Susan,
Data, Data, Data. I'm a true believer in it's value. Do you do any
type of exit interview for departing members? Do they permanently
leave or just go on hiatus?
Many businesses have more flex hours over the summer, people go on
extended vacations or your members may have school aged children who
need more in-home attention over the summer months during their school
vacation (so they stay at home instead of paying for childcare).
Keeping documentation and trending information from exit interviews
might help you to understand the reasons for their departure and your
dip. It might also give you the information you need to keep them as
clients; perhaps by offering additional options to your memberships
that are more aligned with their needs during the summer months.
Another thought about departing members, they are potential advocates,
if they had a great experience. An exit interview would provide you
the information you need to address "reasons for departure" issues.
It also could help secure them as "rebound" members, people who will
return when life/work issues change in favor of coworking again.
Do you have an alumni organization for ex-Nomads? Many businesses are
continuing their relationships with ex's because of the strong
advocacy they can provide and because the community feels a loss when
regular members suddenly depart (often without notice or a goodbye
party). Coworking communities can celebrate people moving on and keep
them as alumni in the community.
I'm a coworking owner wantabee and just had some random thought about
your data and dip trend. Hope these thought provide some value.
Kent
[email protected]
On Jun 16, 2010, at 1:46 PM, Susan Evans wrote:
Howdy coworkers!
I was just running some of our membership numbers in preparation for
our "State of the Nomads" meeting here today (our version of Town
Halls, member meetings, or whatever you may dub them at your own
spaces), and ran into one of the first-ever notable trends at our
coworking space and thought I'd share!
We apparently see either a dip or a leveling off of memberships in
the summer months each year. Some years it has been closer to June,
others closer to August, but regardless, this is our third summer
running that we are seeing a slight decline in memberships. But I'm
not batting an eye or spending any time worrying about it. Why?
Because the other trend I see is that membership growth goes back on
the incline again in the late summer/early fall of us. It has
happened each year that we've been open, and I have 100% confidence
that it'll happen again. This doesn't mean that Jacob and I get to
slack off for the summer and give up looking for new members, but
what it does mean is that I won't go into a spiral of worry when I
see the kind of dip I see right now. This is a refreshing change
here in year 3.
It's always incredibly exciting to learn bigger lessons after
spending several years running a coworking space! Having usable
data is this coworking space owners dream. :) I'd highly recommend
that all spaces, regardless of what software you use to run your
space, track membership levels and trends so that you can keep a
watchful eye on how your membership levels move.
What trends do you all see at your spaces when it comes to
membership levels?
Happy Wednesday!
Susan
__
Office Nomads
officenomads.com
206-484-5859
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