Is there an economic benefit to increased engagement? That’s the question at hand.
I don’t know of any measures that directly calculate the economic benefit of having engaged members or franchisees…or customers for that matter. Yet there are studies that show the benefit of having employees that are engaged. Is it fair to say that if companies that have a higher level of “employee” engagement are more successful, then companies with a higher level of “member,” “franchisee” or “customer” engagement will also be more successful? I’d say yes. And, in fact, I’d argue that these companies would be able to achieve a higher economic reward.
Recently, I stumbled on an economic study by Gallup consulting that compared the economic differences between top- and bottom-performing publicly held companies in terms of employee engagement. It showed the companies with engaged employees had 2.6 times better earnings growth than the companies with unengaged employees. Pretty conclusive data to show the importance of employee engagement.
How would you answer the below questions?
- Do you think that running a co-op, franchise, buying group or dealer network with highly engaged members, franchisees or customers would produce higher economic return?
- Do you think that highly engaged members, franchisees or customers would reduce member turnover, increase purchasing loyalty and make it easier to recruit new members?
- Do you think that highly engaged members or franchisees would make it easier to implement programs and improve your ability to execute higher-level programs?
I’ll be asking these questions at the IFA’s Annual Convention in San Antonio, TX. Looking forward to seeing some of you there.
I absolutely believe that more engaged members can be directly correlated to improved economic revenue. Businesses that are engaged and feel a direct connection to someone servicing them or an organization purchase more from core vendors, participate in programs designed to improve their business more frequently, are more often supports or proponents of key initiatives designed to improve performance and ultimately are more successful in business. A member who is in business and profitable will always add more revenue than one who is in a poor financial situation or is no longer in business. Engagement requires a relationship to be developed and will only occur if an individual feels relation to their group, to their leaders or to their service person. Unfortunately this is often not the case with larger group coops.
Thanks Dawn! With your years of experience, I certainly trust your opinion and am glad that you agree!
PS: That was me, Evan, commenting on your thoughts, Dawn.