Realising that I had double cover I phoned the AA (automobile association) last week to cancel my membership. On ascertaining my reason, they didnt try to argue with me but simply said, "ok, but would you like us to suspend your membership for five years. You dont pay anything and if after five years your circumstances have changed and you would like to restore your membership, you will keep the benefits you have gained by being a member before?". Of course I said "alright go on then".
So at little cost to them, they have not lost me as a member completely. They obviously still have me on their database and I expect to get suitably crafted communications from them - not banging me over the head about becoming a member, but possibly offering affinity products and maintaining the relationship. As we know it is always hugely more expensive to find new members rather than keep existing ones.
It struck me that this simple tactic may have application for other membership based organisations - particularly trade unions and political parties.
Take political parties. People join a political party in numbers when its values strike a chord with them but particularly when they see it as a vehicle to express opposition to something (the government of the day or some injustice for example). When circumstances change - the most obvious example being that their party gains office and turns out to be less than ideal! (Ring any bells?), it is inevitable that a proportion will not want to sustain their membership.
If a political party in such circumstances were to offer them membership suspension instead of grudgingly having to say "ok go on leave then!", there would be a much better chance of maintaining some form of relationship and getting them back in future. Of course some people will jump ship to another political party or will be lost forever. But a proportion will always remain closest to the party they were a member of and will therefore be within reach.
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