Step 1:  Adding a New Membership Class  

Memberships is a sophisticated application, and as a result, may require more setup time from an onboarding perspective than most other modules across the platform.  That’s OK, we’re going to walk you through the whole Memberships setup process. But first, an important rule.  

IMPORTANT PLANNING TIP AND SYSTEM RULE 
Patrons in your database can only belong to one (1) membership class at any given time. Therefore, during the planning process, we recommend configuring memberships to really stand out from each other based on pricing, benefits and/or other attributes to avoid patrons desiring to belong to more than one (1) membership at the same time. 

In order to setup either a FREE or PAID membership be sure you're logged into the back office with either Marketing or Administrator security clearance and then perform the following steps:

• Click Membership Classes under the MARKETING section
• Click the green New Membership Class button
• Name your membership class and optionally, add a short name to abbreviate long membership names inside text messages, if applicable. 
• Set Expiration value for when the membership cycle expires.  
• You can set an Initial Price for your membership (first time) and renewal (Month 2 and beyond or Year 2 and beyond); OR keep the Price field blank, which means the membership is free ($0.00) and doesn’t cost the patron any additional fees.   
• Set the Allow Join Purchase Online to No if this membership will NOT be advertised online and only be available through the terminal.  Set value to “Yes” if this membership will be advertised online and complete the rest of the form as applicable.  
  

Step 2:  Configure Daily Rewards Parameters (Stored Value Only)  

IMPORTANT: Please perform the following step if your business runs a daily stored value rewards program where sales transactions are processed through a terminal for issuing rewards back to patrons.  If your business does not operate a stored value rewards program, skip this step and move on to Step 3.        

Once a membership class is added to the MARKETING> Membership Classes table you are ready to assign value and benefits for which the member is entitled. This may include 20% cash back rewards daily (whereas non-members only receive 10%). This could also include an introductory $20 reward added to their rewards balance or even a load of 10 Appetizers with a programmed limit of 1 redemption allowed per week.  Your members may even be entitled to a stack of digital coupons (e.g., 20% Off Any T-Shirt, 50% Off Next Entrée, etc.) There’s a lot of flexibility in assigning value but you need to know where to go in the system to assign this value.  

Go to SETTINGS > Rewards Parameters and toggle the correct rewards settings for each membership class created.  The field for “Default – No Membership Class” includes every contact in your database who is NOT affiliated with a membership class. This usually includes EVERYBODY in your database prior to using the Memberships module.  Every new signup created from a non-membership landing page or membership keyword is part of your Default (No Membership Class) list.

Each time you add a NEW membership class you need to return back to this page and toggle appropriate value. Otherwise all patrons affiliated with the newly created membership will not receive any daily rewards from sales activity processed through the terminal.   

 Step 3:   Configure Initial/Renewal Value and Confirmation Messages

This step covers how to configure value at the point when a membership is affiliated with a patron’s account for the very first time and upon renewal.  It doesn’t matter whether the membership is free ($0.00) or paid for by the patron.  When a membership sale transaction is created for the very first time (e.g., Month 1, Year 1), either from the terminal or online landing page, the system invokes the Membership Start automated promotion, and funds the patron account with the configured value.   When a membership sale transaction is created during the renewal cycle (e.g., Month 2, Year 2), the system invokes the Membership Renewal automated promotion, and funds the patron account with the configured value. 

Membership Start value is configured from MARKETING> Automated Promotions > Membership Start.  Here’s how you set it.  

1. Click Automated Promotions under the MARKETING section in the left hand navigation.  You can use the “Show” filter at the top to isolate (checkmark) only Membership campaigns in this view to make it easier to navigate.  
2. Scroll down the table to the rows that begin with the “M”s and look for Membership Start. This is the promotion that controls the benefits issued to patrons when they first order or buy the initial membership in Month 1 or Year 1 for example.
3. If desired, click +New Stored Value Bonus and follow the prompts to create stored value bonuses (fixed rewards or comps) that fund the patron’s balances when this membership is ordered or purchased. We recommend you set the Expires value to mirror the expiration of the membership class in MARKETING > Membership Classes. For example, if your membership class is configured to expire annually set this value to “1 Year”.  If the membership class is configured to expire monthly set this value to “1 Month” This setting will instruct the system to automatically deduct any unused stored value at the proper time.  
4. If desired, click +New Digital Coupon to add “Show & Save” redeemable digital coupons that will send to patrons inside the membership confirmation email and/or text message after this membership is ordered or purchased. Your digital deals will display to patrons where the {coupon} tag is located inside your message.  
5. Click the EDIT  icon next to Auto Email Message and customize this campaign as desired which will control how the membership start confirmation email will look to patrons upon receipt. Please note the Membership Start auto email and auto mobile text notifications are membership agnostic and designed to work for all created memberships (if there is more than 1 added to Membership Classes page).
6. Optionally, click the EDIT  icon next to Auto Mobile Message and customize the text message that will deliver to patrons who order a membership. The “Enabled” checkbox must be selected for this campaign to send. 
7. If applicable, repeat above steps for the Automated Promotion row entitled “Membership Renew” which controls the benefits and messages patrons receive when memberships are renewed (Month 2 or Year 2 for example).

When interacting with the membership auto email and/or auto mobile messages you’ll notice several tags in curly {brackets} are included in the default templates. These tags are designed to display the correct value to the patron upon receipt of the message automatically.  If your business configures just one (1) membership, it’s probably OK for you to delete the tags and write your own custom content as desired. However, if your business currently (or plans to in the future) offer multiple memberships we strongly recommend leaving these tags in place and let them display the correct value(s) as opposed to deleting and overwriting the tags. 

Let’s review what values these tags display in more detail.

Tag Legend
‍
{membbenefits}:  This tag will display the headlines of digital coupons inside your Membership Start promotion in addition to stored value bonuses the member is entitled across all enabled campaigns, including birthday bonuses, holiday bonuses etc.   Its an easy, automated way to show benefits in bullet point format inside your auto email message without having to manually type out all benefits.  
‍
‍{membexpire}:  Displays the expiration date of the membership(s) inside automated messages as configured in MARKETING> Membership Classes.  
‍
‍{membname}:  Displays the name of your membership(s) as configured in MARKETING> Membership Classes.  
‍
‍{membprice}:  Displays the initial (Year 1, Month 1 etc.) price of your membership(s) as configured in MARKETING> Membership Classes.  
‍
‍{membrenewprice}: Displays the subsequent renewal price (Year 2, Month 2 etc.) price of your membership(s) as configured in MARKETING> Membership Classes.  
‍
‍{membretail}:  Displays the approximate retail value of your membership(s) as configured in MARKETING> Membership Classes. 
‍
‍{membterm}: Displays the expiration frequency interval (e.g.,1 Year, 1 Month, 1 Quarter) of your membership(s) as configured in MARKETING> Membership Classes.  

At this point in the process your membership structure should be configured, your stored value/digital coupons are set, and your confirmation messages via email and/or text is complete.  You are ready to run a live test on a demo or testing profile in your database. 

Proceed to Step 4 for instructions on how to affiliate/upgrade a patron with a membership.   

Proceed to Step 5 for instructions on selling memberships online through a payment gateway.

Step 4:  Affiliate Patrons into a Membership Class

There are a few different ways to record a patron into a specific membership class including:

     A - Manually through your Virtual or VeriFone terminal (Most Common)  
     B - Membership text to join keyword or signup kiosk
     C - Online landing page with optional Authorize.net integration

A - Terminal Affiliation

The most common method of affiliating patrons into a membership class is manually through either the Virtual or VeriFone terminal.  Follow these steps inside Virtual Terminal:

1. Register or signup your patron so their profile exists in the database if not already present from a list building source (WiFi, Kiosk, Text to Join, etc.) 
   
2. Identify and retrieve your patron profile at the Swipe Card/Patron Search prompt screen. 
   
3. At the Select transaction screen, look for the Membership button and select it. 
4. At the next screen you will see a drop down list of membership class names as configured in MARKETING > Membership Classes. Select the membership you wish to affiliate with the patron. Alternatively select Membership Cancel to UNAFFILIATE a patron with a membership so a new membership can be recorded. Remember patrons can only belong to one (1) and only one (1) membership at a time.  
   
5. Tap Confirm and Finalize. This action will load the Membership Start stored value into the patron’s account (if applicable) and dispatch the Membership Start confirmation email and/or auto mobile text message as configured in Step 3 above.  If running a Membership Cancel operation, this action will remove the patron’s membership affiliation and all unused membership stored value will be automatically removed from the patron’s account. The patron will be moved into the Default (No Membership Class) category in the database and no longer eligible for membership configured benefits.  
6. Repeat the same exact steps above to record a membership renewal transaction when a membership expires or close to expiration.  The renewal action will load the Membership Renewal stored value into the patron’s account (if applicable) and dispatch the Membership Renewal confirmation email and/or auto mobile text message as configured in Step 3 above.  

NOTE: You won’t be able to record a membership renewal transaction until the patron’s membership is at least 75% of the way through its current cycle unless you process a Membership Cancel transaction which unaffiliates the patron’s membership status immediately, allowing a new membership to be recorded.

**ATTENTION VERIFONE TERMINAL USERS** 
‍If you have a VeriFone credit card terminal loaded with our application your terminal can be configured to support Membership transactions including membership sales, renewals and cancellations.  However, these terminal screens do NOT update automatically when you make changes to the Membership Class page table. Each change requires a new terminal download to pick up new membership class table updates. Please contact Technical Support for assistance configuring membership transaction types and redownloading your VeriFone device when ready

B - Membership Text to Join Keyword or Signup Kiosk

New patrons can signup for a membership and existing patrons can upgrade to a membership through a text to join keyword.  This keyword is not the same Text to Join keyword as configured in SETTINGS > Registration Settings that allows patrons to join your loyalty/rewards database as a default member.  This keyword is configured for a specific membership class, and when invoked through a keyword text or kiosk, sends back a bounceback message containing a signup link.     

Follow these steps from the Membership Classes page inside the back office.  

1. Open the MARKETING > Membership Classes > Edit page for the specific membership you are configuring
2. Verify the field Allow Join/Purchase Online is toggled to Yes. 
3. Complete fields and set toggle switches as desired. 
4. Scroll to the Membership Mobile Keyword field.  Define a keyword in this field that customers will text to either 55678 (In the USA) or 70734 (in Canada) 
5. Record a sentence in the Custom Mobile Bounceback Message field that provides a call to action. If customizing the default message, make certain to add back the {purchurl} tag in curly brackets. This vital tag serves as the hyperlink inside the text message that brings patrons to your membership signup form.  

For example: 

“Redeem your FREE Birthday entree from Prime Steakhouse! Tap here to get your gift> {purchurl}”

“Signup for Prime membership now and get access to juicy VIP deals. Tap to start> {purchurl}”

“Upgrade to Platinum for $29.99/mo.  and get 20 free games a month. View deal> {purchurl}”  

The Membership Edit page provides a great deal of customization ability with a variety of toggle switches. Please read through each field’s description carefully. For example, you may not want to direct visitors to a membership splash page summarizing the benefits of joining and instead, route patrons directly to your signup form.  You may want customers already enrolled in your free loyalty/rewards database to have the opportunity to login and verify their account before upgrading to a paid membership.  There are many configuration options based on your unique membership strategy and whether you’re using this process to grow a new database or upgrade an existing one.  

**ATTENTION KIOSK USERS**Kiosks can be configured so customers punching in their mobile number can mimic the same text to join signup process without having to know or manually text the membership keyword. Patrons simply punch in their mobile into the kiosk and wait for the bounce back text message containing your signup hyperlink exactly as configured above. Contact Technical Support for assistance configuring a kiosk programmed to send back your mobile bounceback text message and start promoting new membership signups.

C - Membership Splash Page (Online Landing Page)

Operators can advertise free memberships online OR sell them through a secured checkout page. In order to properly configure and advertise memberships online over your website (either FREE or PAID) your webmaster will require access to the Membership Classes module of the back office. We recommend you create a user profile for your webmaster through the SETTINGS > User Accounts page with MARKETING security clearance.  

1. Open the MARKETING > Membership Classes > Edit page for the specific membership you are configuring
2. Verify the field Allow Join/Purchase Online is toggled to Yes. 
3. Complete fields and set toggle switches as desired and save changes.  
4. From the Membership Classes main page, select the LINK icon in the Action column next to a specific membership OR if creating a link to all memberships advertised online, click the large LINK icon at the bottom of the table.
5. Select desired link type (Bare URL, link, Embed, iframe) as desired. If you wish to limit the size of the membership widget (Embed option only), input a value in the 'Display width' field and click 'Compact view'

When the blue/white icon is clicked, the user will open the link/code builder for membership sales. The link buttons in the list will create code to show only the links available for that specific membership. Four types of code/link scan be created for advertising free or paid memberships online.    

1. Bare URL: Just the URL of the membership purchase page. Use this to specify a page to promote in Facebook or other social media. Also good for pasting in the link editors in email marketing software or web page editors. You can test this URL by pasting right into the address bar of a browser.
   
2. Link: The URL of the membership purchase page is wrapped in an HTML "a" tag. This is valid HTML code that can be pasted into email or web page editors when in "source view" mode.
   
3. Embed: JavaScript code to paste into the source of your web page where you would like the membership description to appear. Make sure the page editor is in "source view" to paste this code. DO NOT use this code in emails. The buy button will link to the membership purchase page. The Embed option has two parameters for further customization:
   

• Display width - Set the width for display of a SINGLE membership class. This is useful when selling multiple membership classes and you want them to display horizontally. For example, if you have a 900 pixel wide display area you could set the display width to 300 and show three membership classes across. The minimum display width is 260 (pixels). If not specified the membership information will be the full width of its container.
• Compact - Shows a more compact format of the membership information with smaller fonts and closer spacing of elements. Useful when embedding in pages with many other elements where space is at a premium.
  

4. Iframe: HTML code to paste into the source of your web page where you would like the membership description to appear. Make sure the page editor is in "source view" to paste this code. DO NOT use this code in emails. The buy button will link display the membership purchase form within your web site in the iframe. Your container page must be secure(https) for this to work. You may want to add the frameBorder attribute and set to zero, like frameBorder="0" to eliminate the iframe border. Also, the width and height iframe attributes can be added to make the membership information fully visible if it is not by default.

Your webmaster will be able to use the above code options to setup membership splash page(s) online over your website or other hosted page and test layout and configuration as desired.