Calendar
Following consecutive quarters of anxiety and negative sentiment, the third quarter of Q3 is a major milestone regarding the outlook for the future of the economics of membership.
The market for membership is having one of the most turbulent times in its time. Inflation is rising, there's more uncertainty and an increasingly preoccupied consumer have been driving the trends through 2022. The downstream effects of these developments, as well as fierce volatility in financial markets have now spread to nearly every sector.
Membership is no exception. And while 2022 revenue projections made during the membership boom of 2021 began to quickly feel out of reach throughout the course of this year, operators who manage membership were forced to think deeper than ever before into every facet of their overall strategy.
Simply put In the simplest terms: If you're a member operator, 2022 has relentlessly test your belief repeatedly.
The majority of the stories until now will have you believing that the rest of 2022 is going to be extremely negative for the membership, and that we must be ready for a slowdown across all consumer sectors, every market and every business.
Not so fast.
Looking for the moment
In difficult markets and business landscapes we always look for indications, indicators and signs that a turning point is close or is coming up. And while we often don't know that a change has taken place until weeks and months after it occurs but there's one thing that is always associated with turning points - the moment.
Q3 was the exact moment.
It was a moment where membership operators saw extremely positive outcomes amid extremely negative feelings. This was the moment when silence was greater than the chaotic. It was a time when the operators proved that the value of their product that members simply refused to be without it.
It was a point that marked a divergence.
The biggest risk for membership operators during economic slowdowns is the risk of becoming negative. Members who were committed and bullish on their business through this difficult year have continued to plan, build and plan ahead for this event not knowing exactly when it would happen. And now that Q3 is complete, we're able to look into the rearview mirror and know with certainty that it's, in fact, occurring.
The uncertainty creates opportunities
The customer's memberships performed significantly better than ours during the third quarter. All across our portfolio, we've seen these members set records in their earnings, retention, and member counts. Being consistent and non-reactive to larger narratives allowed our customers to benefit from the growth in membership we saw in Q3.
The sound management of the overall the membership strategy is a driving factor of membership performance in tough environments. The best returns are occurring when operators decide to make a big investment in their businesses during times of economic downturn and revert to more prudent spending in times of rapid growth. This strategy has allowed our clients to have funds available to invest in their business at the right time such as those we witnessed through the first quarter of 2022.
It's a long-term game and members who are operating with that mindset find that external uncertainty and negative feelings create long-term opportunities for sustainable membership growth.
As a membership operator, you simply can't predict the time of upswings similar to those we witnessed in Q3 , but you can anticipate them.
The only guarantee you have is the fact that these moments occur when you would least would.
Keep on building.