Does Membership Have its Privileges?
How do you feel being a member of The Dog Gurus? Our goal is for you to feel the value received from your membership far exceeds the fees you pay. We also want you to feel part of a community that understands the issues, frustrations and responsibilities you have as a provider of off-leash play.
Most importantly you have a resource to get your questions answered, keep your staff educated and be informed on tips and tools that can make operating your business easier. Our challenge to you in this article is to step back and create a membership opportunity for your clients. Keep reading for tips on how to ensure memberships benefit not only your clients, but also your business.
When we opened Urban Tails in 2000 we offered a membership program. We wanted to create a community of pet parents that were loyal to our business and felt special. We also knew the annual flat fee would be an important revenue boost to our business. My experience makes it easy for me to recommend highly implementing a membership program.
We believe making memberships a part of your Daycare 2.0 program is important. However, even if you don’t plan to transition to 2.0 you should still consider adding a membership component to your pet center. I’m sure you already have clients that you treat as VIP’s; trust me, these are the clients willing to pay for VIP services.
Let’s consider the pros and cons of implementing a membership program.
Pros
- Clients feel special as members of an exclusive club
- Clients get access to scarce services – a spot in Daycare 2.0
- Business gets more revenue upfront to help fund your VIP program
- Business has a recurring source of revenue each year
Cons
- Clients may resist the membership fee
- Staff must understand value and how to explain to clients
- New procedures including added paperwork with a membership agreement & monitoring renewals
- Handling refunds in event of client moving or dog can no longer participate due to health concerns
In my experience the pros definitely out weigh the cons and it is fun to have a special group of “member” clients. In the Daycare 2.0 scenario we really recommend you make an annual membership fee a requirement of your program. You are providing a service that is unique and rare in your market. Each dog is going to spend their day at your center in a custom program based on their individual likes and needs. You have very limited capacity to provide this service and the more individual attention requires that you staff based on dogs that have reserved space in the program.
The first step in successful implementation of a membership program is that you believe in the value of the service you provide and clients receive as a member. The next step is to list the benefits of membership. For Daycare 2.0 the list starts with access, but you can also include other perks based on your business operations. You could offer preferred lodging access to members, exclusive drop-off and pick-up hours, special events or small discounts on other services.
One caution is to not load so many benefits into the membership that you lose money offering it. Now you are ready to assign a value to the membership. You need to look at your list of benefits and assign a dollar value to them. At the same time assign any costs related to the benefit that you incur. The best benefits are the ones that cost you very little.
The last step is to determine how much you are going to charge for your membership and recommend you consider $199 or more for an annual membership. Look at the total value provided and price so members realize they are getting a great deal while you still make a profit. You must also decide if the fee is per household or per dog. Be sure if you decide to discount a second dog fee that your costs are covered plus a profit by the combined fee.
As you consider adding a membership program do a quick calculation:
Number of member dogs you want times $200
Would that extra revenue make a difference to you and your business?
As members of The Dog Gurus you are special and different from the pet business down the street. Your clients do benefit from the knowledge you and your staff have about dogs and off-leash play. We think membership does have its privileges and its time you get rewarded financially for the excellent care your provide.
