Is Your Membership Program Adding Value

So delighted that you could be with me today or if you're watching in the replay, grateful that you're taking the time to watch. I'm Jason Espradger and this is Talking Points Live. Now before we get into today's topic, which is around membership programs or loyalty programs, just a friendly reminder that every fortnight I release my newsletter, Talking Points with Jason and distributed via email and also on LinkedIn. So I'd love you to subscribe and you can do that by going to Jason sbradshaw.com or on LinkedIn. Also, if you need to or would like to reach out to me, I AM Reachable at JasonAirsPrecher on all social networks. So making it really easy for you to connect with me. Now, a little bit of a different background for you. For the next few days, I'm here in Sydney on business and also catching up with family. Hi to Max, if my nephew is watching and really excited to be here in Sydney again after a little while away, despite the fact that they're forecasting 40 degree Celsius days. So that's somewhere, somewhere in the hundreds for those that use Fahrenheit. So anyway, let's get into today's topic. Now, many businesses have loyalty programs and membership programs. There's nothing wrong with them if they enhance two things, the customer's stickiness with you, and this is the commercial view. So are they more likely to buy from you, recommend you because of that membership, and does it improve their experience? The ideal programs do both. And I was thinking, and the reason why we're having this conversation today is because I was traveling and airlines of course are famous for board membership programs or loyalty programs. You know, every airline has of some type. Even the low value, low value, low cost airlines have some form. Most of them at least have some form of membership program. And so today I'm sitting in a really nice lounge that is overcrowded and it got me thinking, is this membership experience elevating my experience or detracting from it? You see, over the pandemic, as airlines and others have come out of it, there's been lots of fast track programs designed to accelerate people into the higher tiers of the membership program without increasing the capacity of the business to service those membership tiers. So as a result, there's a flood of additional people who may or may not stick around for long. But the flood of additional people on the demands of the membership program, which ultimately leads to you delivering a lower standard of experience for your customers. So the first thing that I'M going to say to you today. The first thing I want you to contemplate today is if you do already have a membership program and you're looking to use that as a way to accelerate some sales, you know, eg, buy five of this or take five trips or do y to jump a tear in the next 30 days. If that's a plan that you have, ask yourself, are you able to maintain the experience that your long term members at that tier level, at that membership level have come to expect that they're experiencing? Do you have the ability to maintain it? And if the answer is no, then I encourage you to take a pause and think about two things. Is there a different promotion you could use that would achieve the same outcome without potentially putting your existing members in a worse state? Or can you increase your capacity to deliver? Either or is fine, but you need to take that on board. Because what happens when your membership tier stops delivering the value that people know it for? Well, it gives them a reason to consider your competition. And if they're considering your competition, you've lost the game. If they go and try your competition, you could lose your customer. So always when you're looking at scaling your membership program, accelerating people's entry into it to through some sort of promotion, make sure you scale your ability to continue to deliver at the appropriate level for each membership to you. Point number one. Point number two is if you have a membership program, make sure your customers know what the benefits are and how they can use it. Now I know that there will be people out there will say, but unused rewards are factored into the costs of the program. Unused rewards are what enables for some big ambitious promises that rarely need to be delivered on or that get funded by people not redeeming their rewards. I'm not going to get into the optics of that or the commerciality of that right now because there is a way to make the commercials work and the promises be delivered. But right now I'm asking you, do your customers understand the benefits of their membership and the value and how to get that value? So for example, there's a large electronics retailer in Australia. It doesn't matter who they are, but they have a membership program. And I was having a conversation today with Pooh, my husband, and I said, oh, I've got this gift card, this voucher to use and it expires in a few days time. And the conversation pursued around how I got it and I was like, oh, I signed up for this membership program and it very quickly turned into. So beyond that Gift voucher, what's the benefit and the gift voucher? Just because it was just $10, right. It's, it's not nothing big. And I don't think I can actually buy anything at the store for $10. So, you know, they're probably, probably at best going to get a sale that they break even on. And after three or four minutes of conversation, we both determined that it's a membership program, that if it has value, if it has benefits, who knows what they are because they aren't communicated to me. I dived into my email. I had a look at the voucher. The voucher just said welcome to the program. It didn't tell me what are the other reasons why I should stick around or how I can earn points or what I need to do to get any sort of reward. So if you have a membership program, it has to do two things, as I've already mentioned. It has to create a stickiness with your customer, a reason for the customer to be loyal to you over a competitor. That's the commercial view. And it has to deliver a better experience for the customer in some way, shape or form. It could be as simple as members get electronic copies of their receipts. That is a benefit over not being a member and having to take a paper receipt, for example. So if you have a membership program, my challenge to you in the next seven days is have a look at your onboarding communications, have a look at your anniversary communications, and critically analyze are you communicating how people earn rewards, what are the benefits of your program and what they can do to get even more enjoyment or even more value out of the program. And if you see that in your communications, it hasn't been on the, on the. No on the money, it's. It just hasn't been right. If, that is, you take the time to send the communication to every customer to remind them to explain to them the benefits of doing business through your membership program. It will lead to more sales and it will lead to customers that have a compelling reason to stay with you and to do business with you, to think of you before they think of another business. That is what you want to achieve, that your customers think of doing business with you before they think of doing business with one of your competitors. As always, I want your business to have breakthrough success. And one of the ways that you can do that is through a mentorship, a mentor program designed individually, personalized for leaders just like you. My Business Breakthrough coaching program is opened at this time of the year for new applicants, and you can simply apply it's completely free application process. It's designed to enable us to see if we're a great fit together. If you're in an industry that I can help you in or what the right program for you would be like. I said completely free. Obligation free. BusinessBreakthroughCoaching.net is where you can go to fill out that application and set up a call with me or one of the team. And I look forward to hopefully connecting with you in the future. But before I let you go, as soon as you hit or stop watching this video, be sure to take a moment to explore. Is your membership program creating a compelling reason for your customers to do business with you and creating an experience that makes them crave, that makes them desire doing business with you again? I'm Jason S. Bradshaw. That's Jason SBradshaw.com and Jason S. Bradshaw on all social networks. I look forward to the next time we connect.