How Can I Implement a "Cancel/Save" Flow to Prevent Subscription Churn in Recurly Engage?

The "Cancel/Save" flow is a highly effective strategy, leveraging Recurly Engage to mitigate customer churn by intercepting a cancellation attempt and presenting a tailored offer or resolution. This flow can help you save up to 40% of users who were attempting to cancel.

Key Benefits and Details

This flow allows you to present targeted offers the moment a customer intends to cancel, improving satisfaction by offering alternatives (like a discount or different plan) instead of just forcing them to cancel. Additionally, it captures valuable data-driven insights on why customers are leaving, which you can use to optimize future retention efforts.

When combined with 1-Click Actions in Recurly Engage, you can expect significant reductions in cancellations.

Prerequisites: You must have Company, App Administrator, or App Member permissions in Recurly Engage to set up this flow.

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating the Flow in Recurly Engage

Follow these steps to create a simple yet powerful Cancel/Save prompt within Recurly Engage:

1. Log in to Recurly Engage. Access the management console, known as Pulse, which is the central interface for configuration.
2. Activate 1-Click Actions. To use features like automatically applying a coupon, you need to enable the connector for your billing platform (like Recurly or Stripe).
   • Note: Conversions are significantly lower when using a redirect URL instead of 1-Click Actions.
3. Create a New Cancel Survey with Offers.
   • Go to Guides in the main navigation.
   • Select the pre-configured Cancel Survey with Offers.
4. Review the Guide Data. The dashboard shows key data like Segments, Limits, Status, Schedule, and Daypart settings, which you can edit based on your customized Guide's needs.
5. Set Up Your Prompt. Select the Cancellation Reasons Survey from the Guide.
6. Add your Trigger.
   • In the Details section, edit your trigger information.
   • The trigger is the CSS selector on your website that, when clicked, fires the prompt. For example, the prompt would fire when the user clicks the "Cancel Subscription" button. You only need to apply a trigger to the first prompt in the flow.
7. Set your Actions. In the Actions section, set your Action and Values to trigger customized flows based on the user's survey inputs. For example, if the reason is "Too expensive," the action could be a Call to Action (CTA) for a save offer.
8. Edit your Design.
   • From the Details section, click "Edit prompt design".
   • Customize the title, message, size, and styling of the prompt to be clear and compelling. Ensure you configure your prompt for both Desktop & Mobile.
   • In the Form section, configure it to hide and show your survey options, making sure the value matches the action in the details screen.
9. Repeat steps 6, 8, and 9 for all additional Prompts. These additional prompts appear based on a user's survey results, such as a "Price - Save Offer" prompt if they selected "Too Expensive". Be sure to include criteria for when the guide should continue or exit.
10. Test and Launch.
    • Use the Live Preview to see the design on your website (this doesn't test the actual flows).
    • For live testing of the flows, add your user ID to the Test Users segment under Settings > Users > Test Users.
    • Once satisfied, update your segments to target live users, not just test users.
    • Set your Guide Live in the Status section.

Estimating Your Savings

Every churned subscriber represents lost revenue. For instance, losing 1,000 users per month, each valued at $10, results in $10,000 in lost revenue monthly. By proactively re-engaging users, you can recover significant revenue and build a more sustainable future for your business.