I’m attacked! I’m criticized and targeted because I work with my clients to make it easy for their new members to implement what they buy.
Others suggest that it doesn’t matter. That it’s a waste of time. And, that there will be people who never do anything. “Instead,” they say, “you should focus your attention on the handful of self-motivated superstars.”
It is true that even after you implement everything I teach, there will still be some stubborn people who do nothing, get no results, and quit. It’s the sad truth, and there’s nothing you nor I can do about it.
But between those quitters and the few superstars is the underserved majority. The numbers prove repeatedly that the fastest way to double or triple your membership program is to do a few simple things. Do these, and you’ll inspire new members to become lifetime members of your vibrant tribe.
Let’s take a second to consider other vibrant tribes. Are all the people who love and support Rush Limbaugh mental superstars? How about the Al Sharpton followers? What about those NRA members? (I have a lifetime membership to the NRA and I can say emphatically that their member-ship isn’t made up of 100 percent superstars.)
The key difference between a membership program with a high churn rate that stays small forever and one that grows fast and strong is getting your new members engaged as part of a vibrant tribe. I know you want to grow a membership site, subscription program, or some other ongoing continuity program. Who cares about a vibrant tribe? What do Rush Limbaugh, Al Sharpton, and the NRA have to do with anything? These personalities are important to study because they are growing a membership without delivering any ROI benefits to members.
When I consulted with movements in 2000 and 2001, my big innovation was to incorporate ROI benefits. I worked with my clients to solve problems in their members’ lives, to give them breakthroughs, and to multiply the dollar investment they made in their membership into a large cash return.
Chances are, you already deliver a great ROI to your members. A member who invests in your program and implements what you teach gets back many times what they invest. But, you are missing the most important part. Creating a vibrant tribe is the fastest way to reduce your high churn rate.
ROI benefits are not enough. Are you married to your spouse because of the return on investment they deliver? Did you have children because they provide you with a return on investment? How about your pets? Do they deliver an ROI? Relationships are about a lot more than ROI. They are about the feelings you get when you are part of the relationship.
Anyone who suggests you should solve high membership churn by getting more new members doesn’t understand as much as he thinks he does about membership. There’s a process to welcoming, engaging, and ascending new members, just as there’s a process to make a front-end sale.
About Robert Skrob
