On today's episode of Retention Talk, I speak with Kelly Yanke Deltener, former Head of Product at CoSchedule. We talk about keeping churned customers in the company biome, figuring out what a successful customer looks like, and why the customer isn't always right.

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Key points discussed in the episode

It's on us in terms of retention to keep customers within the biome, but we don’t really cry over spilled milk when someone does go through the cancellation process.”                                                                                                 

- Kelly Yanke Deltener

Keeping churned customers in the company biome

During the cancellation process the team asks questions but is careful not to over do it. Customers can still keep their account and still get access to the free tools and white papers that are available. Kelly understands that a cancelled customer does not necessarily mean they are gone for good so they make it easy to return.

Figuring out what a successful customer looks like

It isn’t always an easy task but replicating success is tantamount to reducing churn. When you examine your app and look for movement patterns it can become clear where your efforts should be doubled and even tripled. Successful customers make churn an afterthought.

The customer isn’t always right

As Kelly says, the biggest mistake a product team or a company can make is allowing the customers to drive the bus when it comes to the roadmap. You have to reset yourself constantly and align to what the market fit is or the product fit is for the user that you're trying to solve the problems for. Low hanging fruit can be tempting but getting distracted by the things that there isn’t a market fit for can be deadly.

If you’d like more insight into your own retention—or even a free retention audit where we can benchmark you with actual relevant data—reach out to me at neel@profitwell.com.

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