Building Loyalty and Revenue: The Key Role of Membership Programs in Self-Care

Membership programs can build lasting relationships between your business and your clients

One big benefit of the self-care industry is that you tend to see the same clients again and again. Whether you style hair, design nails, or give massages, you sell a service that people want on a regular basis. Over time, you can build meaningful relationships with your clients and they come to see your business as an important part of their routine.

Membership programs help you reward clients’ loyalty while also building value for your business. These programs can take many forms, but the most common one for self-care businesses is a paid yearly subscription that entitles your client to a certain number of services each month. Generally speaking, the membership is cheaper than buying these services individually, but clients have to sign up for twelve months (or more) at a time.

Done correctly, membership programs are good for both you and your clients. They get exclusive perks while you gain a source of recurring revenue. While designing and implementing a worthwhile membership program takes some work, the rewards are well worth it.

Why offer a membership program?

A good membership program, like a good self-care business, benefits both you and your client. You gain a reliable revenue stream while your clients save money, but that’s not all there is to it. Memberships also build a sense of loyalty and community between clients and staff.

Membership benefits for businesses

• Recurring revenue: Even if you provide top-notch service for your clients, you can’t guarantee that they’ll come back each month. A membership program ensures you make money all year, even if clients keep irregular schedules. The consistency of the revenue can also help in otherwise lean months.

• Increased client loyalty: Unless you operate in an extremely remote area, your clients could probably patronize other self-care businesses. A membership program incentivizes them to return to yours every time.

• Opportunities to upsell: The more often you see a client, the more opportunities you’ll have to upsell them on other products and services. You can entice them even further with membership-related discounts on these services.

Membership benefits for clients

• Long-term savings: If a client takes full advantage of their membership, they should spend less than if they’d bought each of the services individually — and may even get to enjoy services they wouldn’t have otherwise tried.

• Additional perks: A bare-bones membership program is essentially just a series of vouchers for particular services. But inventive business owners can do much more. Members can also receive discounts, free samples, access to exclusive events, preferential booking times, and more. 

• Sense of routine: Every item on your to-do list adds to your mental load, even the self-care ones. Having a fixed, prepaid destination each month helps clients build a sense of routine. That could lead to less stress, healthier habits, and better mental health overall.

Tips for successful membership programs

Technically, a mailing list that gives out an occasional coupon could be a membership program. Yet with a bit more effort and creativity, you can create one that delights clients and earns real money for your business. There’s no single “right” way to do it, but effective programs do tend to have a few things in common.

Online management

While you can manage memberships with punch cards and clipboards, that’s pretty inconvenient for everyone involved. Instead, create a system where your clients can adjust their appointments and check their perks online. This way, you’ll both know when the membership began, when it’s currently slated to end, and when they’re eligible for their next session.

Clear services structure

When a client signs up for a membership program, they should know exactly what they’re getting, how often they’re getting it, and how much it will cost. Suppose your spa offers a simple membership package. A client gets one basic massage per month for a $100 monthly fee.

That sounds straightforward, but consider all the questions a client might ask:

• Do they have to pay $100 each month, or $1200 up front?

• Do the massages have to be 30 days apart, or could they get one on June 30 and another on July 1?

• Are they limited to one massage per 30 days, or could they do two in a 31-day month?

• What if they want to cancel the membership?

• What if they want a fancier massage for just one month? What if they want to upgrade their membership overall?

You should be ready to address all of these questions and more. If a client feels that a membership program is unclear — or worse, deceptive — they probably won’t sign up.

Frequent client communication

Anyone who signs up for a membership program, by definition, wants to patronize your business. That means you have a receptive audience for anything you want to say. After you’ve built your digital interface, you can text or email your clients directly. Simple appointment or payment reminders are a good place to start, but you could also create targeted deals, suggest complementary services or even send customized messages for birthdays and other special occasions. Just be sure to give clients an easy way to opt out, as not everyone wants those extra messages.

Auto-renewal feature

Ideally, your clients will get so much out of your loyalty program that they’ll happily renew their membership whenever it’s due. Make it easy for them with auto-renewal and even reminders in case a payment is declined. With auto-renewal, members can add a credit card and pay their monthly (or yearly) fees automatically. This way, neither you nor the client ever needs to worry about missing a payment. 

Develop your membership program with Boulevard

If you’re ready to develop a world-class membership program for your self-care business, let Boulevard help. Our membership and packages feature makes it easy to design the perfect loyalty program for you and your clients. Contact us for a demo today and learn how you can keep clients coming back for more.