Effective Communication To Prevent Customer Drop-Off

“Quiet” customers aren’t quiet. You just stopped being useful. They didn’t ghost you. They didn’t forget your renewal date. They just realized your value plateaued and acted accordingly. Basically, they went silent because you stopped giving them a reason to stay loud. It's critical to understand that this is much more of a relevance problem than a relationship problem. If your customer hasn’t responded in 3 weeks, it’s not because they’re “busy.” It’s because your last 3 touches were: - A check-in - A calendar request - A generic roadmap update That ain't engagement. That’s maintenance. And maintenance doesn’t retain. Momentum does. Here are a few ideas of how to re-engage quiet accounts well before it's a churn convo: 1. Lead with unused value. Your customer’s already paying for features they’re not using. That’s your opening. “We’re seeing customers get a 25% lift with [feature] - looks like you’ve barely scratched the surface. Want to test it next quarter?” You’re not asking for time. You’re offering ROI. 2. Use the DIQ method (Data -> Insight -> Question) - “Teams like yours are consolidating 2-3 tools with [X]. Most are reducing vendor costs by 12-15%. Worth exploring this with your ops lead?” DIQ works because it doesn’t push a product. It reframes the problem in THEIR language. 3. Treat silence like a signal, not a snub If engagement drops, shift your strategy. Don’t send a Hail Mary breakup email. Build a campaign. - Send a 90 second feature recap video. - Flag usage gaps by role. - Reposition your product to align with today’s business case. Silence shouldn't be seen as a form of rejection...but more of a type of feedback. If your customer isn’t engaging, it’s not because they don’t like you. It’s because they stopped learning from you. And if you can’t give them something new to care about, they’ll find a vendor who will.

Have you ever had a customer tell you they’re going to cancel…   …so you pull reports that show real ROI, only to still lose them? At the surface, that play should work. They didn’t realize how much value they were getting. You showed them. Problem solved, right? But in practice, it almost always fails. Here’s why: By the time you’re trying to convince a customer not to churn, you’ve already lost the narrative. If you aren’t defining what success is, baselining where they started, and showing progress toward a target…  …then whatever value you throw in front of them at the end won’t matter. The key is simple: 𝗢𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.  • 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 their performance as early as possible  • Set a clear 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 together  • 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 against that target, every step of the way That way, even if there are bumps, product issues, or delays, you can frame it in context:  “𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘨 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵.” The opposite? Waiting until renewal to try to “convince” them that they’re wrong. That’s a losing battle every time. Your job isn’t just to deliver value. Your job is to make sure the customer sees and believes the value, from day one. How are you making sure you own the success narrative with your customers? #customersuccess

Strong communication saved me $500K in ARR. Sounds dramatic? Maybe. But it’s true. A few roles ago, I had to oversee the deprecation of a product used by our smaller customers. We had a new and improved solution ready to go—but with a higher price tag and added complexity that many customers didn’t want (or need). Cue potential churn panic. My job? Prevent a mass exodus. Here’s how strong, proactive communication helped us keep 70% of our customers and over $500K in ARR 👇 The Playbook: ✅ Personalized Emails – No generic “we’re sunsetting this product” nonsense. We crafted targeted, transparent messages explaining the why, the what, and the when—plus clear options. ✅ Webinar with FAQs – We didn’t just announce change; we walked them through it. A live session let customers hear the plan firsthand and get their biggest questions answered. ✅ 1:1 Calls – High-touch for those who needed it. No one felt abandoned in the process. ✅ Migration & Exit Options – We gave customers choices, not ultimatums. Some migrated, some left (on good terms), and we even helped a few transition to alternative solutions. ✅ Consistent Updates – No surprises. Regular check-ins gave customers control over the transition. ✅ Post-Migration Support – Because the customer experience doesn’t stop after the switch. We made sure they were set up for success. The Outcome? 💰 500K ARR saved 🙌 ~70% retention 🤝 Stronger customer trust Here’s the lesson: Communication can be more powerful than the product changes themselves. Customers don’t just need a new tool—they need clarity, support, and a sense of control. SaaS is always changing. Sometimes all you have is communication. Use it wisely. _________________ 📣 If you liked my post, you’ll love my newsletter. Every week I share learnings, advice and strategies from my experience going from CSM to CCO. Join 12k+ subscribers of The Journey and turn insights into action. Sign up on my profile.

Here’s a wild take I saw the other day: Want to reduce subscription churn? Stop emailing your customers. Don’t remind them they have a subscription. Keep quiet, and they’ll forget to cancel. You know what that sounds like? A short-term trick that kills long-term trust. If you're afraid to email your subscribers, you don’t have a churn problem - you have a 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. Here’s what 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 works to keep subscribers engaged long-term, without relying on "out of sight, out of mind" tactics: 1️⃣ 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗹. If you’re not capturing and analyzing cancellation reasons, you’re missing massive opportunities to improve the experience. 2️⃣ 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹. Skipping, pausing, adjusting cadence - flexibility keeps people subscribed 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. 3️⃣ 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 - 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘁. Thoughtful onboarding and ongoing education boost retention. When customers see the value, they stay. At the end of the day, lifetime value is driven by 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 customers, not hiding from them. Would love to hear from others—what’s been your biggest lesson in reducing churn?