Reducing churn is a pertinent aspect of running a business.
When operating a business, you need customers who follow through with intended purchases, frequently buy your product, and are willing to recommend it to others. Additionally, knowing how to reduce churn using SAAS customer support best practices has the potential to save your business from failing.
Worry no more, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we will explore and discuss some SAAS customer support best practices to reduce churn to ensure your business is profitable and growing.
Let’s get started.
1. Ensure Customers Actively Use Your Product
Naturally, you want your customers to find value in your product. However, you need customers to find benefits in your product and have a deep need or desire to use your product.
Ideally, you want your customers to be “sticky.”
A sticky customer is someone likely to enjoy your product to the extent that they repeatedly buy your product and appreciate it to the point that they are willing to recommend your product to others.
Duolingo is a site that has mastered the art of having “sticky” subscribers. It uses the method of subscribers keeping streaks for as long as possible, which incentivizes subscribers to keep visiting the site daily. Duolingo also sends out notifications and emails to subscribers when they are at risk of losing their streak. These reminders encourage subscribers to engage with the site daily.
Depending on your product, you need to figure out how often it would be reasonable to contact your clients and remind them to engage in your product. Subsequently, determine the best way to contact them. Consider methods like pop-up notifications, emails, or sending an SMS.
2. Emphasize Product Benefits on Invoices
With a great product comes great benefits. However, it’s easy for customers to only use a product for specific features and not necessarily use all the features. It’s also possible that your customers are unaware of all the features your product offers.
Emphasizing your product’s benefits when you invoice your customer can reduce churn as it reassures customers that the product they have purchased is a good one that they should purchase again.
3. Thank Your Customers
Customers like to feel valued. As they say, a little thanks goes a long way. Try to personalize messages of thanks so that customers feel like they are appreciated. You can reduce churn by thanking your customers for supporting your brand.
You can go the extra mile by thanking your customers with discount vouchers. Offering discount vouchers as gifts not only makes your customers feel valued but also creates the possibility of them making another purchase using their discount voucher.
Additionally, you can show gratitude to your customers by including small free gifts with their purchases. Surprising your customers may lead them to purchase from you again, hoping they'll get a free gift. It may also lead to your customers telling others about your brand because they find that your product is value for money with additional benefits.
By providing discount vouchers and free gifts, you create loyal customers who are likely to make regular purchases and recommend your product to others.
4. Inform Customers of Product Improvements
If there have been any improvements to your product, you should make sure that your customers are aware of the latest updates that make the product even better than it was before.
People love knowing that the product they have is worth it. When customers hear that the product they have is even better than it originally was, they value the product more and are inclined to stay loyal to your company because they feel that they have a product that is appreciating in value.
Informing your customers of product improvements will reduce churn because they will be encouraged by the fact that they are using a constantly improving product to suit their needs better.
5. Charge for your Product Up front
The biggest benefit of charging for your product up front is that you have made money irrespective of the extent to which your customer uses your product. However, if you aim to reduce churn, you want your customer to use your product.
By charging up front, your customer feels a great sense of urgency to use your product after purchase, purely because they need to get good value for their money. Naturally, it can be tricky to get customers to pay upfront, which is why it is important that your price plan provides an annual billing fee that is cheaper and saves more money than if customers pay through monthly billing.
When the customer has committed to using the product for a certain period, they are inclined to learn how to most effectively use it, given that they want to maximize the value they can derive from the product based on the money already spent.
In this regard, you can reduce churn as your customer begins implementing your product into their life, derives value from the product, and remains loyal when the billing period has ended.
6. Use Negative Billing Options
If you are unfamiliar with negative billing, it is the practice whereby a subscription renews automatically if the customer does not cancel the subscription.
Often, customers forget about their subscriptions and no longer use the product. However, when they receive the negative billing notification, they are suddenly reminded of the resource available and are likely to start reusing your product because they have paid for it. In this regard, negative billing sparks the use of your product by existing customers. Hopefully, once customers begin using your product again, they will find value in it and want to keep using it instead of canceling their subscription.
Fair warning: Customers are not big fans of negative billing and may get upset when charged, which may lead to them not recommending your product. Therefore, apply this option with caution, as it has the potential to backfire on your company.
Final Thoughts
Failure to reduce churn can have devastating effects on your business's longevity. Also, it's critical to understand that poor customer service is mostly to blame for churn, not the product! That is why reducing churn with these SAAS customer support best practices will help you maintain your bottom line and encourage financial growth in your business.
Are you looking for some more ways to retain your customers? Read 9 Customer Retention Strategies that Reduce Churn in SAAS Businesses.