The Art of Subscription Sales

If you've developed a service to which people subscribe - whether web based or not - then charging a monthly or annual subscription for it is a great way to offset the cost of the service set up as well as with future cashflow. Perhaps a product you've developed could be supported in some way? That too could be provided via subscription channels.

The web of course offers a great medium for people to sign up to such deals. But what going into such a move with eyes open can ensure you maximise sales and opportunities.

Choose the right payment platform

Making that subscription payment nice and easy is in your interests as well as the customer's. Online Payment Solution Providers (PSPs) may offer a recurring fee charging system. For example PayPal offers the ability to set recurring billing through its easy payment form and WorldPay offers futurePay for example.

Having a customer send a cheque every month is the last thing you want because of the overhead and problems that might cause so think about using a PSP instead.

Automate wherever possible

Even if your customer is paying via a PSP it is amazing how many companies still have manual back-office processes to update records and extend customer subscriptions based on the regular payment. Getting this process automated will save significant overheads for your staff and look slick to your customer.

PSPs offer "callback" routines that tell systems whether a payment has been collected, cancelled or there is a problem. Automated routines linked to your data management systems represent a one-off effort to rationalise this process.

Offer clear terms and conditions

Customers are wary at the best of times, especially if they are a new customer. If they're wary about giving payment details for a one-off purchase imagine what they'd be like with starting a recurring payment process!

Keeping this in mind means that your marketing content needs to reflect the increased concern. What exactly will the customer be getting for their money and what guarantees do they have that they won't be charged for additional services etc etc.

Be open about your cancellation steps

You obviously don't want to think of your new customer cancelling the service even before they've signed up ... but your customer may well be thinking that. The question of "How do I cancel this if I don't want it any more?" needs to be answered head-on. Don't fudge the issue or offer complex procedures, the customer simply will not set up the subscription.

Far better initial-subscription rates can be achieved by having a clear unequivocal (and even customer friendly!) cancellation statement.

Think about prepayment options

Having cash in the bank is ultimately what business is all about so why not think about offering your monthly subscribers the ability to pay for the year and receive a discount? They are less likely to cancel their monthly payments (although be clear about what happens if they want to cancel half way through their year) and you don't have the concern of collecting the money each month.

Don't let customer service suffer

Sometimes businesses see subscription paying customers as below their new business or key business. Realising that if done correctly subscription payments can grow to represent a key part of your business' income should add weight to the need to treat each subscriber with top-notch customer service.

We hope that the above pointers provides some insight and clarity in the important process of subscription support and management. If you are looking to pursue automation within your business and need help then please contact Emerging Innovations for an initial conversation.