Why Continuity Plans Make Sense #437

Today we are talking about continuity plans and what I mean by this is when you have a product or service and people pay you periodically again and again, like a monthly membership.

We have the Owners Club Gold. This is a monthly membership where people pay every month and they get all that we offer extra in this club.

Now, in theory, when someone joins, the company will be paid this month and I will not have to do anything else.

They will then pay the following month, and the month after that, and the month after that.

In reality though, some people will pay and be members for a long time. These people will join to get the most out of it, they will stay for 3 months, or whatever.

Then, it becomes my job to provide value that makes them want to stay and will help keep them as a member for a long time to come.

The beauty of this marketing plan is that you sell it once and then you reap the benefits over and over again.

It happens for more businesses than you think.

Think of Netflix. They provide a continuity service. You pay a monthly fee to them and you get what you want. Even if you decide to never use it, you will probably still pay.

They will know on average, how long someone stays as a member. From that, they can work out the average lifetime value of a customer.

Because of that number, they work out how much they will need to spend to get someone into their continuity program.

Other continuity programs are paid premium service bank accounts. Once you start, you probably need to keep it up.

The bank gets the money from you every single month like clockwork. The same thing can be said for mobile phone, landline contracts, and satellite tv and cable tv providers.

Let’s say that you clean carpets in peoples homes, you may suggest that they have their carpets cleaned every 6 months, 3 months, or once a year.

You may then offer them a monthly fee that includes “X” number of carpet cleanings per year. Instead of hoping that they will call you back the next time they need something cleaned, add it in a program like this and then they are likely to subscribe to your service and you can add them as a long time client.

If you are a car dealership, why not offer an extra payment or something like that — that this can allow your customer to have a year of servicing their car?

These are continuity payments because these are payments that renew. Of course you are supposed to tell people about renewals.

If your customer joins and say their average customer lifetime is 7 months, why not offer them something at the beginning that will make them stick around for say, 12 months?

Maybe you can give them a discount that will only have them paying for 10 months but they actually get 12.

Think of continuity in your business as what can I do in my business that will be an offer than includes everything that I can charge a monthly or quarterly fee to?

This will keep you from having to speak your customer every single month and trying to resell them every single month.

Now, in my fire safety business we sell fire extinguishers. Those extinguishers need to have maintenance done on them, so we offer yearly maintenance plans for them when they are purchased.

What can you do in your business to offer something like that of value to your customers? If you are a plumber, why not offer a service where you charge a certain amount each month to service any lines that have to have a yearly inspection? The same can be said for the air conditioner repair businesses. Not only do you give your customers the benefit of extending the life of the plan, you will also keep in touch. When they need more stuff, they will generally come to you. Think of it like that. That is why programs like a continuity program makes sense. Once they join, they pay you often and they stay your customer, and when they need more, you are the person that they come to.

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