Retention Point: The Single Biggest Secret to Membership and Subscription Growth for Associations, SAAS, Publishers, Digital Access, Subscription Boxes and all Membership and Subscription Businesses

by Robert Skrob

I’ve found that when you offer an upsell to your new members during your Member On Ramp, the new members who invest in the upsell product retain at a much higher rate. This makes sense, right? They are making another investment in what you offer, so these members are more committed to succeeding. But there’s another observation that’s not so obvious. The members who are offered an upsell and don’t buy also have a higher retention rate. Yes, that’s right, the upsell, when done well, almost always results in an improvement in retention, even from those who don’t buy the upsell. From what I can gather from speaking to members who don’t buy the upsell, giving them an opportunity to buy something more expensive makes the membership they have look like a better value. They think, “I can’t afford that big program, and I’m getting what I need at a much lower price.”