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About eight years ago, I embarked on an important journey of professional and personal growth. I attended my first SOCAP conference. I sat in a chair very similar to where you are sitting today—right here in Tucson. I remember listening to the keynote speakers and looking around at other SOCAP members filled with energy and passion for the association and the customer care profession. At that time, I was new to SOCAP and the profession. I did not realize fully what an impact SOCAP would have on my career and me personally.
Over the years, I have continued to grow and learn from listening to the great keynote speakers and participating in the educational sessions at both the chapter and national levels. However, in reflection, I have come to appreciate that my most valuable lessons came from you—the SOCAP members. I also learned from our past leaders such as Beth Ziff, Cathy Dial, Sheila Sullivan, Linda Pell, Tom Asher, Beth Thomas Kim and many others who remain actively involved and strong supporters of SOCAP. As individuals, they each brought something different and special to the SOCAP organization and to me personally.
Over time, things have evolved and so have the pressures on the customer care profession and SOCAP. Today, we are all challenged to do more with less in our own companies and I think that we have all found our SOCAP network even more valuable during these difficult times.
Pete Edghill, our 2009 Board Chair and my friend, focused on theme of “Doing More with Less” and further evolved SOCAP into a forward-thinking, flexible and agile organization by putting strategic planning top of mind at all times of the year. Your Executive Committee of the Board meets monthly to ensure that we stay on top of pressing issues and are able to respond quickly. Additionally, these monthly meetings help the SOCAP staff to stay strategic and focused on the future.
In 2009, we focused on meeting the individual needs of our members by continually offering learning opportunities that were cost effective such as our webinar series, our LinkedIn and Facebook communities and increased networking and benchmarking through the launch of SOCAP’s Industry Communities and benchmarking study. I thank Pete for all his guidance in keeping us strategic and keeping our strongest resource, our membership, engaged. Most of all, I thank Pete for his friendship over the years.
In 2010, we will continue to work toward our mission of “Developing Experts Who Add Business Value through Customer Engagement.” To do that, we need to ask ourselves: What will the customer care profession look like in three to five years? We, as professionals, have a “seat at the table.” We are influencing senior management and informing key decisions. As a professional organization, SOCAP will continue to harness our collective experience and knowledge and set tangible, actionable goals for our Board and staff to get us closer to our mission and vision. But we need you to implement these key goals and strategies.
I. Our first strategy is to: Increase member satisfaction through increased opportunities to engage with the organization through education and networking. You will see an even greater emphasis on educational offerings for members by industry through our Industry Communities. Additionally, we will work in conjunction with our Member Services Committee to better define and support the key areas of specialization within the consumer care profession. Lastly, we will support this strategy through our website, digital communication and distance learning.
II. II. Our second strategy is to: Build connected communities through Industry Communities and the chapter structure.Working with our Membership Committee, we will continue to strengthen and build communities in our major industry verticals:
However, the real key to SOCAP’s long-term survival and ongoing success relates to the simple act of sustained involvement by you, our valued members.
I started my involvement in SOCAP at the chapter level and only attended one national conference per year (if funding and time allowed). When the national conference was in Philadelphia, I got involved in coordinating the door prizes. After that I was hooked! I continued to learn at such an exponential rate due to my interactions with other SOCAP members. I found value for myself and for my company, but I had to make that happen. I had to get involved. This allowed me to take the learnings beyond traditional training to an environment that combines thought-provoking topics and discussions that allow me to grow as a customer care professional and continue to deliver incremental value to my organization. My company’s management still remains impressed at how quickly I can answer the question of how my peers are evolving their strategies, handling specific processes or even handling specific consumers.
By your involvement, SOCAP can continue to be an organization that gives each of us a great advantage over the course of our careers. In my own situation, the customer care profession was a temporary stop for me and that was 10 years ago. I still remain highly motivated and engaged in this profession and part of that reason is that SOCAP not only exposed me to the potential of what customer care could be, but the association also provided me the support and tools to move customer care forward within my own company.
Now as your 2010 Board Chair, I can assure you that the SOCAP Board will continue to serve you, our members, by staying strategically focused and informed of trends affecting SOCAP and our profession. We will continue to monitor our successes and challenges and share our progress with the broader organization. We will continue to leverage networking, engagement and sharing of best practices to drive business value for SOCAP and our member companies. We will also continue to stay in tune with the ever-evolving needs of our membership. But we can’t do it alone. We need you! I am challenging each of you to play a new and/or bigger role in SOCAP’s future. I can promise you that with your involvement you will have an impact on the success of SOCAP and may have some fun and gain some friends along the way!
SOCAP offers many ways to get involved at the national and local levels and most of the activities take place from the convenience of your own desktops. Think of these venues as opportunities for each of you to drive the strategic positioning of SOCAP. Research shows that only 17% of the workforce believes they use all their strengths on the job. Take a page from Marcus Buckingham and “Go Put Your Strength to Work”. Take a second and think about your core strengths or maybe something that you are interested in strengthening. SOCAP offers many opportunities to get involved. I encourage you to talk to other SOCAP members about their experiences in communities, committees and the Board. Your involvement is critical to SOCAP’s success. Think not only about what you can offer SOCAP but what SOCAP can offer you.
Susan Baranowsky
2010 Board Chair
SOCAP International Board of Directors
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