445 – Why I Pulled the Plug on Our Cheapest Membership Option

In this episode, I give you a transparent, behind-the-scenes look at a major strategic shift at Membership Academy: why I decided to discontinue our lowest-priced membership tier.

I dive deep into the challenges, member feedback, and business data that informed this big decision.

I share the lessons learned, the impact on our community and sales, and why simplifying our offerings makes more sense for both our members and our business as we move forward.

If you're considering multiple membership tiers, or are curious about evolving your pricing strategy, this episode unpacks it all.

In this episode:

• What prompted the initial move to a two-tier membership strategy at Membership Academy, and what were those tiers?
• What unexpected challenges and downsides did introducing a lower-priced tier create for both the business and members?
• How did having multiple tiers affect member retention, sales performance, and customer experience over time?
• Why did I ultimately decide to revert to a single-tier membership, and how was this transition communicated to existing members?

Key Quotes & Takeaways:

"They join on the lesser membership tier so they don't get all the great things that will ensure that they are as successful as they can be. And then they look at their membership and say, oh, well, I haven't had the success I wanted, so why would I upgrade?"

"As the membership industry, and indeed the online education industry, changes and evolves, with the proliferation of AI, with the shift away from search engines to answer engines that are powered by AI, as all these new challenges face us coming into the next five, ten years and beyond, then memberships are going to need an entirely different level, an entirely different kind of support."

"But what it's done is it's created that clarity, it's removed that friction, it's taking confusion out of the joining process because a confused mind doesn't buy."

"Making that pivot, making that change has been a big decision, but a one that I'm extremely confident is the right one for where we want to take the academy going forward."

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