Here's a question: Why would people pay more for a drink at an upscale restaurant than a local bar? The answer is simple: because of the experience they get. The restaurant isn't just selling the drink. It also offers a great ambiance, an Instagrammable backdrop, and better customer service.
This also applies to your coworking space. With many other options, why should people choose yours, and how can you keep your current customers choosing you in the long term?
An obvious solution is a membership loyalty program. Businesses in many industries use this strategy to retain and acquire new customers. You can also implement it in your coworking space brand. But how? We will walk you through the process in the following sections.
What is a Membership Loyalty Program for Coworking Spaces?
Let's start by describing what a (generic) membership loyalty program is. Essentially, this is a system that rewards customers for repeat business. Customers pay a recurring fee which gives them instant access to exclusive benefits, perks, and privileges. As a result, the company builds a loyal customer base and increases retention rates.
Additionally, such programs can extend to fostering employee loyalty, ensuring that staff are as committed and engaged as the members themselves.
For a coworking space brand, this program motivates members to stay engaged, renew their memberships, and actively participate in the coworking community.
One significant benefit of membership loyalty programs is their predictable revenue from recurring subscription fees. However, this hinges on consistently delivering value.
Valuable memberships, in fact, retain customers and increase revenue, but lackluster ones can harm your business, which takes us to the next section.
Creating an Effective Membership Loyalty Program
For a program to be successful, it must meet your target audience’s needs while aligning with your brand goals and values. Below are steps to accomplish this.
1. Define the Goals of the Loyalty Program
Start by outlining what you want to achieve at the end of the program. This can include increasing member retention, enhancing member engagement, or upselling additional services.
Goal-setting gives you direction and clarity. For example, suppose you want to promote supplementary services. In that case, you might create a loyalty program that offers discounts or free trials on premium amenities, like private meeting rooms.
It also lets you measure the program’s success and make data-driven adjustments.
2. Understand Member Needs and Preferences
The next step is getting to know your target audience. You need to understand their motivations and buying triggers. That way, you can design a program addressing their pain points.
To do this, listen to current members’ conversations, send out surveys, and conduct focus groups. Also, look at their data to identify usage patterns and preferences. As a result, you can tailor the program to match what they value most.
For instance, if startups and freelancers are among your existing members, they might value networking opportunities and skill-sharing workshops. Then, you can create a program that offers those perks.
If you don’t have any members yet, conduct market research to find them and understand their needs. Afterwards, create user personas—fictional representations of your ideal members. These help you design a program that resonates with your target audience and create compelling lead magnets.
Download the customer persona template
Some practical lead magnet examples in this context include offering free day passes, discounted membership trials, or free business resources.
Now that you know your audience, it is time to segment it.
3. Segment Your Members
Divide your audience based on criteria such as membership type (e.g., hot desk, dedicated desk, private office), tenure, usage frequency, or team size. This enables you to create targeted offers and rewards that make the program more relevant and appealing to each group. For example, through segmentation, you know that big teams will value discounts on large meeting rooms over free coffee refills.
4. Design the Loyalty Program Structure
It is now time to set up the framework of the program. Some common types of loyalty programs include points-based, tiered, value-based, and gamified. The one you choose should align with your business offerings. However, you can combine two or more to create a unique program that suits your community.
For example, let’s consider a points-based and tiered system. In the former, members earn points for various activities, such as attending events, referring new members, or using additional services. Then, they can redeem these points for rewards.
In the tiered system, you can create different loyalty tiers (e.g., Silver, Gold, Platinum), with benefits increasing per level. Members can move up tiers based on their engagement or duration of membership.
You may also implement a partner-based program where you collaborate with local brands to offer more incentives. For instance, you can partner with a provider of wireless phone systems for business. Then, the company can offer discounted plans or bundled services as a loyalty program benefit.
Whichever type of loyalty program you choose, remember to be creative with your rewards. Don’t just focus on the ones within your facility. Consider offsite perks like exclusive access to local events, abstract benefits like priority support, or early access to new services.
5. Implement Technology and Infrastructure
Your tech stack will highly influence the success of your loyalty program. Several tools and software are required to manage various aspects of the program, including registration, points tracking, reward management, and customer communication.
Some of them include:
- Loyalty program software: These platforms, such as LoyaltyLion and Kangaroo, streamline the creation and management of your program. Ensure the system you choose integrates seamlessly with your existing membership management software.
- Member portal: Create an easy-to-use portal where members can track their points, see available rewards, and redeem points. This portal should also display member benefits based on their tier.
- Marketing platforms: You need a way to communicate with members via phone call, SMS, or email in a cost-effective manner. A business communication platform like Dialpad can help you achieve that.
- Time tracking software: For coworking spaces with a focus on technology and freelancers, incorporating a Mac time tracker can enhance productivity by allowing members to efficiently log and manage their work hours directly from their devices.
- Data analytics and reporting software: Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, or specialized loyalty analytics platforms can help you track your program performance. They also give you insight into customer behavior.
- Customer feedback and survey: Typeform, SurveyMonkey, and Google Forms are popular options for collecting opinions from members. You can then use them to improve your program. To ensure structured and timely feedback, all survey activities are organized through a master schedule, enhancing the efficiency of program improvements.
Additionally, for coworking spaces with a focus on supporting businesses, integrating AI recruiting tools can streamline the hiring process for your members. Such tools help startups and freelancers effortlessly scale their teams by matching them with top talent, further enhancing the value of your membership loyalty program.
Generate recurring revenue and offer exceptional customer experience at your shared or coworking space
6. Promote the Loyalty Program
If your loyalty program is new, start promoting it to your existing customers. This is how you get early adoption. Announce it in emails, through in-house signage, and during member events.
To inform potential customers, highlight the benefits on your website, social media, and marketing materials.
Include information about the loyalty program in the new member onboarding process. Explain how they can earn points, the rewards available, and how to access their member portal.
Account-based marketing (ABM) is another approach. This strategy focuses on targeting specific high-value accounts rather than a broader audience. You will then create personalized campaigns that highlight how your membership program meets their unique needs.
Say you’re targeting tech startups. You can create a landing page showcasing benefits like high-speed internet, private meeting rooms, and tech-focused events. This way, you can demonstrate how your loyalty program offers specific value to their business.
Other account-based marketing examples include customized proposals, account-specific content marketing, and tailored onboarding experience.
7. Encourage Engagement and Participation
So, the word about your loyalty program is out there. Now what? Well, you need to motivate people to participate. To do this, you need to incentivize them. Offer points for simple actions like signing up, attending the first event, or completing their profiles.
Run regular promotions or bonus points events to encourage participation—for example, double points days, referral bonuses, or special event attendance rewards.
More people will join and actively participate in your loyalty program if you consistently offer value.
8. Monitor the Program Performance and Adjust Accordingly
After your program has run for a while, assess its performance. This is where you return to the goals you set initially. You will use them to measure key performance indicators (KPIs), such as member retention rates, engagement levels, and revenue growth.
Then, use the results to identify areas for improvement and optimize the program accordingly. Suppose the goal was to upsell additional services, but members aren’t redeeming points. In that case, you might need to adjust the reward structure or improve communication about these offerings.
9. Request Regular Feedback
Don’t just rely on tracking KPIs for improvements. While they offer valuable insights, gathering direct feedback from your members is equally important. It is an effective way to understand how they perceive and experience the program firsthand.
Direct communication also offers nuances that insights from data alone might miss. So, organize regular feedback sessions, conduct surveys, and create open channels for members to share their thoughts and suggestions.
Combining data and member feedback can help you make balanced decisions.
Final Thoughts
A membership loyalty program is a win-win for customers and businesses. Customers get exclusive perks and rewards, while the brand enjoys repeat business, which helps retain market share and generate revenue.
If correctly implemented, this strategy can deliver the same results for your coworking space. Fortunately, we’ve outlined the process above. Follow it and watch your community flourish.
