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 After a string of quarters that have been marked by anxiety and negative sentiment, the third quarter of Q3 is a major milestone regarding the outlook for the future of the membership economy.

The economy of membership has been having one of the most difficult times in recent history. Rising inflation, heightened risk of uncertainty, and a more cautious consumer have been dominating trends throughout 2022. The downstream effects of these developments, as well as extreme volatility of the financial markets have now trickled into almost every field.

The same goes for membership. And while 2022 revenue projections that were made in the boom of membership of 2021 began to quickly appear out of reach the year, members have been forced to look more closely than they have ever looked at each facet of their overall plan.

In a nutshell For those who are a membership administrator, the year 2022 repeatedly checked your faith - over and over again.

The majority of the stories until now has you thinking that the remainder of 2022 is going to be extremely negative for membership and that we must be prepared for a downturn within every sector of the consumer each market, and in all business.

Not so fast.

Are you looking for that moment?

You see, in difficult economic and business environments, we always look for signs, signals and evidence of a pivot point imminent or near. And while we often don't realize a turn has occurred until months or even weeks after it happens There's one element that always coincides with such turning points -- the moment.

The Q3 moment was exactly that.

It was a time when members' managers saw extremely positive results despite a negative opinions. It was a moment where the silence was more powerful than the chaos. It was a moment where people confirmed that their products were so useful that members simply refused to be without it.

This was an time of divergence.

The biggest risk for companies that operate memberships during recessions is the risk of becoming negative. Members who were committed and confident about their businesses through this difficult year have continued to create, plan and plan for this moment not knowing exactly when it would occur. And now that Q3 is completed and we can look in the rear-view mirror and know with certainty that this is actually, happening.

The uncertainty creates opportunities

The memberships of our customers outperformed the market during the third quarter. All across our portfolio, we've seen these memberships break records for their revenue, retention and members. Being consistent and not influenced by the larger storylines enabled our clients to benefit from the growth in membership we saw in Q3.

Sound management of overall the membership strategy is a driving factor of membership results in difficult environments. We see the best payoffs occurring when operators opt to invest heavily in their operations during downturns while leaning more conservative during periods of accelerated growth. This strategy has allowed our customers to have resources on-hand to invest into their companies at times of opportunity like the ones we saw in the beginning of 2022.

Membership is a long game and customers who operate with the same mindset will find that the external environment and negative moods create long-lasting chances for sustainable growth in membership.

For a company that operates memberships You can't know the exact timing of upwards and downswings such as those we witnessed in Q3 , but you can prepare for them.

One thing you can guarantee is the fact that these moments will come just when you least would.

Keep on building.