How do you deal with churn?

Hello! If you're looking to reduce churn and improve customer retention then check out Churnfree.com - an amazing SaaS solution to help you build customizable cancellation flows. If you're interested then let me know and I can talk to the dev team and get you a good discount on your first subscription plan. Let me know! :)

If there's anything I've learned about churn, it's that you can rescue it with a well-thought-out cancellation flow.

My cancellation flow for Zlappo is as follows:

1. Customer clicks "cancel."

2. App asks if you want to pause instead.

3. If yes, select pause 1, 2, or 3 months (I was surprised how many customers chose to pause instead of outright cancelling, made me wonder how much MRR I've lost in the past due to not having this option previously).

4. If no, ask why they're cancelling.

5. If they proceed with cancellation, don't cancel immediately, schedule cancellation for the end of the billing period. Customer still have access to app until end of billing period.

6. Have an option for them to undo cancellation, preferably featured prominently in the dashboard, should they change their minds (customers change their minds more than you think).

Here's what I don't recommend:

1. Hiding the cancellation button or, worse, removing it altogether and making them email/call you to cancel (the Planet Fitness/Comcast model... yikes). This is the ultimate dark pattern in my opinion.

2. Cancelling a customer's subscription manually when they email in requesting cancellation. There are several reasons for this, including mistake/confusion. See Davis Baer's tweet: https://twitter.com/mynameis_davis/status/1400839069559570439.

3. One-click cancel: people do make mistakes sometimes, I've used some SaaS apps where I clicked "cancel" just to do some research (read: espionage 🙊) on what their cancellation flow looks like, but god damn it cancels my subscription right away. Wow.

Of course the best way to minimize churn is to build a better product; that goes without saying.

But if you're looking for quick fixes, try implementing a cancellation flow that will allow you to "rescue" as many churns as possible, so that only those who have 100% made up their minds will go ahead with it.

You'd be surprised how many churns you end up rescuing.

Shameless plug here - I founded Raaft.io - to help Saas apps retain customers.

• Like anything there are multiple pieces to the churn puzzle. In order to determine what's affecting your churn metrics, one way is to simply ask your customers. At Raaft, we make it super simple for you to ask your customers why they are leaving during the off boarding process. We let them choose from several different "motivators" to self-select why they are moving on. This can be really helpful feedback as you adjust your product for stickiness.
• Second, Raaft allows you to easily attempt to "save" your customers with automated offers tailored to your customer's reason for leaving. "Too Expensive?" -> automate a discount in an attempt to get them to stay. "Not the right time?" -> pause the account with the click of a button.

Raaft takes the position that your customers deserve a straightforward path to cancelation... it's the honest thing to do. In return, asking for a little feedback and making an offer for your customer to stay are a fair tradeoff.

In the long-run, understanding your customer's motivations and experimenting with responses will make all the difference.

Good Luck!