Trade Association roles and relationships

Trade associations sit at the centre of a complex web of relationships.

The two fundamental roles of a trade association are:

• To represent members’ interests in relation to government and regulators, and other bodies. This means influencing and lobbying these bodies to produce outcomes which are as favourable as possible in relation to the sector’s interests.
• Delivering services to members e.g. statistics, conferences, information and support.

Most trade associations also have some sort of quasi-regulatory role in maintaining and raising the standards to which members operate.

Typical issues facing Associations

• How far to lead, rather than follow members.
  
• The balance between representation/lobbying and service provision.
  
• How to handle regulators and government – to “cosy up” or to stand firm for what the sector wants.
  
• How proactive to be with media relations and PR.
  
• The extent of engagement with customers.
  
• How to perform effectively while containing costs.
  
• The quality of management – especially as senior staff inevitably have a large personal contributor role to play which may take precedence over their management one.
  
• Career development for staff in what are usually small organisations.
  
  

or complete an enquiry form and find out how we can help you.