a single source, nothing corroborates it

Read the cancellations before you build anything

Most churn is people who never used the product rather than people missing a feature, so a cancellation is a promise you made correctly in marketing and then failed to deliver. Look for traits only the leavers share, since anything they have in common with happy customers explains nothing, and catch people while they are still struggling because they can still tell you what went wrong. The one to worry about leaves silently, having never written in at all.

The method

1. 01

   Read your cancellation reasons before building features: most churn is people who never used the product, not people missing a feature.

2. 02

   Read a cancellation as a promise you made correctly and then failed to keep: the marketing found the promise buyers wanted, and retention is the measurement of whether you deliver it.

3. 03

   When studying churn, look for traits that only the unsuccessful customers share, because the traits they have in common with happy customers explain nothing.

4. 04

   Catch customers while they are still struggling rather than after they leave: watch in-product activity for signs of failure and reach out then, when they can still explain what is wrong.

5. 05

   The customer to worry about is the one who signs up, cancels and never says a word, not the one filling your inbox for a fortnight.

What it returned

• 40%

  First-month churn was close to 40%, and the most common stated cancellation reason was simply not using it

• He walks the funnel that precedes a cancel: one person notices the ad or post, follows the link, becomes the one in a hundred who tries it, pays, and then quits.

• His example: if a feature marks success, the leavers may not know about it, so promote it, or cannot fit it into their workflow, so add integrations.

• For those already gone he suggests paying for the interview with a gift card or a charitable donation, and simply emailing to ask.

Sources

• The roadmap to Product/Market Fit (PMF)… maybeJason Cohen · longform.asmartbear.com · 6. Prioritize retention-based product work. · 2023-12-24
• How selling a SaaS app like an info-product doubled revenueNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · …Decreases churn · 2014-06-26
• Micro-SaaS Ebook: Retention & SupportTyler Tringas · tylertringas.com · The Guiding Principle: Every support ticket is an opportunity · 2017-07-31