Customer management, do I need to custom dev a solution or can Zapier save the day? (WP, Stripe)
I am working on a project which I'm trying to build as lightweight as possible, with a target of near-100% automation. I'm really trying to avoid custom database solutions, so please share your experiences and recommendations :).
As a brief description, I'll need to manage Users (who subscribe with monthly recurring payments), and Businesses (entities I plan to have a pre-established relationship with). Users should be able to view, manage, and cancel their subscriptions. As for the Businesses, I would need to be able to initiate a payment to them. I plan to use Stripe for all of the payment processing, btw. (hi Courtland, Channing, and Stripe folks!)
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Is there a CRM tool (customer relationship management) that would integrate nicely to help me manage these Users/Businesses? Did you have to do something similar in the past, what did you use and how was the experience?
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Do I have to roll my own custom user registration/login features onto my site (let's say it's a Wordpress site) in order to allow users to see their subscription details or extend other features?
Just a small edit - I have never used a CRM before so I apologize for sounding very ignorant in this space.
Hmm, you might be able to put something together using WordPress and WP Simple Pay. Not sure if that can handle paying out to the businesses though.
I’ve worked with WP, Stripe, and monthly subscriptions, but I’m going to need a bit more info before I can offer any meaningful feedback.
For example, why do you need to pay the businesses? What’s the purpose of the site? What are your users subscribing to?
Had a crazy idea to build an online database of coworking spaces, and then develop a membership program which would allow users to visit any partnering coworking space around the world. As part of the access, I would reimburse the coworking space a fraction of their daily rate. This reimbursement would be an established relationship at a pre-negotiated rate.
Not sure if I could pull it off, since the price of access varies so much and it seems hard to figure out a payment model that works, both for the user (how much per month for membership?) and for the business (how much cost in reimbursement per access) in a way that doesn't make my reimbursement cost exceed the monthly membership cost.
If you haven't already, check out https://copass.org
Ah, thank you for sharing.
That's an interesting proposition. Co-working facilities intrigue me. Have you come up with a pricing model yet?
@pippinwilliamson might know. I wish there were a way to tag other users.
Not at all. NYC coworking spaces can have $700+ monthly memberships, or charge over $25 per day. Other countries may be much cheaper, so I would need to find a pricing model that worked for frequent travelers or people that used different coworking spaces often, and then find a partnership model that made sense for the spaces. Seems complex as all hell
The first thing that comes to mind for me is a concierge service. Negotiate a lower price for your members with the various co-working facilities, then allow your users to "book" their own various co-working places. Say someone's traveling between London, New York, and Dubai. Make sure you have co-working facilities in all of those cities, then let them book their time through you. You charge a convenience fee, and they don't have to book separately.
On the other hand, that's not what you wanted to do. And I'm not sure there's a way to make a flat subscription fee work with your current model.
We need smarter brains in this conversation. :P
Your idea about concierge service w/ pre-negotiated rates with partnering spaces, coupled with a convenient way to book as a "trip" is a fantastic one. I really like it and will think about it more tonight. This approach seems like a much more achievable goal, though still tons of work.
I agree, but once you've got the deals in place, it'll be mailbox money. No intervention required.