Learn best practices for starting and running a float center:
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Something in the world of floating have you stumped?

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Show Highlights

This year at the Float Conference, Derek hosted a marketing forum and took questions that he wanted to share with everyone here.

This episode focuses on how Float On handles memberships, including tiered memberships and how to gracefully transition from one type of membership to another.

Listen to Just the Audio

Transcription of this episode not currently available

Greg: So I’ve been using the tiered membership style since I opened two and a half years ago.

Derek: Okay.

Greg: Since about two years ago I’ve been wanting to switch down to the single type of membership, and just wondering if you, especially Derek since you guys did it after six years, can provide ideas on how to do that? I think I have an email from you guys from when you did that.

Derek: Right.

Greg: Yeah, just ideas for switching that.

Derek: Anytime you have to bring news to people, and this wasn’t necessarily bad news. This was news of, you’re not gonna have to pay $110 a month, you’re now gonna have to pay $54 a month. If it was bad news like a price hike or anything like that, that’s different. If you’re raising your membership prices, you really wanna try to spin it into a celebration because you’re gonna get upgrades and stuff like that. But if you’re actually just going to laterally move from breaking down what your lowest package is, let’s say, or maybe picking a price point that benefits the center. We made sure, when we picked our price point, if anybody was going to be paying more at that, we grandfathered them in.

So that was one of the key things that when we did this, it’s like, “Hey, we’re switching up our memberships.” We added some things we never added before, so it created this newness, this excitement. We call it unlock and limited. So it you float six times that month at your membership rate of $54 per float, you can float the rest of the month for free.

And so that was a key thing that people like, it kind of gamified it almost. It kind of made that like, we have a dozen people every month floating unlimited, and they’re loving it, and those are your best floaters and they’re actively talking about it. So creating little extra things is what we did. Again, making sure all of your existing members never pay a cent more. So grandfather the old rates in. Like, there’s some people still paying $35 a float for their membership. But we wanna take care of those people ’cause they’ve taken care of us.

There is some growing pain in it. I’m not gonna lie. You’re gonna watch these numbers, and you’re gonna watch this monthly recurring revenue of X number of dollars, dramatically dropped to if they all floated once a month. And then you’ll watch that grow back up as they continue their habits they’ve already had. And you’re gonna have more people excited. So yeah, some people may float less, but it’s offset by more people floating, and more people floating at your center, as we all know, is great for word of mouth.

Gloria or Cindy, you wanna add anything to what you would do in a situation where you have to go from one structure to another?

Gloria: Yeah, we did, again, fairly early on but we did have a handful of members in each tier. I would just say rip the Band-Aid off and give them grandfathered pricing and really, figure out how many does it affect. Most of the members are probably in the first year anyway, which is gonna be in line with whatever you probably stick with. So does that affect 30 members, 20 members. I mean, if it’s under 50 people, you might want to call every one of them. But if it’s thousands, then yeah, do a mass email. Right? But yeah, I’d say rip the Band-Aid off. It’s so much easier.

Greg: So did you guys just send the same email to your entire mailing list? Or did you have an email towards just your members?

Derek: Right.

Greg: Did you make phone calls to every member?

Derek: Right. We segmented out. So you’re gonna have a different conversation with the people that their lives are changing more, and then those customers who aren’t members, you’re gonna have a new, exciting conversation. Floating’s even more accessible than ever before.

Greg: Okay.

Derek: Right? And again, We did another thing that was actually, If anybody knows Float On culture, it’s super loosey goosey, easy, yeah, you can get whatever you want with us. We actually added a three month commitment to our membership. We’ve never had commitments. And we did the numbers. We’re numbers people. We looked at everything and we looked at a lot of our churn when we were on the tiered memberships, is couples floating that just wanna get a cheaper price so they sign up and cancel like, after their float. Right? They’re just signing up for membership, get the better rate, ’cause there was no commitment, and then they were never coming back. So we had a lot of churn people wanting to save on two floats or on four floats if they’re having a party.

So when we dropped it down to that one price point, we asked for a little bit of commitment. So people did drop off, but they were probably gonna drop off anyways. And then when the three month came around, we’re like, “Oh no.” Those people stayed. It actually did what we wanted to do. We were happily surprised.

 

Recent Podcast Episodes

What to Look for when Buying a Used Float Tank – DSP 144

So… float tanks are expensive. Buying used is an option, though. What does that look like and what should you know before thinking about delving into the market of used tanks? There’s a lot to it, how the tank has aged, if there are any components that have failed, and what the filtration system is like are all good things to keep in mind.

Graham and Ashkahn go over this, as well as where to look for tanks and some tips and tricks from the trade. 

What to look for in a lease – DSP 142

Picking a location is stressful and time consuming, but it can still be one of the most fun parts of starting a float center. 

Graham and Ashkahn examine what to look for in a new center and how to go about the search. Along with all this, they explain some of the nuances you want to discuss with your landlord when drafting your lease. Tune in here. 

Options for offering neck pillows – DSP 141

Finding a good neck pillow for your float tanks can be a surprisingly tricky endeavor. There are endless amounts of flotation pillows designed for swimming or in the bath, but float tanks have very particular conditions and getting the wrong neck pillow can make it, and your float tank, a hassle to clean.

Graham and Ashkahn dish about their experiences with neck pillows and what’s worked for them in the past and offer up some solid recommendations, as well as provide some helpful tips on what to look for when shopping for the ideal neck pillow for your float center. 

Having a walkthrough script for float center staff – DSP 140

How specific do you want to get when walking a customer through a float for the first time? Everyone is gonna have a different answer to this, but it’s important to have consistency when running a business. A lot of places do video walkthroughs, but that runs the risk of losing that personal touch. 

Graham and Ashkahn share a little Float On philosophy about how they instruct staff to introduce the practice of floating as well as some helpful tips for making your intro speech grow and evolve over time. 

Latest Blog Posts

Location, Location, Floatation

Location, Location, Floatation

One of the most common questions we’ve gotten has been regarding whether or not someone’s potential location would work as a float center. Every location is unique, of course, and will have its various benefits and costs based on their individual characteristics....

How to Heat Your Float Tanks

How to Heat Your Float Tanks

A large part of what we do here at Float Tank Solutions is field calls and emails about floatation therapy from potential float center owners, manufacturers, spas, and general floatation enthusiasts from around the globe. After seeing certain questions come up again...

Why We Gather – Float Conference

Why We Gather – Float Conference

At the end of last year’s Float Conference I had a woman come up to me and say, “You know, I’ve been working so hard to get my float center up and running. And to get up each day and try to get people in my city to know and understand what floating is, without another...

A Float By Any Other Name

A Float By Any Other Name

An Open Letter on Float Tank Terminology Since you’re on this site, you’ve likely heard one or more of these terms as a name for a certain kind of therapy: Isolation Therapy Sensory Deprivation Therapy Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy (REST)...