When you first set up your membership, the goal was probably pretty simple: get it working and get it launched.

That’s a totally fine way to start, because sometimes you have to get your stuff up and running before you know what needs to be tweaked.

You might have pieced together some platforms on the fly, maybe didn’t have it automated because you didn’t really know what to do or how to do it. 

And now you’re thinking “this ain’t working” or “I don’t know how much longer I can do this” …

 

Your membership isn’t broken – you’ve just outgrown it

Everyone loves what you’re offering, you’re having fun connecting with people in the community. You don’t want to quit your membership but you’re starting to feel like ya kinda hate it.

I would put money on it that you’ve simply outgrown your membership setup, and you’re in a weird phase where you either need to figure out a more sustainable way to run it – or you’re gonna have to break the news that you’re closing it.

Before you say bye-bye, let me just tell you that your membership has grown to where your current systems aren’t keeping up – and that is NOT a bad thing!

But of course, you know that if something doesn’t change soon, you also won’t be able to keep up.

If you’re feeling some friction around continuing to grow your membership, it’s a sign that you could use some systems to support your growth.

 

The membership setup that worked then is probably due for an upgrade

The structure that got you through your first launch, second, maybe even third is not the same structure that will continue to support your growth. You want …

• More recurring revenue to support your financial goals
• Higher member retention to help more people
• Space to create new offers that feel right (not like an emergency plan)
• An affiliate program that helps bring in new members
• And peace of mind that you can do this and feel good about it

You could continue to run your membership manually … BUT … you’re gonna have to have a dedicated team member to manage it for you because you have the rest of your business to run.

If you’re not in a place where you feel comfortable hiring a long-term team member, the next best thing is to revamp your systems so that they run in the background while you still get time to focus on your business.

At the risk of sounding cliche, these systems will run like a well-oiled machine, allowing you to onboarding members smoothly, offboard members gracefully, and track payments to catch revenue leaks before they become a bigger issue.

 

Let’s talk about the cost of running a membership without solid systems

If you’ve been running your membership without solid systems in place, you’ve probably already felt the pinch: missed payments slipping through, clunky onboarding, an inbox full of member questions, and a growing sense that you’re spending more time managing the membership than enjoying it.

These issues usually start small, but they add up fast:

• New members don’t know what to do next, which leaves them frustrated (and sometimes heading straight for the cancel button).
• Payments fail and go unnoticed, meaning you could be losing money without realizing it.
• Customer service becomes a time-suck, leaving you drained and behind on other work.
• Members leave for reasons that could have been prevented with smoother processes.

Sound familiar? 

The good news is, these aren’t signs your membership is failing — they’re signs it’s time to strengthen the backend.

Now that we’ve looked at what happens without strong systems, let’s flip it and talk about the systems to set up, so you can actually enjoy running your membership again.

 

The four systems that keep a membership running smoothly

At a minimum, there are four core systems I recommend having in place if you want your membership to grow without draining every last bit of your energy:

1. Onboarding – So members know exactly what to do from the moment they join.
2. Payment Tracking – So you’re not losing money without even realizing it.
3. Customer Service – So questions and complaints don’t pile up and burn you out.
4. Offboarding – So members leave with a good final impression (and maybe even come back later).

Let’s dig into each of those …

Onboarding

Members need this as soon as they join: 

• Access to the membership
• Access email with their next steps
• Tags & Automations

When they join, hopefully they are getting access immediately. That’s the first thing that should be in place. Getting an email with a few bullet points, also important. I would give them the link to login, where to start in the member, and where to find the FAQs (where you’ve answered most of the customer service questions, like how to cancel, how to update their card, how to login, where to start, how to join the community, etc.) 

And then, the tags & automations are more for you but also them (they just don’t know it). Tag your members in your email system so they receive membership-related emails. The automations are for getting access to the membership, sending the onboarding email(s), checking in with members, inviting them to the community – basically everything they’ll need to get started without a hitch.

I mean, there’s really a lot of things you can do here (but still keeping it simple for new members), but this is the bare minimum that I recommend.

Payment Tracking

Having a database that keeps track of all your members and payment hiccups, like failed payments, will help you stay on top of missed payments and cancellations.

Here’s what I like to set up for my clients:

• Name
• Email
• Community Name (like Facebook, Circle, what have you)
• Join Date
• Monthly rate (or quarterly or yearly, whatever you’re doing)
• Number of failed payments
• Cancellations
• Notes (so you and your team know what’s going on)

There are other things that I have in my Airtable Member Database template, but not everything is completely necessary so just go ahead and hide any fields that feel distracting.

The reason I include their community name is because some people will use different names in the community versus the membership platform, and it’s handy to know that in case you need to manually remove them when they bounce or cancel. Sometimes they’ll change their name several times but it gives you a way to narrow it down.

Customer Service

Okay, this gets good here because you can do this very simply. First, jot down the most common questions you get from members. Then, write out what your typical response would be. Now we’re going to add these as email templates.

If you use Gmail for your inbox, you can enable email templates in your settings and save new email drafts as a new template. I’m not really sure if other platforms have this option. 

Now when you get an email with one of your common questions, you can select the saved template that fits, customize it for that specific member’s issue, and send. 

And while we’re talking about Gmail and inboxes, I recommend either having a separate inbox for your membership support, or setting up filters that sends membership issues to a folder that you’ll plan to check regularly.

It helps keep any negative/complain-y emails out of your immediate sight so you can conquer it when you’re in the customer service state of mind.

Offboarding

I know you don’t like to think about people leaving your membership, but as I said, it’s gonna happen. So the best way to handle this is to have a nice onboarding system that sends them off feeling good about the experience. 

If you’re interacting with them directly, of course you’ll want to keep your emails pleasant. But if they cancel themselves and your systems do the rest of the work for you, you can still have an offboarding email go out to them automatically.Just let them know you loved having them in your membership, they’re welcome back any time, or whatever you want to say. I also like to set up a cancellation feedback form for clients and include the link in the offboarding email. That way, you can try to collect some feedback on why they left. Not everyone will fill that out but if you can gather some of that feedback, it’s still helpful!

Now, the big question that everyone wants to know …

 

How long is it gonna take to set these systems up?!

Building new systems is like building any new habit – it takes some upfront time & effort to set it up and consistency to keep it going. I know, consistency isn’t my strongest suit so I completely understand if you’re feeling a bit of dread.

The cool thing about systems is that once they’re set up, you really only need to worry about A) updating them as needed and B) checking in to make sure they’re working.

How long that takes really depends on:

• The complexity of your membership
• How many systems you already have in place
• Your comfort level with tech and automation
• How much time you can dedicate to it each week

Some people could knock out the essentials in a week. For others, it might take a month or two, or even longer. You don’t need to rush it. Just starting with the one system that feels easiest to you right now can make a huge difference in how your membership runs.

 

You don’t need a do-over, just a systems glow-up!

This is what I do in my Membership Management Systems service. I do a full audit on your membership’s systems (both as a member and as an admin) and come up with a plan to make things work more efficiently. 

From there, I’ll get those systems into place for you so you don’t have to be handed the plan and go “okayyy I’ll do that … someday … maybe … probably never …” I know what you’re thinking.

→ Book your MMS!