Webvanta CMS Helps Software Maker Close Deals

A Single Web Partner for Membership Organizations

These days, membership organizations like trade/professional associations and nonprofits can’t operate effectively without a strong, easy-to-manage website. Their members rely on these sites to keep up with events and happenings in their industry.

That’s why membership software maker Membee doesn’t stop at just providing its software. In fact, three out of five of Membee customers also need a new website. For that reason, the company helps its clients tie its web-based membership management software with a full-featured website that’s simple for resource-constrained organizations to maintain and keep current.

Previously, the company created and maintained its own content management system (CMS) that integrated with Membee software, however, it proved challenging for the team to keep updated and for membership staffs to use.

“When we turn the keys over to the customer for ongoing maintenance of their websites, ease of use for that end customer is critical,” said Dale Bennett, president and CEO of Membee/IRM Systems. “It’s extremely important that their websites are fresh and updated so that members can find the most current information.”

Replacing the In-House CMS with Webvanta

In its research of the market, Membee came across Webvanta, a hosted CMS that would integrate easily with the membership software. At once, the decision to replace its own CMS with Webvanta freed the Membee team from having to maintain and advance a product of its own and gave Membee customers a full-featured yet simple way to update their sites.

“Our CMS wasn’t as user friendly as we wanted, so we took a hard look at what was out there,” Bennett said. “It was an easy decision to shelve ours because the feature set we saw in Webvanta was so strong. Plus, Webvanta’s ability and willingness to integrate with our login was impressive to us, and would enable users to navigate easily between Membee features and Webvanta CMS features with just one login.”

In demos of Webvanta, the Membee team clearly saw the ease of use for clients. In particular, in-place editing allows organizations to edit text right on the page, so they don’t need to locate the content through an administrative interface and they immediately see how changes look.

Also tipping the decision to Webvanta, the solution’s inherent database model would give Membee the flexibility to design more complex sites for clients than it was able to create with its own CMS.

With Webvanta, Membee offers a turnkey package of its membership management software – which tracks members, events, billing, communications and more – along with full site development services and Webvanta as the integrated CMS.

With Webvanta as part of Membee, users now log into one place to access the membership software and make any changes to their websites. They can update content, events, post new photos or blog all in one centralized place.

“The core features that make Webvanta very powerful really resonate with our customers,” Bennett said.

Site Updates in Minutes

Now, the Membee team focuses on upgrading functionality in the membership software, without having to devote staff resources to advancing its own in-house CMS.

As for customers, they now make updates to their sites in a manner of minutes. Plus, these member-supported organizations find efficiency in the ability to make changes in one place, to top-level navigation for example, and replicate them across all pages of the site.

“With the ease of the Webvanta CMS, client sites stay current and relevant for a longer period of time,” Bennett said. “We’ve had nothing but positive response from clients.”

The Webvanta demos that were so convincing for the Membee team also impress Membee clients, helping decrease sales cycle times.

“It accelerates the sales process when potential clients see the ease of use of Webvanta,” Bennett said. “We can attract new customers more easily and reduce the time to convert them.”