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The Forever Transaction: How to Build a Subscription Model So Compelling, Your Customers Will Never Want to Leave Kindle Edition


Develop and cultivate the kind of robust, long-term customer relationships that power companies like Nike, Spotify, LinkedIn, and Target

More and more companies are concluding that the potential rewards of subscription-based products and services are worth the risk of radically changing their business models. They’re correct. The Membership Economy is here and it’s here to stay—and if you want to compete for the long run, you need to join it. 

Strategy consultant Robbie Kellman Baxter has been helping companies excel in this business environment for more than a decade. Now, in The Forever Transaction, she reveals all her secrets. Whatever industry you’re in, Baxter provides the inspiration, tools, and insight you need to build and execute a business model that will leave your competition in the dust.

You’ll find out how industry leaders like Under Armour, Microsoft, and Netflix have created an ever-expanding customer base of loyal subscribers―and are keeping them coming back. You’ll learn how to lead your organization through every step of the process―from initial start-up to new product testing, scaling for long-term growth and sustainability to revamping your culture so everyone works together to optimize customer lifetime value. You’ll also master all the essentials of succeeding in the Membership Economy, like subscription pricing, Software-as-a-Service, digital community engagement, and freemium incentives as a way to turn casual browsers into cash-paying super-users.

With The Forever Transaction, you have everything you need to build durable, long-term relationships with every customer, and leverage them for ultimate business success―today, tomorrow, and forever.



From the Publisher

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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Robbie Kellman Baxter is a bestselling author, speaker, and consultant with more than twenty years of experience providing strategic business advice to major organizations including Netflix, Consumer Reports and LinkedIn, as well as leaders in industries including Software-as-a-Service, Media, Retail, Consumer Products, Healthcare, Financial Services and Hardware. In the past ten years, her company Peninsula Strategies has advised over 100 organizations on subscription and growth strategy. Kellman Baxter has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and CNN, interviewed on over 50 podcasts, and invited as a guest on numerous business shows. She received her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and graduated with honors from Harvard College.

From the Back Cover

“The future belongs to businesses who transform their interactions with customers from mere transactions to meaningful engagements that create long-term fans. Robbie Baxter is an expert guide to this powerful business model. Read this book and start transforming your business now!”
--
Chris Capossela, Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President, Microsoft

“The rise of the cloud and mobile technologies, combined with the declining cost of storage, has led to new competitors in every industry. Choosing the right metrics makes all the difference and retention is now one of the most important. Robbie can show you how to establish a forever transaction with your customers.”
--
Sarah Friar, Chief Executive Officer, Nextdoor, Board Director of Walmart and Slack

The Forever Transaction is an essential read for any business seeking to leverage the power of subscriptions to engage and retain customers.”
--
Nir Eyal, bestselling author of Hooked and Indistractable

“Member-centricity is the core of successful associations and, increasingly, thriving companies. In The Forever Transaction, Robbie Baxter captures the techniques that Amazon, Netflix, LinkedIn, and others are using to build sustained customer relationships. Leaders of any membership organization can gain insight and practical tips from Robbie Baxter's book.”
--
John H. Graham IV, FASAE, CAE, Chief Executive Officer & President, American Society of Association Executives (ASAE)

“Baxter offers clear and actionable advice with a global perspective for any organization looking to improve customer lifetime value and grow a sustainable subscription business.”
--
Philip Lindqvist, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Distribution, Bonnier Broadcasting

“Recurring revenue is the holy grail, and Robbie Baxter is giving us the map to find it. Building on 15 years of experience in Silicon Valley and beyond, Baxter provides fresh case studies and practical tools to disruption-proof your organization.”
--
Charlene Li, bestselling author of The Disruption Mindset and Founder and Senior Fellow at Altimeter, a Prophet company
 
“Robbie’s first book, The Membership Economy, became my company’s North Star as we made the transition to a membership model.  The guidance she provides in
The Forever Transaction is equally as compelling, even visionary. If you’re creating or running a subscription business, this is a great roadmap.
--
McKeel Hagerty, Chief Executive Officer, Hagerty Group and Global Board Chairman Emeritus, YPO

 “Companies that sell products to strangers aren’t going to last long in this new subscription economy. This is an excellent playbook for any organization looking to launch a sustainable membership strategy.”
--
Tien Tzuo, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Zuora and Bestselling Author of Subscribed

“If you’re looking for a blueprint on how to succeed in the membership economy, this is it. Robbie Baxter has extensive knowledge of the subscription business model, and fortunately for entrepreneurs everywhere, she put it in writing.”
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Nick Mehta, Chief Executive Officer, Gainsight

 “The growing excitement for subscription-based business models is matched by the danger that poorly managed programs (and expectations) can be their downfall.  Executives need clear advice backed by years of world-class experience in this domain, and no one can bring it better than Robbie Kellman Baxter. The Forever Transaction is the best, most indispensable set of best practices I've ever seen on building and sustaining a subscription-based business model.”
--
Peter S. Fader, Frances and Pei-Yuan Chia Professor of Marketing at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and bestselling author of Customer Centricity and The Customer Centricity Playbook

 “In the world of SaaS, subscription pricing is just the beginning. Baxter shares the secrets of how you keep your business model current and relevant for your subscribers. Baxter is a guru on subscription and membership models.  She shares her pro-tips and her passion here about how to steer your business to the future.”
--
Zac Bookman, Chief Executive Officer, OpenGov

“Robbie has built a powerful practical guidebook to help companies thrive in the membership world.  The Forever Transaction provides a framework to help transform your business, build customer loyalty and revenues for a lifetime.  Masterfully done!”
--
Rajesh Ram, Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer, Egnyte

“When customers become community members, business is transformed. The Forever Transaction offers a an insider’s perspective for making this shift in all kinds of organizations. This is the future of business, but you can get there today.”
--
Gina Bianchini, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Mighty Networks

“Read this book alongside The Membership Economy to discover the magic ingredients of long-term membership success.”
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Tom Greene, Chief Operating Officer, Wizarding World Digital

“Subscription models are disrupting nearly every industry—don’t be left behind. Robbie Baxter is the expert on how to start, scale and sustain forever transactions. The Forever Transaction provides the soup-to-nuts—and secret sauce—guide on how to attract and keep the best customers by tailoring a value-laden offering that meets their need while growing your business.”
--
Whitney Johnson, bestselling author of Disrupt Yourself. and Build An A Team

“Kudos to Baxter for another home-run book. She has a flair for breaking down complex business concepts into bite-size chunks. She shares real-world examples that de-mystify the technical aspects of membership-building, making it accessible to anyone. Whether you lead a company, association or nonprofit, this book is a must read if you want to thrive--not just survive-in today's Membership Economy.”
--
Leslie Crutchfield, bestselling author of How Change Happens and Executive Director of Business for Impact at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business

“Robbie's work is an essential blueprint for any company or organization looking to build strong and lasting relationships with their customers.”
--
Mike Argon, Senior Vice President of Content, Twitch

“In this book, growth strategist Robbie Kellman Baxter teaches the most important business strategy of our time: creating enduring relationships with customers. Through accessible research and practical guides, The Forever Transaction takes the mystery out of what it takes to create a forever organization.”
--
Lisa Kay Solomon, bestselling coauthor of Moments of Impact and Design a Better Business, and Founding Chair of Transformational Practices and Designer in Residence at the Stanford d.School

 “Subscriptions are all the rage these days, but to stand out and truly capitalize on their potential a business must start and end with a solid understanding of its customers. Baxter’s excellent book shows you exactly how to do this, with fresh case studies and practical tools that spell out what it really takes to ensure that ‘forever’ is just that.”
--
Marco Bertini, Professor of Marketing ESADE Business School of Barcelona, Spain

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07XMB4GW2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ McGraw Hill; 1st edition (March 31, 2020)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 31, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 6916 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 257 pages
  • Customer Reviews:

About the author

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Robbie Kellman Baxter
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Robbie Kellman Baxter is the author of both THE FOREVER TRANSACTION and THE MEMBERSHIP ECONOMY. She first coined the phrase “Membership Economy", over 10 years ago, and it’s now part of the business lexicon used by organizations and journalists around the world.

THE MEMBERSHIP ECONOMY was recently named a top 10 Marketing Book of all time by BookAuthority.

Robbie is the founder of Peninsula Strategies LLC. Her firms clients have included Netflix, Microsoft, and The Wall Street Journal as well as several venture-backed private companies and associations. Over the course of her career, Robbie has worked in or consulted to clients in more than twenty industries.

Before starting Peninsula Strategies in 2001, Robbie served as a New York City Urban Fellow, a consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton, and a Silicon Valley product marketer. She has an AB from Harvard College and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Robbie has been interviewed by CNN, NBC, and NPR. She has presented to thousands of people in corporations, associations, and universities.

She has an AB from Harvard College and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. For more information go to www.robbiekellmanbaxter.com

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
270 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book practical and fantastic for a company that doesn’t have recurring revenue. They also describe the writing style as well-written and easy to grasp. Readers also find the examples entertaining.

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23 customers mention "Content"23 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's content practical, valuable, and timely. They also appreciate the detailed framework and agile best practices. Readers also mention that the book provides a great step-by-step process for changing their thinking.

"...or contemplating launching one, this book provides a great step-by-step process for changing your thinking and creating a detailed strategy that’ll..." Read more

"...She lays out the whole change process step by step and incorporates agile best practices (achieving an MVP, testing, iterating) and common pitfalls..." Read more

"...I found most impressive about Robbie's book is that she provided a very methodical approach towards creating that forever customer that your..." Read more

"I found this book to be fantastic and very helpful in not only helping me understand the membership economy but also helping me frame how to..." Read more

5 customers mention "Writing style"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the writing style of the book easy to read and well written. They also mention that the tips are great and easy to grasp.

"...Baxter has a great writing style and I found the book so easy to consume...." Read more

"All else is commentary... but the book adds very readable and useful expert commentary, with many examples, on how to do this well...." Read more

"...It has been carefully researched and it's written in an engaging, brisk style...." Read more

"...The book is accessible, articulate, well-paced, and provides implementable solutions for readers across industries." Read more

4 customers mention "Enjoyment"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book entertaining to read with all of the examples included.

"...And, it’s an entertaining book to read with all of the examples she includes." Read more

"...It’s rare that a book can be so profoundly useful while also being entertaining and enjoyable to read. This book delivers both in spades...." Read more

"...The advice is golden. Plus, it's an entertaining read, filled with inspiring stories and examples...." Read more

"...A delightful read and - as you can see from the pic - I’ve already marked and dog-eared many pages for future reference." Read more

Your comprehensive roadmap for building lifelong customer relationships
5 out of 5 stars
Your comprehensive roadmap for building lifelong customer relationships
The Forever Transaction is Robbie Kellman Baxter's second book on this topic (her first, The Membership Economy, looked at why this trend is happening; this new book shares HOW to develop long-term customer relationships through supporting subscription models and other types of intimate, value-added supplier/customer connections. It's full of rich case studies and detailed "how-to" for implementing a forever transaction business model. It has been carefully researched and it's written in an engaging, brisk style. Even if you don't think you can achieve the ultimate lifelong customer relationship she writes about (but you can!), you'll take away plenty of great ideas for super-serving your clients and customers and coming up with value-added innovations to serve them.
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Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2020
Having a plan for success is critical to generate recurring revenue and now The Forever Transaction makes it easy to create.

Chasing the idea of easy money, too many subscription businesses have failed. They brought their old transaction mindset and it didn’t work.

In The Forever Transaction, Robbie Kellman Baxter walks you step-by-step through her proven process for converting and launching successful membership programs. Following Baxter’s approach you’ll experience more success, have fewer false starts and grow your recurring membership revenue more quickly.

The biggest message that carries through this book from Baxter’s earlier work, The Membership Economy: these businesses are demand driven. Customers WANT and prefer the opportunity to subscribe rather than buy outright. Companies that follow this trend are delivering what customers want today and more so, tomorrow.

While you may have business reasons for wanting to grow a company with subscription recurring revenue, the reason to create this business is that customers eagerly demand this approach now and in the future.

However, membership businesses require a very unique mindset, something that’s not taught in today’s business schools. Baxter has been working with companies making this shift for many years and outlines how to change your business and get your team aligned a new, more profitable approach.

For anyone with a membership subscription business or contemplating launching one, this book provides a great step-by-step process for changing your thinking and creating a detailed strategy that’ll save you a ton of time and lost money from false starts.

And, it’s an entertaining book to read with all of the examples she includes.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2020
If you want to achieve predictable, recurring revenue, and you can buy and read only one book, THIS IS THAT BOOK.

The Forever Transaction is a no-nonsense, practical, step-by-step guide for how your company can transform itself and build predictable, recurring revenue. It harnesses the author’s vast experience as a consultant on subscriptions and memberships.

I’m a professional marketer as well, and I think this book is true marketing genius. Every professional marketer already knows what a “brand promise” is -- the value that your brand not only delivers, but also promises to your customers. In order to achieve a “forever transaction” -- i.e., recurring revenue -- every company needs to define (and fulfill) its “forever promise.” (The author gives many examples of forever promises.)

The concept of a “forever promise” is absolutely seminal and revolutionary. I predict it will be taught in marketing courses for years to come.

But the book isn’t just filled with marketing speak. This is a practical guide for how a company that doesn’t have recurring revenue can transform into a company that does.

The author’s prior experience as a management consultant shines here. She understands that real change is a complicated and often difficult process. In order to achieve meaningful, long-lasting change, you need executive sponsorship, team leads, etc. She lays out the whole change process step by step and incorporates agile best practices (achieving an MVP, testing, iterating) and common pitfalls as well.

In short -- if you want to transform your company and build recurring revenue, you can hire Ms. Baxter (or another external consultant/consulting firm) and pay them thousands and thousands of dollars. Or you can buy this book and do it yourself.
6 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2020
When I first heard of The Forever Transaction, it came from a Medium article on their in-house business publication, Marker. Of course, anything recommended from Marker had heeded my attention.

My partner and I are bootstrapped entrepreneurs who want to roll out a subscription-esque model this year but didn't necessarily know how to execute. This is the book that is helping us execute.

The book is organized more like a textbook with worksheets than it is akin to your normal front-to-end read. What I found most impressive about Robbie's book is that she provided a very methodical approach towards creating that forever customer that your business needs to expand its revenue streams.

I started the book thinking that we could merely copy "the others" (Netflix, Spotify, etc.) and came out of it thinking "Noah, stop comparing yourself to other people! Care more about doing what it takes to make YOUR forever customers. Copying won't do you any good as the Netflix forever customer is different from our forever customer."

Thanks for the actionable insights, Robbie.

Top reviews from other countries

Alberto
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente libro
Reviewed in Mexico on October 6, 2021
Muy bueno para iniciar un modelo de negocios basado en subscripciones
Juana-Catalina Rodriguez
5.0 out of 5 stars Step by step guide to engage in a "membership" business model journey
Reviewed in France on January 24, 2021
In the current situation, many companies and organizations are looking for ideas to create long-lasting experiences that enable a continuing relationship with their customers.

This book will give you a step by step guide to reframing your business model and engage in creating a "membership" journey. It is relevant for any business size, industry, or organization as it provides "how-to" frameworks and multiple case studies from different sectors and business sizes.

I found it extremely handy as it starts by offering the possibility to make a self-assessment on leadership, target customers, technology, and company culture, which give you a path of where to start.

Then you can use each chapter to find inspiration and tools to fill the gaps and define priorities on your customer journey and relationship, converging on a leadership team passionate about membership model and customers' delight. It highlights how to leverage technology to create a sustainable model and ground on the company culture to redefine the path of this transformation.

I highly recommend this book to begin a journey to transform your business model towards a subscription/ membership model.
Customer image
Juana-Catalina Rodriguez
5.0 out of 5 stars Step by step guide to engage in a "membership" business model journey
Reviewed in France on January 24, 2021
In the current situation, many companies and organizations are looking for ideas to create long-lasting experiences that enable a continuing relationship with their customers.

This book will give you a step by step guide to reframing your business model and engage in creating a "membership" journey. It is relevant for any business size, industry, or organization as it provides "how-to" frameworks and multiple case studies from different sectors and business sizes.

I found it extremely handy as it starts by offering the possibility to make a self-assessment on leadership, target customers, technology, and company culture, which give you a path of where to start.

Then you can use each chapter to find inspiration and tools to fill the gaps and define priorities on your customer journey and relationship, converging on a leadership team passionate about membership model and customers' delight. It highlights how to leverage technology to create a sustainable model and ground on the company culture to redefine the path of this transformation.

I highly recommend this book to begin a journey to transform your business model towards a subscription/ membership model.
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Volkmar Mohs
5.0 out of 5 stars praktisches Handbuch zur Einführung von Subscription-Geschäftsmodellen
Reviewed in Germany on October 13, 2020
English Version see below.

Ihr Unternehmen will „wie Netflix sein“? Wissen Sie dann auch, was auf das Management, das Einführungsteam, das Marketing, die IT und nicht zuletzt auf Ihre Kunden zukommt? Wenn sie Robbie‘s Buch gelesen haben, ja.

Hier geht es nicht um das grundsätzliche Verständnis von Subscriptions. Es handelt sich um einen Leitfaden für die gezielte Einführung des Subscription Geschäftsmodells.
Und es ist kein Strategiebuch auf Metaebene wie so viele, sondern ein echtes Unsetzungsbuch. Robbie‘s wirklich lange Erfahrung kommt zum tragen. Sie hat es für alle Unternehmen geschrieben, bei denen sie kein persönliches Beratungsmandat annehmen kann. Wie eine virtuelle Beraterin geht sie ans Werk und bereits ab Seite 9 brennt ein Feuerwerk an Fragestellungen ab. Im Rahmen einer Selbsteinschätzung bewerten Sie selbst ihr Vorhaben. Dabei werden die Themenkomplexe Mindset des Managements, Auswahl des Unsetzungsteams, das bisherige Geschäftsmodell, Zielkunden, technologische Umsetzung als auch die Kundenorientierung ihres Unternehmens unter die Lupe genommen.Robbie bringt Sie mit vielen Fragen gezielt zum nachdenken, gibt aber auch entsprechende Anregungen für eine Lösung dieser Fragestellungen. Garniert wird es mit allerhand Praxisbeispiele. Es endet im dritten Kapitel mit den Aufgaben, welche nach der Einführung anstehen. Wie halten Sie die lebenslange Partnerschaft mit Ihrem Kunden aufrecht?

Das Buch ist empfehlenswert für Board-Member, die ihr Unternehmen mal eben auf Subscription transformieren wollen und die Augen geöffnet bekommen.
Ebenso geeignet ist es für Mitglieder aus dem Umsetzungsteam, da es eine echte Hilfestellung beim Doing ist.

Does your company want to "be like Netflix"? Do you then also know what to expect from management, the implementation team, marketing, IT and, last but not least, your customers? If you've read Robbie's book, yes.

This is not about the basic understanding of subscriptions. It is a guide for the targeted implementation of the subscription business model.
And it is not a meta-level strategy book like so many, but a real implementation book. Robbie's really long experience comes into play. She wrote it for all companies where she cannot accept a personal consulting mandate. Like a virtual advisor, she goes to work and a firework of questions burns off from page 9. As part of a self-assessment, you evaluate your project yourself. The subject complexes of the management's mindset, team lead assessment, customer relationship assessment , target customers, technology and your corporate culture. Robbie brings food for thought, but also gives appropriate suggestions for a solution. It is garnished with all kinds of practical examples. It ends in the third chapter with the tasks that are due after go-live. How do you maintain the forever relationship with your customer?

The book is recommended for board members who want to transform their company to subscription.
It is also suitable for members of the implementation team, as it is a real help in doing
Mike M
5.0 out of 5 stars For every marketer -- brilliant and usable
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 7, 2020
In The Membership Economy, RKB explained why organisations were turning toward subscription models to generate recurring revenue and detailed how that turn could be wildly profitable. She was at pains to stress however that pivoting to a subscription model alone wouldn’t bring the cash rolling in—to really make them work, to participate in that membership economy, brands needed a forever promise, which she defines as the commitment to “deliver a result, solve a pain point or achieve an outcome for your members forever, in exchange for their loyalty” (Baxter, X).

RKB’s latest book, The Forever Transaction explains how to deliver on this promise. It’s a blueprint for the successful delivery of your business’s forever promise and is chalk-full of examples from her work with clients.

The book is split into three parts: launch, scale and lead. Launch addresses the foundations required to build your forever transaction: how close is the organisation to being in the membership economy? What kind of support from C-level exists? Who are the right people to lead the different phases of transition launch? How far is the culture generally from being truly customer centric?

In the second part, scale, RKB explores what firm's do once they have a clear plan, robust results from tests, the right people in place and a growing culture of change: it’s time to consider more seriously different routes to market and preparing for common pitfalls. Throughout she makes use of several clever (and funny!) analogies along the way, from wading through a mosquito-infested swamp (preparation for pitfalls) to tasting filet mignon (free trials)-These help to bring some of the more complex concepts she discusses to life and nowhere are the concepts more easily misunderstood than in the chapters on pricing and metrics. It’s so refreshing to see how much time she spends on discussing the importance of data-driven decision making and how it can be used to “keep the customer front and center.” She also spends a great number of pages discussing churn, cohort analysis, CLTV and the LTV/CAC ratio; the book is worth buying for these two chapters alone, especially the tables detailing the construction of these metrics and their uses.

The final section of the book is called “Lead” and is focused on staying on top once you’ve arrived at the peak. If the plethora of detailed information and the high usability of the book weren’t enough to sell me on it (they are), the final aspect that seals the deal would be RKB’s tone. It is one of quiet optimism: in which, several times over, she continually reminds us that nothing is impossible as long as the firm is guided by data, pragmatic decision-makers and a laser focus on building consumer trust by delivering on that forever promise. I don't regret buying it.
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SN
5.0 out of 5 stars The Reference Title for Subscription Models- Highly Recommended
Reviewed in Italy on July 9, 2020
"The Forever Transaction is a wonderful book and could be considered as THE reference book today on how to create and maintain high value Subscription Models"

I use this book on a regular basis- both practical and full of new ideas to help build better relationships with customers.

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