Coworking Software with Roll Over Days

Do any of the coworking management software players have roll-over days for memberships?

For example, if someone signs up for 12 days a month but only uses 10 then they will have 14 days the next month.

This is fascinating. I specifically forbid rollover days. What’s the benefit of rolling them over (besides creating a terrifying December where everyone comes in every day for a month?)

Angel

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On Wednesday, October 25, 2017 at 10:34:41 AM UTC-6, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking wrote:

Do any of the coworking management software players have roll-over days for memberships?

For example, if someone signs up for 12 days a month but only uses 10 then they will have 14 days the next month.

We don’t. Instead, if they want “rollover”, we have them buy prepaid hours/days, with an additional bulk-pricing incentive when appropriate.

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On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 9:34 AM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking [email protected] wrote:

Do any of the coworking management software players have roll-over days for memberships?

For example, if someone signs up for 12 days a month but only uses 10 then they will have 14 days the next month.

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JEROME CHANG

talk to us: (323) 330-9505

chat w/ us: BLANKSPACES.com/chat

WEST: Santa Monica | 1450 2nd St (@Broadway)

CENTRAL: Mid-Wilshire | 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea)

EAST: Downtown | 529 S. Broadway, Ste 4000 (@Pershing Square)

NORTH: Pasadena | 680 E. Colorado, Ste 1800 (b/w Los Robles & Lake)

It’s a feature that I’ve always been against and it’s not causing issues by saying ‘no’. The main benefit of rollover days is retention of members. I noticed how rollover has really effected how I approach what I subscribe to, I’m thinking of Audible as an example. I get to keep my rollover credits as long as I’m a paying member. This means by canceling my subscription I am giving up not just my book a month but the 3 book credits that I haven’t used yet. This keeps me paying the lowest plan just to keep the credits available.

I have a feeling this would help retention of members in a similar way. It will likely effect the 4 days/month people and the 12 days/month people. They often use their total but there are periods of the year when people travel and that’s when I loose members. It’s that month or two when their schedule changes and they won’t use their current plan as often so they just cancel outright and hope they come back. However, if rollover happens then they are not just canceling their plan but all of the days they have built up. Now they could just go down to the lowest plan to keep the rollover days available and I keep the relationship. Once their schedule normalizes again they are back to being part of the community and a paying member.

My biggest issue with rollover is monitoring days. We run on a trust system and adding a layer of monitor is a hurdle I would need to overcome.

What are your thoughts?

I price in these distinctions.
For example, if in your case, a 12 day/mo plan might be $240/mo, or $20/day.

My version of prepaid walk-ins would be $300 for 12 days prepaid, or $25/day. To clarify, these 12 days wouldn’t rollover - they’re basically valid forever (or perhaps you limit to 1 year redemption)

I would then price a single day walk-in as, say, $35/day.

You get the membership

They get the value of commitment, but understand the “loss” of not using a day here or so, which in the above would be 3 days (=3 x $20/day they’ve paid, but may not use, vs. the extra $60 if they were to prepaid $300 for 12 prepaid days)

JEROME CHANG

talk to us: (323) 330-9505

chat w/ us: http://www.BLANKSPACES.com/chat

WEST: Santa Monica | 1450 2nd St (@Broadway)

CENTRAL: Mid-Wilshire | 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea)

EAST: Downtown | 529 S. Broadway, Ste 4000 (@Pershing Square)

NORTH: Pasadena | 680 E. Colorado, Ste 180 (b/w Lake and Los Robles)

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On Oct 30, 2017, at 8:30 AM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking [email protected] wrote:

It’s a feature that I’ve always been against and it’s not causing issues by saying ‘no’. The main benefit of rollover days is retention of members. I noticed how rollover has really effected how I approach what I subscribe to, I’m thinking of Audible as an example. I get to keep my rollover credits as long as I’m a paying member. This means by canceling my subscription I am giving up not just my book a month but the 3 book credits that I haven’t used yet. This keeps me paying the lowest plan just to keep the credits available.

I have a feeling this would help retention of members in a similar way. It will likely effect the 4 days/month people and the 12 days/month people. They often use their total but there are periods of the year when people travel and that’s when I loose members. It’s that month or two when their schedule changes and they won’t use their current plan as often so they just cancel outright and hope they come back. However, if rollover happens then they are not just canceling their plan but all of the days they have built up. Now they could just go down to the lowest plan to keep the rollover days available and I keep the relationship. Once their schedule normalizes again they are back to being part of the community and a paying member.

My biggest issue with rollover is monitoring days. We run on a trust system and adding a layer of monitor is a hurdle I would need to overcome.

What are your thoughts?

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We have done the same before with punch cards. It creates a value but also allows them to use the days within a year of purchase.
Also, from a revenue standpoint it is better long term to have that upfront sale.

Cheers,

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On Monday, October 30, 2017 at 11:39:48 AM UTC-4, Jerome wrote:

I price in these distinctions.
For example, if in your case, a 12 day/mo plan might be $240/mo, or $20/day.

My version of prepaid walk-ins would be $300 for 12 days prepaid, or $25/day. To clarify, these 12 days wouldn’t rollover - they’re basically valid forever (or perhaps you limit to 1 year redemption)

I would then price a single day walk-in as, say, $35/day.

You get the membership

They get the value of commitment, but understand the “loss” of not using a day here or so, which in the above would be 3 days (=3 x $20/day they’ve paid, but may not use, vs. the extra $60 if they were to prepaid $300 for 12 prepaid days)

JEROME CHANG

talk to us: (323) 330-9505

chat w/ us: http://www.BLANKSPACES.com/chat

WEST: Santa Monica | 1450 2nd St (@Broadway)

CENTRAL: Mid-Wilshire | 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea)

EAST: Downtown | 529 S. Broadway, Ste 4000 (@Pershing Square)

NORTH: Pasadena | 680 E. Colorado, Ste 180 (b/w Lake and Los Robles)

On Oct 30, 2017, at 8:30 AM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking [email protected] wrote:

It’s a feature that I’ve always been against and it’s not causing issues by saying ‘no’. The main benefit of rollover days is retention of members. I noticed how rollover has really effected how I approach what I subscribe to, I’m thinking of Audible as an example. I get to keep my rollover credits as long as I’m a paying member. This means by canceling my subscription I am giving up not just my book a month but the 3 book credits that I haven’t used yet. This keeps me paying the lowest plan just to keep the credits available.

I have a feeling this would help retention of members in a similar way. It will likely effect the 4 days/month people and the 12 days/month people. They often use their total but there are periods of the year when people travel and that’s when I loose members. It’s that month or two when their schedule changes and they won’t use their current plan as often so they just cancel outright and hope they come back. However, if rollover happens then they are not just canceling their plan but all of the days they have built up. Now they could just go down to the lowest plan to keep the rollover days available and I keep the relationship. Once their schedule normalizes again they are back to being part of the community and a paying member.

My biggest issue with rollover is monitoring days. We run on a trust system and adding a layer of monitor is a hurdle I would need to overcome.

What are your thoughts?

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To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].

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I haven’t seen anyone yet that does that.

A huge part of the financials for places I’m involved with are no Show payers... like a gym you get people that think it’s a fine idea for. Serious reasons but their real life doesn’t line up with those aspirations.

As the operator/manager, that’s not your problem (not to be unsympathetic) that is their issue if they make it one.

Part of what a space provides is an alternative ... meaning it’s a backup plan, a contingency plan for days when people can’t or don’t want to be somewhere else.

If I have a space that’s worthwhile for any reason, and someone doesn’t fully utilize it, why issue a refund or rollover? Part of what you were providing was the possibility ... and the demands on a space are averaged out between low and high resource consuming users.

I don’t think rollover makes much sense, and it gives people a false sense of entitlement to what they pay for but fail to use, and creates a possibility of either bickering over past payments and “saved up” resources or a future spike that throws off plans and capacity ... and creates unnecessary accounting requirements,

Audible is a good example because it’s a digital entitlement only .. it makes sense and is “fair” for that business model.

Ray,

I respect your view and fully understand why a space would do that. It’s how I currently run my space. I view roll over days as a potential way of retaining members that would otherwise just cancel. If an individual doesn’t use their days but can bank them then they are less likely to leave completely but downgrade to a low level plan because if they cancel their plan then they will loose all of their days banked. I think it would be interesting model to test.

It’s only a billing model and what I said isn’t a criticism - just my thoughts on the matter having considered something similar. No emotional component here.

The follow-up questions, if you are and have been running that would be

  1. Have you fully automated the process? If so, how long have you been using it and did you use an available membership or subscription management system.

  2. When do rollover days expire?

  3. In your system, the one you implement, do rollover days have a cash value; that is can they also be redeemed for a refund if a month or a block of time isn’t fully used?

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On Monday, November 20, 2017 at 12:28:20 PM UTC-6, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking wrote:

Ray,

I respect your view and fully understand why a space would do that. It’s how I currently run my space. I view roll over days as a potential way of retaining members that would otherwise just cancel. If an individual doesn’t use their days but can bank them then they are less likely to leave completely but downgrade to a low level plan because if they cancel their plan then they will loose all of their days banked. I think it would be interesting model to test.

What Jerome said, people who regularly need the space but on a project based, seasonal, or other schedule, (rather than monthly every month) we offer prepaid days. We call this a “strippenkaart” because that was the name for the punch card on the bus back in the day and every Dutch person understands that. Some people don’t work on a traditional office hours kind of schedule, so it makes no sense for them to set up their pricing that way…

I would regard unused days at the end of the month to be evidence that somebody is on the wrong plan, barring some unforseen event.

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On Wednesday, October 25, 2017 at 6:34:41 PM UTC+2, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking wrote:

Do any of the coworking management software players have roll-over days for memberships?

For example, if someone signs up for 12 days a month but only uses 10 then they will have 14 days the next month.

I think some of this is in how you conceptualize it with your coworkers.

My motto is (loosely translated) “where the space changes to suit your work, not the other way around”.

Everybody has a contract which says they are renting the entire space, on the basis of sharing it with the other coworkers, and the amount they pay is based on their use of the space. More use of resources costs more; less use of resources costs less. But all the resources count, not just the desks.

We don’t even talk about desks or days, unless the conversation is about classes, or workshops or something similar. They are paying for membership, with all that implies, and not for days using a desk.

Our part time and full time memberships are sort of loosely defined, and if somebody comes in one or two days extra in a month nobody gets excited. If it occurs structurally, then it is time to graduate to the next level membership and hurray time for a party.

If somebody starts needing to exclude others from a part of the space for their work on a structural basis, it’s time to graduate from a full time to a permanent establishment (this does not translate well, sorry) an hurray, another reason for a party.

We like parties, :slight_smile:

So you don’t have to be radical like that, I have noticed that I am unusually comfortable in loosely defined relationships :slight_smile: but it is helpful to consider how you are thinking about your memberships and how you are communicating with your coworkers about them. I find that if I regularly have a problem with how people respond to somethign I do, ,the problem is usually me.

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On Monday, November 20, 2017 at 7:28:20 PM UTC+1, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking wrote:

Ray,

I respect your view and fully understand why a space would do that. It’s how I currently run my space. I view roll over days as a potential way of retaining members that would otherwise just cancel. If an individual doesn’t use their days but can bank them then they are less likely to leave completely but downgrade to a low level plan because if they cancel their plan then they will loose all of their days banked. I think it would be interesting model to test.