“Your program didn’t work for me.”

What?!? You have the gall to tell me that my program doesn’t work? Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say you didn’t work?

One of the top frustrations I hear from tribal leaders is new members who join and quit without trying. In the beginning they have all the hopes and dreams of accomplishing great things. Then, after they become a member, they don’t do anything. Then, they drop out and complain that they didn’t get any results from the program.

How on earth does someone expect that making a purchase can change their life. It’s like a dieter, hopeful for loosing weight, expects to shed the pounds by buying a book about lean recipes. Doesn’t she know that she’s going to have to cook those recipes consistently over time to actually reach her weight goals?

I recently had one of these silly conversations with a friend who was trying to lose weight. She dieted semi-consistently for 2 weeks and she was already frustrated that she hadn’t lost the 10 pounds she hoped to lose. Is it at all reasonable to expect to lose that kind of weight with the diet she was eating? No, but did she want to believe it? Yes. Is it the diet publisher’s fault that she had completely unreasonable expectations?

My solution, I asked my friend, “Why do you want to lose 10 pounds?”

She told me, “To fit into the jeans I have, rather than having to buy larger, fat girl jeans.”

I asked her, “How’s it going to feel when you put on those jeans again and they fit perfectly?”

“Pretty awesome,” she said.

“Well then, isn’t it worth dedicating yourself to your diet, setting realistic weekly goals, and perhaps taking a walk a few days a week to get some exercise so you can feel awesome in your jeans?”

And, she made it happen.

Our customers arrive with all sorts of unrealistic expectations. As tribal leaders, it’s critical that we constantly remind them of their dreams to prevent them from getting frustrated about their present circumstances.

Change is always hard, and for your customer who is trying to learn something new, it can be harder still. Keep your customer’s dreams in front of them to help them focus on what they want rather than paying so much attention to their current frustrations.

It’s been a busy tribe building month around here. In addition to eight ongoing monthly coaching clients two tribal leaders visited me in Tallahassee to grow vibrant tribes.

One consulting day client, Ron LeGrand, has seen a lot of turnover within his Gold Club $59.00 monthly continuity program. Ron came along with three members of his team to discuss his program and how to improve retention.

Together we built a streamlined offer that had a specific promised outcome, a guaranteed check within 90 days, a certification program to get brand new members excited and engaged, as well as several recognition levels to recognize members who achieved success within the program.

You can say we applied “game theory” to his membership program. In fact, we build a program engineered to get members excited about accomplishing their dreams through Ron LeGrand’s Gold Club.

With these adjustments Ron LeGrand’s program will retain members longer by making it exciting to learn new things, give them recognition for their progress and help them forget the frustration of implementing new habits by keeping them focused on their goals.

About Robert Skrob

The problem with subscription membership programs is that members quit, I fix that problem. For more than 20-years I have specialized in direct response marketing for member recruitment, retention and ascension in diverse subscription members environments including non-profit associations, for-profit publishers/coaching, subscriptions and SAAS companies. For an evaluation of your current churn rate and how I can improve it, contact me here. I discover there are often two or three quick wins you can implement within a week to lower churn immediately, let’s talk about your quick wins.