Scaling Memberships with Automation, AI, and Loyalty Programs with Crystelle from Launchy

[00:00] Micah: Hey everybody, Micah Mitchell here, CEO of Membarium. And with us today is Christelle from Launchy, one of our favorite foreigners. Christelle, welcome. Thank you so much, Micah. Great to be here. It's so good to have you. And Launchy just became our newest certified partner at Membarium. So we wanted to help everybody get to know you guys. You also have a cool thing called Kcard I want to ask you some questions about. And then you and Pete are coming to the Membership Summit in April. You guys are headed to the US for the Keep event, the Membership Summit, right? Absolutely. We can't wait.

[00:36] Crystelle: You know, coming over there for PartnerCon and then the real event. Obviously, it's the Membarium one after. And, you know, it's been a few minutes between a Membarium event like this. So very, very exciting. And you know what, just like a little plug, I would say that if you do not have tickets, make sure you get tickets. Like, things are changing and we need to be in a monster. And I thought you guys have been talking about with what's going to be happening there. But anyway,

[01:06] Micah: well, let's get back to that while we're here. No, thank you. I love it. Yeah, I'm really excited to hang out with you and with Pete and everybody there. I think you guys are going to add more to the event, obviously, than we could bring. So I'm excited for it to be collaborative. So for today, though, like I said, you are the newest Membarium certified partner. So Launchy is, you know, obviously capable of creating membership sites. We did a really cool case study with you guys a while ago where you had actually helped rebuild the Canberra business chambers website, right? And helped automate their whole thing, which was, we can talk about some of that. But there's a whole other case study with Christelle, myself, and shoot, he's going to hate me. Remind me his name is right on the tip of my tongue, but I don't want to say it wrong. Pascal, that's right. Yeah, Pascal's a genius. So it was really cool to see that. If you guys haven't seen that, go check out the case study we did with Launchy about, like I said, the Canberra business chamber and automating a lot of their stuff that used to be done by paper. Maybe you can just give a quick plug for that interview. If somebody wants to go check it out, what are they going to find?

[02:07] Crystelle: Sure. So it's a little bit different to what everyone would typically go for a membership site for. It was more operational. So it was helping do renewals. There was invoicing and billing and keep and memberium were working hand in hand and there's some revenue forms in there, but they had such a complex member structure. We had to build so much. It was like, if you imagine these memberships that are bespoke, but standard at the same time. And so the good thing is there was some repetition, which is where you get your automation. But then with the membership site that enabled our members to log in, but also staff and there was a lot more visibility. So it was a huge change for them,

[02:55] Micah: which is really awesome to see. Yeah, really, really cool. What have you guys, I want to like get your whole bio and stuff, but just out of curiosity, what's something you've been working on lately that is fun for you?

[03:08] Crystelle: So when it comes to membership sites or just like generally just...

[03:12] Micah: Either, because you guys, you know, the people who are going to connect with you on membership sites, they're going to need your, I think, marketing help too. And you guys do some cool,

[03:19] Crystelle: unique stuff. But yeah, what are you, what are you into lately? That's... You know what we are, you mentioned a little while ago, actually, this new product that we have called K-Cart. And so we're exploring how that can actually work with membership sites. But what that basically is, is like a loyalty card that sits in your digital wallet in your phone, but the content and the notifications and all of that is controlled with your automation. In your automation flow, like you'd send out an email, you can send out notifications. And so we're helping businesses that are bricks and mortar to take that online. And that's kind of that connection and glue to then auto log them into the membership site. And so we're working on some case studies and use cases around that to help people understand how to use this old piece of, well, not old piece of tech, which is digital cards. But I mean, we all use them in our wallets. So everyone's kind of used to that, but using it in this way is really new. And so we're really playing with that. And that's super exciting. And our wineries are the first adopters because we work with a lot of wineries and so much opportunity there. So yeah, that's probably the most exciting thing on the forefront of the moment.

[04:36] Micah: Yeah, that is so intriguing. It took me a while to understand it when you guys were talking to me about it. But when I saw it and started thinking of the possibilities, it's so weird. So for those of you, she mentioned the digital wallet and so on, but it's almost like you get an app, a mobile app without building a mobile app. You get so many of the abilities of a mobile app in terms of like messaging on their phone and so on, but you don't have to build an app. You just have to use your K card thing. And it's cool too, that it's a crossover between kind of a brick and mortar physical location where they're going to use their phone to like scan in or check in or whatever. But then it can also, like you said, auto log them into the membership site and do all these other cool things. So pretty cool technology actually, that I think as far as I understand, is just getting

[05:23] Crystelle: started. Like you said, the digital wallet is old, but I think this idea of using it for these other purposes, at least to me is pretty new. So very, very cool. I guess, tell me about Launchy generally.

[05:36] Micah: So for people who, like I said, maybe haven't met you guys with, you know, Christelle, Pete, even Warwick, right? Just a riot to hang out with in person. So if you can ever be an event with them at the same time, do that. But tell me kind of, tell me about the professional side. Like what makes you guys so good? How long has Launchy been around? What do you specialize in?

[06:00] Crystelle: Yeah. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you. So, and, and you know what, I would say the same for you and Benny. We always have a great time hanging out with you guys. And there's so much, it's not only the great time that we have when we come to events over in the States, it's actually, it's the connections and the networking and that just all of that just brings it all together. Like you guys are like family to us now, you know, like I know Pete's always counting down the days to when he can come

[06:26] Micah: back over and hang out. So, but so, so about Launchy. So, well, we've been around, it's about 11 and a

[06:35] Crystelle: half years now. And it started very, very standard small business stuff started with me. And, and I decided to not say no to work and figure out how to build an agency. And back then, no one really know, so no one really knew about automation in Australia. Like it was something I had to come to the States for. And I went to the, all those original thinking conversion summits and all of those kinds of like events that were, you know, there was some really cool people there back in those days that were building lead features and, and I'm about to launch that. And, you know, like, oh, just some of it, I could name like just a million people that I was just in awe of and learning from. And so we, I used to go over there with a couple of other speakers and gurus from Australia. And so I decided to implement that for my clients at the time, which was Pete and or Infusionsoft back in the day. And, and so from there, it just kind of grew because people learned what it was and what automation was and what Infusionsoft was. And, and there was no competition. It's very different in today's market. It is like a saturated space right now. So, you know, we, and that's what we're

[07:55] Micah: working on still every day to stand out is the strategy and the approach that we take. And also

[08:03] Crystelle: the, I guess the, the ecosystem more than just a CRM with automation and marketing automation. It's actually a, the CRM is the brain of the operation. And that's what the methodology that Launchy operates on. It's the brain. And then we're integrating with the other systems to make everything work for business automation, not just sales and marketing automation. So I guess that's, yeah, that's hard. That's like the really short version of what we're really good at. And we're also awesome, passionate team, which is, you know, it's nice to work with people like that.

[08:44] Micah: I didn't realize you guys had so many team members. That's really cool. So you were a pioneer in Australia. As far as working with people from other places, because I'm sure you're going to continue to bring the newest stuff to Australia when you work with people in other countries, let's say still outside the U S because I think you pick up some of the Asia Pacific business as well, right?

[09:06] Crystelle: Yeah, a little, a little. There are some, so we're the, the keep onboarding. And so typically, like if someone was to go and purchase directly from keep, they send them to us to onboard them. And that's for ANZ. So it's Australia, New Zealand, sometimes Asia, but there's some really awesome people, like not over in Vietnam. Vietnam. Yes. Gosh, that I've been there a number of times and hung out with him. He's amazing. They miscaped me, but yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you know what, that we're solving the same problems for everyone, no matter where they are, but it's, it, the, it comes down to like the strategy in that niche and really applying all of that each time. Yeah, that makes sense. And I know there are

[09:50] Micah: some considerations with other countries, obviously currencies, you know, maybe some different privacy laws and things like that. So I'm, I'm sure you're an expert in that, but you know, you, as much as probably any American been to the same events over here. So you're obviously, you know, implementing for people in the States as well. Maybe what are the differences that stand out to you? Cause it is kind of the same solutions for everybody, but what are the differences?

[10:16] Crystelle: Uh, so definitely the legalities behind, uh, what we're doing, especially if there's compliance things, that's a big one that stands out. You know, we have a company that helps the companies around the world set up their business basically in the U S and have a remote address and have a, um, a post box and it's fully tax compliant. And, and so it helps these e-com businesses that want to have setups all over the world do that. So for, um, what we had to kind of step through quite a lot of, um, learning, I guess you'd say that kind of circumstance. And they're actually looking to build a membership site fairly soon, I think, because they have so much content and that's, that would be, so the legalities definitely a big one. Currency, like you said, I think in Australia, we, um, it's harder to sell to people in Australia, whereas the States is more trusting. So it's kind of like, are they doing that? Yeah, cool. Okay. I'll give it a shot. Whereas in Australia, it's kind of like a prove it, prove it, prove it. Show me how does it work? How, like, is that, is that, um, kind of going to work for me? I don't know. I don't know. So I would say that's another one as well. Like it's more touch points maybe that are needed in Australia, whereas the U S it's a bit more, yeah, smooth sailing, willing to maybe try things a bit more. That's really interesting.

[11:48] Micah: Is it fair to say that if you're good at selling in Australia, you'll be even better at selling in

[11:53] Crystelle: the U S just by default? Cause you're already like just trying harder. Yeah. You know what? You take a lot of case studies with you. So absolutely. I'd say because what we have to do with our wineries and,

[12:06] Micah: and it's not because they don't trust or, or anything in particular, but more so they just

[12:11] Crystelle: need to see how it would work for them. We, we create a lot of collateral that's like education based materials on the strategy. And we've documented a whole bunch of case studies as well. And the results that other wineries have gotten with the same approach and ecosystem and that side of it. And so once we have all of that, we can then take that so easily to, to any, any country really that's English speaking. Um, and, and, you know, yeah, it would be a much, much smoother process.

[12:43] Micah: That's really cool. It's cool too, that you're saying you help other countries basically access the U S market, right. Kind of domicile here or whatever they need to do in order to, yeah, fulfill and sell. It seems like you guys are playing a bigger game than most partners, frankly. And it's funny because we always, I knew we were going to get into stuff that I didn't know about you guys, because we're always just hanging out, having a good time. And I know, I know you're doing great business or you wouldn't be flying around the world and so on, but it's really cool. Yeah. That you have the legal chops to do that. And in these different jurisdictions, one thing we didn't mention, and you just touched on slightly is language being a big difference. Um, this is kind of a odd question, but do you think that can be overcome by AI at this point or meaning, you know, can you work with a client in another language and it's fine just because of AI?

[13:31] Crystelle: Absolutely. I think, you know what, I've been having so much fun learning new AI. It's something I've kind of committed to myself that I learn a couple of new tools every week. Um, I'm finding clients asking me, Hey, do you know anything for this? Do you know anything for that? So it's forcing me to

[13:49] Micah: actually learn, um, and going to that space. Um, I, uh, we have a client that, um, is getting started

[13:57] Crystelle: with us probably the next couple of days and they're already crushing it in Australia. They're about to hit the US and then do the same. And then they want to go all around the world because their, their market is flowers. So they bring flowers to offices and amazing flowers that would cost probably $500 to buy, but, um, it's a subscription model and it's like, it's a no brainer for these companies, you know, like they're absolutely crushing it. So when it comes to language, we're going to be doing a lot of translation and setting up all of their email comms and SMS and all of that side of it. And we haven't actually dug into how that will all happen quite yet, but we know that we can do it. Yeah. And AI will absolutely be a big part of that. I'm sure. So cool. It's interesting

[14:47] Micah: because we, I think Ben and I, Ben's kind of listening in here as well, that works with Membarium. We deal with so much similar use cases. Like you got somebody from the States and they're trying to sell content in the same way, blah, blah, blah. It seems like you guys deal with a lot more variety and I'm sure you can do the normal use cases as well. Normally I would kind of wait till the end to ask you this, but do you do consultations if somebody wants to have a chat with you, for

[15:14] Crystelle: example, can they? Yeah, absolutely. So both myself and Pete do the consultations. We, I think there's

[15:24] Micah: so much that we don't know, we don't know. And, and so that's why it's really important to have those

[15:29] Crystelle: chats because not every client or, or call someone a prospect, but I guess that's what they are really

[15:37] Micah: at that point. Not every person that comes and talks to us is right for us or us for them. But we

[15:44] Crystelle: also, I like sewing reigned in this community for so long, we can also steer them in the right direction

[15:51] Micah: as well, which I think is a really important thing for an industry that's so big, but it's kind of

[15:56] Crystelle: still so small. You know, you can, there are specialists in certain areas or, you know, we cover about six different systems as the main systems that we work on, but there's like endless amounts of systems that people come to us with and you don't want to be everything to everyone as well. So yeah, absolutely. I think having a chat and kind of getting that direction right is something we do

[16:26] Micah: all the time. Perfect. I recommend anybody watching to reach out to Christelle and do that. It's funny

[16:31] Crystelle: what you just said about the industry being kind of, you know, almost in this awkward middle spot where

[16:38] Micah: it's not quite big enough to be fully organized where you can find everything, but it's big enough where those resources are out there. You just kind of kind of know where they are, know somebody who does like you. So very cool to have a chat and nobody needs to talk to Pete. No, I'm just kidding. He's awesome too. There's a question for you. If somebody's coming in, how do you know whether

[16:55] Crystelle: to have them talk to you or talk to Pete? Pete would probably be the first port of call, but if they wanted to talk to me, then absolutely that's totally fine. Pete's main game in the business is that first conversation. Then he often will call me in if, you know, he needs the more technical side because I also manage the delivery for clients and the marketing business and the team. Pete's more the designing at the front end. He's the business coach kind of.

[17:27] Micah: Gotcha. Yeah. And Pete is a right. So obviously if you get to talk to Christelle, you're lucky, but start talking to Pete as well because he's way fun.

[17:36] Crystelle: And you know, he's got so much business experience. What he's doing is actually solving business problems and he knows what we can do. He's just not the tech person that does it.

[17:47] Micah: So they get a business consult from Pete and then if they're lucky, a technical consult from Christelle.

[17:52] Crystelle: Yes, that's right. That's so lucky.

[17:55] Micah: Pete. Well, Christelle, tell me a little bit, you know, our audience is probably obviously membership side owners, keep active campaign specifically to that group. What are some reasons they should reach out to you guys?

[18:12] Crystelle: You know, I think any piece of software or any system that you use, it's only as good as the strategy that you use in the ecosystem. So you can put content in your membership area and design a really beautiful membership area, which is, you know, a gated website. But then how are you going to use that to grow your business? How are you going to use that to engage your members? How are you going to use it for the AI stuff? Can't wait to hear about all the AI stuff we're doing at the membership summit. How like that, that, and how it works with keep and the buying behavior and the engagement activity. You know, someone's clicking on something inside the membership site. Maybe that's a key moment in that touch point and you need to trigger off an email sequence, but you need to think about that. And that's that life cycle that everyone would hear people talk about. Life cycle automation is the foundation of everything that we do because it helps people understand automation and why you do things and how it works. And your membership site should be considered in every piece of that life cycle automation. It's not just people, you know, you get someone on a subscription and then just go, cool, next, who's next, who's next? You know, you want to, it's that first handshake when they sign up and that's what we help them to do is to, you know, that first sale is just the first sale. It's not the sale. So there should be more and more and more. And by servicing your member, you're actually then earning. And so we really kind of dig deep into that and how that can work. I love the way that you answered that because I'm

[19:54] Micah: thinking of how many people have the same technology or even full tech stack, but aren't getting the results because they're not using it versus those who can do relatively few things, but they do the right few things and get great results. And so having somebody like you, you know, Pete, your whole team to kind of guide through and even implement that is super valuable for anybody who has a real, real business, real customers, real money-making opportunity. Somebody who actually knows how to tweak it and dial it in is priceless. Well, I'm sure there is a price, but profitable, let's say, is profitable to have around. So what is something that I have not asked you, but should have? What do you want to talk about?

[20:35] Crystelle: That's a great question. Okay. I'll have a drink, Michael. See you first.

[20:41] Micah: Yeah, go for it. I've been drinking out of my Membarium, the old school Membarium water bottle. You got the new one.

[20:49] Crystelle: I got the new one. I like it very much. Very cool. So, you know, you know what I find, and I think you guys would run into this all the time because you have so many people that are using Membarium in all different industries. What I find really interesting is the industry lessons that can be carried across industries. And as we niche and go deeper into different niches, that becomes more and more apparent. So with our wineries, for instance, I am often invited to go and speak at association events because wineries are quite traditional. And so they've got a lot to learn. But again, in that space,

[21:30] Micah: five years ago, we were the only ones doing what we do. Now we have competitors stealing business. But you have to stand out in any space. And what our winery clients really love is the knowledge

[21:49] Crystelle: that we bring from other industries into the winery space. So they can not just be best in their space, but they can be best in, you know, the industry or the automation space for that little piece that they're looking at. So it'd be cool to like, if you have anything in that, that you can go, oh, you know what, I've seen that happen. And that, yeah, industry lesson kind of stuff.

[22:17] Micah: Yeah, we were talking about this earlier, we have a client in the UK called Investment Mastery. And they have a timer in their site. So when you go into their site, they, this timer starts, and then they basically kick you out when the timer ends. And they, they're saying, don't obsess over your investments, stay working your day job, because they have a particular client.

[22:37] Crystelle: But that timer idea is so interesting to say, hey, when you come in, we're actually going to limit you

[22:42] Micah: instead of just come in and browse and whatever, limited time. So focus. And that is one thing, I think, kind of in line with what you're saying, where for them, it made so much sense,

[22:52] Crystelle: because they're saying, hey, you can get lost in looking at charts of investments,

[22:56] Micah: and it all becomes, you know, nonsense. So spend a specific, you know, we've kind of noticed this is the right amount of time. But taking that same concept to everywhere, not that it applies in everything, but we've been thinking of a ton of circumstances where it could and other ideas like, hey, when they come into a section, and you have options for them, once they pick an option, lock them out of everything else until they finish that option, like focusing things, right? So that comes to mind, I'm sure I could think of more, but does that kind of fit what you mean?

[23:27] Crystelle: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And, you know, I think even the, going back to the K-card stuff that we were talking about right at the start, you know, we've been learning from what cafes do, for instance, with their point of sale. And I think we were talking about this the other day when we caught up as well, that glue in the middle of taking someone who goes in and buys a coffee, and who, like everyone loses their little cardboard slip that gets all the stamps on it. No one's ever got that. I know I don't. I pick up probably about five from the same one and never get any free thing. But you actually, like if you have a digital card, and so the wineries are doing it, you've got the big guys, supply buys, the Dan Murphy's, or the other names you guys have Dan Murphy's. Do you have Dan Murphy's over there?

[24:21] Micah: No. At least not in Utah, no.

[24:22] Crystelle: No. No. Like, that's like a liquor shop, kind of. Yeah, you guys have it all in supermarkets and stuff. That's a bonus. We don't have that. It's all separate. So all the big guys have these digital cards, but the little guys can now learn from what they've been doing, but do it even better. And actually have a membership site that links to, like you said, don't do the apps. I think there's so much of that side that can be learned. Yeah. Yeah. I think the K card is such a sneaky little hack, honestly, into, and I know in a point of sale, like you're saying, in a cafe, in a winery, in someplace physical, it has this great utility of like, hey, check in, here's my barcode, whatever. But the fact that that also then ties into a digital experience, I think it's huge for people because we've had, you know, ultimate marketers and like these membership success stories that came out of physical locations.

[25:20] Micah: And they just essentially expanded that online. So I, I think that is, those are some of the best membership sites, actually, because they have a super sound business model under it. The membership stuff is, I don't want to call it gravy, but basically sometimes it almost outgrows the other business. And then they just have two great businesses that complement each other, you know? And so I love it.

[25:43] Crystelle: Yeah. You know what, it's the visibility that, you know, one of our wineries in Victoria, it's, it's quite a large winery and they have a beautiful, beautiful property and a lot of different checkpoints at restaurants, cellar door. Or they have like a beautiful food and farm kind of food area, like for people to buy and to take away. And so they're just, it's massive. And so for them to now have a digital wallet with the loyalty card in it, that when someone walks in, they welcome from the car park, hi, welcome to Fowl's Winery. And then once they walk up to any counter at stand and on their point of sale system, they're saying, you know, this is, this is a one club member. This is a level they're on. This is what they bought last time. They're entitled to this many points because there's a loyalty points and the loyalty club kind of connected to it all as well.

[26:42] Micah: So instantly they can welcome them in a personalized way, which, you know, the last kind of probably five to 10 years of automation, that's what automation is all about, isn't it? And when you log into a membership site, welcome Micah to the membership site. And so not only can they do that online, but they can, we've actually taken it now to personalize the experience human to human, which is they've never been able to do that kind of stuff before.

[27:10] Crystelle: Because people typically will just buy the wine that they like and off they go. There's no contact details.

[27:17] Micah: It's the more I think about it. So cool. Cause I know some of those wineries, it's not just local people, right? It's somewhat like tourism people coming through. And so they leave, but now instead of, Oh, you never saw them again. So whatever you sold them is it. You know, if direct messaging in their phone, it's so crazy to me, you can, Hey, do you want us to ship you a bottle a month or for the holidays or right?

[27:37] Crystelle: Yeah.

[27:38] Micah: So cool.

[27:39] Crystelle: Yeah.

[27:40] Micah: I know we've jumped around a bit here. I want to kind of wrap it up basically just by saying, you know, welcome to the memberium family of certified partners. We're so stoked. So thank you for joining. And for the people listening, I think you've got a flavor of, you know, Christelle, you haven't met Pete yet, but you should, because he's awesome. And we couldn't be happier to have you guys just as friends and whatever. But then that you have the technical chops that you have the whole other half of the world covered, right? And all these things is so cool. Anything else you want to say to the listeners, Christelle?

[28:39] Crystelle: Oh, you know what?

[28:39] Micah: So yeah.

[28:40] Crystelle: Thank you for having me on board and the team as well. I know Pete's pretty.

[28:46] Micah: Awesome. Well, thanks again for coming on, Christelle. We will see you in a few weeks. And for those of you who don't know about the event, go to membershipsummit.ai. It's April 4th through 6th. For those of you who are looking to connect with Christelle, what's the best way to get in touch with you and Pete?

[29:02] Crystelle: Again, if you go to launchy.io, you can book a consult directly through them, but feel free to connect.linkedin on Facebook, Insta, wherever it is. And yeah, yeah, reach out, reach out. Always happen to have a chat and just steer you in the right direction. And yeah, do it.

[29:19] Micah: Beautiful. We'll put the links to all that below, but it is launchy, L-A-U-N-C-H-Y.io for the listeners if you want to connect. Thanks again, Christelle.

[29:32] Crystelle: Thank you. Thank you.