Retaining customers, month after month, year upon year…If your business has been operating a subscription selling model for more than a minute or two, you hardly need to be reminded of the importance of doing so.
Right now, it’s never been tougher. So called ‘subscription fatigue’ and Australia’s ongoing cost of living crisis are prompting many consumers to look twice at their regular outgoings and seek out savings wherever they are to be found.
Cutting back on unused or under-used subscriptions can be a quick win and one that’s frequently suggested to individuals looking to tighten their belts.
Bundling up the savings for customers
Hence, businesses that want to ensure they’re not culled in an early round need to redouble their efforts to offer compelling value.
One of the ways they can do so is by bundling – offering customers the opportunity to purchase their own subscription offerings across multiple products from a single company
It’s an appealing proposition for value conscious consumers, provided the savings they receive are substantial. Meanwhile, the supplier doing the bundling stands to enjoy greater stickiness and the revenue surety that accompanies it.
Increased revenue management complexity
But going down this route can make your revenue management process considerably more complex.
Your finance team will need to be able to determine how discounted bundle prices should be apportioned across multiple subscription services and disperse funds accordingly when payments come in.
They’ll also need to be able to recalculate bundle prices, should customers decide to drop one or more of the services they’ve signed up for, or add an additional one in to the mix.
And they’ll need to be able to do so swiftly and seamlessly, with changes reflected in real or near real time in customers’ online accounts.
Why billing bedlam spells bad news for businesses
Putting the right back office processes in place can be challenging and the stakes are high. In today’s times, customers have become accustomed to receiving swift seamless service from the organisations they engage with. They expect all interactions to be efficient and professional and they have low tolerance for businesses that can’t get the basics right.
And, unfortunately, in their minds, there’s little more basic than billing.
Getting it wrong can have serious repercussions for a business’ reputation and revenue. In fact, there’s research to suggest that 40 per cent of customers are prepared to part ways after even a single incidence of bad billing, while an even greater number will do so if it looks like becoming a regular occurrence.
That’s why getting it right is imperative, first time, every time.
Tools to make the task easy
That’s easy with the right tools, namely revenue management technology that can provide full quote to cash support for multiple monetisation and subscription models simultaneously.
It pays to choose a billing platform that connects seamlessly with your CRM software, so you can monitor the popularity of your bundling deals and manage your customer base at a granular level.
Ideally, it will come from a best of breed vendor that has a stellar reputation for working with high volume subscription businesses whose tolerance for discrepancies is virtually nil.
If they’re genuinely committed to continuous improvement, their quoting, subscription, renewal, recurring billing, collections and revenue recognition processes are likely to be automated. That minimises the burden on your revenue management team and reduces the opportunity for human error to occur.
It also means you’ll be able to launch new bundling deals quickly and easily, and back them up with upselling and cross selling campaigns to new and existing customers, secure in the knowledge that your revenue management processes won’t let you down.
Maximising your subscription revenue in 2025
Bundling subscription services can be a highly effective means of maximising your revenue and reducing customer churn, provided your pricing is competitive and you have the right digital infrastructure in place. Implementing an automated revenue management platform will make it easier for you to grow this revenue stream while continuing to deliver stand-out customer experiences at every stage of the purchasing journey.
Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
