Regular Membership - Summary of Results
In January 2022, STEP conducted the Annual Membership Survey as part of an ongoing commitment to monitor both the quality and demand for products and services offered to members. The survey and the results received are integral to developing products and services that are tailored to members’ needs as well as the desire to deliver them in the most efficient and effective manner.
The survey was distributed electronically to 252 Premium, Regular, and Pre-Market STEP members. At the close of the survey, 74 responses were received accounting for a response rate of 29.4%, which is an increase of 4.8% from the 2021 Membership Survey.
Survey results indicate that STEP’s core services continue to be a strong fit to the unique needs of exporters in Saskatchewan. Results note that uptake of service remains consistent as 81.1% of members plan to utilize Customized Market Intelligence and Research Report services, 64.9% plan to utilize Trade Leads, 62.6% plan to attend Incoming Trade Missions, and 60.8% plan to utilize Outgoing Trade Missions.
97.3% of respondents indicated a willingness to recommend a STEP membership to other exporters and 87.7% of respondents indicated that they received very high/high value for their membership investment. This strong endorsement is viewed as an important message of value as it is derived directly from the membership base who are the consumers of the products offered.
The 2021 - 2022 Membership Survey also asked members to rate the level of satisfaction with STEP services. Member respondents are most satisfied with Market Re-engagement Program funding at 96.5%, Market Access Program (MAP) funding at 95.5%, Guidance and Advice on Transportation and Logistics at 92.6%, and Guidance and Advice on Exporting at 88.3%.
STEP members were asked to identify their top three target market markets. Survey results indicate that the top target markets for 2021 - 2022 was the USA as identified by 49.2% of members. The second target market was Asia (17.0%) with Canada ranking third (11.9%). It is noted that the ranking and results for the 2022 results for mirrors both the 2020 and 2021 survey results. Members were also asked to identify what percentage of sales had been sold in Canada in the past year with 60.7% of responding members indicating that less than 50% of their sales had been sold in Canada.
To rate the membership experiences and working relationships with STEP, the same line of questions was followed from previous years to establish a trend analysis. Primary service utilization responses from 2021 - 2022 have been noted in a summary format on Page 5. The summary also includes the variance levels for comparisons of primary service utilization responses from 2021- 2022.
Key survey findings are as follows:
- 97.3% of respondents indicated a willingness to recommend a STEP membership to other exporters.
- 87.7% of respondents indicated that they received very high/high value for their membership investment.
- 89.2% of respondents indicated that STEP has worked very effectively/effectively with their company to expand their export market initiatives.
- 81.1% of respondents indicated that STEP has a very high/high understanding of their industry or sector.
- 78.4% of respondents indicated that STEP has a very high/high understanding of their company’s export requirements.
The 2021 - 2022 Membership Survey also included questions pertaining to members’ business activities, a request to seek the dollar value of annual export sales, and export sales projections for 2022 - 2023. It is noted that for this survey, “export” is defined as all sales originating outside of Saskatchewan. Survey results indicate strong business growth and an increase in export sales in the upcoming year.
Key survey findings are as follows:
- The total dollar value of export sales in 2021 - 2022 was reported by survey respondents to be $11 billion.
- The average dollar value of export sales in 2021 - 2022 was reported by survey respondents to be $192 million.
- In 2022 - 2023, projections for an increase in exports was reported by 66.2% of survey respondents with 26.5% expecting the same export activity and 7.3% expecting a decrease.
Regarding membership tenure, 40.0% of members surveyed have been STEP members for less than five years. When asked how long they have been exporting goods/services from Saskatchewan, 35.7% of members responding indicated they have been exporting for over 20 years.
