This is a rather short post, but that’s fine as this is about value and action rather than fluff and word count.
I want to speak about another Diamond member of mine, Steve, who owns a Pizzeria.
During one of our consultation sessions he was considering printing up 1000’s of stamp cards for customers to earn a free pizza after X amount of sales.
I don’t know about you, but I have enough of those cards bulking out my wallet already.
I actually refuse to take them anymore.
Instead we decided to create a members programme which allowed customers to be wined and dined with the Head Chef’ Members’ Only Specials – as much wine as they can drink, free meals on birthdays and anniversaries for a recurring monthly cost.
This means that as each month passes the cash flow is immediately available for Steve. He can either class it as profit or reinvest it to better serve his members.
Since reinvesting and providing more value, his members feel loved and spread the word. His membership list has grown by 30% in a year simply through word of mouth.
His members feel like they’re part of a clique and as a result of the word of mouth effect, friends and family get to spend more time together, making the atmosphere a lot cosier.
Not every member actually comes in and redeems the perks of their membership every month but the membership remains in place. This is sort of like the gym concept.
Hundreds of people belong to a gym and pay out the fees, but only 20% even use it on a weekly basis. They know they will eventually and so keep on paying and not using it.
Another example would be my own business.
At the time of writing this book I charge £1700 a month for one of my top value packages.
My service pays for itself through the additional profits I gain for my Diamond members. I could charge more, but I don’t really need to. I get to help cool and ambitious people and in turn this amount funds an ideal lifestyle for me.
However, not every business owner who has been interested in working with me can invest such an amount just yet.
This is where my own membership programme comes in to play. I offer a Gold membership plan at £197 consisting of monthly consulting calls to help business owners realise larger profits.
Once they reach a level of financial comfort, they’re more than happy to fully hire me to amplify what we have put in place.
It’s something I can offer which takes up a small amount of my time at an 88% discount.
I still get paid something and they still get results.
Not all of your ideal customers are going to be ready to invest the full amount that you’re asking.
It isn’t that they don’t want to, but sometimes they just can’t.
I know you’re thinking “If they can’t afford it then they’re not my ideal customer,” Well, that’s not always the case.
In a B2B situation, they may need to go higher up to seal the deal. There may be a bunch of board members who need to be convinced prior to dropping the cash on your desk.
Also in a B2C scene, there may be a spouse or bills or child expenses which take higher priority than your product or service.
The reason I use both my business and the Pizzeria is that they are two very different businesses which would not normally be viewed as having the ability to create profit through membership. I don’t want you to dismiss this concept just because you can’t easily see how it may apply to your business.
Also if you haven’t started a business yet, the Christmas period was a sudden shock to the system in my first year alone.
It seemed like people just stopped buying completely. I was so wrapped up in trying to make money that it didn’t occur to me that people were actually buying gifts for their nearest and dearest.
Continuity completely solved that problem for myself and my Diamond Members, I highly suggest that you think of something which you can also offer on a recurring basis.