Don’t go! Reduce churn with a custom subscription cancellation sequence

Getting new subscribers is a costly business. Paid ads, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), partnerships – none of these are free. So once you have a new subscriber you work hard to keep them happy. But then they hit the cancel button, and they are gone. You don’t know what made them leave, and whether there’s any chance of getting them back.

That’s how a standard “cancel your subscription” button works, but there’s a better way by adding a custom cancellation sequence to your site. I’ve designd cancellation workflows for a few clients and the key strategies I’ve used are straight-forward:

1. Remind them what they’ll miss out on. Before they go for good, show them a quick reminder of what makes your business worth subscribing to. This doesn’t cost you any money & switches the emphasis from the cost of the subscription back to the benefits.
2. Entice them to stay with offers. Never underestimate the human desire for a bargain, but to prevent frequent cancellation attempts, make sure to limit the offer to one-time per customer.
3. Give your customers an alternative. Instead of cancelling how about offering a pause in the deliveries? This can be linked to a calender so deliveries restart automatically on a chosen date.
4. Ask them for feedback. Not all customers will stay with you, and before they leave you have an ideal opportunity to find out the key reasons what made them go. Is the price too high? Were there issues with quality and deliveries? Candid feedback is the best basis for future improvements to help you drive growth.
5. Be thankful. They’ve given your their custom and hard-earn cashed. And they may return. So don’t miss the opportunity to thank them, and if you play smart, throw in a sweetener if they decide to place a new order.

The actual sequence that’s appropriate for your business will depend on your shop and customers, and it’s worth spending time on getting it right. But whatever you do, don’t stick with the standard Woo “cancel subscription” button. There’s a big opportunity here to reduce churn and gain valuable feedback.

If you are a business owner, do you agree with my suggestions? Or have real life examples what worked for you / didn’t work? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear from you!

PS: The article is based on my work with the Woo Subscriptions plugin but the principles are universal.