Norsk Tempoklubb, Norway's largest vintage vehicle club with over 5,300 members, was founded in 1990 by Reidar Kjelløkken and Hans Tore Bråten. The aim was to bring together everyone in Norway with an interest in Norwegian-made two-stroke mopeds and motorcycles, with the main focus on Jonas Øglænd's products. Bråten is now chairman, with Terje Flåt as vice-chairman. We had a little chat with them about their switch to the Rubic membership system.
Challenges with the old system
Norsk Tempoklubb previously used a membership system that could no longer handle the club's growing needs. The system was not user-friendly, and it was difficult to adjust membership fees and payment options. The club therefore decided to find a new solution that could streamline administration and improve the member experience.
- We've actually always been ahead of the curve, technologically speaking. The chairman and I have worked with computers all our lives. But what is easy and simple for us isn't always so for some of our members – some of them don't even own a PC. A few years ago we introduced a system – a WordPress plugin – but it had a number of weaknesses. You could only pay by card, and the membership fee it set couldn't be changed. That was the deciding factor that made us start looking for a new system, explains Flåt.
Choosing the Rubic membership system
After a thorough evaluation, Norsk Tempoklubb chose the Rubic membership system as its preferred platform.
- We have fairly advanced requirements for a system, including the need for members-only access control. If you haven't paid the membership fee, there is a lot of useful information on our website, among other places, that you can't access. Introducing that brought us many new members, Bråten continues, and Flåt adds:
- We were curious to see whether Rubic could handle this. There were quite a few meetings to make sure it could be solved and that both parties understood each other, before we then signed a fixed-price agreement.
Also read the article: “Customised standard solution keeps track of cabins and waiting list”.
Implementation and user-friendliness
Switching to a new system can be challenging for both administrators and users.
- It took a little while to get started; there was a bit of a learning curve for those of us who administer the system. After all, we were used to how the previous one worked, with all its faults and shortcomings.
- There have been a few challenges, most of them already solved, but what we notice most is that there are far fewer enquiries about problems from our members compared with the previous system. Not least because they can now pay with Vipps.
With a varied group of members, there are still some who want to pay their membership fee by giro, and of course they can. This particular task has to be done manually.
- Fortunately, it's easy to get it back into the system. We also have periodic membership fees, which means the fee runs from the month you start your membership. The system had to take that into account too. And, not least, the access control. We had a few teething problems with that, which were probably partly down to poor communication between us and Rubic. But it was quickly resolved.
Online shop with member benefits
The vintage club also has its own online shop, with club merchandise and specially made parts that are otherwise hard to come by, among other things.
- We have now integrated the online shop into the system, which talks directly to the member lists and distinguishes between members and non-members.
The online shop is open to everyone, but members who have paid their membership fee get access to discounted prices and a number of other member benefits, such as Tempoposten. We're very pleased with how this was solved. An advanced system that took a bit of work to integrate, but it went very well.
Benefits of the Rubic membership system
Having moved on from a system they had customised themselves to suit the club's wishes, they now have a standard solution adapted to their needs.
- It has been a huge advantage, because anything you build yourself becomes hard to keep up to date. We've realised that we need a system that is a commercial product. With the previous one, it wasn't possible to get support, and it had many limitations.
- It's a big advantage that they are Norwegian. We have met them in person and got to know them, both online and face to face, which of course makes communication much easier.
- We've also seen membership numbers go up a little recently. Much of the credit can probably be attributed to the fact that it's easier for most people to pay with Vipps. But also to the fact that it was difficult to sign up in the old system, which has been made very easy with Rubic.
Also read the article: “Holmenkollen Skifestival partners with Rubic on a new volunteer portal.”
Future prospects and ongoing support
Today, Norsk Tempoklubb uses only a few of the system's modules. Going forward, they may start using more of the options and extensions the system offers.
- We have discussed giving our many local branches access in the long run. It's also a question of cost, of course. We have a number of meet-ups organised locally – we've also discussed adding a registration feature. But for now we'll keep getting to know the system and using the features we have. After all, we all work on a voluntary basis, so the main point is to make this as simple as possible for both us and our members. And we now feel we're well on our way there.