If Zuora is the Subscription Engine, Who’s the Subscription Bodywork?
Everyone knows Zuora, the subscription billing and management platform that IPOed in 2018. It’s invented the Subscription Economy and works with over 1000 of the largest subscription businesses in the world, from Zoom to Carterpillar.
It’s the most powerful order-to-cash engine out there. But for every engine, you need a bodywork. You need to go to A to B, from an idea to a website where customers can subscribe. And from B, they might go to C, cancel, to U, upgrade, to W, winback, back to A, add-on. The beauty of subscription is its circular, revenue-maximisation potential. But to get there, you need a fully working car, not just an engine.
It‘s all there but can you use it?
Zuora can power any pricing you can think of. One-off, recurring, usage-based, it’s all in there. You can discount $10 for 2 weeks or 15% for 3 years. You can price per GB or by miles. Then you can package per month, per user, per API calls with a tiered scale and a special 20% for the annual plan. The possibilities are endless. You can go anywhere.
But today, in the shelter-in-place world of 2020, where your customers are going is on their phone and on Google. Then they will expect to get to a website where they can hit that sweet subscribe call-to-action. The possibilities are endless but you need to bring them to life, and life — for better or worse — is online.
Subscribers will expect tailored messaging and personalised experience. Localised pricing with a special discount from students or seniors. A smooth express checkout with PayPal or Apple Pay. Instant access. You don’t want to get in the way.
It’s a world of convenience out there. Same day delivery, unlimited movie choice, instant music: flick your phone and start typing. Your subscribers will expect the same experience when they want to do something to their subscription. Change card? Sorted. Moved country? Easy. Want to downgrade? Sure, go ahead but have you seen this special deal on the annual tier? Cancel? Yes, you can do that but look how your whole family is enjoying this subscription and you’re even eligible for 10% off. No need to call, we treat you well here.
Zuora will update, amend, add, remove, edit, switch, cancel, add-on your subscription. It’s all their in the engine. It’s all possible. But again, how do you craft the online experience, how do you design personalised journeys, how do you keep it all in sync and up-to-date? You want some bodywork that moves with the engine, not an engine that flies out of the car.
That sounds great, but how am I supposed to do it?
Well, how about you build it yourself? Don’t you a PhD in Mechanical Engineering? How hard is it to make a car anyway?
It sounds crazy for a car, but in the world subscriptions, the I-will-build-my-own-website-for-subscriptions mentality is the de facto choice of thousands of companies. ‘Oh it’s just a pricing page with a subscribe button’. ‘Oh we just need people to be able to cancel’. Sure. You can build a Lada. And when those appalling acquisition and retention rates start coming in, the customer is complaining that they can’t do something as basic as an upgrade without to talking to 3 humans, and the boss comes shouting, good luck saying it can become a Ferrari, but first, you just need 2 architects, 4 developers, 1 product manager and 2 years of roadmap.
Today, there’s a better way. Limio. We’ve built the first marketer-centric, no code Subscription Commerce platform. Marketers can use powerful, intuitive and flexible capabilities to rapidly launch a subscription eCommerce website with a self-service portal and bring in their segmentation to life to personalise the subscriber experience. And the best part is that it’s all tightly integrated with Zuora out-of-the-box. Get a Ferrari engine and the bodywork working together (that’s what you’d expect of a Ferrari, no?).
The world is hungry for a solution that doesn’t require you to code and integrate. A solution that keeps the marketer in control, the very people who know how to get and keep your subscribers. If you agree and are building, launching, scaling a subscription business with Zuora, get in touch.