May 2024 Roundtable on Nurturing and Nudging Using PropFuel
The presentation slides are available as an attachment at the end of this article.
The session centered on converting initial intent into action through automated nurturing in PropFuel. Many members say “yes” to renewals or offers but delay acting; roughly half convert quickly while the rest benefit from structured follow-ups. The discussion emphasized building nurturing flows at the same time as primary campaigns, using simple, conversational prompts, and leveraging data to tailor outreach. Participants highlighted the value of alerts, monthly analysis blocks, and lightweight questions that identify obstacles and interests, enabling timely nudges without overwhelming members.
One onboarding example described asking new members what they most hope to gain—professional development, networking, or other benefits—then, about six months later, triggering targeted follow-ups aligned to those choices. Data from responses revealed a notable segment who hadn’t met their goals yet, creating opportunities for automated resource-sharing and manual outreach for programs like volunteering, peer networking, and new community platforms. Teams reported scheduling monthly reviews, using PropFuel’s alerts and inbox for real-time handling, and pulling segments on demand for specific initiatives.
A renewal nurture pattern that has run for years routes all “yes” respondents into a timed check-in if payment hasn’t posted by the following month. A simple one-sentence reminder—asking if renewal is still the plan—consistently surfaces warm leads who can be given resources or a quick call. Another renewal approach combined automated invoice generation via webhook to an AMS and QuickBooks with PropFuel follow-ups that anticipate friction points: resending payment links, offering phone assistance, addressing “didn’t receive invoice,” and capturing price objections or changed minds for win-back flows. Even smaller-volume campaigns produced incremental renewals with minimal staff effort.
Revenue-driving education offers demonstrated the power of time-bound value. One certification promotion first collected testimonials to use as social proof, then offered a free practice exam with a clear deadline, moving “no” or “maybe” respondents into a testimonial-driven pipeline for future conversion. The cadence mixed direct asks with supportive nudges and a hard cutoff to prompt action.
Several membership segments called for tailored nurturing. Student and resident campaigns focused on validating graduation dates, identifying current job status, and preventing contact loss by collecting personal emails before institutional addresses go dormant. Automated check-ins provided career resources, reclassification prompts from student to professional membership, and address updates tied to post-graduation moves. These flows reduced manual chasing, kept engagement high with strong open and response rates, and fed downstream campaigns (e.g., reclass) that ran largely hands-off.
Sponsor and industry engagement benefited from progressively varied questions. Initial messages gauged interest in exposure opportunities; later prompts explored biggest selling challenges to the audience and preferred channels (advertising, exhibiting, content). Automated replies delivered relevant options and alerts flagged hot prospects, while responses also seeded nonpaid exposure like contributed articles. This approach replaced broad blasts with qualified prospect lists and targeted follow-through.
Volunteer recruitment showed that a single broad call with clear pathways—committees, content, speaking, student outreach—can recruit hundreds when paired with prioritization by intent. “Yes” answers triggered immediate outreach; “thinking about it” respondents moved to a secondary pass. Offering concrete tracks made the next action trivial for members and streamlined staff workflows.
Testimonial collection worked best when tied to appreciation and a tangible thank-you. A campaign inviting members to pick a small gift before being asked for a quote generated a high response rate and dozens of usable testimonials in days. The follow-on work involved inserting testimonials across web, social, brochures, and email—and a lesson learned about choosing easy-to-ship items to avoid postage costs.
An ongoing “question of the week” model treated aggregated insights as a member benefit. Short, topical questions sent via PropFuel redirected respondents to a gated results page showing tallies and comments. Including a field for members to suggest future questions dramatically increased submissions, reduced staff ideation workload, and built steady engagement with hundreds of responses across a modest-sized membership. Members reported looking forward to seeing peers’ practices, and the accessible, lightweight format outperformed traditional community forums.
Throughout the session, practical tactics surfaced repeatedly: ask the same question in different ways over time; keep messages short with a single action; use time-limited incentives; anticipate objections via answer choices; and automate handoffs to reclass, win-back, or support flows. Platform updates mentioned included AI-assisted subject lines and follow-up copy via a “magic wand,” improved reporting for embedded question paths and campaign-level rollups, and forthcoming automated summaries of recent insights to prompt action without manual digging. The overarching theme was to not stop at the first ask—plan the nurture, automate thoughtfully, monitor alerts, and let data guide timely human touch where it matters.