Customer churn is painful, but when they leave without giving feedback, it’s even worse. Here’s what you need to know: 91% of unhappy customers won’t return after a negative experience, while 67% will stay if their problems are resolved in the first interaction.
These two statistics, though contrasting, are deeply connected to churn — a critical concern for every brand. Before diving into how surveys can reduce churn, let’s start with the fundamentals.
What is a Churn Survey?
A churn survey is a technique used to collect feedback from customers who stopped using your product. While that’s the tradition, churn surveys can also be used to evaluate customers who have a high intent to churn.
The rating scale for churn surveys has been a 5-point scale (1-5) with open-ended questions to learn reasons for potential churn.
How to Predict Churn?
Predicting churn can be challenging, even with the best tools. But there are some strong indicators that can help. Here’s how you can approach it:
1. Collect Customer Data
Gathering data on your customers can reveal important patterns related to churn:
- Demographics: Break down your customers by age, gender, income, and location; helps you see how different groups, like baby boomers versus millennials, behave and what issues they face
- Geographical Location: Churn risk can vary based on where customers are located; factors like time zones, internet costs, and local language can play a role
- Purchase History: Review their transaction history, including items bought, average order value, and reorder patterns—gives insight into their shopping habits
- Usage Patterns: Look at how often customers use your product, which features they use the most, and whether they prefer desktop or mobile— note which features are less utilized
2. Identify Possible Churn Indicators
Spotting early warning signs can help you address issues before they lead to churn:
- Fluctuating Usage: Watch for decreasing login frequency or reduced engagement with tutorials
- Increased Support Tickets: Monitor the number of support tickets and interactions—an increase might indicate dissatisfaction
- Behavioral Attributes: Compare different customer groups with similar attributes; check their journeys from onboarding to purchase, and identify where they drop off. Pay attention to app installs, deactivations, and account deletions
- Event-Based Tracking: Track user actions like button clicks or demo signups. Note user IDs, timestamps, and devices; Look for system errors such as slow page loads or API timeouts
- Less-Than-Desirable Configurations: Check for issues caused by incorrect settings, like pricing errors, broken integrations, or missing features
- Subscription Cancellation: Users who usually renew might downgrade or cancel due to payment issues or other reasons—Investigate why this is happening
3. Examine NPS and CSAT Scores
Combining NPS (Net Promoter Score) and CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) scores can reveal crucial churn predictors:
High CSAT and Low NPS
If customers are satisfied but not likely to recommend your product, it might be because you solve their problems but lack in other areas. For example, a user might rate product videos highly but find bugs that affect their overall experience.
Things to Monitor:
- Engagement levels and changes over time
- Decline in engagement and areas causing friction
- Common traits among users who rate high on CSAT but low on NPS
Low CSAT and High NPS
If users find long-term value but are dissatisfied, it might be due to issues like poor updates or a difficult upgrade process. For example, a high ROI might not compensate for a lack of new features or a poor upgrade experience.
Things to Monitor:
- Common issues among similar users
- Recurring themes like feature requests or frustrations despite high usage
- Your value proposition and its fit with different segments
Low CSAT and Low NPS
Users with low scores across the board are at high risk of churning. They’ve likely had a poor experience throughout, leading to a lack of interest in recommending your product.
Things to Monitor:
- Mentions of competitors and their advantages
- The number of support tickets and their resolution times—frequent, unresolved issues indicate high frustration
Why do you need a churn survey?
A churn survey is a sure-shot way to understand why your customers left while helping you fix things in time so your other customers don’t follow suit.
It rules out the guesswork and helps you understand their problems, frustrations and concerns. All of this is via open ended responses that customers themselves tell you.
In short, churn surveys help you improve your product experience—understand why a user went from onboarding to usage but didn’t stay long enough to become a paying customer.
Churn survey questions to predict customer churn
Onboarding Stage
Ask users how clear the onboarding process was to understand their experience and identify any confusion. Follow up with open-ended questions about specific challenges or needed resources to uncover their pain points.
This feedback helps product managers, customer success teams, and UX designers improve the onboarding experience. If users drop off soon after signing up, these insights can reveal where the friction occurs.
Use this information to make targeted improvements that increase product adoption and reduce churn. For example, if a project management tool shows low engagement after sign-up, an onboarding survey might reveal that users find the process unclear.
A follow-up question could show that users struggle to set up their first project due to a lack of guidance.
With these insights, add step-by-step tutorials or interactive walkthroughs to make onboarding smoother, helping users feel confident and engaged.
These questions help product teams identify onboarding barriers and make targeted changes to boost user activation and reduce churn.
1. Question: How clear was the onboarding process for our product/service?
- Context: Understanding customer comfort during the onboarding process
- Trigger: After completing the onboarding or within the first week of use
2. Question: Did you encounter any challenges during the setup? If yes, please specify.
Type: Open-ended
- Context: Identifying specific pain points during setup to address them proactively
- Trigger: Immediately after onboarding is completed
3. Question: What additional resources would have helped you during onboarding?
Type: Open-ended
- Context: Gathering insights on support material like guides, and tutorials to improve the onboarding experience
- Trigger: After the onboarding process or upon the first use of the product/service
Usage Stage
By asking users to rate their satisfaction with the product's functionality, you gauge their experience and identify gaps. This helps clarify what users expect versus what the product delivers.
Low satisfaction indicates potential issues that need attention before users leave.
These questions are most effective when paired with an open-text follow-up asking why they gave a specific rating.
This feedback pinpoints areas where users face problems, such as missing features, poor performance, or a confusing interface.
For example, if a project management tool notices increased churn among mid-sized businesses, it might ask, "How satisfied are you with the functionality of our product?" and find many users rate it as "Unsatisfied" or "Neutral."
Open-text responses reveal that users find the interface complex and struggle with key features needed for their workflows.
With these insights, you can prioritize simplifying the interface and improving onboarding, making the product more user-friendly, and reducing churn by aligning it with user needs.
4. Question: How often do you use our product/service?
- Type: MCQ (e.g., Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Rarely)
- Context: Assessing usage frequency to understand engagement levels
- Trigger: After 30 days of use
5. Question: Are there any features you find difficult to use? Please elaborate.
- Type: Open-ended
- Context: Identifying usability issues to make necessary improvements
- Trigger: After a feature update or 30 days of use
6. Question: How satisfied are you with the functionality of our product/service?
- Context: Measuring satisfaction levels with the product's features and functionality
- Trigger: At regular intervals (e.g., quarterly) or after a significant feature update
Customer Support Interaction
Asking users to rate their customer support experience can quickly identify gaps in your support process. Low ratings or negative feedback reveal common pain points, such as long wait times, unhelpful responses, or unresolved issues.
The most valuable insights come from an open-text follow-up asking what can be improved. This digs into specific areas needing attention, like agent training, faster response times, or better support resources.
For example, if a subscription SaaS brand notices high churn among new users, survey feedback might show low ratings for customer support, with comments about slow response times and unhelpful assistance.
Open-text responses may reveal that users find support staff lacking in product knowledge and unable to resolve issues quickly.
With this feedback, you can enhance agent training and improve support processes, boosting user satisfaction, reducing churn, and leading to better retention and a stronger customer base.
7. Question: How would you rate your experience with our customer support?
- Context: Gauging the quality of support interactions
- Trigger: After each customer support interaction
8. Question: Did you find the assistance you received helpful? Why or why not?
Type: Open-ended
- Context: Understanding whether support interactions are effective in solving issues
- Trigger: After each support interaction
9. Question: What could we improve in our customer support to serve you better?
Type: Open-ended
- Context: Gathering actionable insights for enhancing customer support
- Trigger: Post-customer support interaction or during periodic feedback surveys
Pre-Cancellation Stage
By asking users why they’re considering canceling, you get a last chance to persuade them to stay. This also helps you identify missing features and assess how customers view your pricing versus the value they receive.
For example, if you manage an email automation tool and see more users visiting the cancellation page, ask, "Why are you thinking about canceling your subscription?" Users might say the tool’s features are too complex and don’t meet their needs.
Before they finalize the cancellation, ask if there were any specific features or services that didn’t meet their expectations. For instance, they might find the tool lacks industry-specific templates or isn’t mobile-friendly.
You can also inquire about their thoughts on pricing compared to the value they get. Many might feel the price is too high for the benefits they receive.
Use these insights to simplify the tool’s features, improve onboarding, and rethink your pricing strategy. These changes can enhance user satisfaction, reduce churn, and boost overall retention.
10. Question: What prompted you to consider canceling your subscription?
Type: MCQ
- Context: Uncovering the reasons behind customers considering cancellation
- Trigger: When customers access the cancellation page or downgrade their plan
11. Question: Were there specific features or services that did not meet your expectations?
Type: Open-ended
- Context: Identifying gaps in product or service expectations
- Trigger: Before finalizing the cancellation
12. Question: How does our pricing compare to the value you perceive in our product/service?
Type: Rating Scale (1-5) or MCQ (e.g., Too High, Fair, Too Low)
- Context: Understanding perceived value vs. cost
- Trigger: When customers are contemplating cancellation or during subscription changes
Post-Cancellation Stage
Churn not just affects revenue but your reputation as well. To address this, use churn surveys to help pinpoint cancellation reasons. Start with a question about the main reason for cancellation. For an LMS, this might include "Cost," "Poor Transcripts," or "Poor Support."
The follow-up question provides deeper insights. For example, if cancellations are due to "Poor Transcripts," users might need more accurate or customizable transcript options. This feedback helps you understand specific issues, like improving transcript accuracy or design.
This approach is crucial for LMS development teams to address high churn rates. By identifying and fixing key issues, you can improve the product experience while retaining users and boosting engagement.
13. Question: What was the main reason for your cancellation?
Type: MCQ (e.g., Cost, Lack of Features, Poor Support, Found a Better Alternative)
- Context: Identifying the most common reasons for churn
- Trigger: Immediately after the cancellation is confirmed
14. Question: If you could change one thing about our product/service, what would it be?
Type: Open-ended
- Context: Finding specific areas for improvement to prevent churn
- Trigger: After the cancellation is confirmed
15. Question: Would you consider returning to our product in the future? If so, under what conditions?
Type: Open-ended
- Context: Understanding the potential for re-engagement
- Trigger: Post-cancellation
Feedback on Alternatives Considered
Identifying the main reasons for cancellation helps you spot common issues driving users away, such as dissatisfaction with features, pricing, or user experience.
For instance, users might initially say a fitness app is “not engaging.” Digging deeper might reveal specific issues like a lack of personalized workout plans or inaccurate nutrition values.
This feedback is crucial for product teams, especially when dealing with high churn rates. For example, if a fitness app learns that users find it “not engaging,” further investigation might show that users are unhappy because the app doesn’t provide tailored workout recommendations or doesn’t sync with their preferred devices.
Addressing these specific concerns allows you to enhance the app’s features. You could add personalized workout plans or improve integration with fitness trackers. This makes the app more engaging and relevant, which can improve user retention.
16. Question: Did you evaluate any alternatives before deciding to leave? If yes, which ones?
Type: Open-ended
- Context: Understanding competitors and factors influencing the decision to leave
- Trigger: After the cancellation is confirmed
17. Question: What features or benefits did those alternatives offer that influenced your decision?
Type: Open-ended
- Context: Identifying competitive advantages
- Trigger: Post-cancellation
18. Question: How can we improve our offering to compete better with those alternatives?
Type: Open-ended
- Context: Gaining insights for strategic product improvements
- Trigger: After customers mention alternatives
Overall Experience
Asking users to rate their overall experience gives you a sense of their general satisfaction. This helps you see how well you’re meeting their expectations and identify any concerning trends.
Follow-up questions can reveal what users liked most and where they think improvements are needed. For example, if users rate your running app positively but note that GPS accuracy needs work, you get specific feedback on areas for improvement.
This approach is valuable for product development teams. It helps you build on strengths and address weaknesses.
For instance, if your running app receives praise for its workout stats but criticism for GPS issues, focus on improving the GPS feature. This targeted improvement can enhance user satisfaction and boost retention.
19. Question: How would you rate your overall experience with our product/service?
- Context: Measuring overall customer satisfaction
- Trigger: Periodically (e.g., quarterly) or after key milestones
20. Question: What did you like most about our product/service?
Type: Open-ended
Context: Identifying strengths to reinforce in marketing or product development
Trigger: After a positive customer interaction or at survey intervals
21. Question: What are the top three areas where you believe we need to improve?
Type: Open-ended
- Context: Prioritizing areas for improvement based on customer feedback
- Trigger: During regular feedback surveys
4 Ways to prevent and reduce customer churn
1. Reduce subscriber churn
Your subscribers might be churning faster than you realize. On average, subscription brands see a churn rate of 5 to 7%, with a monthly rate around 4%.
But don’t worry—there are ways to tackle subscriber churn. Start by figuring out whether the churn is voluntary or involuntary.
Voluntary Churn
- Engage Regularly: Keep your subscribers interested with regular product updates and engaging activities like quizzes or contests
- Seek Feedback: Ask open-ended questions to understand why they’re unhappy; Are they confused about the use case, finding the pricing too high, or seeing better offers elsewhere?
- Host Exclusive Sessions: Conduct webinars and tutorials tailored to different user segments; for example, invite Brian Dean for marketing teams and Lenny Rachitsky for product teams
- Build Communities: Create spaces where customers can interact with each other and moderators; this reduces their reliance on customer support and boosts product knowledge
- Offer Extended Trials: For customers who are on the fence, provide extended free trials to give them more time and possibly delay churn
- Custom Pricing Plans: Develop lower-tier or custom pricing plans for those who are leaving due to overspending
- Personalized Campaigns: Share campaigns that highlight how other users have benefited from your product; for example, show how a user improved their win rates with interactive demos
Involuntary Churn
- Address Payment Issues: For users who churn due to payment failures, set up a dedicated channel to resolve these issues
- Send Payment Reminders: Notify customers a few days before their payment is due and offer an early discount to encourage timely payments
- Check API Integration: Ensure your API calls are valid, as invalid calls can lead to failed transactions
- Improve Payment Gateway: Use a reliable payment gateway to avoid transaction declines due to compliance issues
2. Understand Future Usage Intent
Knowing your customers' future usage intentions helps you decide if they’re worth investing in. Instead of guessing, try these strategies:
- Repetitive Feature Usage: Look at how often users engage with key features; for example, if Figma users frequently collaborate within 24 hours or if Slack users send 50 messages in a week, this indicates strong engagement
- Stickiness Ratio: Use the stickiness ratio, which is the ratio of Monthly Active Users (MAU) to Daily Active Users (DAU); while the average ratio is around 13%, anything above 20% is exceptional. Compare this with your own benchmarks to assess engagement
- Monitor User Flow: Track how often users log in and follow specific sequences in your app; for instance, a new user completing a 7-day streak after missing 2 days shows strong future usage intent
- Low Funnel Drop-Offs: Fewer drop-offs during the user journey and micro-actions like exploring templates in Canva or creating multiple projects can indicate high future usage
- CSAT Surveys: Look for open-ended responses in CSAT surveys that describe both positive and negative experiences—This feedback can provide insights into future usage
- Referral Links: Users who spend more time on your page and share referral links are likely more engaged; Compare them with users who drop off early to gauge intent
3. Increase Renewal Intent
Even if users show strong future usage, some might not want to renew. To encourage them to stay, consider these strategies:
- Highlight Achievements: Create a timeline of their milestones, including small wins and micro-actions; for example, a runner who completes 12 activities in a month can see stats like calories burned and performance ratings based on age
Example: A 31-year-old male runner who completes 12 activities of 3 km each in an average time of 17:35 minutes is in the top 20% globally
- Ensure Consistent Experience: Make sure users can continue their progress across different devices; for instance, a workflow tool user should be able to switch from a laptop at work to a mobile app at home seamlessly
- Engage Users with Decreased Usage: Reach out to users who have reduced their activity; Invite them to discuss their issues with a customer representative or relationship manager to find solutions
- Value User Feedback: Encourage users to share ideas for product improvement; show them that their opinions are important and valued
- Update and Educate: Send in-app messages about the latest updates and new educational content; keep users informed and engaged.
- Share Relevant Case Studies: Provide case studies or help guides that address users' specific problems; highlight the issues, their impacts, and the solutions offered.
- Demonstrate Value: Show the benefits of your product with before-and-after images, improved metrics, and how these changes impact business outcomes.
4. Improve low engagement
Low engagement might not always mean users have no intention to buy. Often, it's a sign that they haven't been nurtured effectively. Try these proven strategies to boost your engagement rates:
- Personalized Recommendations: Use quizzes to qualify intent, gather information, and create personalized user journeys
Example: If a user logs into an investment app looking to invest in mutual funds, a quiz can gather details like salary, investment amount, long-term goals, and risk tolerance to make tailored recommendations
- Create Targeted Content: Use the information from quizzes to design onboarding flows, educational videos, and gamified initiatives; provide snack-sized content for users at different levels—beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
- Send Personalized Emails: Encourage users to return to your site with personalized emails; for example, a Canva-like app can send an email with specific tutorials on how to use the tool effectively
- Develop Use Cases: Create specific use cases based on users' industries to make your content more relevant
- Run Nurture Campaigns: Conduct surveys to gather feedback at different stages:
a. Onboarding: Ask how users found the onboarding process.
b. Feature Feedback: Inquire about the usefulness of specific features.
c. Activation: Determine what it takes for users to reach their "Aha" moment and first value.
The goal is to remove barriers and help users achieve their Aha moment.
Wrapping Up
Reducing customer churn isn’t about quick fixes. It’s about consistently delivering value from the moment a user joins until they become a paying customer.
Understanding customer experiences can reveal blind spots, frustrations, and pain points you might have missed. The goal is to create habits around value, and every user—including those who churn—can provide valuable insights.
Even if you think you have the perfect product, true success is measured by how many users have a high Lifetime Value (LTV). Often, the path to achieving this lies through understanding and addressing the needs of users who are at risk of churning or have already churned.
Like what you read? Learn how Blitzllama can help you prevent churn by easing the heavy lifting. Book your demo now.
