RETENTION....
This is the MOST IMPORTANT variable to a successful community:
RETENTION.
Put simply, this is you saying
“Hey I have a service to give you”
Then you give the service… and here’s where retention happens;
You give the service with so much quality that people continue to show up.
It’s really that you say you’re going to do the thing, then you do it.
Sounds easy enough right? Well, kind of… but it’s not. It’s SIMPLE— not easy.
Let’s say you run a community with several hundred people in it at a moderate price tag ($99+)
With that many people in the community, and at that price tag, what you want to avoid is the Planet Fitness model.
This is where you have a really nice tight group of active members and then a LARGE group of inactive members that eventually churn.
Your mission: Reduce churn
“But HOW??”
I’ll get to that, jeez!
Retention prevention (ooo that has a nice ring) happens from the very beginning. Like THE VERY BEGINNING
And if I’m being honest, it never ends… but it’s super important from the start.
Members made a purchase and they want validation that what they are getting is worth it.
So you want to do that over and over and over and over again until they say out loud how valuable it is…
Then you punch them in the face again with the value. Just for imagery sake, imagine that you are wearing two massive boxing gloves that have the word VALUE SQUAD written on them. Your goal is to go to town using those gloves!
In reality, the flow could look like this:
FLOW:
New member pays and gets intro email with a drip sequence for the first 4 days minimum. Part of this should be a video testimonial from a member as social proof
They get a personal email and text from someone on the team
Once they pop in your platform of communication, they are put into an automated message sequence.
Sequence:
Welcoming
Explains different programs
Directs them to specific areas of interest to check out
Give them a milestone roadmap
Make sure they complete the onboarding course
This will…
Get them into an identified channel
Have them introduce themselves
Show them other people in the same boat
Help them identify their goal for the month
Help them find clarity on achieving the milestones and their goals
Right off the bat what you have here is a clear path.
There are multiple touch points that are both automated as well as manual and then they enter into a community and have to engage in order to check off some of the boxes.
When they engage, they meet others and join the “tribe”
This is all almost immediate. From there, you should make sure they are on live calls, participate in challenges and workshops and see all the deals, resources and exclusive opportunities you offer…all with one vision— Punch them in the face with your VALUE SQUAD gloves.
This is community specific, BUT the same principles apply to retention in any other business.