The Automatic Customer: Creating a Subscription Business in Any Industry

The lifeblood of your business is repeat customers. But customers can be fickle, markets shift, and competitors are ruthless. So how do you ensure a steady flow of repeat business? The secret—no matter what industry you’re in—is finding and keeping automatic customers . These days virtually anything you need can be purchased through a subscription, with more convenience than ever before. Far beyond Spotify, Netflix, and New York Times subscriptions, you can sign up for weekly or monthly supplies of everything from groceries (AmazonFresh) to cosmetics (Birchbox) to razor blades (Dollar Shave Club). According to John Warrillow, this emerging subscription economy offers huge opportunities to companies that know how to turn customers into subscribers. Automatic customers are the key to increasing cash flow, igniting growth, and boosting the value of your company. Consider Whatsapp, the internet-based messaging service that was purchased by Facebook for $19 billion. While other services bombarded users with invasive ads in order to fund a free messaging platform, Whatsapp offered a refreshingly private tool on a subscription platform, charging just $1 per year. Their business model enabled the kind of service that customers wanted and ensured automatic customers for years to come. As Warrillow shows, subscriptions aren’t limited to technology or media businesses. Companies in nearly any industry, from start-ups to the Fortune 500, from home contractors to florists, can build subscriptions into their business. Warrillow provides the essential blueprint for winning automatic customers with one of the nine subscription business models, This book also shows you how to master the psychology of selling subscriptions and how to reduce churn and provides a road map for the essential statistics you need to measure the health of your subscription business. Whether you want to transform your entire business into a recurring revenue engine or just pick up an extra 5 percent of sales growth, The Automatic Customer will be your secret weapon. Table of Contents Introduction PART SUBSCRIBERS ARE BETTER THAN CUSTOMERS Chapter 1: The New 500-Year-Old Business Model Chapter 2: Why You Need Automatic Customers PART THE NINE SUBSCRIPTION BUSINESS MODELS Chapter 3: The Membership Website Model Chapter 4: The All-You-Can-Eat Library Model Chapter 5: The Private Club Model Chapter 6: The Front-of-the-Line Subscription Model Chapter 7: The Consumables Model Chapter 8: The Surprise Box Model Chapter 9: The Simplifier Model Chapter 10: The Network Model Chapter 11: The Peace-of-Mind Model PART YOUR SUBSCRIPTION BUSINESS FIELD GUIDE Chapter 12: The New Math Chapter 13: The Cash Suck vs. The Cash Spigot Chapter 14: The Psychology of Selling a Subscription Chapter 15: Scaling Up Chapter 16: Reflections