A framework to tackle customer churn

Your company is losing customers. All companies are. So how do you think about tackling this problem? Here's a framework I've used in the past to help identify types of churn and prioritize strategies for mitigating it.

The x-axis is why the customer left.

Decision - Customers who leave of their own volition. They don't want to pay for your product or service anymore

Process - Customers who leave because of a process inside or outside of your company. i.e. their credit card expires

The y-axis is what you can do about it.

Proactive - Actions you can take with the customer before they make the decision or before the process runs its course

Reactive - Actions you can take after.

As you drill down on each quadrant, you'll find a number of rabbit holes, and this is a good thing. Underneath Decision will be many reasons why a customer leaves and each reason will have its own set of potential Proactive and Reactive remedies. The same goes for Process.

The real power of the framework is when each quadrant is owned by a person in your company. If you're small, maybe one person owns all 4. If you're large, there are likely teams for each quadrant. But the ownership is key. One person should feel and have responsibility.