How MJM Automated an Association’s Membership System and Saved Hundreds of Hours
After recovering lost memberships and revenue (read our earlier story), we turned our attention to the root cause: disconnected systems and heavy manual processes. What we found was a process that worked on paper but was quietly creating delays, errors, and wasted effort.
The Challenge: A Process Buried in Manual Work
The association’s membership process looked like this:
A member signed up on the website.
Their details sat in MemberPress but had to be manually copied into the database.
A Xero account was created by hand, and an invoice manually raised.
Once payment was confirmed, a receipt was issued manually.
Every step required human intervention. Old records were inconsistent, new sign-ups were sometimes missed, and members were often left waiting days — sometimes weeks — for an invoice or confirmation. In some cases, they never received one at all.
The Action: Building a Seamless Workflow
We designed and built a fully automated membership process using the association’s existing tools — MemberPress, Stripe, Xero, the database, and the website — all connected through workflow automation technology.
Here’s what we did:
Redesigned the sign-up process — updating website questions and database fields to capture consistent, accurate data from the start.
Cleaned up historical records — ensuring every member record was correct before automation was introduced.
Mapped and tested workflows — designing a process where:
A member signs up and their data instantly updates across all systems.
A Xero account is created automatically.
An invoice is generated and sent.
Once payment reconciles, a receipt is issued.
Launched and refined — we spent a week designing, building, and testing until every scenario ran reliably, without the need for manual oversight.
The result was a system that worked end-to-end, removing the bottlenecks that had previously caused frustration for both staff and members.
The Outcome: Time Saved, Members Satisfied
Hundreds of admin hours saved each year (over 5 hours per week).
No missed sign-ups — every member accounted for, every time.
Immediate member experience — invoices and confirmation emails are triggered the moment a member joins, eliminating long waits and errors.
Future-proof resilience — the system runs seamlessly regardless of staff turnover or admin capacity.
Why It Matters
For many associations, the hidden cost of manual systems isn’t just wasted time. It’s lost revenue, frustrated members, and organisational risk. By automating the entire membership process, we gave this association complete confidence that:
Their revenue and member records are accurate.
Their members are supported from the moment they sign up.
Their systems can scale as they grow.
This was both an efficiency upgrade and a transformation that turned a vulnerable process into a reliable foundation for the future.
