Interview customers often to reduce SaaS churn

How to use the technique

• Identify triggers for interviews. For example, when a customer uses a feature, when a customer updates information, when a customer unsubscribes from the newsletter, etc. When a customer has experienced something or an action is taken, you’re more likely to get real feedback. Refer to our free churn optimization framework for step-by-step instructions. 
• Customize interviews. Don’t be a robot. Refer to customer’s recent activities and usage details in the interview. This will improve the response rate and engagement.
• Ask relevant actionable questions that will help improve retention and reduce churn rate. Questions that your data analysis team cannot use for inference are useless.
• Conduct interviews from all types of customers. This is a must. Satisfied customers tell you what they like while dissatisfied customers identify potential loopholes.
• Have a schedule. Conduct two interviews a year per customer. It lets you keep them engaged and will reduce churn.
• Discuss – not ask. Don’t name it an interview explicitly. It will reduce the response rate. Just call your customers and have friendly chitchat.
• Measure results and use data for decision-making. After making a change based on customer feedback, measure performance. Did it really reduce churn? Collect feedback again. It is a continuous process. You can read this free actionable guide to improve your analytic skills.

Mistakes to avoid

• Not conducting interviews with happy customers. It’s a big mistake. Your happy customers are more likely to share honest and actionable feedback than unhappy customers. Don’t ignore them.
  
• Making it too formal. A formal question answer call will ruin the response rate. Keep it informal to get better feedback.