How You Know When A Client Wants To Discontinue Service

4 Things You Must Practise When a Client Decides To Cancel

How you handle customer and customer cancellations can hateful the difference between more work or loss of income

Exit sign on a dark highway — Photo by Craig Adderley from Pexels

Concluding year when I signed upward for my WaPo subscription, I was offered a special disbelieve rate of $29 for the twelvemonth (instead of $100+). I said "Hell yes! I'll have that."

A twelvemonth later, when the subscription was up, my charge per unit was going to quintuple. I was like "Hell no! I like WaPo, merely I already have a subscription to NYT and Medium." So I went to cancel. Their organisation automatically offered me a renewal of the original discount — I would get some other year for just $29. I thought "Sure. Why not?" The whole procedure took about v minutes. WaPo has another year of keeping me attached to their service.

Cutting to this morning…

My aforementioned subscription to the NYT was now almost to expire. I had a special $one/week discount rate on that subscription. I had already determined that if they offered me the same bargain again, I'd go ahead and keep it.

But wouldn't you know information technology — in order to cancel my subscription, I had to get on chat or worse… phone call!

GIF of a robot moving around with the text

I absolutely hate it when a digital service like this forces you to call or chat with a person in club to make a counterfoil. It wastes precious time, and I know it means I'm going to have to deal with a salesperson who's going to try to become me to stay.

It ended upwards taking near xxx minutes or and so, on a Saturday morning, for me to become through the counterfoil process. Much of that fourth dimension was me (an developed with ADHD) having to sit and wait for the chat person to come online. And so wait for him to read my replies (while I'm sure he's also interacting with other customer chats). I was and then bellyaching, even though he offered me a renewal of my original discount, I said "Thanks, but no thanks."

If NYT had the aforementioned elementary, fast, and non-evasive cancellation procedure as WaPo, I'd notwithstanding be a customer right now. Merely so you lot fine people wouldn't get this insightful blog post about missed opportunities. And so I guess my loss is your gain?

There'southward a Meliorate Manner

Look, I have no event if y'all desire to endeavour to keep me equally a customer. More than power to you. In fact, I'd question your business apprehending if you didn't try to keep my business concern.

Simply for digital subscriptions like this, forcing me to have to connect with y'all on a Sabbatum morning when I just desire to go this over and done with, is across annoying. At that place's a fourth dimension and a identify to have man involvement in a transaction; an online digital subscription that costs $four/month is non it.

Whenever a customer or client decides they want to cancel using your product or service, it'south an opportunity. Beyond being an opportunity to actually go on their business, it'due south also an opportunity to enforce or enhance your brand.

I tin't help but think about Nordstrom'south or Costco's reputations for taking back almost any return. Amazon has a fantastically easy and smooth render process every bit well. Because of their decisions to make the return process painless (and in many cases, risk-free since you can become a total refund), more than people choose them for their shopping resource.

And that brings me to the commencement of the four things yous must do if a customer decides to abolish.

1. Brand Cancellations Painless

If a customer has come to the determination they want to cancel their patronage of your service, making that process harder will more than likely simply annoy them. Depending on the kind of concern/customer relationship you have, information technology'south already probably somewhat of a hard determination.

When you make a return or a cancellation process like shooting fish in a barrel and painless, you are creating endorphins in the brains of the customer. They are filled with relief. Their anxiety goes away. All of that positivity and endorphin rush is now continued with your brand. If at that place e'er is an opportunity to proceeds their business again, you've now increased the chances it will be with yous.

Every other step y'all take when engaging a canceling client should exist filtered through step #i: make it painless.

two. Ask for the Sale

This may seem confusing. If someone is canceling their service or returning a product, how can yous ask for the sale? You lot're also probably wondering, "Merely Ron, didn't you besides infer that you don't like the idea of engaging with some other salesperson?"

"Asking for the sale" is just giving them an opportunity to remain a client or customer via another avenue. It could exist as simple every bit offering a discount (especially if the reason they're canceling is price-related). If your product or service is a article (i.east. there are plenty of other like offerings with little to no quality differentiation), and then offering a discount may be a no-brainer.

If your product or service does accept a perceived quality difference that mostly garners a higher cost, perhaps there's a version of it you can offer that has fewer bells and whistles.

As long as y'all keep step #one in listen (make it painless), y'all'll make the right decisions regarding #2. Call back back to my WaPo vs. NYT situation. They are both splendid sources of news and information. WaPo fabricated the counterfoil process easy and economic. NYT made it economic, but only afterwards making me jump through unnecessary and annoying hoops.

Offer your customer/client something that could entice them to stay — just keep information technology simple, painless, and with no pressure. If at all possible, brand the process automated. If people are involved, brand sure they process the cancellation with a smile and an invitation to come back.

3. Ask Why They're Canceling

I hope this ane is obvious. If you're not finding out why a customer is returning a product or a client is canceling their patronage, yous're making a huge mistake. Again, keeping #ane in mind, make this procedure painless. It could be a elementary every bit a multiple-pick question with common cancellation rations.

If you're dealing with someone who had been a long-time customer/client, especially if they are 1 who did invest a lot in your business, it may be more than advisable to ask for a longer exit interview or meeting where you can talk to them about why they're making the decision. Every now and so, information technology'south because of a reason that you are fully capable of addressing, and thereby keeping them every bit a customer.

Maybe you're a premium service provider and they can no longer afford your premium service. If you lot take a more general and economical version of your service (that's not publicly advertised) that may be all the client needs.

4. Stay Connected

If at all possible, stay connected to the prior client. Hopefully, yous already have them on your email list. If not, brand it possible for them to bring together.

In that location are other ways to remain connected if you get creative. I once had a long-term client of my video production business decide to bring their video production in-business firm. They would no longer need me to produce videos for them.

Instead of licking my proverbial wounds at the loss of a client, I offered to help train their employees. I created an in-depth "manual" for them (for which they paid me) and offered them an ongoing consulting parcel. I besides fabricated information technology articulate that they could reach out if they ever needed more advanced video product services.

Woman with a laptop stands on a small production set, with a man operating a video camera. — Prototype © Writer

Over the adjacent few months, I frequently was hired to provide some light consulting and clean-upwardly piece of work. Eventually, I was hired again for a major project their internal team was not prepared to handle.

If I had done what many minor service providers do when they lose a customer (i.e. complain most the loss on their favorite Facebook or Reddit group, lick their wounds, and adopt a "proficient riddance" biting attitude), I would have lost out on that consulting income, and quite possibly that larger gig if we hadn't been in contact over that time period.

The Circle of Life

The loss of business from long-term customers or clients is all function of the "circle of life" every bit it relates to business organization. Information technology happens to the best of us. Merely every cancellation is an opportunity to build your brand, improve your business organization, and in many cases, graduate to a higher level of concern. If you know that going into information technology, have the right perspective, and play it smart, cancellations will serve to actually build your business.

Update (five/26/2021)

A few days subsequently my frustrating encounter to renew my NYT subscription, I logged into the site to read a news story and was greeted with a message saying that my subscription was expiring in three days. I was given the pick to push a button and renew at my electric current discount.

Since I was several days removed from the original encounter, cooler heads prevailed and I said "What the hell. Why not?" and I renewed. I mean, come on. It's a peachy deal and I do love the newspaper and the work they do. But dang. WTF! Why the hell didn't they just exercise that from jump street?! We could have saved us all a lot of time and heartache.