03/29/2023
🔥HOT TAKE *opinion*🔥
If we strive to enhance the consumer experience by trying to reduce the friction it takes to purchase a product, we should put the same emphasis on the process of low friction canceling of that product.
On 3/23/23, the FTC released a statement titled "Federal Trade Commission Proposes Rule Provision Making it Easier for Consumers to “Click to Cancel” Recurring Subscriptions and Memberships" (link in the comments).
In the release, it states, "The Federal Trade Commission today proposed a “click to cancel” provision requiring sellers to make it as easy for consumers to cancel their enrollment as it was to sign up."
In response, Liz Clark, CEO of IHRSA - whom I highly respect, shared her position via a press release, stating: “Online abuses and junk fee situations are rife in some app and online service areas of the digital universe, but not the brick and mortar space of gyms and studios that are Main Street businesses with a physical presence in every corner of the country.” (link in the comments)
I do agree that there are junk fee situations through app and online services, but there are also many junk service philosophies happening in our brick-and-mortar gyms.
Could this be a case of a few bad brands spoiling it for most good companies? I don't know, but what would happen if it was easy to cancel?
I can think of a few groups I've worked with that would have most of their 1-star reviews obsolete had this been a policy they enacted on their own. Would it raise the floor of the service of experience for membership-based industries? Maybe.
My experience of 26 years in the fitness industry in sales and trying to save cancellations fuel this perspective. I have been fortunate enough to work with mentors that have stressed the importance of customer service ratcheting up to the next level *after* someone enrolls to solidify a relationship and prevent a messy cancellation.
I've been to IHRSA and FitLife Club Network events where awesome speakers discussed the importance of reducing the friction of the enrollment AND cancellation process. I've read the feedback of my client's canceling members sharing their incredible frustration with the difficulty of canceling an agreement. I've spoken to groups preaching, "Make it easy to join. Make it easy to cancel."
So yes, we should make it easy to cancel, but not through some legislative act, but by the implementation of consumer-centric processes that creates "raving fans" executed by top-tier operators. Let the market decide, and let the best operators win.
Let the brick-and-mortar company that has done that training with staff try and "save" a customer when they try to cancel. Consumers are smart, the internet has given them the advantage, and the operators who execute on a high level will win.
Yes, it should be easy to cancel, but let the best type of legislation make that determination; the "attention-and-dollars-of-the-consumer" type of legislation.
Thoughts?
Opinion by Lyle - Founder of Avodah Business Collective
