When is a Club not a Club? Four steps to making money from your members.
Many commercial organisations imagine that they will be able to make their
customers more loyal by calling them members, and re-packaging some of their
services as Benefits of Membership. They soon discover that consumers are a
wily bunch, and can tell a real members' club from a marketing inspired
commercial proposition without any difficulty. Membership clubs must take
lessons from the most sophisticated marketers in the world: UK supermarkets. 1. Ask your members what they really want from their organisation, and where
they are in terms of their career or life stage.
2. Segment your membership base. This gives you greater insight into their
motivation for belonging, how much it is worth to them in financial terms,
and, importantly, how much they are likely to use your services.
3. Work out how much they are worth to you, taking account of their progress
through the grades of membership, use of membership benefits, purchase of
additional services and number of years they remain a member. 4. And finally, use this information, to offer tailored benefits, to invest
where you'll get greatest return, and to price competitively. The fact that supermarkets continue to talk in terms of Club Cards and
loyalty points indicates the undeniable appeal of belonging to something.
Measuring membership retention is only the beginning; understanding life
time value is the real objective. And that is what the supermarkets
understand so well, and most membership organisations fail to achieve.
customers more loyal by calling them members, and re-packaging some of their
services as Benefits of Membership. They soon discover that consumers are a
wily bunch, and can tell a real members' club from a marketing inspired
commercial proposition without any difficulty. Membership clubs must take
lessons from the most sophisticated marketers in the world: UK supermarkets. 1. Ask your members what they really want from their organisation, and where
they are in terms of their career or life stage.
2. Segment your membership base. This gives you greater insight into their
motivation for belonging, how much it is worth to them in financial terms,
and, importantly, how much they are likely to use your services.
3. Work out how much they are worth to you, taking account of their progress
through the grades of membership, use of membership benefits, purchase of
additional services and number of years they remain a member. 4. And finally, use this information, to offer tailored benefits, to invest
where you'll get greatest return, and to price competitively. The fact that supermarkets continue to talk in terms of Club Cards and
loyalty points indicates the undeniable appeal of belonging to something.
Measuring membership retention is only the beginning; understanding life
time value is the real objective. And that is what the supermarkets
understand so well, and most membership organisations fail to achieve.
