Far too many efforts to reduce churn fail. They go after several factors that are causing churn without addressing the entire problem. Frankly, if you haven’t clearly outlined the problem, there’s no way you can devise an adequate solution. It’s like jumping into the car and driving in some random direction before you know where you are going. More than likely, you are getting farther from your destination rather than closer.

If you are going to retain your subscribers, you better recognize what you are up against. There are more than 34 factors working against you. I’ve been told that there’s nothing you can do about some of these. Except with proper subscriber expectations and communications you can often save members previously considered un-savable.

I’ve organized the reasons why your subscribers quit within five key categories: Orientation; Change; Fulfillment; Sales; and Billing.

Orientation

Memberships and subscriptions that last are based on a relationship. If you assume your members love you because they purchased or got a free trial, you are mistaken. You’ve got to orient your new members to your program and systems. Help them discover quick value and become part of your vibrant tribe of supporters.

1. Doesn’t work – This is particularly a problem in SaaS (Software as a Service) and training subscriptions. Of course your system works. Your member thinks it doesn’t work because she didn’t receive the training she needed to get the promised results.
2. I can’t do it – Your subscriber may believe your system works, but that he can’t do it. Make it simple so that even he can see how to get results with your program.
3. Never got around to it – Orientations must resell the benefits of your program. It’s a lot easier to buy something than it is to get value from using it.
4. Don’t know where to start – Overwhelm is a common problem. What is the single easiest baby step for your new subscriber to get started?
5. Too much to do – If they told you when you applied for college about the all-nighters and the research papers, you probably wouldn’t have applied. Give new members the promised outcome they want together with the first step to get them moving. Action increases commitment to follow through.
6. I don’t have time – Your member is overwhelmed and stretched thin already. Your new member orientation must continue to sell the beneficial outcomes your member gets when he does a few simple things. Remember, you’ll have to get your member to give up other work, family time or leisure time to incorporate your systems into his life. You better continue to resell him.
7. Not relevant to me – As consumers, we are overwhelmed, always looking for a way to discount something as “not for me.”
8. No money to implement – If your program requires your new member to spend money to implement, you must continue to sell her on the desired benefits to ensure she’s committed enough to follow through.
9. Too much, I can’t handle – Some people have failed when they tried other programs in the past and are quick to conclude that your program will be the same. Show them you are different by ensuring early success with a quick win.
10. Won’t work in my situation – You must resell your new member that your program was custom built for his exact circumstances.

Change

Out of no fault of your own, your member can experience a life change. But with proper planning, there are ways to save members like these.

1. Can’t afford it – Your new member ran out of money and needs to cut expenses. You are on the chopping block unless you are constantly communicating your value compared to all of her alternative cost-cutting measures.
2. No longer important – If you sell a dog food subscription and your member’s dog has died, he doesn’t need you. That is, unless you can help him adopt a new dog!
3. Changing direction – What if a runner becomes a cyclist; does she still need your running subscription?
4. Outgrew – Your member needed you when he was new, but now he’s experienced and your program appears to be beneath him. But he’ll stay if you’ve created a relationship with a company personality or with other members.
5. Traumatic event – Wow, a big change has happened in her community. What about positioning your program into an escape from reality and a needed mental break providing support when times get tough?
6. Sick – Serious illness hits each of us from time to time. Is there a way your subscription can be exactly what your members need when they get sick, offering convenience, community support or a mental escape?
7. Going out of business – Ouch, the company isn’t going to be around any longer and doesn’t need a training program, a CRM (customer relation management) system or a coffee subscription anymore. What can you do so the employees take you with them to their new employer?
8. Found different solution – Argh, a competitor got him and stole a subscriber away from you. But not if you are continuing to communicate the value of your subscription.
9. Need a break, will be back soon – Any retailer can tell you that the customer who says, “I’ll be right back, I promise,” never returns. Sure, consider giving members an opportunity to put their subscription on a temporary hold. More importantly, communicate how your subscription is the perfect solution for their new circumstances.

Fulfillment

Sometimes we mess up. There are times when our systems fail or our people don’t implement our systems. These failures don’t have to lead to a cancelled member.

1. Package late – With Amazon Prime offering free two-day delivery, 48 hours is the new standard. Anything slower is slow. Your member is most excited when she buys and becomes less excited every hour that goes by before your welcome package shows up, even if you clearly state “allow up to two weeks for delivery.”
2. Package lost – It happens. The post office or other delivery service loses your shipment. Use this as an opportunity to demonstrate how much this new member relationship means to you by going beyond any expectations.
3. Slow response – If your spouse sends you an email to ask you a question, is it acceptable to reply with a message that states, “Your customer service ticket number is B2186. Keep this for your records. We are experiencing higher than usual call volume. You will receive a response to your inquiry within two or three business days. Thank you for your understanding.” If you want a relationship with your spouse or anyone else, you are going to have to do better than that.
4. Poor service – For your member, this may be the only time he interacts with your team in a year. Even though your team has received this question 178 times today and is really bored giving the same answer, it must be given like it’s the first time and your job exists to serve THIS subscriber.
5. No engagement – How do you know if your member buys and does nothing? How can you follow up unless you have a tracking or reporting mechanism to indicate which new subscribers are engaged in your program and which ones are confused sheep wandering around the prairie, lost and slipping away?
6. No answer to my question – When a member asks for support, the worst thing you can do is ignore her. The second worst is to give her a stock answer that doesn’t quite fit her question but allows you to close the service ticket. If you give a crap about your new member, listen and respond in a way that resells her on your company and your solution to her problem.
7. Service not performed – It does happen; you promise something and fail to deliver. Your member understands because he’s made a similar mistake before. How do you recover from your mistake in a way that exceeds his expectations and regains trust?
8. Broken links in product – Products and posts sit around the Internet a lot longer than the things they link to. Plus, you may have hundreds of new member follow-up emails with links, and there’s a good chance a few of those are broken links today. Broken links tell your member you don’t care. Is that what you want, or will you have someone assigned to double check all links each month or quarter?

Sales

Does your marketing establish expectations your program doesn’t fulfill? Are you systematically disappointing your members? Here’s a breakdown of the sales problems that lead to subscriber cancellations.

1. Wasn’t what I expected – Most customers have no idea what they actually purchased. Your new member got excited about what you promised and bought. Then your actual product shows up. Better accompany your fulfillment with additional marketing to illustrate exactly how your product or service fulfills the promise that got your customer excited enough to join your subscription.
2. Not seeing value – When your subscriber joins, the clock is ticking. Depending on the person, you may get 30 days or 30 seconds to demonstrate some value, or you are going to be ignored forever. Does your sales process paint a mental picture of what your new member’s first experiences as a subscriber will be like? If not, you are systematically losing members.
3. Not a fit for me – You do everything right, but your member thinks your program is a poor fit for him. How does your sales system make it clear that he is exactly the sort of person your subscription was created for?

Billing

This is the silent killer of subscription programs. I’ve seen multimillion-dollar subscription programs with little to no involuntary churn management. The good news is that the proper team can quickly reduce the impact of the following:

1. Credit card expired – If the average credit card is issued with a two-year life, this means 5% of your customers have an expired card each month. What are you doing to get replacement dates from members and to obtain updated card information from merchant credit card update services?
2. Card stolen and replaced – To make the expiration date problem worse, you’ll also have a significant number of cards where the consumer had to have it replaced. Do you make it brain dead simple for your subscriber to update her credit card number?
3. New expiration date – In the United States, consumer credit card companies are sending their cardholders new credit cards with embedded chips. This is another reason so many of your subscribers have failed charges each month.
4. No available credit – A significant percentage of consumers are dealing with financial trouble or will experience an unexpected high volume of charges in a month. What systems do you have to get a new card or to get your preapproved subscription charge to go through?

Have you encountered any reasons member subscribers quit that I failed to list above? Or is there something here that’s not valid? Share your observations in the comment section below. I read every comment and respond when appropriate.