Why your relationships are the key to membership success
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You've got a great team, a clear strategy and a strong membership offer.
So why does growth feel so difficult?
This is something we come back to time and time again at sheepCRM:
Membership is a relationship business.
It's easy to focus on processes, pipelines, or platforms. But behind every renewal, every event sign-up, every donation — is an important relationship. And the strength of that relationship often determines whether a member stays and engages with you.
The problem? Most organisations are running a relationship model that can, at times, be broken.
Most membership relationships are transactional — and it shows
Across the sector, the default model is what we call transactional relationships — or what social psychologists Clark and Mills (2011) describe as exchange relationships.
These are relationships in which benefits are given with the expectation of return — they are based on balance, obligation, and short-term reciprocity, rather than long-term connection.
They are not deliberately cold or impersonal. But they are limited.
Here's what they often look like:
Communications are one-way. You send a newsletter; it may or may not be read.
Engagement is reactive and impersonal. You only notice members when something goes wrong.
Renewal reminders are admin tasks — not opportunities to reconnect.
It's not that organisations don't care. It's that they're under pressure. And with limited time and resources, relationships become something to maintain, rather than nurture.
And in a world increasingly shaped by AI, transactional models are particularly vulnerable — they’re easier to replicate, automate, and disengage from.
But what if there was another way?
Transformational relationships: what the best membership organisations do differently
The most successful and ambitious membership organisations we work with have a different mindset — and a different model.
They build what researchers Barry and Parasuraman (2015) define as transformational relationships — relationships that are grounded in trust, mutual value, and long-term engagement, where membership organisations aim to better understand and value their members through defined pathways, not just to complete a transaction.
These are:
Two-way, not one-way.
Based on share understanding and ongoing dialogue.
Informed by real data, not assumptions.
Focused on long-term value, not just short-term touchpoints.
It's the difference between sending a generic invite to an event — and sending a personalised recommendations based on someone's past attendance, interests, and demographics.
Or between chasing a lapsed renewal — and proactively spotting disengagement before it happens.
When you move from transaction to transformational, relationships become active, dynamic, and connected to an organisations success.
What are the benefits?
Transformational relationships don't just feel better — they work better. Organisations that build them experience:
Greater member satisfaction.
Higher renewal and retention rates.
More meaningful engagement across events, content and services.
Deeper insight into what members really want.
Long-term loyalty and value.
And most importantly: they learn from their members. Because better relationships lead to better feedback, better data, and smarter decisions.
Where do you start?
If you want to build better relationships, you need to build the capacity to do it well. That starts with a three-step shift:
Free up time and resource
Simplify and automate what doesn't need to be manual. Use structured workflows to reduce repetitive admin. Stop relying on spreadsheets and inboxes.
Trust your data
Clean it. Centralise it. Use a membership CRM that connects engagement history, preferences, segmentation and activity — all in one place.
Ensure it offers a single source of truth — reliable data you can trust and act on with confidence.
Plan intentional engagement
Once you have time and insight, and a better understanding of your members, you can create meaningful, proactive touchpoints — based on real member behaviour and needs.
You can also create a plan to improve engagement and build stronger relationships, and then track and record your interactions to continually learn and improve.
At sheepCRM, we help organisations take this journey every day. We give you the structure, automation, and visibility to stop juggling — and start building.
Because you can't build relationships without spending time with people. And you can't spend time with people when your systems are working against you.
Why use sheepCRM?
We believe that better membership relationships should be at the heart of everything a membership CRM supports — and that everything we write, build, or advise should serve that purpose.
As highlighted by Music Industries Association:
“sheepCRM has streamlined our operations, automated our admin, and enhanced our member experience.”
In the months ahead, you'll see that we explore this topic further: how different organisations build transformational journeys, how data supports meaningful relationships, and how to move from insight to action.
But for now, there's one question worth asking yourself:
Are you building transactional relationships… or transformational ones?
Build better relationships with your members
Book a free demo and discover how sheepCRM helps you move from transactions to transformation.
References used
Berry, L.L. and Parasuraman, A., 2015. Managing service firms for value. Journal of Marketing, 79(6), pp.136–151. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.15.0105
Clark, M.S. and Mills, J., 2011. A theory of communal (and exchange) relationships. In: P.A.M. Van Lange, A.W. Kruglanski, and E.T. Higgins, eds. Handbook of theories of social psychology: Volume 2. London: SAGE Publications Ltd, pp.232–250.
