APICS membership in less than two years.
This is a high churn rate
Although it presents….
Additional Data:
Henri – Make sure I explain the concept of churn!
NA Chapters have 24,430 Professional and Enterprise members, representing:
~94% paid chapter memberships
18,454* Professional Members (71%)
5,976* Enterprise Members
Majority leave APICS in 2 years
2+ year members are stable and dedicated
NA Chapter Enterprise Memberships
~70% sold by APICS Corp Dev
Majority of members currently auto-assigned to chapters
* Average membership based on 12-month average ending 6/30/17, based on total Plus and Core Memberships.

5. Building the bridge to APICS community growth…
Future Growth in
Long-term Membership
Retention
Engagement
Young Professionals
Volunteerism
Certifications & Training
Chapter business
Recruit
Train
Grow
Retain
New, Innovative Member Benefits
On Demand Member Benefits
New Chapter Programs
Virtual & In Person Communities
Enhanced Career Resources
What we are striving for and building towards is long term relationships with our members. Again, clearly communicating the value of being a member – that earning your certification is just the beginning of all APICS has to offer you as a Supply Chain Professional. The importance of networking, being active in your local chapter, giving back by being a mentor – keeping up with the latest industry news and trends from APICS as well as utilizing resources from our career center and job board – will keep you ahead in your career.
Current State
Short-term transactional membership

6. APICS Membership Feedback – 2017 Member Survey
Top 3 challenges facing our members:
Nearly 50% of worldwide membership between the ages of ranks corporate social responsibility as Very Important or Important.
Over 20% of membership indicates need for more online opportunities for Certification Maintenance with an even larger percentage from ROW
We sent out a member survey in September I wanted to highlight some of the information that came out of it:
Top 3 challenges – it was very interesting that there were similar challenges across all age ranges with the exception of Job seeking which makes sense for those starting out in their career and then Work-life balance which actually surprised me a bit. I had expected to see more of that also in the other two categories as well. These results told me that Membership needs to do a better job ab clearly communicating the current member benefits we have that address these challenges as well as seek out additional member benefits that members can utilize.
These are both areas we’re making improvements to as we speak or scoping out ways to meet these needs.
More difficult to find local access to APICS content in areas outside of N.A.

7. Individual Membership: ACCESS
Information of Value
Frameworks, Digital Library & Manufacturing/Distribution Competitive Analysis (NEW)
Free digital access to all Exam Content Manuals (NEW)
Deeper Certification product discounts (2018)
Member, Vendor, Consultant Directories (2018)
Influence
“Crowdsourcing” SCOR V13.0, RISC Sensing Subcommittee (NEW)
Volunteer opportunities, i.e. remote item writing, mentoring, scholar coordination
So based on what I mentioned previously about the traditional membership model vs. the way individuals are now seeking in a membership, I wanted to break down new and enhanced offering based on Access, Convenience and Cause-related.
4 sub-categories under access – information of value, influence, community and career advancement
Webinar on how to use Manufacturing/Distribution Competitive Analysis resulted in over 770 registrations (Manufacturing and Distribution)
Certification discounts – consistent differential between products with a slightly higher overall member/non-member percentage difference
Digital Library – nearly 400 tools templates & white papers

8. Individual Membership: ACCESS Contd.
Community
Enhanced Mentor Center (2018)
Virtual membership engagement (2018)
Supply Chain Channel with enhanced special interest groups
Career Advancement
APICS member logo on Job Board for members (NEW)
Auto-resume creation via Linked-In upload capability (NEW)
Salary Calculator (2018)
Career Center with focused webinar series
Mentor center – enhanced search, tracking, feedback & coaching capabilities
Virtual membership engagement – virtual PDMs & info sharing on best practices
Member logo – help APICS members stand out from the crowd
Calculator – helps people understand potential & negotiate from a place of strength – certified vs. non-certified earning potential

9. Individual Membership: CONVENIENCE
Auto membership renew (NEW)
Electronic, Printable Member Cards (NEW)
Monthly CORE membership payment option (NEW)
Student loan consolidation & refinance with exclusive APICS member rate discount (NEW)
APICS Online Training (pilot 4Q17)
APICS Academy (2018)
777777
As we continue our efforts to go green and support more sustainable initiatives, we have created a digital membership card for APICS Members to use at their convenience with the option to print. 
Online training- 6 month pilot with 6 chapters
Academy – webinars for cert maintenance

10. Individual Membership: CAUSE
APICS Supply Chain STEM Educational Outreach
APICS2017 Blessings in a Backpack
APICS supports American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN)
Signatory on the UN Global Compact gc/participants/12453
APICS has taken a leadership role in transforming our industry through a number of activities that will continue to grow. For example, 2017’s conference attendees had the opportunity to help stuff backpacks for school children across America with the Blessings in a Backpack event and we will be doing that again in 2018.
APICS was in awe of all the relief efforts ALAN was able to provide with all the wildfires and hurricanes in 2017 – APICS was a proud supporter.

11. What’s Next? Communications:
Enhanced website presence
New benefit-related webinars
Conference presentations
Track & monitor recruitment & retention metrics
Execute annual member needs survey & evolve benefits based on feedback

12. Increasing Membership retention and community engagement through enhanced
Access
Convenience
Cause-related interests

13. Membership Updates

14. New Corporate Membership Programs for Partners
Available to Premier Partners
Small-Medium sized Enterprise companies (SME Pro)
Available to all partners
Plus memberships
5 or more individuals
$185/person
First announced in February’s Leadership Central – more details forthcoming in the next few weeks
Corporate memberships will now blend enterprise-level engagement & programs with individual members for their employees
SC Hub – exclusive on-line community for Corporate members to build peer relationships (NEW)
Skills Inventory uses APICS BOK to provide company with an aggregated view of employee skills and individuals receive detailed feedback on their personal skill set (NEW)
Summit - Gathering of supply chain leaders with a  focus on ideas and insight that propel our profession to the next level.
Forum - Regional meetings to bring supply chain leaders together to discuss timely issues and topics germane to the supply chain profession

15. Members At-Large APICS markets chapters to At-Large members
The Go Chapter! Campaign to At-Large members
5 days after membership purchase
6 months after purchase
Annual reminder
At-Large members continue to represent a small % of North American paid memberships
Notes: In 2017, 3% of members in North America are At-Large.
APICS delivers the following communication plan to encourage At-Large members to join a local chapter:
5 days after a membership order is processed, the member will receive an to join a chapter
6 months later, they will receive a reminder that joining a local chapter is a benefit they receive by being an APICS member
Annually, we send out an to highlight all the great opportunities are available by being a part of a local chapter
Chapters also have the option to reach out to global channel services to request a list of at-large members in their area to promote an event (evidence of the event must be provided). Membership and Channel are also working toward providing aggregate data of how many at-large members are in each Chapters area.

16. Membership Rebates (M-Reb)
March 12:
M-Reb FAQs available in C-BOX
Length of Uninterrupted Membership (LUM) available in Real-Time reports
April:
New M-Reb Tiered Structure quarterly report created
Will be posted in Partner Connect on 4/10/18
M-Reb quarterly payment distributed end of April

17. New APICS SupPort Model and Customer Experience Team Announcement
Enhanced APICS Member and Channel Partner Support

18. Executive Summary
Introducing the new APICS Support Model and the new APICS Customer Experience Team
APICS is implementing a multi-level support model for Individual Members and Channel Partners (incl. Chapters), with 3 service tiers:
APICS has established a new Customer Experience Team (formerly Customer Service) to provide tactical support, with specialist trained staff and expanded hours (6AM to 6PM CST)
Customer Service Representatives (CSR) – for individual members
Partner Service Representatives (PSR) –for global channel partners (including APICS chapters)
Strategic channel partner support will continue to be provided by APICS Global Channels and Alliances (formerly Channel Services)
Digital Support Tools for Operational Transactions
Customer Experience Team for Tactical Support
APICS Functional Departments for Strategic or Advanced matters
Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3

19. The New APICS Customer Experience Team
(formerly APICS Customer Service)

20. Announcing the APICS Customer Experience Team
Enhancing the APICS member and channel partner support model
APICS has established a new Customer Experience Team to provide enhanced Tier 2 Support to Individual Members and Channel Partners (including Chapters). The Customer Experience Team has replaced the legacy APICS Customer Service Team.
Customer Experience will be comprised of two groups of support personal, with specialist focus and training, as follows:
Customer Service Representatives – focused on Individual Members
Partner Services Representatives – focused on Channel Partners (including Chapters)
The Customer Experience Team was launched on Feb 1, 2018

21. The NEW - Customer Experience Team
Elevate stature of the Customer Experience Team with a new Director position to:
Influence product, process and service improvements based on the customer and partner experience – Voice of the Customer/Partner (VOC/P)
Influence system capabilities to improve Tier 1 (Digital Support) user functionality
Establish new performance metrics - measure and drive improved responsiveness, quality and efficiency for Tier 2 (Customer Experience Team) support
Capitalize on a centralized team knowledge and process structure while still providing individualized support and communication channels for channel partners and customers
Leverage additional bandwidth presented by the transition of reconfigured CPIM front-end sales ordering to Holmes Corporation
Restructure team to serve two primary groups: members and channel partners

22. Support Tiers for Individual Members and Channel Partners

23. Announcing the APICS Customer Experience Team
Enhancing the APICS member and channel partner support experience
APICS is implementing a multi-level support model for Individual Members and Channel Partners (including Chapters), with three service tiers:
Digital Support Tools for Operational Transactions (online, anytime or anywhere) Customer Experience Team for Tactical Support (decision-making assistance, tool issues) APICS Functional Departments for Strategic or Advanced matters (e.g. Global Channels, PD, Cert.)
Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3

24. APICS Individual Member
Support Tiers
Individual member support is provided by Customer Service Representatives

25. APICS Channel Partner Support Tiers
Channel Partner support is provided by Partner Services Representatives
APICS
Customer Experience Team
(via Partner Services Rep.)
Digital Support Tools
(via APICS website, Partner Connect,
Shop APICS)
APICS
Global
Channels and Alliances Team
Strategic Relationship Management
- Opportunities, escalated issues, etc.
Tier 3 Support
Tier 2 Support
Tactical Relationship Support
- process issues, tool access, etc.
Tier 1 Support
Operational Transactions
- e.g. invoice copies, orders

27. NOTICE OF DISCONTINUATION OF LEGACY SUPPORT EMAIL ADDRESSES
As part of the transition into the new APICS support model, the following legacy support addresses will be discontinued by March 31, 2018:
Please begin to use the new support addresses on slides 13 and 14 effective immediately

28. APICS Learning system Channel Support with Holmes Corporation

29. Your Holmes Corporation Team: An Extension of APICS
Dedicated APICS Channel Partner and Instructor Support
Michele Morrison supports the North American Channel Partners and Instructors
Carrie Dahl supports the International Channel Partners and Instructors
Contact Michele (NA) or Carrie (Int’l) with questions related to:
Class administration and student enrollment
Ordering materials and product pricing
Accessing instructor materials and requests for support/guidance
Marketing guidance to help grow course enrollments
General Learning System/marketing/course admin questions
Contact APICS with questions related to:
Exam process/registration
Membership
Instructor Development Program

30. The transition to the new apics Support Model

31. Transitioning to the new APICS Support Model
Enhancing the APICS member and channel partner support experience
As we transition to the new APICS support model, we anticipate short-term training or implementation issues arising, that may impact support response and resolution times. We ask for your patience as we ramp up the new support model.
We invite you to provide feedback on how we are doing, so we can make it better:
Thank you for your partnership. Our warmest regards for all your contributions to the APICS community.

33. APPENDIX

34. Executive Summary
The Membership Rebate (M-Reb) is being updated to build member retention and APICS community growth.
Fundamental changes are needed to restore APICS chapter community growth and vitality:
Chapter paid memberships are in decline, with the majority of new members leaving APICS within two years.
The APICS Board approved changes to the current M-Reb to help foster community growth, effective 2/1/2018.
What is changing?
The New M-Reb policy places a higher focus on long-term member retention, engagement, and benefits.
Current, flat-rate M-Reb will be replaced with a new, progressive M-Reb – based on length of membership– that will reward chapters for member retention.
The M-Reb changes will create new funding capability for chapter innovation, member benefits and meetings.
Let’s work together to grow membership, chapters, chapter business and APICS!
The membership rebate or “M-Reb” is being updated to build member retention and APICS community growth. Frankly, our community has been doing a good job recruiting new APICS members into the association. Unfortunately, we do struggle to retain those new members for the long-term. While the infusion of new members -- who don’t stay around -- is okay for the APICS training business, it’s a fairly destabilizing dynamic for L-T community health. Less long-term members, means less volunteers to become chapter leaders, IDP instructors, SMEs, and APICS committee members.
We believe that fundamental changes are needed to restore the APICS chapter community to growth and vitality. It’s not a secret that APICS’s paid memberships have been in decline, with the majority of new members leaving the association in less than two years. Over the last several years, our chapter community has also been struggling on the training front with relatively flat purchases of courseware and exam credits.
At the October, 2017 BOD meeting at APICS International Conference, the association’s BOD approved changes to the M-Reb, effective February 1, 2018… …
We know this will be a big lift for the community.
We’re doing this because we think it will support the growth of chapter member retention, engagement and training business.
Expected Outcome: New M-Reb supports growth of chapter member retention, engagement and training business.

35. 2018 M-Reb Policy Details Key Dates:
Implementation Date: February 1, 2018.
Payment Frequency: quarterly, within 30 days of quarter end.
First Payment Date: end of April, 2018 (covering February and March)
M-Reb Calculation:
When a member joins/renews, M-Reb will be based on an individual member’s Length of Uninterrupted Membership (LUM).
LUM will be defined as an individual member’s total length of continuous membership, with no more than a 30-day membership reinstatement, in between renewals.
Membership Performance Metrics (MPM): Chapters will need to meet minimum set of annual performance metrics, related to chapter membership engagement, to qualify for M-Reb.
Auto-Assignment of Enterprise Members will end 12/31/17 – As of 2018, SME Pro and Corporate members will need to actively choose to join a chapter.

36. What if?
What new ideas and approaches could we pursue to develop and grow the North American chapter community?
Aligned to the Global Channel Mission, that will provide a reasonable outcome of tangible, measurable benefit, for example:
“Pop-up” Chapters -- one night, thought leadership, social events in top 10 supply chain cities targeted at young professionals
Sales Training – for qualified, sales-capable, volunteers or staff of NA channel partners.
Chapter Innovation Programs – The McDonald’s Big Mac was developed by an independent franchisee. What programs will our chapters create leveraging the Membership and Market Development Fund?

37. APPENDIX

38. Tier 1 Support Digital Support Resources
Digital support should be the first point of entry for support services. They’re available on demand and provide the most efficient form of issue resolution.
Digital Resources
Digital Resources
for Individual Members
for Channel Partners (incl. Chapters)
Membership: individuals/membership-application/welcome
MyAPICS:
Shop APICS: products
Learning Opportunities: opportunities
Exam Purchases: education/credentials/purchase-exam/exam-purchase
MyAPICS:
Partner Resources:
Partner Connect:
Shop APICS: products
Partner Event Posting:
Exam Credit Purchases:

39. Tier 2 Support Customer Experience Team
For day-to-day, tactical support requirements that cannot be addressed through digital means
Customer Service Representatives
Partner Service Representatives
for Individual Members
for Channel Partners (incl. Chapters)
Contact by
Individual members:
Contact by
NA Chapters:
All other channel partners:
The Customer Experience Team can be contacted by phone (6AM to 6PM CST): or
Press 3 for individual member support
Press 4 for channel partner support

40. Functional Department Support Global Channels and Alliances Team
Tier 3 Support Strategic Support
For strategic and advanced support requirements
Functional Department Support
Global Channels and Alliances Team
for Individual Members
for Channel Partners (incl. Chapters)
Member issues requiring strategic support, will be referred by the Customer Service Representative (CSR) to the appropriate APICS functional department (e.g. Certification) for review and resolution.
The APICS Global Channels and Alliances (GCA) team has responsibility for strategic channel partner relationship management. The GCA Team is primarily focused on outbound, proactive partner engagement, development and support.
Contact by
NA APICS Chapters:
All other channel partners:

41. IDP Strategic Support – Tier 3
Instructor Development Program Support Model
Supporting the needs of IDP Instructors
IDP Digital Support – Tier 1
IDP Strategic Support – Tier 3
via APICS Digital Resources
via APICS IDP Team
Instructor Development Program: development
APICS Recognized Instructor Look Up: development/recognized-instructors
Instructor issues requiring strategic support, will be referred by the Customer Service Representative (CSR) to the Instructor Development Program for review and resolution.
The IDP team will remain the instructor contact point for strategic issues:
IDP instructor application status, questions:
IDP Maintenance application status, questions:
IDP Tactical Support – Tier 2
via APICS Partner Service Representatives
Contact information for Partner Service Representatives from the APICS Customer Experience Team can be found on Slide 13 of this presentation.

42. Your Holmes Corporation Team: An Extension of APICS
Channel Partner and Instructor Support
Michele Morrison (NA):
Carrie Dahl (International):
Maribeth Gunner
Ann Bahnemann
Sharon Burns
Bill Scholl
Patty Barrow
Holmes Corp Accounting
Eric Clute, Accounting Manager:
Holmes Corp Customer Service
Call or
Partner Resource Central
Online ordering