In our previous blog post and following our announcement of our new product, Limio for Zuora, we looked at acquisition and how Limio could be used to boost acquisition rates. Today, we look at a critical and vastly overlooked subject: retention. How can marketers boost subscription retention rates? We look at 3 ways marketers can radically improve their chances of keeping susbscribers in the long run and maximising lifetime value.

Let. Them. Cancel. ONLINE.

Yes, that’s right. The best way to boost your retention rates is by letting your customers cancel online. Why? Because if they trust they can cancel online, they will subscribe. If they can cancel easily, they can be won back. And if they have a good parting experience, they are not going to shout on social media how annoying it was that you had to call a offshore contact centre between 9:37am to 11:21am, wait 15 minutes, then answer 15 questions.

Even if you are not into treating well your subscribers, it is becoming the law that if you subscribe online, you can cancel online (see California law). And if the regulator is not doing it, the fintech are coming after you (see Revolut subscription controls). Finally, when people cancel through their banks or credit card, you’re not getting a chance to save them and keep them as customers.

Now it doesn’t mean that you have to be foolish about it. You need to provide segmented, smart, data-driven cancellation experience. Easier said than done. That’s why with Limio, you can easily create different cancel experiences based on the cancel reason and the subscribers’ segmentation. Your subscriber wants to cancel because they don’t have enough time but they’ve got more than 1 year tenure? Suggest to switch to a basic annual plan and get a 20% discount or to pause the subscription. Or does the customer wants to cancel because of technical issues? Give a 10% discount for 1 month and book a call with a customer service representative! Limio makes sure you can track the efficiency of your cancellation deflection experiences so that you can maximise the subscriber lifetime value.

And the best part? With Limio for Zuora, online cancellation experiences are fully integrated. Switch to another product and rate plan? Easy. Add on a discount on the subscription? Done. Process an end of term cancellation? For sure. Your marketers can work with the confidence that whatever idea they come up with to reduce churn, Limio and Zuora will empower that to act on their strategy.

Winback them back.

Did you ever notice that when you try to cancel Netflix or Amazon Prime, your cancel date is always until the end of your current billing period? It makes sense, no need to manage messy refunds. But it’s not all about cash. What has been done can be undone. You now can be wonback.

There are different winbacks. Win backs during your pending cancellation period, freshly cancelled subscription, long gone subscribers. All of them require different strategies but all are critical to your success.

Just like subscriber have buyer’s remorse, subscribers can have cancellation remorse. Here are all the wonderful things you’ll miss - our upcoming shows, coverage, favourite artists. Your family can’t piggyback on your subscription anymore, you are letting them down. Maybe reactivate your subscription with a 20% discount and we'll pretend nothing happened?

For a cancellation that happened a while ago, the winback strategy could be quite different. The first thing is to look at the cancel reason. Has things fundamentally changed? Do you have a lower priced tier? Do you have a new set of functionality? Do you have an expanded choice? Or has the subscriber’s situation changed, are they becoming more engaged on the free tier? Depending on those factor, you need to craft an personalised winback experience that addressed the cancel reason.

Limio let you create as many cancel reasons as you want to capture, with as many differentiated experience based on the previous cancel reason and subscriber segment. So you will be well placed to craft the best winback strategy. And with our Zuora integration, you can make sure to pick up the subscription where it’s been left off, giving you a timeline and full view of the subscriber’s journey with your product.

Robot, let me talk to your human.

Yes, having an online cancellation experience is critical. But what if the customer wants to speak with someone? In the end, you may be thinking about cancelling because finances are getting tich but you still like the service. Or maybe there were some access or delivery issue. Or maybe the current product is just not doing it for you anymore.

So you call the dreaded contact centre. Imagine getting a good experience? No wait, customer representative picks your details, your subscription, your current deal. See your history, your usage, incidents. And when the asks come, they can suggest the right offer, the right level of discount, the right plan that meets your budget, needs and satisfaction level.

Too good to be true? Not anymore. With Limio Checkout for Salesforce, customer representative can see all the necessary information about the subscriber and visualise suggested offers, segmented cancel save discounts, personalised winback deals, or natural downgrade and upgrade deals. And process it in one click with your saved preferred payments. And as always, all is automatically updated in Zuora for accurate billing. Careful, your subscribers might start preferring calling you at that rate.

So start now your journey to outstanding, enterprise-ready retention experiences with Limio for Zuora. Get in touch here.