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Acquisition is often discussed as a crucial part of every business plan. But Michael Gillespie, who leads Customer Success here at , has noticed there's a critically overlooked element of membership business, which happens right after the acquisition process the uponboarding.

"A lot of folks focus on the sale of the membership. But once the sale happens then the difficult phase starts!" says Michael. Initial interactions with a new customer is more important in the membership because it requires an aspect of interaction with a human that you may not encounter in other fields.

What exactly does it mean to be able to successfully board someone? "Onboarding may be specific to the membership you have. It could be something that drives a particular step, like the sending of a welcome message - but some people may just quit there," Michael explains. However, he feels that onboarding is meant to set expectations: it let the new member understand the benefits they will gain by joining your group - not just immediately but in the coming months.

"Onboarding is usually delivered as an uninvolved experience that doesn't manage to create a roadmap for the members" Michael adds. The best way to approach it is by assuming that when you first interaction with your members that your members are clueless regarding what they should do. A lack of information creates obstacles that hinder the new member from engaging your community in the manner you want.

Typical onboarding sequences

"In the average member, I sign someone up, I send that person an email welcoming them which includes between three and five hyperlinks to the content I would like them to engage with, and then I'm done" Michael says. "Members find themselves overwhelmed or unserved."

The members who do not receive an onboarding roadmap will rarely take part in the process and are often left to churn. However those who are aware of the actions to take remain invested. "It's crucial to establish a level of intent among new members," Michael says. "Tell them where you are taking them on the journey of joining."

"If you're a podcaster Are you looking for someone to engage with one particular show? Are you hoping to get them to engage with another type of media? If you're not explaining to your members the direction you're taking them as well as the reason you're taking them, they'll be navigating their way through the membership in a vacuum," he explains.

For those who are podcaster, your onboarding might inspire people to listen to an episode in particular

This is the only event which causes the bulk of churn in the early phases of joining. "You've had a window of opportunity of one day. Is there an action you would like your customer to take? Work out what you need from onboarding, and then what you will do to create a system to ensure you offer the right experience for each participant," he adds.

Eliminating barriers to provide the best travel experience

When building your onboarding process, the key consideration is the intended output. "Do you want a member who is upgrading to a level with more advantages? Or maybe you have onboarded as a monthly customer, but you're looking to change into a yearly membership?" Michael asks.

This output could also be to complete a course or to read an article. "Most people aren't sure what they want to accomplish when onboarding, have not laid the intended outputs out," he adds. "Make an outline of 3 and 1 desired outputs. Think about 'What might be the obstacles that hinder the realization of these outputs?' There are always obstacles to people engaging with your membership."

Barriers could include time, price, competition as well as a mix of the three. "Folks are limited in their amount of time. We're busy people; we have many distractions" Michael explains. "Is there a limit on price when it comes to upgrading your membership? If there's an equivalent product available in the marketplace, what makes this member choose the membership instead of the other?"

Even knowledge could be a barrier. "Members don't often get educated on 'where they need to be' within the group. What is the goal? What do they hope to be in the next calendar year?" Michael asks. "The quicker members understand the benefits, the faster they'll accept the plan and drive the output that you'd like to see." Early engagement can help. One onboarding output could be asking members to reply to an welcome email with information such as any challenges they're facing.

Be transparent: tell the members what you expect during the process of onboarding - and the benefits they can receive if they choose to participate. "Don't worry about not letting the members of your organization know your intentions. People who are in high awareness of your intent are the ones who will act whenever you require them to. These members are going to stay around for the longest time." Michael smiles.

Welcome videos

Welcome emails are simple and efficient onboarding tools. many new members are expecting the email to arrive shortly when they sign up. However, we believe you can go one better: "You have a small chance to wow that customer," says Michael. "Memberships that include an introduction video during their introduction have a 50 percent reduced churn rate during the first two months of membership."

The welcome video will make you feel more human in your membership. "One of the biggest opportunities right now in joining is the human element," says Michael. "Automation as well as AI-generated content are excellent, however membership comes with a more personal side that is unique to it. If there's an inconsistency between what members feel they're missing today within the membership industry, it's humans who interact."

Jay Klaus from Creator Science provides a wonderful video on how to get started "In his welcome email it includes a short video that greets you. He tells you why he's doing what he's doing and then lays out what you can expect in the coming six months," Michael explains.

Jay Klaus from Creator Science is a fantastic onboarding video

This is a great opportunity to spark engagement in the first stages of initial the onboarding process. In the case of video content, the percentage of clicks for video content is 17 times more than hyperlink texts. "Put your message in the forefront, regardless of what you're trying to convey, and humanize your message to appeal to the people you're trying to reach. Build it once, deliver it many times over," he adds.

Roadmaps

An onboarding email needs to contain a road map. Set expectation: where do the members gain access to benefits? Do they have a timetable of these benefits, maybe every week? What is the best place to find these benefits - do they need to access their email account? Are they required to sign in?

"This is an easily overlooked part of membership, but informing your members exactly what's being offered will help you limit churn rate within the first two month," Michael explains. "Members aren't supposed to come up with a solution by themselves."

We've seen a lot of them in recent times. "The welcome email contains the links to tons of wonderful material, but the members become confused. In the event of this it's either members who aren't engaged or with a member who's confused and doesn't want to make an effort to check out your website and learn more about the subject," the author continues.

There's no way to overload details in front of a member when it comes to an outline. It's tempting to think that members know how to consume your material, however it's more secure to think a member knows absolutely nothing. "Explicitly lay out everything for your users, and you'll see a lower churn rate," Michael adds.

Upsells

The majority of people don't consider selling immediately upon signing up as a new customer. But upselling when done right is a highly impactful part of onboarding and you will see a significant increase in revenue.

Michael has noted that newly-enrolled members are the most likely to respond to upsells within the first 24 hours to one week after they've purchased a membership. "It's easier to convert a member within the first few days because they already have the necessary background information regarding the membership. They're already 'one foot in'," the author explains.

Onboarding offers that are upsells have a different positioning than those found on your website. They typically don't show on your website - they're only available exclusively for onboarding. "Once an individual is enrolled part of your program you feel like they're part of something. Upsells are a great way to give them an enhanced experience through additional benefits," the expert states.

"Let's imagine you've got a paid newsletter that's $6 per month. You provide a user with the option upgrade to a annual option which offers more value, but at an progressively lower cost on a monthly basis. Members that are educated enough upon onboarding are more likely to purchase an upsell on a yearly membership. There are typically conversion rates of 30 to 40% for these offers," Michael reports.

Furthermore, these members get an entire year of time to use the content you provide. For members who take advantage of such offers, the lifetime value of those members is between four and five times greater than that of the member who wasn't responsive to the offer.

"Think about deepening your experience as a member. This could include additional benefits that you can make an exclusive membership plan," Michael adds. "Every membership has a segment of customers who are engaged, and those members will be more likely to buy an offer in the initial morning hours. However, you must put the opportunity in front the members."

The text in your welcome mail could read"This week only, we're extending the opportunity to all new members to purchase a VIP membership. You'll receive three personalized monthly membership coaching calls all year. There are two aspects to the offer: it's limited, with an exact date when it's due to expire, It also comes with a huge saving.

Upsells reduce the probability of near-term churn. "Members who lock in the 60 percent savings off of an annual membership in the first week of joining are 80% more likely to be an active member in two years' time in the future," Michael reports. "The upsell only has to be incrementally higher in price. But statistically those members who convert will be long-term members, and that will mean more income for your business."

The upsell conversion rates for the onboarding program are 7 to 10 times more than first-time purchases. "If you're able to achieve a three percent conversion rate for your regular membership, once you've enrolled these members into the membership, you can be expecting a 30 percent conversion rate," Michael explains. When you offer upsells at onboarding, members will generate five times more revenue for your membership than someone who does not get the benefit of an upsell.

Pricing

In terms of pricing from a pricing perspective, we recommend that you do not exceed 50% in relation to the incremental difference.

"For instance, I'm a yearly member. I've signed up for $50 a year. I'm offered an offer to upsell that gives me access to four or five different things for $75 a year. This is a jump of 50% but that's 50% more money you've earned already from this customer within the initial year," Michael explains. In the coming years of membership, this member is going to generate between five and seven times more revenue.

"Think about the ways you can incorporate into existing advantages for a better experience. The best upsells will result in a huge amount of income that would otherwise go on the table. There will always be members within your organization who desire for deeper experiences," Michael concludes.

The great part about upsells is that it allows you to quickly locate people at the right time and extract that value. You'll get to maintain those gains over the coming months and years if that customer decides to make the switch.

This should help you in your strategies for onboarding. Feel free to reach out to us on social media should there are any issues. Best of luck!