Today was the final day of Subscription Show 2020. It was an incredible experience. We are grateful to everyone who attended and our speakers and sponsors for making this such a great event. When we first told people this would be a virtual conference, they were a little hesitant, but we promised to make it the best virtual conference they’ve attended this year. Based on the feedback we’ve gotten, we think we succeeded!

We’re going to take a little break and start planning Subscription Show 2021 soon! If you have feedback to share, ideas for sessions or speakers you’d like to see, or want to sign up as a sponsor, contact us at customerservice@subscriptioninsider.com. In the meantime, here are highlights from Day #6.

Exclusive VIP Session Q&A on Investment, M&A and Valuation with Richard Kestenbaum of Triangle Capital LLC

Richard joined Robin Lewis for a fireside chat the other day. Today’s Q&A session was a continuation of that conversion, talking about mergers, acquisitions, valuations and investments. Richard was kind enough to share his expertise with us. Here are a few takeaways.

• We are not going back to the old way. This is a new normal. Subscriptions are unique in being able to bring the experience you get in a store to your home.
• What makes a person most likely to subscribe to a monthly box? If they subscribe to anything else, even if not at all related, they are more likely to try a subscription box.
• Subscriptions in the world we are in now still need early adopters.
• M&A evaluators often don’t spend enough time examining culture and how the culture of two companies fit together. When the culture of two companies match, acquisitions can be successful. When they don’t, there is not a good chance of success.
• Every environment has pluses and minuses. There is always a shortage of opportunity and an excess of capital.

Other Subscription Show Keynotes and Sessions from Day 6

Grand Networking and Roundtable Discussions

Session: Sam Jordan, Manifesto Growth Architects and Jim Boder, Harvard Business Review: “Beyond Subscriptions: the Big Ideas and the Little Ones”

Session: James Tiltman, Worldpay: “Power Your Payments: How Your Subscribers Want to Pay Now”

Session: Robert Skrob, Membership Services, Inc.: “5 Keys to Scaling Subscription Revenue Beyond Growth Ceilings”

Session: Carl Gold, Zuora: “Adapting to Churn in the Time of Coronavirus”

Session: Leslie Laredo, The Laredo Group and Aaron Gottlieb, Digiday: “Challenge the Status Quo: Integrate Subscription Efforts Across the Entire Business”

Session: John Sullivan, Paul Larsen Consulting: “How Should You Manage Payments in Your Organization?”

Subscription Show extras

• Coaching Zone with 30-minute 1:1 sessions with industry experts (please sign up in advance)
• Speed Networking
• Networking Lounge
• Fun Zone
• Virtual 3D Exhibit Hall
• Vendor demos from Nacha, Rebar Technology, Ubersmith, 2Checkout, AdvantageCS, Payway, ANTENNA, Chargebacks 911, Vindicia

Key takeaways

Here are a few pieces of advice to take away from today’s sessions:

• Consumers are empowered by more choice. Brands should optimize their digital experience from the first step of the journey.
• Today’s consumers are savvy and want to pay the way they choose. A Worldpay study shows that 72% people are more likely to make a purchase if they can see the payment options up front (e.g., home page). 26% of users will drop out and shop elsewhere if their preferred payment method is not an option.
• Build trust by showing consumers your website is secure. Show credibility by using a lock symbol to show the site is secure, display logos of industry regulators and associations, note when sites are verified by Visa, are Mastercard Secure, etc.
• Optimize what matters to you and your audience. Follow the data to see what is working and what is not.
• Align your staff to focus on the things you want to achieve and help them understand the long-view versus short-term goals.
• You can never outrun your churn rate. You can’t get new subscribers faster and faster if you aren’t fixing the churn rate.
• Mistakes that increase churn include (a) lack of communication, (b) focusing on yourself, not the subscriber, and (c) bombarding subscribers with emails.
• In a challenging environment like the pandemic, you’ve got to help your customers. You are in it together for the long haul.

If you missed any of the sessions, you can view past sessions on demand at SubscriptionShow.com. Also, check out Five on Friday tomorrow for a special Subscription Show edition for more takeaways from the conference.

Thank you!

We want to thank all our sponsors for their incredible support and partnerships. They have been amazing!