If you’re looking for new ways to increase your sales, you may be considering subscription-based products or services. Subscriptions help you earn long-term income from customers instead of relying on infrequent or sporadic purchases.
You can learn from other business models requiring monthly payments, like car insurance for different types of drivers, to see what you could carry over to your business. Then you can consider whether you have what people need or want or if you could shift to that. And finally, you can consider subscription options and plans.
Monthly Payment Examples
Most Americans pay monthly for services, whether they consider them subscriptions or not. There are clear subscriptions, like streaming and cloud storage subscriptions, but there are also insurance policy premiums that most people pay monthly that aren’t called subscriptions even though they work similarly.
You may not have considered insurance as a subscription. While there are differences, there are also similarities and things to learn from. Insurance companies offer customizable policies. Policyholders can choose car insurance deductibles, policy limits, and the type of coverage they want.
Customization is something you can take from the insurance example. Customers don’t like paying for things they don’t need, and allowing customers to tweak their subscriptions can result in a more satisfied customer base.
Offering Subscriptions that Make Sense
Not every product or service makes sense as a subscription. However, thinking outside the box can help you discover how you can shift what you offer so it becomes a perfect fit for a subscription.
A company that does home painting may not think its services fit a subscription model, but it could offer a subscription that includes a spring exterior touchup and up to two interior touch-ups per month. Homeowners—especially ones with children—may find they need paint touch-ups more frequently than they had anticipated.
If a company offers consulting services, it could develop a coaching subscription where consultants follow up with customers and offer monthly evaluations. Companies with a history of successful coaching may find this a perfect fit.
Subscription Options
If you decide that subscriptions could help you increase your revenue, you need to start developing plans. You’ll need to find a balance between offering opportunities to customize and keeping plans uniform. And that balance will look different for every company.
Insurance companies offer almost unlimited options, so it’s not common for two people to have the exact same coverage. Your company may not be able to offer such versatility, but you’ll want to include at least two or three options.
Tiered plans can be a good fit for some companies. With a tiered plan, you offer the same base services or products in each level, but every tier higher includes more than the tier below.
Before dismissing the idea of subscriptions, spend some time brainstorming the opportunities. Subscriptions aren’t for every business, but they’re often a great fit because they offer a way to grow sales and retain customers.
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