Creating a Good Customer Offboarding Experience

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Top Takeaways:   

• Companies put a lot of focus into their onboarding process, but the end of the customer’s lifecycle tends to get ignored. What looks like the end is actually a point where you can provide a great experience that retains the customers. 

• We are in a digital world, and there are plenty of automated opportunities to make customers feel they are personally taken care of. Differentiate yourself from others by utilizing your data to create automated yet scalable experiences for your customers that still have a personalized touch. 

• Big companies like Netflix and Amazon have the resources to provide a world-class automated experience for their customers. The challenge of small to midsize companies is that they do not have the resources to create that same level of automated process on their own.  

• Data points, such as how long customers have been doing business with you or how frequently they use your services, determine whether customers will be long-term subscribers/customers or are ready to unsubscribe or churn. These data points can be leveraged to escalate offers or provide incentives to keep them as paying customers. 

• Customers disproportionately judge their experiences based on how they felt at the peak (whether this is the most positive or negative experience) and at the end of their experience.  

• The best companies can track their customers’ cadence to determine whether they’re making the most use of your products and services. Using this information correctly can help keep the customer coming back again and again. 

• No matter what, end strong and positive. The customer doesn’t have to be right but lets them be wrong with dignity and respect. 

Quotes:  

“Customers remember the end of their experience with a company to a higher degree. If you leave a bad taste in their mouth, you not only negatively impact the customer’s experience, but also impact what that customer tells their friends and their network.” 

“If customers can sign up seamlessly online, they should be able to cancel in a manner that is just as easy.” 

“Customer needs change. Their ability to pay can change. Offering alternatives and a great experience when that happens is something that every business model should welcome.” 

“It is easy for everyone to catch up when it comes to product features and technology. The only way to truly differentiate yourself is with the way you treat your customers.” 

About:    

Tony Sternberg is the CEO and co-founder at ProsperStack, a platform that helps subscription businesses optimize their customer cancellation experience through automation. Prior to ProsperStack, Tony was President at CATS Software, playing key customer-facing, product, and operations roles. 

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and host of Amazing Business Radio.   

This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions and more:   

1. Why is offboarding process important? 
2. How do you properly offboard customers? 
3. How do you differentiate yourself from your competitors?
4. What does the peak-end rule mean? 
5. How do you add personalization to automated processes?