Don’t tell me you miss me: 3 better approaches to user retention

The mistake at the heart of the “we miss you” message is that it represents the customer’s relationship to the business as personal, not commercial. Personal relationships are based on who we are, and we want them to persist through thick and thin. But commercial relationships are different.

To re-engage customers effectively, you need to remind the customer of what it is that got them there in the first place. Instead of guilting them into returning simply because they bought from you once, remind them of the benefits that your business can provide. 

Many experiences can cause churn: inability to find the right product, struggles to get set up, a poor service experience, or changing business needs. A retention campaign that specifically addresses the issue that caused churn and provides a simple next step stands a high chance of success, as it speaks to the root cause of the churn.

• The first step is analyzing customer actions to identify common causes of churn. 
• Secondly, design a campaign to specifically address the cause of churn.

Customers generally stop using (or cease to repurchase) products when they don’t get enough value out of your product to justify the price, not out of forgetfulness or disloyalty. To identify customers who might not be getting enough value (and so are candidates to churn), look for the ones who aren’t using the functionality that they’re paying for.

The trick to doing this well is measuring behaviour that corresponds to a customer getting value. For consumer products, the value will be tied to usage. But ensure you set a threshold that avoids counting logins or app opens alone.

Understanding why each customer is buying your product and then measuring whether they’re taking the actions that would enable them to achieve that result enable you to deliver specific and personalized interventions. If your company has an account management team, this scorecard can form the basis for high-impact business reviews with customers.