People are lazy. We always try to maximize our efficiency by minimizing our efforts. Some would call it progress, others the definition of efficiency, but in fact, it is plain laziness. In dutch we have the following saying: ‘gemak dient de mens’. This roughly translates to: ‘it’s nice not to make an effort’. Nowadays, not making an effort is exactly what we are searching for; in everything that we do.
Almost everything you think of already has a ‘subscribe now’ option. It seems as if humanity is being automated. You don’t even have to decide to buy something; before you notice something is running empty and some new item is already delivered to your residence.
Why do I always have to go to the blockbuster to rent a movie?
Netflix.
Why do I have to buy razorblades?
Boldking.
I always forget to buy toothbrushes.
Some toothbrush-subscription.
Is this a bad thing?
Not necessarily, not from a business perspective at least.
Every business and/or process must innovate or it will run the risk of being outdated, replaced or discarded. The same thing holds true for services; services must adapt to avoid falling behind, an example of this being the aforementioned blockbuster. The article on Entrepreneur states that there are certain advantages to subscription models. For example, there’s flexibility; it gives the company the option to plan resources and project revenue accurately. It’s possible to make (slight) adjustments every month in order to sway with the market movements to always maximize efficiency and outcome.
The key to having a successful subscribing plan is being able to back up promises and to show customers that they gets loads of value for its money.
One of the most important things is how to get customers to subscribe to your specific product. Thelaunchcoach.com, a free website that offers advice on people getting to buy whatever you’re selling, created by a fellow named Dave (this is the official description of the website), gives three points that are most important in selling whatever it is that your selling:
The first is linking your product benefits to outcomes that core customers want. It’s not about the product; it’s about what customers can do with it, or what it does, after they’ve used it. The second thing is designing the product according to the experience that your customers want. It’s all about creating and designing around what the customers want and what they expect. Once in a while it’s more than okay to ‘wow’ them by giving them something they hadn’t even dreamt of. But the most important thing is that they receive something that is similar to what they wanted and expected to receive. You have to honor and comply (with) the customers’ demands and their requests; after all, they are the ones that are actually going to use your product and/or service(s). The third and final most important thing is showing potential customers how to overcome their objections regarding your product and/or service. The way to do this is to apply basic sales tactics and sway them into abandoning their doubts and fears and to dive head first into the product/service you’re offering.
Almost everything can be ‘subscriptionalized’, it’s all about making it stand out and creating the perfect environment for your (potential) customers to get hooked on your product or service.
Bibliography
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/243573
http://www.thelaunchcoach.com/sell-products-online/sell-products-three-tips
Consumer Value Creation 