I recently reviewed reports for a client’s membership programs. His company has annual revenues of $7 million. Like many owners of such businesses, he offers multiple levels of membership: a basic level that has about 500 members at $59.00 monthly and a higher level with about 150 members investing $249.00 a month.
His average member value for basic is about $2,100.00 while members in the higher level of membership have a value of more than $31,000.00. Yes, that’s right, $31,000! Those members buy a lot more of the products and services his company offers. In fact, this IS where all the profit is coming from. He had no idea.
The trouble is this higher membership level has been neglected. There have been few upgrade promotions, and there’s no automated ascension plan.
Looking deeper, I noticed that five years ago, when membership in his higher level program exceeded 500, 2 percent of all new lower-level members upgraded to the higher level. Today it’s only 0.6 percent.
I did the math, and each ½ percent in ascension is worth $500,000.00 to my client’s business. Yes, that’s right. He’s generating $1.4 million less than he should because there’s currently no ascension system. Do you think this is a project that’s worth taking on? This company can grow from $7 million in revenue to $8.4 million with few additional expenses by improving the upgrade rate to what it was five years ago.
How much do you think it would cost to create a program for new members to foster a stronger relationship, introduce the higher-level membership benefits and offer the upgraded program? Not as much money as it would generate, that’s for sure! This business owner is already investing thousands of dollars to recruit the new members. Comparatively, it will be really cheap to improve ascension.
Improving ascension, decreasing member churn and increasing member growth are surprisingly easier than you’d expect. All it takes is a better understanding of what members really want and not overwhelming them with content.
There is a choice. Stopping Your Members from Quitting, decreasing member churn and increasing member growth are surprisingly easier than you’d expect. All it takes is a better understanding of what members really want and to stop overwhelming them with content.
Prepare to double or triple your membership by enrolling in a Live Cast Workshop I’m hosting, Stop Your Members from Quitting.
As church marketing expert Larry Osborne often says of churches, “There’s no reason to open the front door until you close the back door.” If it’s time for you and your team to close the back door and grow your membership program, register for Stop Your Members from Quitting here.
About Robert Skrob
