Simplify renewal process for members [5309]

• 02-08-2009, 7:51 PM

  11173 in reply to 11046

  rmillstein Joined about 3 years ago Posts 83	Re: View Profile / Renew Ugh... I've now learned (the hard way) that people will be locked out of the helpful pages we've set up if they are "pending renewal" or "lapsed" -- so, be careful about how you set up renewals... again, though, this is why we need a dedicated renewal link.
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• 02-09-2009, 7:41 AM

  11175 in reply to 12134

  Chief_Apricot Joined about 5 years ago Toronto Posts 4,186	Re: Duplicate members This is a good point, I will move this to our wishlist for consideration in product enhancements. Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot
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• 02-09-2009, 8:29 AM

  11181 in reply to 11173

  Chief_Apricot Joined about 5 years ago Toronto Posts 4,186	Re: View Profile / Renew We are hearing you and are analyzing our options to improve this. Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot
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• 02-09-2009, 11:25 AM

  11186 in reply to 12134

  rmillstein Joined about 3 years ago Posts 83	Re: Duplicate members Thank you!
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• 04-22-2009, 1:51 AM

  12133 in reply to 12134

  saberlight Joined about 2 years ago Posts 19

  Re: Duplicate members gypse: ... I believe it has to do with members just not being able to figure out how to renew.  The renewal process doesn't seem to be intuitive.  I've added all sorts of note/links that tell people to use "view profile" to renew (one prominately at the top of the members areas page) and it has helped to reduce the problem. ... We just started and are already having problems with the logon and renewal process. It needs to be EASY for the member. I don't want to put a bunch of instructions that most people don't read anyway.  Here's what I'd like... In the renewal email, there should be an automated url which takes them to a logon screen.  Then, when they login, they are automatically taken to a renewal page. No instructions to find the login form, or click view profile, or click renew button. Having said that, I am very happy with our experience with WA so far.  And the customer service has been great. Thanks. BTW, to those who have posted instructions which helped the process, would you mind posting them or just giving us an idea of where they exist in the flow? Thanks.

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• 04-22-2009, 2:09 AM

  12134 in reply to 11181

  saberlight Joined about 2 years ago Posts 19

  Re: View Profile / Renew Here's what we'd like... Provide a link just to the renewal page (skip the profile page where they have to click on a renewal button as an extra step). In addition, give us the ability to add this same dynamic link as a macro in the renewal email.  After clicking this link, if they are not already logged in, they will be prompted to login and then automatically redirected to the renewal page once again.  No need for instructions to find the login form, or click view profile, or click renew button. BTW: Is this in the pipeline by any chance? Thanks. Sorry about the duplicate post. I just saw this thread and realize this is a better place for our comments.

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• 04-22-2009, 8:15 AM

  12141 in reply to 12134

  Chief_Apricot Joined about 5 years ago Toronto Posts 4,186	Re: View Profile / Renew I merged two threads which seemed to be on the same topic. It's not in the development pipeline yet as we have not determined the best way to handle this - but this thread provides very good ideas which we will try to use. Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot
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• 04-30-2009, 10:21 AM

  12248 in reply to 11157

  jim Joined about 3 years ago Toronto Posts 520	Re: Duplicate members Another workaround you can use to make renewal / view profile easier for your members is to add a new page (call it Renew Here, View Profile etc) that automatically redirects to that member's profile. If not logged in you will automatically be asked to login first. See http://support.wildapricot.com/KB/a61/add-a-renew-here-go-to-profile-page.aspx Jim Sympathy, Fluid Apricot
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• 05-01-2009, 5:25 PM

  12274 in reply to 10355

  GEM Joined about 2 years ago Posts 25	Re: View Profile / Renew What a very clever thing!  I just did it. (I don't know if this is how it appears on your actual site, but the s is missing from always.)  Thank you for this idea.
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• 05-01-2009, 5:30 PM

  12275 in reply to 10364

  GEM Joined about 2 years ago Posts 25	Re: View Profile / Renew How did you move the login box to the header?  We wanted to do that with the Classic Blue, move it from the bottom left to the upper right in the header.  We asked WA Support, but they could not seem to get it to work.  With the code they supplied, the box ended up in the middle of the screen, not in the header at all.
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• 05-01-2009, 5:49 PM

  12276 in reply to 12248

  GEM Joined about 2 years ago Posts 25	Re: Duplicate members Very Clever! We now have a page called Renew Here.  (We didn't put View Profile because that phrase is already in the login box). And it worked! Thanks. GEM
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• 05-19-2009, 12:58 AM

  12523 in reply to 10077

  VCOMA Joined about 3 years ago Posts 62	Re: Simplify renewal process for members [5309] I agree.  Since switching to WA we've lost several members who have said that the renewal process is too confusing and they give up.
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• 09-18-2009, 10:44 AM

  14358 in reply to 11173

  Meagan Joined about 2 years ago Posts 79

  Re: View Profile / Renew We are having some of the same issues that people don't understand how to renew and it's not intuitive that view profile will lead you to "renew". We changed the automatic email to have a CLEAR description of how to renew... BUT as usual people don't read them.  So, I spend a lot of time making outgoing calls to people to ask why they didn't renew. Lots of people say they didn't understand how and are now frustrated. We've started sending many of these folks hard copy invoices and letting these people pay by check... So  the renewal process  has doubled our work in two ways: 1. it's not intuitive and people want me to send an invoice because they are frustrated 2. there is no way to generate an invoice for renewals We'd love for these two items to be considered together.... Meagan

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• 01-31-2010, 2:55 PM

  16518 in reply to 10309

  Evan Joined about 2 years ago Posts 2	Re: View Profile / Renew We have the same problem: members need a clearly marked renew button next to view profile in the login field.
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• 02-01-2010, 1:09 PM

  16535 in reply to 16518

  kimskim Joined about 3 years ago Posts 175

  Re: View Profile / Renew I agree with everyone.  Many of my members have trouble figuring out how to renew.  My renewal notification email is very specific about how to renew (e.g., Step 1, Step 2, etc.) and still people get lost and end up creating a new membership instead which I then have to delete (if I happen notice it as a duplicate). Someone said about having Wild Apricot flag records with duplicate names for the admin to review.  Good idea.  I'd extend it to duplicate addresses too.  Of course, these should be admin-specified options whether to flag for potential duplicates or not.  Maybe the admin can choose which field or fields should be checked for duplication. Last, I agree with the idea that any changes should not affect the height of the header due to custom images that have been sized for the current header height.

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• 02-01-2010, 3:53 PM

  16540 in reply to 16535

  rmillstein Joined about 3 years ago Posts 83

  Re: View Profile / Renew I've posted in this thread before, but with a lot of my member renewals dated Feb 1, I am reminded -- yes, this is still very much a problem.  I have to handhold everyone individually who can't figure out how to renew, even with the instructions and the link that I've given them.  There needs to be a renew button.   And perhaps this should be on a separate thread -- but it's on the theme of people having trouble renewing.  If they enter in the wrong password, instead of popping up a window telling them to try again, how about presenting a page with the option to try again or click "forget password."?  Yes, I know, it's there on the front page, right next to the login button.  But they're not seeing it, or don't understand it.  And yes, I could give them instructions -- and I do, with a link.  But I've just handled a bunch of requests for people who didn't know what to do because they'd forgotten their password (or they were a secretary trying to pay for their bosses' account and didn't have the password and wanted me to give it to them).

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• 02-26-2010, 9:14 AM

  17111 in reply to 10082

  Meagan Joined about 2 years ago Posts 79

  Re: View Profile / Renew "This is a good idea. I think a way to do it is for lapsed members to prominently display some messaging and redirect to renewal after they log in. What do you think? Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot"   This is a great idea.... and it would be nice if it showed up for ALL bundled members as well! We lapsed in our payment of Wild Apricot and when we did there was a GREAT BIG RED BAR at the top stating that our membership account had not been paid on time... THIS would be PERFECT if you could integrate a similar functionality in to WA for our members!!!   Thanks

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• 03-25-2010, 3:10 PM

  17541 in reply to 10077

  macholz Joined about 1 year ago Posts 4	Re: Simplify renewal process for members [5309] Just adding another tally for the people that want to highlight the path to the renewal button for members - I have been getting this question over and over again (mostly after the member can't figure it out so they just try to sign up again and are told that their email is already in use).  Frustrating on both ends.
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• 05-11-2010, 5:56 PM

  18194 in reply to 17541

  ht2151 Joined about 2 years ago Posts 16

  Re: Simplify renewal process for members [5309] Agreed. This is still a frustrating process. We lost many people who "lapsed" and found renewal to be a bother. If they renew on-time then it's easy. But the transition was painful to lose so many members.  I will try the "renew here" redirect page workaround mentioned in this thread, but I do think specific renew messaging is necessary in the login box area.

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• 11-20-2010, 2:35 PM

  20596 in reply to 18194

  rmillstein Joined about 3 years ago Posts 83	Re: Simplify renewal process for members [5309] This seems like it should be such a simple thing to fix; I don't understand why it still hasn't been fixed.  Also, many people simply do not see the "forgot password" link.  It needs to be more obvious.  I am constantly emailing people to explain what to do if they've forgotten their password.
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• 11-22-2010, 8:02 AM

  20609 in reply to 20596

  Chief_Apricot Joined about 5 years ago Toronto Posts 4,186	Re: Simplify renewal process for members [5309] @rmillstein - can you elaborate - what specifically are you referring to re "This seems like it should be such a simple thing to fix;"? Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot
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• 11-22-2010, 9:44 PM

  20627 in reply to 20609

  rmillstein Joined about 3 years ago Posts 83	Re: Simplify renewal process for members [5309] It seems like it should be a simple thing to have the links say: "View Profile / Renew" instead of just "View Profile," or better yet, make a big ol' button that says "Renew" and is viewable from all pages.  And yes, I have done the workaround discussed in this thread, but like others, find that's not always enough.
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• 11-23-2010, 7:47 AM

  20629 in reply to 20627

  Chief_Apricot Joined about 5 years ago Toronto Posts 4,186	Re: Simplify renewal process for members [5309] OK, thanks, understood.  Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot
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• 01-11-2011, 4:02 PM

  21091 in reply to 20629

  Ed S. Joined about 1 year ago Posts 9

  Re: Simplify renewal process for members [5309] I thought I'd chime in on our recent experience with the renewal process and new financial model which, to be completely honest, has been horrible.   All of our members are corporate clients. These clients have accounting departments that usually pay the bills we send them. Most of our contacts are not computer savvy. After our initial renewal email was sent out, we were flooded by a mix of aggravation and questions from our membership. Companies do not pay bills without invoices. We bought multiple Wild Apricot accounts under the false hope/misunderstanding that: 1) When renewals were due, invoices would be generated and sent to members; 2) Members would be able to log into their accounts and view, print and pay invoices online. Neither appears to be the case. Because our members aren't computer savvy and couldn't figure out how to renew themselves and couldn't or didn't want to pay without first seeing an invoice, we manually renewed each of our 800 members (again, under the false impression that the invoice would be generated, they would get a copy, and could view and pay their invoice online).   We now have 800 members who can log in, but not see their invoice or pay online. I thought the whole point of having a financial model where invoices were generated was so that customers could see what they owe and pay online. Apparently that's not the case. Apparently members can't even view outstanding invoices in their account. If they can't view outstanding invoices, what's the point?

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• 01-11-2011, 4:14 PM

  21092 in reply to 21091

  Chief_Apricot Joined about 5 years ago Toronto Posts 4,186	Re: Simplify renewal process for members [5309] We are working toward this - the functionality to view outstanding invoices and pay them is in being designed right now and is considered for development in version 4.3 We are also aware of the need to revise the renewal workflow for cases like you described and will be looking at that soon to redesign.  Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot
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