Form a habit with retention loops to reduce SaaS churn

How to use the technique

• Link your app with a habit. Can your app create a habit or link to an existing user habit? Creating a new habit is far more challenging than tweaking an existing habit. Identify a habit based on buyer personas. Use our free churn optimization framework to learn more.
• Find a cue. What is the primary motivation that makes customers use your product? Find a single cue that is most relevant to a habit.
• Make taking action easier. Cue leads to action. Make it easier for customers to use and access your app and take necessary action that will retain them.
• Pick a reward that users get after taking action. The reward should be instant and relevant to users. It should be as per user expectation.
• Create a loop. Cue, action, and reward create a loop that develops a habit. Your app has to be at the center of the habit.
• Use it for retention. The whole point of creating a habit loop is to reduce churn. It should be easy-to-follow and should solve the user problem.
• Tweak and improve your loop. Does it retain users? Is it actually reducing churn? Do users actually consider it as a habit? Monitoring performance and taking feedback from users will help with improvement. Our free PDF is your best learning source.

Mistakes to avoid

• The reward isn’t appealing enough for users. It is all about the reward. The habits help users achieve a reward. Make the reward attractive.
  
• Not using it for growth. Not using habit loops to convert customers into loyal lifetime customers is a big mistake. Use loops for customer retention and exponential growth.
• Not paying attention to the ethical side of the question. Make sure new habits introduced by your product aren't holding users back from their life.