Follow-the-Member Expansion Loop
Use member behaviour to test where and how the service should expand.
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 95%
The Follow-the-Member Expansion Loop turns observed customer movement into a sequence of increasingly committed tests. Jones describes Soho House becoming quiet during the Cannes Film Festival, learning that many members were in Cannes, and taking a temporary club to them on a rented boat the following year. He generalised the lesson as going where the member goes. Member suggestions also prompted the search for a country location and later helped encourage expansion to New York. The mechanism begins with behavioural evidence, not a management preference: find where members already gather, identify what they want there, create a bounded version of the experience, and evaluate real use before deepening the commitment. Member input guides the hypothesis, while observed participation provides stronger evidence than enthusiasm alone.
Origin
When the original Soho House became unexpectedly quiet, a member explained that many members were at the Cannes Film Festival. Jones responded the next year with a temporary club on a boat in Cannes harbour.
Core principles
- 01Existing customer behaviour can reveal adjacent demand.
- 02Temporary service is a lower-commitment way to test a location.
- 03Direct member feedback should shape the next offer.
- 04Expansion follows customers rather than an abstract map.
How to run it
- 1
Observe member movement
Look for changes in attendance, requests, and destinations that reveal where customers already spend time. Treat surprising behaviour as a prompt to investigate.
Pro tip Ask customers directly what changed before constructing an internal explanation.
Watch out One vocal request does not establish broad demand.
- 2
Define the adjacent need
Clarify what customers value from the current service and what is missing in the new setting. Preserve the essential benefit rather than copying every feature.
Pro tip Phrase the hypothesis as a customer behaviour you can observe.
Watch out Do not assume the same format fits every place.
- 3
Run a bounded test
Create a temporary, constrained version of the experience where customers are already going. Limit duration and commitment while preserving enough quality for a fair test.
Pro tip Use an event, pop-up, or borrowed venue before pursuing a permanent site.
Watch out An under-resourced test can reject a sound idea for the wrong reason.
- 4
Measure real participation
Observe who attends, returns, engages, and asks for continuation. Combine those behaviours with candid feedback about the experience.
Pro tip Weight behaviour more heavily than compliments.
Watch out Novelty can inflate a short test, so distinguish first-time curiosity from durable use.
- 5
Increase commitment gradually
If the evidence is credible, pursue the next level of commitment, such as a longer test or permanent location. Continue listening and adapting after launch.
Pro tip Define the evidence required for the next commitment before the test begins.
Watch out Member enthusiasm does not remove financing, planning, or operating constraints.
In the wild
After the Greek Street house became quiet, Jones learned from a member that many members were at the Cannes Film Festival. The following year the team rented a boat in the harbour and operated a temporary club for the festival's ten days, allowing members to use the experience where they had already gone.
→ The temporary club was repeated for years and taught Jones to follow member behaviour.
A professional membership group notices that many members travel to the same annual conference. It runs a three-day temporary lounge there, tracks repeat visits and introductions, and asks attendees whether they would use a year-round local chapter before signing a lease.
→ The operator gains behavioural evidence before making a permanent geographic commitment.
Common mistakes
Expanding from executive preference
The loop starts with where customers already go and what they do, not a location the leadership team simply likes.
Treating requests as proof
Member suggestions generate a testable hypothesis; actual participation is stronger evidence of demand.
Making the first test permanent
A bounded test preserves the ability to learn before taking on the cost and complexity of a full site.
Is it for you?
Best for
Membership, hospitality, and community businesses considering a new location or adjacent format.
Not ideal for
Businesses whose current customers do not represent the intended new market or whose test would create disproportionate financial or regulatory risk.
From the transcript
“wherever the member was going go”
“i've always just listened to the member”
“why didn't you do one in the country”
From the episode
Soho House Founder: How I Built The World’s Most Exclusive Club: Nick Jones