New: keep members longer with a minimum term and notice period

New on eola: memberships can now have a minimum term and a notice period. January is when lots of people buy a membership for the year ahead, and now the members who join your centre in the New Year stay with you through February and March too, so you know what each new member will bring in until spring. Members now see the terms clearly before they buy, and when someone cancels, eola works out when their membership ends and emails them the date.

Keep members through the quiet months

You can now add a minimum term, a notice period or both to any rolling membership. With a minimum term, a member commits to a set number of payments when they join, so each January sign-up becomes a steady run of payments into the spring rather than one or two. With a notice period, you hear about a cancellation in good time, not the day before the next payment.

• Minimum term: the fewest payments a member makes before their membership can end, from 2 up to a year’s worth.
• Notice period: how many days’ notice a member gives when they cancel.

As you create the plan, eola now spells out the terms so you can check them, for example: “Members will pay £30 every month, for at least 6 months (£180.00 in total), and give 30 days’ notice to cancel.”

Members know where they stand

• Before they buy: on the membership page and in the basket, the plan now shows its terms, such as “Minimum term: 6 months, £180.00 in total” and “30 days’ notice to cancel”. The total includes any sign-up fee.
• In their account: the membership now shows the date their commitment ends and how much notice they need to give.
• Before each payment: their renewal reminder now tells them the last day they can cancel to avoid it, and whether the payment is part of their minimum term.

Cancelling stays simple for everyone

Members can give notice from their account at any time, and eola now works out the end date for you. Their membership ends at the end of the first paid period after their notice has run out and their minimum term is over, and payments due before then are still taken. They get an email straight away with the end date, and they keep using their membership until then.

For example, on a monthly plan with a six-month term, a member who joins on 1 December and cancels in February pays six times, December to May, and their membership ends on 1 June.

Your team can still end any membership whenever they need to, whatever the plan’s terms, now or at the end of the current period, with or without a refund. The member is emailed the end date either way.

How to set it up

Terms belong to a price plan and are set when you create it.

1. Go to Products > Memberships, open the membership and select Add a price plan. For a new membership, select Continue to pricing after its details.
2. Give the plan a Nickname, such as Adult monthly, then enter the Price and any Sign Up Fee.
3. Choose Continuous and pick the Payment interval: Weekly, Monthly or Annually.
4. Fill in Minimum term (payments), Notice period (days), or both. Leave either blank if you don’t want it.
5. Check the summary at the bottom, then select Create price plan.

New to memberships on eola? Talk to us to get memberships set up, and read our guide to setting up memberships for benefits, members and the rest.

Good to know

• A plan’s terms can’t be changed once it’s created, so members always keep the terms they agreed to. To offer different terms, create a new price plan.
• Adding a plan with a term doesn’t change the plans your current members are on.
• A free trial doesn’t use up the minimum term. The term starts with the first paid period.
• Still deciding whether memberships suit your business? Read memberships for activity businesses: are they worth it?

See eola in action

A minimum term turns your January sign-ups into members who are still with you in the spring. If memberships could work for your centre, talk to us and we’ll get you set up in time for the New Year rush.

New to eola?

eola is the booking system made for activity and experience providers. Take bookings and payments online, sell memberships with a minimum term and notice period, and put your activities in front of new customers on the eola marketplace. Book a demo and we’ll show you how eola could work for your business.