When do you need a subscription management system?

In a world where business models are turning towards subscription-based services, it is becoming increasingly important to handle subscribers in the best possible way.

Whether it concerns digital services, membership or periodic deliveries of physical goods, subscription management requires a good deal of “finesse” and accuracy. Ideally, you should avoid manual processes, while ensuring the customer experiences good service.

At some point you should invest in a subscription system. But when? Let’s explore this further.

Sign 1: Increasing volume 

What it means: As your subscribers increase, so does the amount of administrative work. The growth in the customer base means more transactions to process, more invoices to send out, and more customer data that needs to be updated and maintained. 

Sign 2: Increasing complexity 

What it means: As your services or products become more diverse and complex, managing them requires some finesse. It’s true if you offer different levels of membership, customized packages or a large selection of products on subscription. Each customer may have unique preferences, making manual handling cumbersome and costly. 

Sign 3: Lack of internal resources 

What it means: Allocating sufficient resources to effectively manage subscription models can be challenging, especially for companies in the growth phase. When the manual administration of subscriptions takes valuable time away from core business activities (product development, marketing and customer service), the need for a subscription system becomes clear. 

Sign 4: Possibility of automated upselling 

What it means: A well-developed subscription system also helps identify and automate opportunities for upselling. This is important for those looking to increase revenue per subscriber (share of wallet) by offering customized upgrades or additional products based on their current choices and past behavior. 

Conclusion 

Each of the four factors above can alone be enough to justify an investment in a modern subscription system. But often it is a combination of the factors that make one see that the time has now come. As it takes some time from when you think “now I need a system” to when you have a solution fully implemented, it is wise to make the decision in time.