Communicating about the Elimination of Programs or Services

So my wife and I were planning to go to a movie on Friday night... I went online to find out the time of the movie at our favorite theater, and was met with a number of dead ends. I couldn't figure out what the issue was, and finally after calling the phone number found out that the theater was closed.

I couldn't believe it... The theater was never less than full when we went, so why in the world was it closed? I guess I hadn't been paying attention to the local news closely enough... We still wanted to see the movie, so we decided to go to a competitor and see it.

This experience immediately made me think about our work in associations... Often, decisions are made to "sunset" a program or offering that isn't measuring up... However, do our members get the message? If not, when they try to go get the product or take advantage of the service the next time, they have a similar situation to mine...

I think it's imperative as we make decisions on our offerings, that we also think about how we're communicating about them to help members understand what's happening... I think we need to answer (at least) the following questions in our communication:

- What the reasons are for removing the product/service...
- When it's happening...
- What our plans are to take the product or service's place...
- Where members can provide their input/reaction...

The fact is that we won't be able to ensure everyone gets the message, but we really need to be very strategic in how we plan to ensure that the most people know as possible.

I think the communication needs to start with the association's volunteers and the members who have already decided to take advantage of the product/service... Additionally, another important group is the segment of members who you've already marketed it to. Finally, the membership at large... There are probably more segments of the membership who are important, but these are just a few.

What it comes down to is that communicating openly and effectively the reasons why and what the future plans are will hopefully help alleviate members' frustration when they're trying to find a product you have decided to take away...