Ep 53: Finding the Right Fit: Identifying and Serving the Right Members

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Finding the Right Fit: Identifying and Serving the Right Members

Just the other day I was chatting with someone who's been through my program. She was struggling because her retention rate had dropped slightly from 98% to 96%. Hello? Amazing. That started a discussion about her audience, who are teachers, and it led to a conversation about right-fit and wrong-fit members.

Then that same conversation came up when I was chatting with a client about how to evaluate the people that are requesting a refund in her program. So I knew I needed to share this with you. But when I do, it's going to seem super obvious, but may be overwhelming for some of you. If you aren't already tracking your refunds or retention rate, I just want you to start there.

How to Track Your Retention Rates

If you're not already tracking your retention rate, start by visiting memberltv.com to get a free retention rate calculator. Retention rate can be a tricky thing to measure, especially when it comes to online programs. However, understanding your audience can help you get a clearer picture of your retention rate and make better decisions when it comes to your program.

Right-Fit vs. Wrong-Fit Members

When it comes to online programs, there are two types of people who join: right-fit members and wrong-fit members. Right-fit members are your ideal customers - the people you know you can provide value to and who align with your program's culture. On the other hand, wrong-fit members are people who are not your ideal customers or are not aligned with your culture. 

So, how do we end up with wrong-fit people inside of our program? There are a few ways. Some of you can sell ice to an Eskimo. Sooner or later that Eskimo is going to realize that they don't need that ice. You can convince a 70-year-old grandmother with a flip phone that she needs to launch an online community on Facebook, but sooner or later she's gonna realize this isn't for her. Nothing against grandma's because I am one myself, but you get what I'm saying. 

You're able to convince people who really shouldn't be in your program to be in your program. They may have joined your program due to vague promises or misleading marketing, or maybe they just got overly excited about an offer that isn’t for them. In some cases, they may have been the right fit in the beginning, but their status has changed, and they are no longer a good fit for your program.

Determining Right or Wrong Fit

There are a few different ways you can determine if they are the right fit.  One of them is a survey. Whether that's an onboarding survey where you ask them some questions about themself. Maybe even a check-in survey that you've done mid-journey. Most importantly a cancellation survey. This should help you identify why they canceled and if they were right fit or wrong fit. 

You can also identify this based on conversations or interactions that are happening in your support channel or your community. Maybe they've posted in the group about a shift that they're making in their life or they've emailed in and said that it's not a fit for them for whatever reason. 

You can also implement my recommendation of 15-minute support calls or concierge calls and learn a lot from those calls as well. Now, keep in mind, you won't always be able to figure it out, but whenever we can get additional data and get additional insight on the people leaving our program, you want to do that, especially when you see a sudden dip in retention.

Why it Matters

When someone cancels and you're going through the data, I want you to ask yourself, is this a right-fit individual or a wrong-fit individual? When business owners see cancellations or refund requests, they often try to change the program to fit the needs of those individuals, neglecting the majority of people who love the program and its original vision. However, it's crucial to understand whether the individual canceling is a right-fit or a wrong-fit member. This will impact how you look at the retention rate and how you try to recover that member and bring them back into the community.

Remember, the goal isn't to have everyone in our programs. It's to focus on the right people that we want to serve, who produce the highest lifetime value and the most profitability in our business. For now, I just want you to be thinking about what you already have in place that can help you evaluate your refunds and cancellations as either right or wrong-fit customers so that you can get more insight into what's happening inside of your program.