Ask custom questions when a customer buys a membership

Collect extra information when a customer buys a membership, for example a partner's name, an emergency contact, or a shirt size. You set the questions yourself, per membership. (About 2 minutes. You need permission to edit memberships.)

Before you begin

• The membership exists in Memberships → Catalog. See Creating and editing memberships.
• Each question is a text answer. Decide which questions are required.

Add questions to a membership

1. Go to Memberships → Catalog and open the membership.
2. Click Edit.
3. Scroll to Custom fields.
4. Turn on Enable custom fields ("Ask the customer one or more text questions at checkout."). A first question appears.
5. Type the question in the label box, for example Partner's full name.
6. Turn on Required if the customer must answer before they can pay.
7. Click Add Custom Field for each extra question. Use the arrows to change the order, or the trash icon to delete a question.
8. Click Save Changes.

The membership page now lists your questions under Custom fields, so you can check what customers are asked.

What the customer sees

When a customer buys the membership, your questions show at checkout. They must answer each required question before they can pay. The answers then show under Additional Information on their membership page.

Staff see the same questions on the Create Subscription page when they sell the membership at the front desk.

Where you see the answers

• On the membership itself. Open the customer's profile, click the Membership tab, and click See details. The answers are in the Custom fields section. Click Change to correct an answer, then Save.
• In the members list. Go to Memberships → Members. The Custom fields column shows View with the number of answers. Click it to read or change them. The column shows only when at least one member has answers.
• In the export. Export Members adds one column for each question.

Good to know

• Questions apply to new purchases. A customer who bought the membership before you added a question has no answer for it.
• Turning custom fields off removes the questions from the membership's checkout. Answers that customers already gave stay on their memberships.

If something goes wrong

• "Custom fields need a label, then click again." — one question has an empty label. Type a label or delete the question, then click Save Changes again.
• A customer can't finish checkout — a required question is empty. Ask them to answer it, or turn off Required for that question.
• You don't see the Custom fields column — no member of the memberships in the list has answered a question yet.

Related

• Creating and editing memberships
• Sell a membership to a customer