Churn: Post Mortem

Josephine Gutierrez
Josephine Gutierrez Member Posts: 1 Navigator
First Anniversary Photogenic First Comment
edited August 2023 in Customer Journey

Good day GGR team,

I am in search of a churn Post Mortem template . This would be some kind of analysis to submit to upper management. As well, I was thinking, it could be archived and used as lessons-learned and use cases. Long game, it would be very cool if we can use the info to creae data point to help with risk and health scores. (Just thinking out loud)

I would greatly appreciate anyones feedback or guidance.

Thanks, Josephine

Technical Value Advisor

IBM

Comments

  • Adam Ince
    Adam Ince Member Posts: 7 Navigator
    First Comment Photogenic

    Hey Josephine!

    Here's what I've used in my teams and in my consulting work. I hope this helps.

    This usually works best if you have some metrics and a strong win/loss process for renewals.

    +++++++++++++++++

    Client:

    Primary Contact:

    Decision Maker:

    CSM:

    Sales Director:

    MRR:

    Product Usage:

    Tenure:

    NPS:


    Open Ended Questions...

    What was the reason they gave for ending their agreement?

    What are they going to use in place of us?

    Who was involved in the decision?

    What could we have done differently as a team?

  • rdesmarais
    rdesmarais Member Posts: 14 Navigator
    First Comment 5 Insightfuls Photogenic

    Here are some notes if it helps...

    If Customer Announces/Threatens Churn

    The CSM should set up a time with the customer to understand their feedback.

    ● What will it take for you to continue your partnership with us?

    ● Is the reason tied to a specific product or lack of functionality?

    ● What are you looking for in a provider that you are not currently getting with us?

    ● How far are you along in your negotiations with a new provider?

    Once the call is complete, the CSM should create a churn mitigation plan, document it in a CRM, and share it with their Manager once completed. Once the areas of risk are identified, start assessing and prioritizing them. What steps and action items can the CSM take to ensure the customer remains a customer?

    Best Practices

    ● Remind the customer you want to ensure they are using their time wisely. Implementing a new program can be very time-consuming and costly. They already have everything set up with you, and it is advantageous to stay with you.

    ● Leverage referenceable customers when needed.

    ● How can we maintain the logo? If the customer already signed with a new provider, recommend that they keep at least a minimum # of licenses to maintain historical data if this is relevant to your business.

    Churn Due to Technical Issues or Downtime

    ● Remind the customer we has excellent service uptime history, compared to all publicly available uptime data.

    ● Let the customer know we are committed to resolving these as quickly and efficiently as possible. We want to help resolve any challenges the customer may have. Technical issues should not dictate the partnership.

    ● Ask the Product team for assistance. Lean on the support of your Managers and leaders. Your colleagues have very likely gone through the same thing and will have some great advice.

    Additional Risk Scenarios

    If the customer mentions they are looking at competitors the CSM should...

    ● Ask why? What are they looking for in their next provider that they are not currently receiving with us?

    ● Understand what has caused them to look at other competitors (support, functionality, price, etc.) Educating the customer can help resolve issues.

    What to do when the customer wants to turn off auto-renew:

    ● Schedule a meeting for the customer to provide feedback and understand their reasoning.

    ● Remind the customer having auto-renew enabled protects them. If auto-renew is not enabled, they may be subject to certain outcomes as per their agreement.

    ● Auto-renew is a great option to fall back on. We certainly can renegotiate their current contract and come to a new, mutual benefiting agreement. If we are unable to come to an agreement by their renewal date, we have auto-renew to fall back on.

    ***Documenting Churn***

    Customer Actions

    If a customer ultimately decides to cancel their contract, they should open a Billing ticket and request that their auto-renew is turned off. Billing will then ask the CSM to approve or deny the customer’s request via the ticket.

    Customer Success Manager Actions

    Customer Success Managers are responsible for completing the following steps to ensure the churn is properly documented in our internal systems:

    1. The CSM will approve auto-renew to be turned off by referencing the customer’s Zendesk ticket

    2. The CSM will complete the Post Mortem Document

    3. The CSM will log a CRM Case including details such as the renewal opportunity being marked as Closed-Lost, updating the account temperature to churned, and provide any additional information that is relevant to the churn or the CSMs steps to retain. The CSM should attached to the CRM Case the Post Mortem and any supporting documentation, emails, tickets, etc.