Customer churn is a crucial metric for businesses that want to survive. Here are three ways to minimize it.
Customer churn has a devastating effect on businesses. On the flipside, it is estimated that a 5% increase in customer retention can lead to a 25-95% increase in profits.
The churn rate of a customer therefore is one of the most important metrics to monitor in the customer lifecycle. It is the percentage of customers who stop doing business with a company over a specific period of time.
The churn rate is a key metric to monitor because it gives you an idea of how many customers are leaving your business. It is also a good indicator of how well your business is doing overall. If your churn rate is high, it means you have a lot of unhappy customers and that you need to do something to improve your business.
The higher the churn rate, the more money you lose every month.
Statistics
Consider the statistics on customer churn, and you’ll see why it’s such an important metric to optimize.
- The average cost of acquiring a new customer in B2B SaaS companies is $341.
- The average B2B SaaS churn rate is 3-7%.
The good news is that there are several ways to minimize churn and increase customer loyalty. Here are three of them.
1. Use AI to predict customer churn
Artificial intelligence has been used for decades in industries like banking to predict fraud, given the large budgets available for development teams. Nowadays, companies large and small can use artificial intelligence without needing any technical expertise, making a variety of use-cases accessible.
Using Obviously AI, you can connect historical customer data, and select a “churn” column to predict and prevent churn. It's really that simple.
By knowing what customers are likely to leave, you can take action before they actually churn and keep them happy. For example, you could selectively offer those at high-risk of churn discounts or personalized offers.
2. Ask for feedback
It’s important to ask for feedback from your customers regularly so that you can address any issues they have before they decide to leave your business. You should ask for feedback at least once every quarter so that you have enough time to fix any problems they might have with your product or service.
This is especially true nowadays, as customers expect products to evolve to meet their needs. If they feel like they’re being heard, they’ll be more likely to stay.
You can even ask for customer "exit interviews," so you can better understand why churned customers left. This can be as simple as a form field asking for input on your unsubscribe page. Of course, taking action on this feedback is the most important part!
3. Use AI for automated personalization
Many companies use artificial intelligence for automated marketing because it allows them to send personalized marketing messages to their customers without having to spend too much time on it themselves. You can use artificial intelligence for automated marketing by sending messages based on what a customer has done in the past or what they are likely to do next, effectively personalizing your marketing efforts.
While asking for (and acting on) customer feedback at scale can be a slow process, automating your marketing efforts allows you to personalize at scale, almost immediately.
For example, you could score existing customers on their likelihood of being interested in an up-sell offer, and then only make that offer to those who are likely to convert.
Summary
When a customer churns, it not only means a lost deal in the short term—it also means another competitor gains a long-term asset, and can expend that asset improving their products. Many companies experience low customer retention rates because their marketing is not tailored to their buyers’ unique preferences. However, there are many potential causes for churn, and by using machine learning on a historical customer churn dataset, you can pinpoint the causes for your specific company.
