Know-How Exchange : Other

I happen to have extensive experience when it comes to automatic/recurring billing methods :)

First the obvious.....

You MUST make it VERY clear UP-FRONT to the customer that you wish to enter them in a recurring billing system. If not, better hire a good attorney.

Second, one of the easiest ways to implement this based on personal experience, is at the BEGINNING of the relationship with the customer. Established customers are very leery about changing what is already the "norm". It can be done, just more difficult. And too lengthy to explain here.

The normal & most popular format would be this.....

When signing-up a new customer, on the application or intake form, you would have a section offering either: A) a discounted membership fee for purchasing a gym membership IN FULL up-front, or, B) a recurring billing which would total a bit higher than if they paid wholly in advance. It is a great sales tactic.

But remember, customer loyalty means a LOT. Sometimes it might be better to offer recurring billing where the total paid for membership is EQUAL to the full membership fee. This normally produces good will & customer satisfaction. Depends on your circumstances & desires.

Implementing a recurring billing cycle to established customers is very involved. However, you would normally start with a "blanket" email to all of your members describing the new billing procedures. Do this at LEAST a month or two before any changes. If you were wise, you should take a poll of established members FIRST to see if there is any customer hesitation or unease about setting a program like this up.

And yes, there are numerous automatic billing options to choose from depending on your budget and needs. But, before doing ANY of this, hire a good contract lawyer to create the wording of the automatic billing information on your forms and/or website. And first get a feel if this is the right move for your business by getting feedback from both future members and established customers.

Dear Randall (WMMA)

Any half baked CRM system will send out a reminder coupled to a particular recurring date. In fact most will trigger or be triggered by a monthly billing statement and request to pay from an accounts system. I used to propose Maximizer, (remember those days!!) but now I’m not at all sure that it is capable of the integration or offers the value-for-money needed – we had terrible problems with Quick-Books in the UK when I was a business partner. Sage and Sage CRM cover most eventualities, all the way down to the least expensive kid on the block, ACT!

Sugar and other open source freebies are up to the task as well but I’ve never seen the point of re-inventing the wheel. So Access is for code-heads only!

Pick up a point from the “Become a Millionaire, (perhaps), Guru’s” The best time to sell someone something is when they are paying for something or buying something, so a way of softening the monthly bill and to get some free sales (Contract permitting as pointed out by Joegrss) is to send both a hard copy (If required by law and only if opted in-for) and an email copy along with an SMS. Health clubs are very likely to have the mobile numbers of almost all their members, so a text emanating from your CRM system could read, “You monthly account is in your in-box, it is for $xx (Check that you have the right to put this into an SMS) and that this month, our special offer is “All the diet supplement samples you can use as Pizza Toppings.” Text as marketing is annoying, text as a reminder is welcomed and text as an add-on offer somehow falls into this camp, especially if you give the client the option of “Press the green button” to acknowledge or to opt in.

Bit sparse I’m afraid but we’ve only got a couple of health club clients to draw on for feedback, the rest is extrapolation, such as the things which are welcomed by Football Clubs as reminders, up-sells and ways of approach which are appreciated rather than hated.

Best wishes as always and when can I buy you your “Imperial” Toga? (As after my last description of you!)


Best wishes and yours sincerely

Steve Alker
Xspirt