Customer retention

Get More Out of Your Automated Customer Retention Tools with A/B Testing

May 17, 2022
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If you’re in the SaaS business, you already know the value of keeping customers or, at a minimum, understanding why they leave. But getting at that data by hand is hard.

Really hard.

That’s why a lot of SaaS companies operate without deep insights into why their customers are leaving or what offers could get those customers to stay. The solution is an automated customer retention tool that includes A/B testing.

What’s an automated customer retention tool? 

Some of the world’s biggest brands use automated customer retention software to save customers at the last second with persuasive offers, discounts, or incentives. These tools also help brands understand why customers wanted to leave in the first place. For example:

  • Are customers more likely to churn after a certain period of time?

  • Is there a seasonality to when more customers tend to churn?

  • What are early red-flag indicators that a customer is considering canceling? 

When you know the answers to these questions, you can start developing strategies to keep your customers. And if you test those strategies, you’ll know for sure you’re delivering the right messages to the right customers at the right time.

Why is it important to A/B test customer retention offers? 

Our customers gravitate toward A/B testing because it helps them discover the most effective retention techniques. Put differently, testing allows you to know – with certainty – that the retention strategies you’re using lead to less churn and more profit.

Three strategies to start A/B testing

 We’re big fans of putting different offers head-to-head, so you know what’s performing best. Here are three example strategies you can use to optimize your cancellation experience with your automated customer retention tool.

 Strategy #1: Test coupon discounts and durations to find the most cost-effective way to increase retention.

For example, you could offer 30% off for three months as your control offer. Then, you could test that against 40% off for two months and 50% off the next invoice. 

Strategy #2: Try out varying lengths of account pauses or trial extensions.

For example, you could test the standard 30-day pause against a 60-day or even 90-day pause to see if a longer time frameworks for your customer base. Similarly, you could offer to extend their trial period for seven days and test that against 10 or 14 days to see if a slightly longer timeframe seals the deal.

Strategy #3: Test out different plans (upgrades, downgrades) with your automated customer retention tool to determine which offer is the most enticing.

 For example, you could offer special discounted rates or pricing plans at the time of cancellation and test different rates to see which one motivates the most customers to stay.

When you identify the most persuasive offer, you can leverage that offer going forward to drive stronger acceptance. And even a few percentage points here can be meaningful.

Want more insight into what works for your business?

Imagine having all the customer churn data and insights you need to take decisive action. No more cobbling information together from spreadsheets or disjointed reports. 

ProsperStack gives you the tools to make meaningful impacts on your churn and get every last percentage point of retention so you can focus on growing your business.

Our enhanced automated customer retention tool with A/B testing gives you access to real-time accept rates, improvements, and probabilities. And the best part? Our solution integrates with your payment processor, so testing, collecting metrics, and determining your winning offer all happen automatically.

Check out our A/B testing documentation for more details on how this feature works. Or schedule a demo, and we'll show you the tool in action.

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