Originally Posted by TheDoc

100 sales, 25 rebills. (25% rebill rate)
100 sales, 25 rebills + 12 from the previous month.
100 sales, 25 rebills + 12 + 6.

I now have 43 members.. Real retention is 25% per month, total members to monthly sales, it's 43% at the end of 3 months.. and with all sales it's 14% retention. So breaking it down, per month, 3 months, cycles of months, daily, money.. it doesn't make a difference..

The member base is growing...



As long as you are adding sales, your retention ratio can be like 5% and you will still grow, because to calculate or even show an example of retention ratio, you have to factor in the compounding rebills and time.








What Robbie is talking about 100% directly is related to the volume of sales he sends in and has NOTHING to do with the actual retention ratio of the site. He stopped sending sales, it's 100% fact that rebills will bomb after a period of time.

Originally Posted by JackStroke

I don't believe that's accurate.

In the first month, you have 0 members to start.

Month 1: 100 sales = 100 Members End of Month (no rebills yet)
Month 2: 100 sales + 25 rebills from prior month (25% of 100) = 125 Members EOM
Month 3: 100 sales + 31 rebills from prior month (25% of 125) = 131 Members EOM
Month 4: 100 sales + 32 rebills from prior month (25% of 131) = 132 Members EOM
Month 5: 100 sales + 33 rebills from prior month (25% of 132) = 133 Members EOM
Month 6: 100 sales + 33 rebills from prior month (25% of 133) = 133 Members EOM

You can't rebill half a member, so under this scenario you are stuck at 133 members through infinity.

In the real world, these things are never as cut and dried obviously, but the fact remains that regardless of your rebill rate, if your initial sales stay stagnant as in this example, your total membership will reach a plateau and stay there.

Trying to increase the percentage of members who rebill each month is definitely a worthwhile goal, as it likely goes right to the bottom line, but increasing initial sales is crucial to a growing program.