Member Profiling – The Good, The Bad and How To Handle Them

Inside any given membership site, you’ll have a variety of different “personalities”.

Some will enhance your membership.

Others will not.

In this article we’ll take a look at a general overview of what to expect and how to handle these people to ensure continued growth, a positive environment and growing profits.

Introduction

Before we get started, it’s important to understand that for the sake of this article we are going to be using “generalities”.

That means there very well could be differences within your membership site but this article will serve as a tool to raise your awareness and guide your thinking towards the importance of creating a positive membership experience not only for your members, but also for yourself.

Secondly, it’s also *VERY* important to note that in this article, we are NOT referencing anyone in particular from this membership site.  These profiles have been built from years of running MANY different membership sites.

Alright, you ready?

Let’s dive in…

Member Profiling

As your membership site grows, you’ll begin to identify a variety of different personality “types” that will emerge.

Every membership will have them.

They may vary slightly and there could even be some “overlap” (meaning one of your members could fall into multiple categories).

But one thing is for sure, by cultivating a culture whereby the majority of your members are closer to the “Target Zone” (see the chart below), you’ll have more interaction, higher retention, lower refunds and therefore much greater profitability.

In addition, you’ll find your membership site will become easier to run, more enjoyable and a lot more rewarding.

Here is a quick overview of the characters.  You’ll find a more detailed description under the diagram.

So let’s take a look at these “typical” characteristics in more detail.

1)  The “Know It All” (BAD)

The only “good” thing about this group is that it’s quite small.  But, they can be troublesome if you don’t address them early on.

Here’s the back story…

Generally when someone joins a membership site, they are doing so because they want to learn something “new”.

With that said, you will sometimes get someone who continually “disagrees” with everything shared in your membership.

Challenging a point of view is good to spark discussion.  But it gets dangerous if the intent is to discredit the author or prove them wrong (especially if the membership is based on your expertise).

These people can be very challenging to deal because no matter what you (or anyone else) says, you’ll never be right.

They are hard headed, never wrong and very confrontational.

Because of that, it’s important to personally reach out to these people privately in order to address a given situation.

If not, it can quickly turn into a public back and forth battle – one you don’t necessarily want to be involved in (especially inside your own site).

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2)  The “Complainer”

The Complainer is easy to identify.

Why?

Because they complain a lot!  :)

Unfortunately, these people can be very frustrating to deal with as well.

They are generally the kind of person that no matter how hard you try, you’ll never be able to make them happy.

If you give them an unexpected bonus, they’ll complain about it.

It wasn’t big enough, short enough, the right color ect.

You’ll also get a sense that they feel “entitled” to everything and they never fully “appreciate” what is provided.

This group can be VERY draining on you as the site owner so you’ll need to address them right away.

Again, it’s recommended that you do this privately either by phone, email or with a private message from within your site.

Sometimes you may find that your other members will even do this for you as well either publicly or in private (which is perfect).

The majority of your members will quickly recognize when someone is being “silly” or overstepping their bounds and it’s common for others to chime in and address the situation.

With that said, it’s important for you as the site owner to make the distinction between a “complaint” and a “suggestion”.

Suggestions are good.

Complaints are bad.

If you’re striving to create a great membership, then you’ll always want to make it better (so you’ll certainly want to welcome suggestions for doing so).

But complaints are different.

They can be cancerous in that they cultivate a place full of moaning and groaning.

This creates a place people don’t want to visit and if they don’t want to visit, they won’t get value from your content and therefore people drop out and refunds go up.

You can easily identify the difference between a complaint and a suggestion by paying close attention to the type of language used.

Suggestions provide ideas for improvements.

Complaints don’t.  They’re just negative comments with no comments on how to make “it” better.

As the business owner, we often take the complaints to heart (and sometimes even the suggestions).

But take a deep breath, identify any tiny nugget that you could possibly use to improve your site, and then move on.

Start by contacting the person privately and express your concern for the way they are voicing their concerns in public (even complainers will appreciate this).  The key is to just be firm and then move on.

Here’s the good news…

If you have good intentions behind everything you do and your focus is always to provide the utmost value for your members, this group will be fairly small.

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3)  “Silent Sam”

The vast majority of your members will fall into this category.

They like your content, visit your membership but choose to remain “quiet”.

No comments.

No contributions.

No participation in contests or member events.

Just silence.

It can be frustrating when you’re always putting forth an effort to engage as many members as you can but the key here is to understand that your job is to cultivate a positive environment whereby they feel comfortable getting more involved.

You do this by acknowledging and encouraging.

We all like to feel valued.

So reach out to your members who you haven’t heard from.

Create “first time” challenges (incentives for first comment, first forum thread, first contribution ect.).

And when someone does participate for the first time, be sure to try and acknowledge it.

You’ll notice Wray and Faye do this in each episode of Inside The Insider by mentioning the names of people who left comments for the first time or people who just joined the membership.

People love hearing their name and little “call outs” can go a long way to move people out of the “darkness of silence” :)

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4)  Interactive Members

Interactive members are important for your membership because they create excitement.

For example, if more people are involved in a challenge or contest, it suddenly becomes more exciting for everyone – make sense?

So you want to encourage this group.

These people make your membership “fun”.

It’s their conversations, thoughts, ideas and interactions that keep people glued to your membership.

The key is to continually give them something to get involved with.

Do you want comments?  Ask for them.

Do you want suggestions?  Ask for them.

Do you want people to vote on something?  Tell them how.

Do you want people to participate in a contest?  Make it easy and give clear instructions on how to get started.

Do you want their opinion?  Direct their attention to a hot forum thread.

Many times, the “burden of participation” falls on YOUR shoulders.

Provide plenty of “ways” for your members to get involved and do it on a regular basis.  Then just be sure to give them clear instructions on what to do next.

If you do that, you’ll get a lot more interaction.

EXTRA TIP:  If you’re starting a new membership site, you may need to “kickstart” the interaction by being heavily involved yourself or by providing some type of incentive.  People like it when you’re involved so be sure to regularly set aside time to interact with your members.

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5)  The “Contributor”

Contributors are valuable to your membership.

In a perfect world, everyone would contribute to your membership in some way on a regular basis.

These people make YOUR life easier by adding value to your membership… for FREE!

Not only are they deeply involved in your community but they also go that extra mile by contributing “something” to your membership.  They want to provide value and they want to help.

They do this by either contributing valuable content, resources, suggestions or helpful advice to other members.

The good news is, the other members of your site will immediately recognize the value of this type of contribution and you’ll commonly see a plethora of “thank yous” toward the member who contributed.

With that said, it’s critical for you to continually bring attention to these people because these people add value because they like helping others.

Therefore, the more people you make aware of their contribution, the more people they’ll be able to help.

And the more people they’re able to help, the happier they feel – and the more likely they will contribute again.

You can bring attention either in “recap posts”, “shout outs” or any other public acknowledgements from within your site.

EXTRA TIP:  If you find a member has gone above and beyond, reach out to them personally.  Either a phone call or a “video thank you” can have a big impact.  Personally, I like using “Jing” and the webcam option for this kind of thing.

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6)  MVM (Most Valuable Members)

It won’t take long before you’ll quickly see some real superstars emerge within your site.

These are the people who continually go WAY above and beyond to contribute to your community and make people feel welcome.

They add insightful comments to your content.

They start new conversations in your forum.

They help answer questions from other members.

They contribute valuable content.

…AND…

They reach out to new members, encourage others and make your membership a fun place to be.

Hands down these are your most valuable members (hence “MVM”) :)

Make an effort to connect with these people personally.  With all that they contribute to your site, they should feel that they have a direct connection to you.

Your other members will also look up to these people because of all the value they bring to others.

So DEFINITELY acknowledge them in public and NEVER take for granted all the effort they pour into your site.

Lastly, these are by far your most loyal members.

They truly appreciate you and the value you provide.

EXTRA TIP:  If you use the “Cube Points” plugin in your membership, these people will rise to the top very quickly.  Also keep an eye on your “monthly” leaderboard for any new potential MVM’s.

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Conclusion

At the end of the day, our job as membership site owners is to move people down towards the “MVM” level.

The more “Interactive Members”, “Contributors” and “MVM’s” you have, the more successful your site will be.

It will also be easier to run, manage and operate…

…AND…

You’ll have more fun doing it…

…AND…

You’ll make more money as a result.

Seems like a great combo doesn’t it?

It is, but it all starts by gaining more awareness of the “type” of member profiles that can “add” to your membership as well as those that can “subtract” from your membership.

Hopefully this article and chart will help do that for you.

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Now it’s your turn…

Is there an obvious “profile” you would add to the list?

Is there one you’d subtract?

What has been your experience working with these types of people in a membership environment?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

(and if you’re the “Silent Sam” type, now’s a good time to take a step out of the darkness ;) ).