Churn prediction is possible if we measure churn correctly. Churn is the metric that measures how many customers stop using your product or service over a given period of time. It’s important to track because it can give you insights into how well your product or service is performing and where there might be room for improvement.
Similarly, there are a number of factors that can contribute to customer churn. It could be that your product is no longer meeting their needs, they’re experiencing poor customer service, or they’re simply losing interest.
In this blog post, we’ll take a look at some of the ways you can reduce customer churn. We’ll also explore how to predict churn so that you can take preventive measures before it happens.
Customer Churn Prediction: How to do it
Often lessons in human interactions provide a good reference point for relations between brands and consumers.
If you are in a relationship or friendship there would be indications of the impending breakdown. These could be reduced phone calls, text messages, or an insistence that restaurant bills be split. Similarly, there are certain signals that indicate when a customer is likely to stop using your product or service. By monitoring these signals, you can take steps to prevent churn before it happens.
Some of the most common signals include:
– Decreased usage: If a customer suddenly starts using your product or service less, it could be a sign that they’re losing interest. This is especially true if they stop using it altogether.
– Poor customer service: If a customer contacts customer support with complaints or problems, it’s a sign that they’re unhappy with your product or service.
– At-risk customers: Customers who are already showing signs of churning are more likely to actually do so. For example, if they’ve stopped using certain features or if their usage has decreased significantly, they may be more likely to cancel their subscription.
What can marketers learn from churn prediction data?
- If you can map your cohorts to the customers who have opted out of your service you can get insights if you need to de-prioritize any particular cohort.
- If a lot of customers are opting out early, probably the positioning of the product needs to be fixed to make it more relevant to the end user.
- The dropout rates can also indicate your weaker routes to market. As an example, are the opportunities generated through a particular partner opting out faster than the ones generated by inhouse sales?
- You can also use churn data to understand which of the media vehicles needs investment. Does LinkedIn give us better ARPU and do customers stay longer periods than the ones who came from Twitter.
If you find your customer opting out of your subscription-based service or a product, chances are that she made the decision days, weeks, or even months back. By reading these signals you can work on reducing churn. One must watch out for churn throughout the customer journey. But the beginning of the subscription and fag end of the subscription low consumption patterns indicate a red flag
Churn prediction helps to reduce attrition
Once you’ve identified which customers are at risk of churning, there are a few things you can do to try to reduce churn.
First, reach out to them directly and see if there’s anything you can do to help them get more value from your product.
If the consumption patterns are found to be low; the product is either difficult to use or may not even be serving the needs of the customer. You could use the customer effort score to understand how difficult the product usage could be. D2C apps must front end to reduce their churn by attempting to make navigation intuitive
The nature and the value of your product can decide your intervention methods to reduce churn. If the value of the subscription service is high and has a lesser number of end users, for example, a CRM for sales teams. The interventions could be high touch service calls or live product demos to those who require it. A pro tip is to prioritise your interventions by beginning with the senior management of your client.
Second, offer them discounts or coupons to incentivize them to stick around.
Unless the price is the only differentiator, it does not make sense to front-end all renewal requests with a discount offer. Yet offering discounts is an easy option to reduce churn and is the favourite option of many captains who run subscription-based businesses.
It makes sense to reiterate the benefits which attracted the customers in the first place. Discounts must be as the life jacket, especially towards the end.
Thirdly, make sure they’re receiving the highest quality of customer service possible.
For example, a large US based B2B enterprise launched an online learning platform for all its employees across 15 countries with a lot of fanfare. However, the usage rate was extremely low despite 20 days of its launch.
Low cost videos shot by early adopters, self help BOTS and a voice helpline increased the usage by 19% just in a matter of 2 weeks.
Fourth, make it easy to renew
As the period of subscription comes closer to renewals, we need to communicate the functional and emotional benefits of consumption. Make it specific to resonate.
“More than 200 agents used marine insurance training modules. And 40% of it was an hour before the sales calls. Renew today!! “will have more impact than a message that says “Subscription due to lapse in 20 days”
Also Read: How to reduce customer churn and win back customers
Baird Hall, a bootstrapper, also recommends that brands must allow customers to pause usage of the product. The services can resume after the date set by the customer. This allows customers who currently don’t need the service for different reasons to stay anchored to the product. Even if the customer wants to explore other options, the brand that has been allowed remains in his memory as a backup option.
Summing up churn prediction
Churn is a big problem for businesses—especially when it comes exclusively from high-value customers. Bain & Company research showed that in the financial services industry a 5 percent increase in customer retention can lead to an increase in profits of between 25 and 95 percent.
By monitoring signals and taking preventive measures, you can keep churn under control and protect your bottom line. In-Depth interviews of customers who have opted out of your service can give you insights on multiple aspects beyond just product improvements. A combination of online and telephonic interviews with close and open-ended questions can help you get insights.
Churn is a natural part of the product life cycle. We must use it to learn more about our customers and develop insights for retention.
