Most membership operators have the same instinct when engagement dips:

They send a nudge.

They ask “where did you go?”

They offer a discount.

Now, this approach assumes the member decided to leave.

In reality, most didn’t.

They just paused. Life happened. They took a vacation. They lost momentum. They got distracted.

And then, when they tried to return… it felt harder than it should.

They couldn’t find where they left off. They didn’t know what to do next. They felt a bit lost. A bit behind. A bit discouraged.

And then they decided to leave.

For an operator, this is an opportunity missed.

Why?

Because most operators expect their members to leave…

They just don’t expect them to return.

Let’s dive in.

Think about your own habits.

How many things have you paused - not out of disinterest, but because something else took priority?

You didn’t stop because you didn’t care.

You just got busy. And when you decided to start again, it didn’t feel easy to pick right up and continue forward. So you didn’t.

Your members are no different.

A drop-off in engagement isn’t always a signal of dissatisfaction. Sometimes, it’s just a signal of reality.

But here’s the hard truth: Most membership experiences aren’t built for real life. They assume consistency. They expect uninterrupted attention.

They’re optimized for the ideal user, not the human one.

And that’s pretty unreasonable.

One of the most consequential missteps I see operators make is this:

Mistaking a member’s temporary absense for permanent departure.

It’s tempting to simply view churn as a function of membership, in general.

However, as an operator, you must start viewing churn as a function of life.

And most importantly, you have to leave room for the possibility that the average member will have moments of absense - with an intent to return.

So those moments of absense must be nurtured appropriately.

The best memberships don’t just onboard well. They re-onboard quietly, gracefully, constantly.

They welcome members back like their return was expected, not like it’s a surprise.

Here’s a handful of effective tactics I’ve used with customers here at Memberful to re-engage members after a period of absense.

1. Create a Return Path That’s Clear and Shame-Free
Don’t greet returning members with guilt (“It’s been 45 days since your last visit!”). Greet them with clarity. Tell them where they left off. Offer a single action to restart. Make it feel like momentum is right there waiting.

2. Use Progress Memory
Remember where they were. Save progress. Surface it the moment they return. A simple message like “You’re 80% through this journey” can be more powerful than any marketing email.

3. Make Your Home Base Feel Alive
If a member returns after 3 weeks and sees the same thing they saw last time, it feels stale. Rotate content. Highlight new activity. Make the membership feel like it kept moving, because it should have.

4. Design On-Ramps for Re-Entry
Not everyone wants to resume where they left off. Some want to reset. Offer that option. Let them start fresh. Give them an easy “what’s next” button. Ease of re-entry is often the critical factor that determines if a member will cancel and make a permanent departure.

5. Don’t Penalize the Pause
Avoid gamified systems that punish inconsistency. Instead, reward their return. Create a culture that says: “We’re glad you’re back. Let’s keep going.”

Each of these will allow you to provide a framework designed for a member’s return rather than an immediate and final goodbye.

Every membership experiences dips in engagement, where members simply get interrupted.

But successful operators don’t treat disengagement as a moment to fight - they treat it as a moment to design for.

The reality is this: If you make it hard to come back, most won’t.

But if you design with real life in mind - if you build with interruption in mind, you don’t just reduce churn…

You build trust.

You build belonging.

You create a membership that doesn’t just tolerate inconsistency, but embraces it with grace.

So I’ll leave you with this question:

What would your membership look like if it was designed for the way people actually live - not the way you hope they behave?

Think about it.

Tell me: How can I help you with your membership? Respond to this email and let me know (I always read every reply).

Share: I want Operator to be the most valuable thing that comes across your inbox each Tuesday. If I’m hitting that mark, forward this email to a friend or co-worker.

See you next Tuesday.

-Michael