The question of value seems to be one that those of us in the association community will always grapple with. If you've been working in associations for a while, I know you've heard everything from "Membership is dead" to "Membership is the next new thing that even the corporate world is embracing." Like many things in life, the experts often come to opposite conclusions.

Association staff, no matter how big or how small their associations, are always pressed for time, and we never seem to have the time and energy to do the analysis that the value question deserves. In reality, though, we are all doing "field research" every day, and you know what is valuable. Value has always been about connection, positive experience, content, and getting more than you expected for your time and money. Membership value is the result of doing all of those things well.

Today, there's another element to add to the mix, and that is convenience. It's not enough to provide a service. Think about the world that your members are living in today. There is a race for convenience, and technology is driving that train. Your members want what they want, when they want it. Think about all the things that are hot right now. We don't want to wait a week for our favorite show to come on TV. We "DVR it" and skip commercials. Better yet, we open Netflix and binge-watch an entire season in a day. We don't want to pick up the phone and call for a taxi. We want to use our apps and have Uber arriving immediately. You and I live in that Kindle, Spotify, Apple Pay, work-from-home, customizable era where every company out there is trying to come up with ways to learn our behavior, anticipate our needs, and put products in front of us that we are willing to pay for.

Some members may only contact you once or twice even though they've been members for years. Make it count. You may not get another opportunity.

So, what does this mean for associations? It means we need to start looking at our products and services through a different lens. Step out of your association job title and walk in your members' shoes. For example, if you are launching a webinar, you'll probably involve your education department, you'll come up with content, it will go on the marketing schedule, someone will set up and open registration, and then you'll have a meeting to talk about how it all went. What if we grabbed a couple colleagues and we did all the things that we ask our members to do: register, log in, sit through the webinar, participate, and so on. You would likely find many ways to make the experience better and more efficient, each and every time.

When we think about member experience and engagement, it can feel overwhelming. We all have ideas, but the roadblocks can quickly come to mind. The reality of limited staff resources and budget, and competing priorities, are very real, but if we truly want to shine then we better start polishing. Disney is a master at creating exceptional experiences for its guests, and we can borrow and learn from the discoveries and improvements it has made along the way. In the book Be Our Guest, the magic of Disney is explored. Here are three takeaways that demonstrate superior attention to the customer experience:

1. Turn around misfortune. Despite Disney's efforts to inform park guests of height requirements for rides, often a young child will wait to go on a ride, only to find out he or she isn't tall enough. Disney noticed that this was a major complaint from parents and, more importantly, ruined the park experience for children. As a result, they have given staff permission to hand out a special pass when this happens that allows the child to skip to the front of the line on his or her next ride.

What is undermining a positive experience for your members? What are you prepared to do to right that wrong? Are you empowering your front line staff to make decisions that lead to high member satisfaction, or are your rules so stringent that you are inadvertently creating pain points for your members?

2. End the experience on a strong note. What better way to end a magical experience than with a smooth exit? Unfortunately, Disney found that many guests had problems finding their cars when leaving parks by tram. Tram drivers now keep a simple list of what rows they work each morning, which is distributed to team members at the end of the day. This allows guests to simply denote the time they arrived, and the tram drivers will know the parking location for each guest. This is a huge win for ending the day without hassle.

We love to write list of answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs), but no one likes to read them. If you are guilty of this (and I admit to this crime, too), then let's find a better way. How do we solve members' problems so they don't need to consult an FAQ? Does a member calling your organization get trapped in a phone maze with no live person ready to respond? Think about all the points of interaction you have with your members. Improve them. Some members may only contact you once or twice even though they've been members for years. Make it count. You may not get another opportunity.

3. Fulfill unique needs. Disney cast members found that disabled guests were often frustrated with their park experience because they had to constantly remind staff they were disabled, and they preferred to share this information with staff discreetly. Disney created "Special Assistance" passes and provided cast members with a wide variety of training so that they were able to identify and fulfill the needs of disabled guests without having to ask invasive questions.

This is the key to membership. We exist to fulfill unique needs of the groups we represent and we do that well for the group. The next step is to fulfill the unique needs of our members down to the individual. Take the time to think about the unique needs of your individual members. A student attending your conference for the first time may be reluctant to walk up to a well-known member. Make the introduction. Strive to find ways to continuously improve. Don't just look at the ROI. Examine the experience from beginning to end. Always make it more than what's expected. Your members will find value in an association that values them.

Oprah Winfrey often comments on her years of interviewing people on her TV show. She has interviewed world leaders, celebrities, and everyday people. She discovered that, no matter how famous, no matter who it was, everyone wanted to know the same thing. As she put it: "People want to know 'Do you see me, do you hear me? Does what I say mean anything to you?' Try it with your children, your husband, your boss. Validate them. 'I see you. I hear you. And what you say matters to me.'"

That's what our members want, too. It's why they volunteer, why they attend your conference, why they seek professional development. It is our job to listen, understand, and build what they need. Creating value in today's landscape is the art of blending the tried-and-true methods of member service with modern technology and strategies that delivers those services in the way that members expect to receive it. Walk in their shoes, see your association through their eyes, and that elusive and complex answer to what is valuable will ultimately will find you.