How to Boost Your Coworking Member Retention

For many coworking operators and managers, member acquisition is the name of the game.

It’s what all the blogs, articles and podcasts are giving advice on, and it’s where managers concentrate the majority of their efforts.

But studies have found that focusing on member retention is equally (if not more) important for your coworking business.

In this article, we’ll dive deeper into the importance of member retention and how to increase your member retention rate in your coworking space.

What is member retention?

Member retention measures how successful you are at getting people to stay at your coworking space. While acquisition is about bringing people in, retention is about getting people to stay.

A high member retention rate means:

• You are attracting the right people
• You are meeting the needs of your members
• Your members are overall happy with your services and offerings

Benefits of improving coworking member retention 

A high retention rate limits member churn, which has a number of significant benefits.

Increased revenue 

A low member churn stabilizes and boosts your income, all while reducing the cost of your sales efforts. In fact, a 2% increase in retention has been shown to lower costs by as much as 10% and increase profits by up to 125%.

Reduced pressure on acquisition 

It also takes the pressure off your team to fill the seats in your space. This allows them to refocus their time on more value-added efforts to grow your business, such as member experience enhancements and process improvements.

Stronger community 

Most important of all, reduced member churn leads to the one thing every coworking operator dreams of – a stronger community. After all, it’s only when members stick around that they bond with others in your space.

This becomes essential to success when you consider that 55% of prospects choose a coworking space based on the sense of community you create.

How to calculate coworking member retention rate

When you calculate your retention rate, you’re trying to understand how many of your members who joined during a given time period are still there at the end of that time period.

Here is a formula you can use in your calculations:

((Members at end of time period – New members acquired during time period) / Members at beginning of time period) x 100

Below is an example to help guide you:

• On Day 1, you have 10 members
• In 30 days, you gained 5 members and lost 2 members
• On Day 30, you have 13 members

Using the formula above, your member retention rate would be 80%. Typically, you want a retention rate above 90%. Thus, you may want to think about improving your retention.

How to boost your coworking member retention

In today’s digital world, nurturing loyalty is an increasing challenge. Members are tempted constantly by advertising that encourages them to check out your competitors.

Use these six strategies to keep your members happy and cared for in your space.

1. Nurture a thriving community

It isn’t just a high member retention rate that creates a stronger community. A stronger community actually boosts your retention rate in return. This is because members who bond in your space aren’t going to want to risk losing their relationships and connections by going elsewhere.

So by intentionally fostering a sense of community among members, you create a powerful positive cycle that supports your business’ growth.

For more information on how to create a coworking community before you open your doors, check out this guide. 

2. Offer enticing membership tiers

People like to feel that they’re getting their money’s worth. Often when members leave it’s because they’re not making the most of their membership.

An easy way to counteract this member churn is to make sure you offer a number of attractive coworking membership plans based on the level of access people need to your space.

This gives members the ability to scale their membership down if they’re not using it enough, rather than leaving your space entirely. Some good options include:

• 10 drop-in punch card passes
• Monthly membership plan that includes 4 drop-ins a month and full access to the digital community and events
• Month-to-month membership plans that can be paused at any time

Having a wide range of membership options increases the chance that you’ll have a plan that resonates with your members

3. Go the extra mile

Who doesn’t like to feel special? Try to find ways to add little personal touches to your service.

This could be:

• Stocking up on members’ favorite snacks
• Introducing them to people who can help them with their challenges
• Keeping track of birthdays so your team can offer best wishes on the day

By building a relationship with your members, you create a bond they won’t want to break.

4. Develop valuable member perks

Offering extra perks is a great way to stand out and make the value of membership a no-brainer. There are plenty of coworking member perks you can add and not all of them are financial.

Educational and social benefits are often just as valuable to members. This could include providing fitness classes, hosting networking and speaker events or even simply allowing dogs into your space. It’s all about finding out what your members desire most and ensuring they get it from you.

Pro tip: Optix clients have the option to showcase perks to their members with the Perks App. The Perks App can be installed directly on your Optix account and used to highlight some of the member perks and benefits you offer in your space.

5. Ensure a frictionless member experience

From onboarding onwards, creating a frictionless experience for members is the number one way to boost your retention.

If every interaction they have with you is effortless, be it signing up, booking a desk, reporting an issue or paying an invoice, they’ll never have a reason to look elsewhere.

There are many ways to improve the user experience in your space. You can:

• Use a space management software to make it easier for members to book desks, make payments, and check in to the space
• Create a great onboarding experience
• Host coworking events for your members that have a personalized touch

When thinking about your member experience, continue to look for ways to improve it and make it more enjoyable for your members.

6. Create a “win-back” offer

When all else fails, have an offer ready to entice disengaged members back.

It could be a free month of membership, a discounted membership upgrade or access to an exclusive amenity – the choice is yours.

The trick is to give them an unbeatable deal that keeps them with you. This gives you time to rebuild that member relationship and retain them for your space.

As you determine your offer, however, give some thought to how you express it. A Marketing Land study found that a dollar-off amount was twice as likely to succeed than a percentage.

Improve your space by improving member retention  

Focusing on member retention can be a powerful strategy to drive sustainable business growth.

The key is to build it into your service strategy as an iterative process that you continuously improve on. In doing so, you can improve your member retention, enhance the user experience, and build a strong community of loyal members.

In this way, you’ll ensure the happiness of every member you bring in, nurturing the long-term loyalty you need to thrive.