Case study: Australian Institute of Credit Management (AICM)

The Australian Institute of Credit Management (AICM) needed a best-of-breed system that would meet their changing needs across membership management, events, website integration, CPD tracking and more. The team have been using Membes AMS for 12 months now and are incredibly happy with the overall performance of the system.

Why did you choose to move to Membes AMS?

The system the team used prior to Membes wasn’t helping them grow, it was performing ok but the team weren’t overly impressed with its functionality as everything from their database, website and events were siloed. AICM needed to spend additional time integrating information and updating each system. Their API on the existing system was also coming to ‘end of life’ so it would have required a significant re-build.

AICM were looking for a ‘best-of-breed’ platform that provided them with seamless integration across all their systems to save on resources and create a better experience for members.

They were impressed with the ‘off-the-shelf’ solution Membes offered as it met the majority of their needs – and the team liked the dedicated focus and experience Membes provides for Associations. AICM wanted a product that was flexible with the ability to grow with their Association to ensure their future needs could be met.

How quickly were you able to implement the new system?

The turnaround time from when the decision was made to switch to Membes (November / December) to the time they implemented the system (March) was tight but it was a seamless process. The reasons for this short timeframe were due to their expiring API, so they had a hard deadline to meet.

The AICM team have a ‘get on with it’ type attitude so they rallied together and were active participants in the entire process from the decision to purchasing - everyone was on board.

Membes provided pre-recorded online training for the entire team which was hugely beneficial in supporting with self-managing the implementation. The support offered by the Membes team was great – they provided staff with knowledge and confidence to manage the system. The team are now highly confident with using the system thanks to the training, their CEO notes, and also because of the buy-in they had when selecting the new system.

FineHaus also provided support with the project management part of the implementation and provided guidance throughout the process.

How has the Membes system helped you solve challenges you faced and improved your organisation?

Membes has helped AICM immensely – integrating all their platforms, increasing efficiencies, providing detailed data analytics and offering self-servicing opportunities.

When the team first implemented the system they received an influx of 100 members – normally the team would have manually entered them into the system and it would have taken about a month. Now this is all automated which has streamlined the process significantly and saved hugely on administration time – freeing up valuable staff resources to focus on more strategic tasks.

Before Membes, they didn’t know what they were losing from a membership point of view so now with better data analytics they can better engage with current and potential members. The team now have the ability to create segments and better understand the breakdown of their members allowing them to better target communications to their needs. This also allows the Board to access important information they need, to help with developing strong strategies for the future.  

The events process is now streamlined with the Membes system managing registrations and CPD tracking. The website is 95% out-of-the-box and the team have worked on this internally to build it to how they need.

AICM members now have a greater ability to understand and see the value of their membership.

“Membes is a great system that enables organisations to be effective in servicing members. It is very adaptive and willing to continue to improve which is what we looked for. They understand Associations and the best way we can be effective,” Nick Pilavidis FICM CCE, CEO, AICM

Membes features used by AICM:

• Membership Management
• Communications
• Event Management
• Finance
• Reporting
• CPD Tracking & Auditing
• Integrated CMS (website)