Churn can cost you millions of dollars. Imagine not doing anything to stop the bleeding. Collabo XD has helped massive corporations like Cummins and the American Red Cross turn the tide. Learn how your organization can reduce churn and increase your revenue in 3 steps – even if you’re not experiencing turnover right now.
1. Conduct primary research & an audit of your current customer experience
Okay, just kidding. Don’t completely discard them. You can pull valuable insights from survey data. But keep in mind your customers’ feelings aren’t quantifiable.
Instead of trying to fully automate the feedback process, go straight to the source (your customer). We’re all human after all.
- Ask a random sample how they honestly feel about your products and services.
- Outsource primary research to an unbiased third party.
The goal is to collect enough data to identify the problem or gap in the customer experience.
2. Frame the problem. Why are customers leaving?
Surveys only tell half the story. Data in and of itself isn’t enough.
Your data needs to tell an accurate story about what your customers are experiencing. To solve the actual problem causing your customers to leave, you have to frame the right problem (we call it the root problem).
What insights can you pull from the data? What does the data actually tell you?
Example: Red Cross volunteer experience
The Indiana Region of the American Red Cross was losing volunteers.
By talking to the volunteers directly, we learned they were aging. The issue wasn’t unhappiness or anger or disengagement – a good sign! Phew.
The root problem was an elderly volunteer base and the lack of young volunteers who could replace them and dedicate more time to the cause.
Instead of trying to solve nonexistent problems, Red Cross went directly to the source – their volunteer – to understand the issue. Then, they understood exactly what to solve: They needed younger volunteers who wouldn’t roll off in a matter of months.
Note: Before framing the problem, make sure you don’t involve anyone whose salary directly depends on the customer or employee experience. Predeterminations and confirmation bias can haunt primary research.
3. Improve the customer experience by plugging holes & solving the root problem
You’ve identified the problem. Now what?
Redesign your customer experience by plugging those holes.
This is key – Before rolling out any changes, test them with a small group of customers.
Testing ensures you’re solving the problem that caused churn in the first place. Not a fringe issue that didn’t affect the customer journey.
We see this form of change-testing all the time:
- Makeup companies test new solutions to ensure they’re safe and effective.
- Toy companies test new products with focus groups of children.
- Software companies beta test new features.
Note: Avoid shiny object syndrome. In other words, don’t get distracted. You’re here to solve one problem, not all the issues plaguing your customer experience.
In the same Red Cross example above, they redesigned the volunteer experience and onboarding journey to better suit younger generations.
The result? A 40% increase in volunteers and 98% satisfaction.
In summary, use these 3 steps to reduce your customer churn:
- Audit the current customer experience
- Frame the root problem
- Solve that problem
Need help with unbiased customer experience research? Collabo XD has you covered.
