Robbie Kellman Baxter: The Forever Transaction

Robbie helps companies leverage subscription pricing, digital community and freemium to build deeper relationships with customers. She has been quoted on business issues in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Consumer Reports, and many others. She has created and starred in eight video courses in collaboration with LinkedIn Learning on business topics ranging from innovation to customer success and membership.

She is the author of The Membership Economy*, a book that has been named a top 10 marketing book of all time by BookAuthority. She recently released her new book, The Forever Transaction: How to Build a Subscription Model So Compelling, Your Customers Will Never Want to Leave*.

In this conversation, Robbie and I discuss the shift to subscriptions and memberships in many industries in recent years. We address implications for leaders who are considering strategy on making changes to how they do business — as well as some of the tactical steps. Finally, Robbie highlights some of the myths and best practices when beginning with subscriptions.

Key Points

There’s been a significant shift to memberships and subscriptions in recents years in many industries.

It’s critical for organizations considering a move in this direction to create and articulate a forever promise.

Be cautious about simply building existing products and services under a membership banner.

It’s critical to speak to your best customer.

Beware of treating members worse than strangers or taking advantage of your most loyal customers.

Resources Mentioned

Free downloads of Robbie’s keynote presentation slides, membership manifesto, and book chapter.

Book Notes

Download my highlights from The Forever Transaction in PDF format (free membership required).

Related Episodes

How to Start Seeing Around Corners, with Rita McGrath (episode 430)

How to Build an Invincible Company, with Alex Osterwalder (episode 470)

How to Pivot Quickly, with Steve Blank (episode 476)

Discover More

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.