Continuity Programs:
We don’t use forced continuity. Now everybody does forced continuity. What do I mean by that? “When you buy the kit, we’ll also put you in our ____ of the Month Club.” It could be a coaching club, success club, gold club, platinum club, masters level club, success track club or fast track club. Everybody has a club.
Everybody puts people into the club when you buy the kit. Usually you get one or two months free. I’ve seen forced continuity going anywhere from $29 a month on the low end to $500 a month on the high end. I’ve seen them work at all those prices.
Some licensees have tested all those prices over the years. Some have settled in at lower prices like $97 a month. I’ve seen some settle in at $500 a month.
Some people remind people that they signed up for forced continuity the first couple months. “A month from now you’ll be charged.” “A week from now you’ll be charged.” Then they charge them. I have some clients and licensees who don’t remind anybody about anything. They just charge them then deal with the fallout.
I’m not saying one way is better than the other. We didn’t add continuity in our business until the third or fourth year as a front end continuity. We always added it in as a Back end product. If we had added it in as a front end product, we would have made millions of dollars more than we did.
We never thought about it. It never occurred to us. Nobody else did it. There was no model to follow. I was making this stuff up as I was going along. Then somebody suggested, “What if you did continuity on the front end?” I said, “I don’t know.”
One guy did it and was successful. Then all the other gurus copied it. We started doing it. Everybody else started doing it. Now it’s become standard. That is a huge thing.
Don’t forget that.
A lot of times you’ll buy something online like an ebook or audio and video course. You’ll get a 30-day trial into a membership. At the end of 30 days, you’ll be charged $9.97, $19.97 or $29.97. I’m in one that’s $197 a month for the online version.
people have to opt out. You force them into continuity. If they want your stuff, they have to agree to the continuity. It’s just part of the product. You’re not doing anything deceitful. If they don’t agree, they cannot buy or opt out of the continuity.
They can opt out and still keep your kit. They just won’t get all the stuff each month that comes with the continuity, like newsletters, updates, new marketing tools, conference calls, mastermind calls or coaching calls. There are all kinds of stuff you can throw in.
That’s an important part of what you’re doing. That also makes your numbers work a lot better. You can have lower conversion rates now because of the forced continuity which raises your revenue per member.
If you’re charging $100 per month and giving them two free months, that’s $1,000 per customer. If you have a $600 kit, that’s now a $1,600 kit in the first year. That’s a huge difference!
How To Double Continuity Stick
Rates
STEP 1: Determine if your continuity model is breakage or
consumption
Breakage Model Tips:
•
Price is low enough that they’ll stick around even if they’re not
using everything. (Think gym membership: to cancel is to admit
failure)
•
FACT: The more you communicate, the worse your stick will be
•
Most (if not all) content should be non-expiring
•
Stick with all digital (don’t send “guilt” in the mail)
Consumption Model Tips:
•
Needs to be “Use it or lose it!”
•
Best if you have a mix of expiring and non-expiring content
•
Need regular communication
•
Consider implementing a physical component
•
Don’t overwhelm them with content (they’ll prefer access)
STEP 2: Encourage IMMEDIATE ACTION
•
Deliver your “most critical content” immediately
•
Get them to consume your most critical content
•
OPTIONAL: Make an outbound welcome call to further
encourage consumption
STEP 3: Implement the “7 Proven Stick Strategies” in your
membership
1. Pain of disconnect (trackers, stored content, photos, etc.)
2. Community/Accountability (forums, message boards, “buddies”)
3. Future Plugging (talk about “next month’s” content)
4. Non-expiring content (reduces guilt for non-consumers)
5. Grabbers (newsletter binders, CD storage cases, etc.)
6. Involvement (surveys , suggestion boxes, quizzes, contests,
etc.)
7. Ascension (multiple levels of membership)
STEP 4: Identify spikes in attrition and address with “gifting”
•
Offer a choice of gifts (mix of content and “toys”) month before
spike
•
Spread delivery of gifts beyond the “spike”