11 Basic Tips to Lower Your Churn Rate

These are challenging, and perhaps unprecedented times. Deals are slowing down, and churn is going to go up with SMBs in most categories.

You can't control everything. But in SaaS, most revenue does recur, even in the most challenging times. So perhaps the most actionable thing you can do this week is to take steps to lower your churn. Because recurring revenue is what is going to power us through the next few months.

Here are 11 basic ideas to do just that:

1. Have every customer have a named customer success rep. Every customer. Yes, this is hard if your price point is low. But it can be done. If every customer knows “Casey” is her rep, and who she can turn to … churn will go down. Every customer, even the smallest, deserves to know who they can talk to. At any time.
2. Measure NPS constantly, and set quarterly goals to drive it up. If you don’t measure it, you can’t improve it. If you haven’t measured your NPS yet, you may be surprised that it is lower than you think.
3. Segment your Customer Success — and Sales — teams. Different size customers need different approaches. If you segment your CS team, you can get folks that specialize in different deal sizes and customer needs. And if you segment your sales team by deal size, the smaller customers will get better attention upfront. Leading to less churn. Don’t lump your smaller customers together with the big ones — or they will churn at a much higher rate.
4. Stop with churn-and-burn deals. Selling deals you can’t service is worse than not closing them at all. More here: 5 Tips To Minimize “Churn and Burn” Behavior in Your Sales Team | SaaStr
5. Do phone support. No one wants to pick up the phone. But customers that need help want their call answered. More here.
6. Answer all tickets in < 5 minutes. Yes, it can be done.
7. Zoom with as many customers as you can, 1-on-1 where possible. You can’t 1-on-1 all the tiny ones, but at least do it with all the bigger ones. The more you connect personally, the fewer that churn.
8. Do a weekly webinar for all prospects and customers — every week. This is another chance for folks to get their questions answered. More here.
9. A wiki or answer database is NOT enough to retain customers. Technology alone is NOT enough. Don’t use cheats. There are no shortcuts. People need help from people. Self-service is great for solving some problems, but not for a lot of them. Don’t be lured into thinking technology alone is the answer.
10. Add a great free trial, or even a free edition now. If your free trial experience is truly awesome, customers that might churn will select out during the free trial. That’s not all bad.
11. Finally — let them downgrade easily. And even, let them go easily. In fact, make it easier to go. Yes, churn is painful. But if you treat them well on the way out, they may come back at some point in the next decade. If you don’t, they’ll never come back unless they have to. More here: You’ll Lose Customers. It Hurts. But Don’t Let Them Become Angry Ex-Customers. | SaaStr