It’s Time to Let Your Members Cancel Your Club Online

Customers would rather clean toilets, have a root canal, even be punched in the testicals rather than call customer service. People hate calling customer service, yet most wine clubs today force their best customers to call if they want to cancel their wine club.

I’ve heard a lot of arguments as to why customers should have to call in to cancel a wine club. As a winery you desire to offer them an alternative. You would rather put their club membership on hold. Perhaps you can have the customer opt to a club that ships fewer bottles or ships less frequently. Some wineries just want to express sympathy and talk with their customers.

What does cancelling online mean?

Canceling a club online isn’t a either/or situation. It’s an option for your club member. A customer can call in and cancel. A customer can login to their profile online and cancel. Or they can email and cancel. I’m not advocating to force them to login and cancel.

Just because a customer cancels online doesn’t mean you can’t reach out with an email and express everything you would like to express. Unless your customer unsubscribes, you can still send them an email - they are still your customer. They are just not a club member.

Why allow them to cancel online?

Club members cancel your club for a number of reasons. Maybe it’s financial. It could be medication they are taking and can’t drink right now. Maybe it’s pregnancy. Maybe they just have too much wine.

When a customer calls you what do they have to go through? If the reason is deeply personal like a health or financial issue, they may not want to talk about it with you - yet you force them to.

If the decision to cancel is made in the evening, now you're asking your customer to make a note, and then remember to call you tomorrow when you’re open rather than when it’s convenient for them.

Furthermore, the coming millennial generation has a desire for self service and digital interaction. And older generations are learning to like it too!.

Canceling online should be part of the sales pitch - nobody likes to be “locked” into something. Being able to cancel online can be part of the sales pitch. When you know you can opt out online it’s easier to commit to the subscription.

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Are you thinking about you or are you thinking about the customer? "Customer centric" means you allow the customer the option to deal with you in the way they want to and how they want to.