The Moment of Cancellation is Not Too Late to Save a Subscriber

As I hurried around my kitchen recently before the first of many early morning calls, I became acutely aware of how many things in that small moment of my day are subscription-based. My cat and dog’s food gets delivered monthly from Smalls and The Farmer’s Dog. My morning coffee and the paper towels I used to wipe up the small spill I made arrived from Subscribe & Save via Amazon. Walking down the hall to my home office, I continued surveying my subscription scene. I walked past the television and noticed my daughter left Disney+ on as she binge-watched the latest Star Wars animated series. I flick it off and continue. My bathroom vanity contains the latest products from my FabFitFun quarterly box and those razors on my partner’s side of the sink…yep, from Harry’s. Then Teddy, my dog, walks by carrying his latest toy from BarkBox. I sit at my desk and turn on Apple Music to play my new favorite song from Chappell Roan and laugh. Is my whole life based on subscriptions? Pretty much. 

Perhaps my career as a content marketer for a leading subscription billing and revenue growth platform makes me more prone to live a subscription-led life, but I can’t beat the convenience. I don’t prescribe to “subscription fatigue,” where consumers tire of having too many subscriptions because, as a consumer, I control what I sign up for and what I use.

If I’m not getting the value I expect from a product or service, I have no issue canceling it. So, if it’s your product or service on the chopping block, is the moment of cancellation too late to save a subscriber?

Creating exceptional subscriber cancel experiences 

I recently wrote about why making it easy to cancel a subscription is a winning strategy. Part of creating a superior subscriber experience is making canceling a subscription as easy as signing up for one in the first place. But isn’t that counterintuitive? Wouldn’t that contribute to churn? I worked hard to acquire my subscribers, and I don’t want to let them go that easily! I understand but bear with me here. 

When people subscribe, a mix of factors is at play. Some dip their toes into a new product or service, lured by discounts or the chance to test the waters. Others, like me, are seasoned users after the ease of monthly deliveries without the fuss of reordering.

Many of these cancellation reasons can be mitigated with a personalized cancellation experience based on user data, including how long they’ve been subscribers, their purchases, whether they’ve been inactive, etc. Within a customized cancel experience, you can offer your subscriber several options so they can choose their cancelation adventure. Perhaps they are going on holiday and don’t need your products for the next billing period. Offer the ability to pause their subscription for as long as necessary.

Talk about a compelling save rate! You could also offer a discount, free shipping, or a variety of other targeted strategies to retain the subscriber. And, if they choose to cancel, you make it easy and keep the virtual door open to welcome them back at any time their situation or desire changes.

Retention tools that work 

With a retention tool like Chargebee Retention, you can use the power of Retention AI to quickly create and deploy personalized retention offers that reduce churn and foster stronger customer loyalty. Dynamic offers are presented to customers based on targeting parameters, and you can determine the next step when your customer accepts the offer. Choose the processing method that suits your needs, whether direct billing integration, utilizing webhooks, or leveraging email options. You can also measure the impact on your revenue and customer LTV, all at scale.

Chargebee Retention enables you to harness the power of data science to continuously evaluate your retention strategy and run smart tests and experiments. You can present different experiences to customers based on multiple attributes. Chargebee Retention allows you to run randomized, rules-based, or ML-based (Smart Targeting) tests, so your experimentation isn’t restricted. 

Wrap up

As you’ve learned, it’s never too late to save a subscriber. The moment of cancelation is precisely that. A moment. It’s a moment of opportunity to remind them of the value of your product and service. The value that attracted them in the first place. It’s a moment to be flexible and offer them options to manage their subscription in the way that best suits their needs. It’s a moment to deliver an exceptional experience.