Today I launched a new development client site, ParentMinistry.net. It’s a subscription based site delivering premium content built on the WishList Member plugin. (Theme by StudioPress)
As I was doing the implementation I discovered a sticky little issue. While there was a built-in integration with PayPal all of their payment gateways for creating a membership account took them off of the site to pay. In the support forums the official answer was unclear, but it was over a relatively minor and perceived PCI Compliance issue. I kind of read that as an excuse because I know that other membership plugins like S2Member Pro and even Cart66 allow an integration with PayPal Pro for paid member registration.
The bottom line for us was that we didn’t want to risk the loss of a single conversion on this side-step to PayPal. A lot could go wrong with that step. They could think they need to create a PayPal account. They could have a PayPal account but not remember the password. Or they might have their credit card associated with another account and get frustrated. While it might seem relatively small to experienced PayPal-ers this step will lead to a lower conversion rate.
More steps + 3rd party payment process = bad conversion rate
My philosophy of payment processes is that I want to make it as safe, simple as possible. I’ll do just about anything to take them from the “buy now” to putting in their credit card number in 1-step.
How We Solved This Problem
I am bypassing WishList Member’s process altogether. Instead, we set-up a form using Gravity Forms. We have the developer license which gives us access to the User Registration & PayPal Pro add-ons. We set-up a sales page with a form that creates a WordPress user account and processes their payment.
When the customer completes the transaction, I am using the Gravity Forms built-in notifications to send them a welcome email / receipt combo message. Instead of just getting the form sent to our email box, we are sending it to ZenDesk to create a ticket alerting us to go into WishList and change their account from non-member to member. Easy peasy.
A Hands On Solution
Now, this isn’t perfect. The dream of every membership site is that it’s 100% hands off. This is not a hands off solution because it creates a tiny task for each new member. (Adding a member to a group in WishList takes about 15 seconds, not much of a task!)
At the same time we are drastically increasing two factors which I think will not only help with conversions, but membership retention.
- It’s showing off our integrated approach to customer service. (No one wants to by truly anonymous on a membership site)
- It’s a 1-step payment process, eliminating the silliness of going to PayPal or another payment gateway.
