Membership

Of those subscribing members who elect to NOT renew their membership, do we have in place a "follow-up" questionnaire (or something similar) to help determine what the reason was for their departure?

I know that some folks contact the new members to welcome them, but does anyone contact the "former" members to tell them we're sorry they're leaving?

It's basically the same question worded two different ways, if that makes any sense.

Thanks,
Carla

Good ideas, Carla.

There isn't a specific "exit questionnaire" that goes to people who don't renew, but occasionally someone will reply to the renewal reminder and tell us they're not renewing. When that happens, I reply with a note telling them we're sorry to see them go, reminding them of the features they still have access to, and inviting them to share with us any thoughts or suggestions that would make DG better.

Do you think it might help encourage anyone to resubscribe if they received something "personalized" from a member?

I know, as you do too, Terry (since we both worked in HR before) that exit interviews are commonly conducted by HR personnel to determine a variety of things, one of which (except in the case of involuntary termination), is the reason for leaving the company. Sometimes you get specific information and some times you don't. Any information that might improve the site would be of benefit, though.

It'll be up to Dave to decide whether this is a go/no-go idea, but I'm sure he could pull a report of all those that did not re-up within the past year. Whether or not it would be better to have a personal contact from a fellow member (a "peer" if you will); or if it should be a more formalized letter, I dunno. I see the upside to the personalized peer approach, but I also see how some might see it as an invasion of their privacy if we distributed that list to non-administrators. Kind of a touchy area with some folks. On the other hand, a "form letter" is often off-putting, too.

(Golly, when I re-read that I feel positively absolutely negative - yuck!!!! 'Scuse me, please - it must be a combination of oppressive humidity, unseasonably high heat, and the worn-out feeling from teaching four year olds at VBS this week!!!)

I don't post much any more -- here, or anywhere -- because I'm just not on the computer a great deal. I have every intention of renewing my membership at DG, but if I didn't and then received such a followup letter or form, I would indeed view it as arm-twisting and an invasion of privacy.

Hypothetically, if I started a thread stating my intention to leave, I would consider that an open invitation for people to express themselves regarding my decision; otherwise, it would basically be my own private choice. Thankfully, DG is such a fine site that I don't believe many members would choose to leave altogether.

Hi Whiterose - I've been wondering where you've been!

Hi, Cheryl! Nice to see you.

Hmmm...definately pros and cons. I'd like to hear from more folks, too. I hadn't even thought about the arm-twisting perspective.

Terry, I hadn't thought about it as a privacy issue. That's certainly something to consider, too.

I've got issues, ask anyone . . . LOL!

But here's my two cents . . .

Coming from any site but DG, I'd be bothered by a follow up letter from any other than the admin. One thing I really love about DG is the way email addys are held so close, privacy is so respected. Coming from DG - people here are so friendly, I'd prolly figure they noticed I was no longer a subscriber and wanted to know what happened . . . ;-)

I'd prolly just delete a follow up from the admin. Nothing offensive in that. Tho I have received and responded to administrative follow ups in the past - it depends on the site and my state of mind at the moment.

Cheri'

Well, I dunno. I got eliminated from another site long ago and still get updates as to what's going on there and find it very annoying. But that's another situation.

I think that if I chose to not resubscribe to this site, I would welcome a letter from admin. asking for input on the site and what could be done to make it more useful for me. I would also welcome an area to explain why I wasn't re-subscribing. But, only one, not a monthly email. If I don't reply to the first one, I'm not going to reply to the rest either.

And, if I would choose to reply, it would be most helpful to have someone on the receiving end follow up also.

I know the membership is only $15, but maybe a discount ($10 or $12 vs. $15) for those wanting to renew would entice those thinking about not renewing. Just a thought.

That's not a terrible idea, but at the same time, I am uncomfortable charging different people different subscription costs. It's always been the same cost for everyone, and I like that. :)

Proverbs 20:10 and all... :)

dave

speaking of rates . . . how about a 5 year rate? or a lifetime rate? (I can dream . . . ) This way I wouldn't have to think about renewing so often.

Yes, once a year is too often for me . . . ;-)

Cheri'

I can't even imagine not renewing so it is hard to imagine what I would want if I did not! But, I think a single email would be appreciated. I believe we are all probably vain enough to want to think that we would be missed and might just be persuaded to change our mind!

and...Whiterose, I have missed you!

Doris

Hi, Doris, it's very nice to see you! And I agree -- it's hard to imagine not renewing.

The thing is ... some folks DON'T renew. Why is that? I'm curious as to what they saw in the beginning that made them want to join, then a year or more later, decide not to renew. That baffles me (who can't imagine life WITHOUT DG). What changed? Have their needs changed (like moving into a condo where gardening is difficult)? Are they in financial distress (and don't know about the Garden Angel fund)?

I just think it might be worthwhile to know why some folks would opt to NOT renew their membership. Perhaps we aren't meeting everyone's needs and it might be helpful to know why.

I have to agree that a questionaire after the fact would probably find the delete button first. Are subscription notices still sent out beforehand? Why not include an optional - one time - questionaire with the first subscription notice? Some may answer - some may not, but at least it wouldn't be considered spam and it may provide some clues.

I've been keeping up with this thread, and a few thoughts occured to me:

1) I'm hesitant to put the idea in someone's mind that they shouldn't renew. No matter how well it's worded, I'm afraid a pre-emptive questionnaire along with the subscription notice would do just that. (There IS no choice: thou shalt renew!!!! *grin* - just kidding!!!!)

2) I would hazard a guess (and it's only a guess) that the people most likely to not renew are those that never quite "got it", meaning they didn't figure out how to access the forums, or that the forums exist. If they never feel connected with the people here, their interest is more likely to wane at renewal time. (Kind of like how I felt about GW before I discovered DG.)

I think the work that Carla and others are doing (and trust me - the more the merrier!) to email a hearty personal "Welcome!" to our newbies does a marvelous job of getting our newcomers plugged in right away, and gives them someone they can contact if they are struggling to figure out the site and features. My guess is that initial personal contact probably does more good than any after-the-fact follow-up we could do once they've been here a year, and are debating whether or not to re-up.

I've given a few 2 month subscriptions as gifts and the reason for not renewing they have given me is that they don't like computers. I though it might have been a great way of showing someone that there is a wonderful world of potential friends out there, but if they just aren't outgoing, DG isn't going to change that.

Terry,

You summed up the whole thing so nicely. I think if a person isn't going to renew, anything sent to them after they make the decision isn't likely to change their mind and if they provide any information at all, it probably won't change the way the site is set up right now.

I guess I'm just a little curious as to why someone wouldn't renew. I can't fathom it.

As for plugging people in, that's what our church and many others really strive for with new members. If they get connected right away and feel a part of it all, they are likely to have a good experience.

So it is with DG. I've received a number of messages from new members that are a little overwhelmed with the size of the site and that it's a bit of a challenge to navigate at first, but I imagine that's a function of the learning curve. It would be the same at any web site. All we can do, really, is make them feel at home.

I almost chose not to renew this year and ended up renewing for 2 years instead. Let me walk you through my reasons for NOT renewing.

1. Too busy with other projects to keep up with the forums

2. Moved and new and smaller garden makes for fewer plants and fewer things to look up

3. Bickering got pretty bad for awhile (thank goodness it has quieted down or dropped off my radar)

The reasons I stayed;

1. good people who are so helpful and kind.

2. good people who care

3. good people

I still go back to the idea of giving the members an incentive. Almost a reward for faithful membership. It happens everywhere - magazine subscriptions, health club memberships, etc. In our neighborhood, we even gave the homeowners an incentive to pay their yearly "neighborhood fee" by "if you pay by XYZ date, you only pay $75 vs, $95 by the later date. 90% of the homes paid by the earlier date. Having worked in retail mgmt for 12+ year, I know that most people like a "sale". It doesn't devalue the service you're offerieng.

If an email was sent out 2 month prior to the renewal date with a note that if they renew now, they can save "$XYZ", I think your renewal rate would definitely increase. As for charging different people different prices, it's just two kinds of people: new subscribers and return subscribers - nothing out of the ordinary there. For those subscribers who may be on the fence about renewing, an incentive like this could make all the difference!

Just my two cents.

I once contacted a former member by emailing them using the email that was on their homepage through Dave's . I told them how much I missed them and I got an email back that they were going right at that moment and renew. They did and I have seen a few posting since then and we do email quite often. I even got an email Sunday wishing me a happy father's day from her.
What if we had a listing of former members and we could view the list and we could email them through Dave's and it would be just like us emailing some one now. If they didn't want to answer they wouldn't have to.I think a lot of members might have personal problems that we aren't aware of and they would appreciate some one contacting them. I know we went through a lot when Bobbie first became sick and almost had to leave Dave's. $15 dollars isn't much but it is if you don't have it. Carol7 paid my membership that year and we wouln't be on Dave's now if not for her. I was contacted not only by Carol but several more here offering to pay my fees. What ever the reason they don't renew I don't think it would be invasive for us to tell them we miss them and want them back. Most of the members that quit posting we forget about until we see an old posting and it brings back how much we enjoyed the posts they created. Just my thoughts.

Neighborhood fee???

Cherish - Homeowners associations are prevalent in many neighborhoods. They charge a fee and provide a variety of services, upkeep of common areas and some have neighborhood pools, tennis courts, etc.

OK, that makes sense. As long as they come through with their promises. :-)

Dave, I cannot email you as the address won't go through. I am getting 2 copies of your newsletter each day. I most certainly do want to get one copy.

Yes, I know about the multiple copies. Everyone is getting two copies. I did some more tracking down the problem today, and we'll see if it happens that two copies go out again tonight. One by one I am narrowing down the potential causes.

dave

There's a lot worse things that I could be getting two copies of!

Dave with the multiple copies, the last three nights, I received two copies, then 0 copies and then 1 copy. Is it perhaps a timing issue, with one getting sent too early and thus replicating the previous one?

No, it's an issue with cron on my server. Cron is a scheduler program that runs programs at a certain time (that I specify). For some reason, cron is intermittenly running programms 1, 2, 3 or more times when it's only supposed to do it just once. A very odd issue! I'm actually working on this still at the very moment.

dave

I found this bug report at redhat.com: http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=29868

The solution is to rebuild without the time patch. So, I did that and now have cron running again without that patch. We'll see if the problem manifests itself again tonight.

dave

What is the newsletter from Dave and how do you get it, or is it just for certain people?

raven_locks, anyone can opt to receive the nightly newsletter. Assuming you're logged in, go here: http://davesgarden.com/prefs/preferences.php and check the box to start receiving it ;o)

Thanks, I just did!!

Ya'll hijacked my thread....but I'm glad. Seems like some things needed to be worked out. :)

I was browsing & came to this thread. I got to thinking, hmmm, it is about this date that I signed up. Checked & re-uped with 37 minutes left in my old subscription.
Did I get a notice somewhere that I missed?
Sure wouldn't want to miss a beat here at DG!
Bernie

Dave - I got duplicate newsletters tonight at 1:43 am tonight. Cron problem again? Just a head's up...not annoying to me in the least.

me too