Building Engagement & Retention for Salesken AI

→ How do users experience the core value prop of the product?

For this assignment, I will segment the ideal users in typical midsize or enterprise organizations into Casual, Core, and Power users.

For Salesken:

• Casual users are represented by the Sales Head role (like VP Sales). Although they have a high decision-making capability and spending authority on tech tools, their tech stack adoption is generally low to medium. Their main tasks revolve around overseeing the entire sales operation and making high-level decisions.
• Core users encompass the Sales Manager role, such as Inside Sales Managers, SDR Heads, and AEs. With a moderate decision-making ability and medium spending authority on tech tools, they are often deeply involved in day-to-day sales management. Their tech adoption is high, indicating frequent use of tools and platforms to manage their teams.
• Power users are mainly the Sales Reps (Agents, SDRs, BDRs) and Sales Leaders (Sales Directors). Sales Reps are at the front lines, often using Salesken extensively to manage their leads and prospects. Their decision-making capability might be low, but they are core to the sales operation. On the other hand, Sales Leaders, like Sales Directors, are strategic users who not only use Salesken for day-to-day operations but also make crucial decisions, making them both core and power users.

Action makes a user an active user

The Best engagement framework for Salesken's product is at the organizational level

Here are the combinations of each User Category with each Role. Among all, I have chosen six categories based on the ideal minimum usage required, authority, and benchmarks for the best retention journey.

Obviously, this data is based on assumptions. Ideally, at the organizational level, having healthy usage among all stakeholders better accordingly i have mapped casual, core, and power users.

Based on my understanding , Current retention rates at the organizational level, in terms of months:

However, it's common to see a monthly retention drop of around:

• Power users: 2-5%
• Core users: 5-10%
• Casual users: 10-20%

→ Best Retention (ICP’s) - To understand which ICPs drive the best retention

→ Best Retention Channel - To understand what channels drive the best retention

→ Top Reasons for Churn (Voluntary / Involuntary)

Voluntary Churn:

Involuntary churn:

→ Tracking Negative Action Metrics

I have identified 12 tactics to re-engage churned users with our product. These 12 tactics are divided into 7 proactive strategies and 5 reactive approaches.

Proactive tactics involve identifying potential churned users and persuading them not to leave.

On the other hand, reactive tactics target users who have already churned.

➡️ Downgrade Trial to a Forever Free Plan:

• Segment/Audience: Users who have completed their trial but haven't converted.
• Purpose: Retain users and encourage them to stay engaged with the product.
• Frequency: Once after the trial ends.
• Timing: Immediate action upon trial completion.
• Success Metric: Percentage of users who remain on the forever free plan and continue using the product.
• Why it will work: This tactic offers a low-risk option for users who may be unsure about committing to a paid plan, allowing them to continue using the product with limited features. It keeps users engaged and provides opportunities for future upselling.

➡️ Incentivized User Interview:

• Segment/Audience: Users who have completed their trial.
• Purpose: Gather feedback and potentially convert users to paid plans.
• Frequency: Offered once at the end of the trial.
• Timing: After the trial period ends.
• Success Metric: Number of users who agree to participate in interviews and subsequent conversion rates.
• Why it will work: Offering an incentive for user interviews not only encourages users to provide valuable feedback but also provides a chance to showcase the product's value, potentially leading to conversions.

➡️ Account Pause:

• Segment/Audience: Users considering canceling their subscription.
• Purpose: Retain users for future use by offering an alternative to cancellation.
• Frequency: Available upon user request.
• Timing: When users express intent to cancel.
• Success Metric: Percentage of users who choose to pause their accounts instead of canceling.
• Why it will work: Users appreciate the flexibility of pausing their accounts rather than losing access completely. This tactic respects user needs and encourages them to return when they need the product again.
• For Examples:

➡️ Reactivation Email:

• Segment/Audience: Users who completed their trial but didn't convert.
• Purpose: Re-engage users and encourage them to upgrade.
• Frequency: Sent once after the trial ends and periodically afterward.
• Timing: Initially after the trial ends, and then periodically.
• Success Metric: Conversion rate of users who return and upgrade.
• Why it will work: Reactivation emails remind users of the value of the product and prompt them to reconsider their decision. Periodic follow-ups keep the product in their minds, increasing the likelihood of conversion over time.
• For an example: Uber does this:

➡️  Offer a Trial Extension:

• Segment/Audience: Users who completed their trial but didn't convert.
• Purpose: Provide additional time for users to explore the product and convert.
• Frequency: Offered once after the trial ends and on-demand.
• Timing: Initially after the trial ends and on-demand upon user request.
• Success Metric: Percentage of users who extend their trial and subsequently convert.
• Why it will work: Offering a trial extension addresses the common need for more time to evaluate the product thoroughly. Users appreciate the flexibility, and it increases their chances of discovering value and converting.

➡️  Reiterate Product Benefits During Onboarding:

• Segment/Audience: New users during onboarding.
• Purpose: Emphasize product benefits to increase user activation.
• Frequency: Part of the initial onboarding process.
• Timing: During the user's first interaction with the product.
• Success Metric: Increased activation and user retention.
• Why it will work: Onboarding is a critical time for setting user expectations. Reiterating product benefits helps users understand the value they can expect, motivating them to actively use the product.

➡️  Tactic: Intent Data for Churn Prevention

• Segment/Audience: Users at risk of churning, particularly those researching competitors.
• Purpose: Identify and prevent churn by proactively reaching out to dissatisfied users.
• Frequency: Real-time alerts when churn signals are detected.
• Timing: Immediate outreach upon detecting churn risk.
• Success Metric: Reduced churn rate and improved customer satisfaction.
• Why it will work: Users researching competitors may be dissatisfied with the current product. Timely intervention and addressing their concerns can help retain them and ensure they get the expected value from our solution – help them with setup or offer extra training.

➡️  Tactic: Reward Reminders

• Segment/Audience: Existing users.
• Purpose: Remind users of the value they derive from the product.
• Frequency: Periodic reminders showcasing value.
• Timing: Sent at intervals to reinforce value.
• Success Metric: Increased user retention and satisfaction.
• Why it will work: Reminding users of tangible benefits and results they've achieved with the product reinforces their motivation to continue using it. This aligns with the habit loop's "reward" step, especially in products with delayed rewards.

Examples:

• Loom shows how much time users saved by replacing meetings with Looms
• Automation tools (e.g. Zapier) should show the estimated time users saved thanks to their processes being automated
• Tools that save money should display the amount of money users saved thanks to them

For the reward to be most effective, the results you're showing must be in line with users' end goal of using our product (e.g. if users use Zapier to save time, it wouldn't make sense for Zapier to display how many tasks it automated for them because it's not what users came for).

➡️  Behavioral Emails:

• Segment/Audience: All users based on their in-app behavior.
• Purpose: Encourage specific actions based on user behavior.
• Frequency: Sent based on user actions (e.g., incomplete tasks, milestones reached).
• Timing: Triggered by user behavior or milestones.
• Success Metric: Increased user engagement and conversion of desired actions.
• Why it will work: Behavioral emails are highly relevant to user actions, increasing the likelihood of response. They provide personalized guidance, motivating users to complete actions and engage more deeply with the product.

➡️  Reactivate Old Trial Users:

• Segment/Audience: Users who went through a trial but didn't upgrade.
• Purpose: Re-engage past trial users and encourage them to return.
• Frequency: Periodic ad campaigns targeting this audience.
• Timing: Ongoing campaigns to re-engage these users.
• Success Metric: Conversion rate of reactivated users.
• Why it will work: Create a custom audience of users who went through a trial of your product but didn't upgrade. Show them ads announcing new features to encourage them to come back and give your product another shot. This audience should be more cost-effective to re-acquire than acquiring a cold user.

➡️  Tactic: Offboarding Flow

• Segment/Audience: Users in the process of canceling their accounts.
• Purpose: Retain users by offering alternatives and collecting feedback.
• Frequency: Occurs during the account cancellation process.
• Timing: When users initiate the account cancellation process.
• Success Metric: Percentage of users who choose alternatives and provide feedback.
• Why it will work: Offboarding flow appeals to loss aversion bias by reminding users of the value they'll lose upon cancellation. It offers alternatives that address common reasons for churn, making them more likely to reconsider.

Add offboarding to our cancellation process to save some of the churning users and collect qualitative feedback from the rest.

This is one of the few cases where adding (a little) friction is actually a good thing.

Users signed up to our product for a reason - remind them of the value they’ll lose (data, history, etc.) if they cancel their account (loss aversion bias).

Then, ask what's the reason they're leaving. Based on their answer, we can offer them a salvage offer and try to retain them.

Some example offers we can make to make them stay:

• Downgrade to a lower pricing plan - if price is the reason
• Let them pause their account - if price is the reason
• Offer extra training to help them get more value out of the product - if they didn't get the value they expected

Even if we fail to make them stay, such offboarding flow will let you collect some valuable feedback that will help you make the experience better for other users.

Tools to create customized offboarding flows and offers: brightback.com & churnkey.co Best one is something like the one shown in the UD session from week 3.

➡️  Tactic: Churn Risk Detection

• Segment/Audience: Users/accounts showing signs of churn risk.
• Purpose: Proactively identify and prevent churn.
• Frequency: Real-time alerts when churn risk signs are detected.
• Timing: Immediate outreach upon detecting churn risk.
• Success Metric: Reduced churn rate and increased customer satisfaction.
• Why it will work: Identifying churn risk indicators allows for early intervention. Addressing user concerns and ensuring they receive expected value can help retain them and prevent churn.

Set up a notification system that will alert us of users who e.g.:

• have a downward product usage trend
• submitted one or two negative NPS scores
• start researching your competitors on G2 (premium plan allows this)

What can we do to retain them? Reach out as soon as possible and learn why they're unsatisfied with our product. Then do what needs to be done so that they get the value they expected when choosing our solution - help them with setup or offer extra training.