Product Selection

1. Product Selected: Smartlead.ai
2. What is Smartlead.ai?

Smartlead is a cold email outreach platform that enables businesses to automate and scale their cold email campaigns effectively. It offers features like unlimited mailboxes, automated email warmups, email deliverability tests, and a centralized master inbox for managing leads, responses, and sales follow-ups in one place.

3. Stage of the product: Early Scaling
4. Has the product reached PMF: Yes.

The reasons are as follows:

Within 2 year of operations, Smartlead has:

• 130% revenue increase and 305% growth in subscribers over the past 1 year.
• Smartlead has ranked in the top 4% of the world’s fastest-growing SaaS companies, according to ChartMogul.
• Strong WOM, Customers are willing to pay (majority % of user acquisition comes through organic and affiliate referrals via WOM).

Pricing

1. Smartlead 3 pricing structures to users.
2. We also offer a 14-day Free Trial, which provides users with Pro Plan access and allows them to experience the platform’s full value and key features.
3. The pricing is competitive and affordable, and it effectively delivers every core feature and value proposition, standing out among competitors.

Core Value Prop Analysis

A user can experience the core value prop in multiple aspects of cold email outreach, including positive replies, higher email deliverability, maintained positive sender reputation, and unified deal flow management.

However, to experience the core value prop, the user needs to have the basic pre-requisites, which are an email contact list, and mailboxes to send emails from and email copies.

1. Option to Add Unlimited Mailboxes

Value: Scale your email outreach without limits.

User Experience: Unlike many other tools, Smartlead lets you add as many mailboxes as you need. This means you can reach more people without being restricted by account limits, ensuring your emails have a better chance to land in the inbox and not the spam folder.

Natural Frequency: Monthly or whenever their existing mailboxes are burnt, the users are replacing old mailboxes with new ones or they want to scale their outreach campaigns.

2. Auto-Rotating Email Accounts:

Value: Monitors sending limits and protect sender's reputation.

User Experience: Email providers often cap the number of emails you can send daily to combat spam. Smartlead's auto-rotation feature helps you stay within these limits by switching between different email accounts, which keeps your reputation strong and boosts email deliverability.

Natural Frequency: Daily but automated feature that enables live campaigns to perform better.

3. AI Warmups:

Value: Improve email deliverability with AI-powered warmups.

User Experience: Getting your emails to land in inboxes instead of spam folders is essential for effective outreach. Smartlead's AI-enhanced warmups simulate real email interactions, boosting your sender reputation and automatically moving emails out of spam folders, so your messages are more likely to reach the right audience.

Natural Frequency: Daily but automated feature that warms up the mailboxes before a campaign is started.

4. SmartDelivery - Email Deliverability Suite

Value: Test and monitor inbox placement rates to improve campaign performance.

Why it matters: SmartDelivery provides detailed insights into where your emails are landing. By analyzing factors like spam scores, domain health, and the impact of certain keywords, you can quickly identify what’s affecting your deliverability. Instead of spending hours on manual checks, test thousands of mailboxes with just one click.

Natural Frequency: Weekly, mostly or before starting a new campaign or for testing mailbox/email copy performance

5. Deal Flow Management with Master Inbox 3.0:

Value: Centralize and streamline all your email conversations.

Why it matters: Juggling multiple email accounts can be chaotic and time-consuming. Smartlead's Master Inbox offers a unified platform where you can manage all your customer conversations. With AI-based intent categorization, it's easier to prioritize leads and focus on closing deals.

Natural Frequency: Daily, multiple times a day. Typically, a good campaign yields multiple replies and notifies users to check the email reply.

6. Lead Generation Automation:

Value: Automate your cold email campaigns and lead generation efforts.

Why it matters: Smartlead's powerful API lets you automate your outreach campaigns, saving time and making it easy to scale. Whether you’re setting up lead generation workflows or handling custom use cases, the automation capabilities help you grow your customer base efficiently.

Natural Frequency: Quarterly or Once in a lifetime, depending on the type of integration.

Sub-products at Smartlead

Smartlead has 3 new subproducts:

1. SmartDelivery
Email Deliverability Suite for checking inbox placement score

Natural Frequency: Weekly, mostly or before starting a new campaign or for testing mailbox/email copy performance

2. SmartSenders

Done-for-you email infrastructure setup for a diverse range mailboxes purchased and configured for users by us. (Product in beta, not fully live yet)

Natural Frequency: Monthly or quarterly, mostly when either their mailboxes are burnt or they want to scale their outreach campaigns and looking out for new mailboxes.

3. Email Verification

Email validation feature that enables users to validate the lead list before they start a new campaign

Natural Frequency: Weekly or when they are starting a new campaign.

Core Engagement Metrics

The objective here is to make Smartlead an essential tool in each user’s lead generation and outreach strategy.

At Smartlead, we focus on 3 key areas to drive engagement:

1. Depth (getting users to explore and rely on Smartlead’s core features regularly)
2. Frequency (ensuring they return to the platform frequently)
3. Breadth (use of additional features with the platform)

1. Depth of Engagement

We aim to keep our users engaged deeply with Smartlead’s core value prop—premium email deliverability. The more users interact with the platform, the more value they’ll see, improving our retention rates and LTV.

Key actions/tracking metrics that drive depth:

• Expanding Validated Contact Lists: Encouraging users to add, validate, and manage more contacts depending on their plan type, growing the scale of their outreach.
• Boosting Outreach Volume: Allowing users to add unlimited mailboxes to amplify the scope of email campaigns.
• Segmented Campaigns: Motivating users to create more targeted email campaigns for different audience segments to reach potential customers more effectively.
• Building Sub-Sequences: Adding additional email sequences within campaigns to engage audiences over multiple touchpoints depending on their engagement type.
• Enhanced A/Z Testing: Increasing A to Z tests to refine campaign strategies and improve email reply rates, positive reply rates, and inbox placement rates
• AI-Enabled Warmup: Connecting more mailboxes with AI-powered warmup features to keep sender reputation high and emails out of spam.
• Intent-Based Lead Categories: Adding automated custom lead categories within the Master Inbox to better identify and sort responses based on lead intent.

2. Frequency of Engagement

Frequency of user engagement is important to understand the platform dependency on a day-to-day basis.

Key actions to increases frequency of engagement:

• Managing Deal Flows with Master Inbox: Frequently checking replies and positive replies in the master inbox and managing deal flows seamlessly.
• Placement Tests: Regular placement tests (manual and automatic tests) enables them to understand their mailbox and campaign performance
• Building Sub-Sequences: Adding additional email sequences within campaigns to engage audiences over multiple touch-points depending on their engagement type.

3. Breadth of Engagement

Our additional features and integrations add value and enhance their overall experience with Smartlead, helping casual users become power users.

Key actions to broaden engagement:

• Advanced Analytics and Reporting: Using in-app global analytics to understand and improve campaign performance.
• Core Integrations: Utilizing CRM platforms like HubSpot, Clay for Data Enrichment, Lead List Scrapping, and Listkit for Lead List for seamless contact imports and automations, saving time.
• Smartlead API Usage: Enabling users to automate email workflows and streamline operations through Smartlead’s API, making lead generation and outreach more efficient.

Actions to Become an Active User + Natural Frequency

1. For 14-Day Free Trial Users

1. • Connecting mailbox(es) to Smartlead (Once for the tenure of the free trial)
   • Creating their email campaigns and adding contacts/uploading a contact list to that campaign (usually 2 times a week)
   • Email warmup enabled for mailboxes connected (Once for the tenure of the free trial)

2. Activation Moments for Paid Plan Users:

1. • Subscribe to a Paid Plan - Basic, Pro, or Custom Plan - once the free trial ends.
   • Connecting mailbox(es) to Smartlead (2-3 times in a month {multiple mailboxes can be connected at one go)
   • Creating email campaigns and adding contacts/uploading a contact list to that campaign (3-4 times a week - they upload list and validate using EV paid add-on)
   • Email Warmup enabled for mailboxes connected (2-3 times in a month - connected and related to mailbox connection)
   • Writing email copies, using features like A/B testing, spintax, copy spam checker, and others
   • Lead category created for effective deal flow management (3-4 times a month, depending on the number of campaigns created)
   • API automation enabled for effective operational efficiency (1-2 times a month).
   • Renew the subscription monthly or yearly once it expires.

Segmentation

1. Casual | Core | Power Users

# Casual Users:

Users primarily on the Free Trial or Basic Paid Plan ($39/month) who are testing Smartlead’s core capabilities without heavy engagement. They often include:

• Startups or soloprenuers evaluating email tools to build their outreach.
• Small businesses and agencies exploring operational fit for lead management and email outreach.

Key Features Valued:

• Unlimited AI-enabled warmups: To build a strong sender reputation affordably.
• Unlimited mailboxes: Essential for testing multiple campaigns.
• Basic deal flow management: To get a feel for how Smartlead supports outreach, and users can manage replies.
• 6000 email credits and 2000 active leads: To understand their needs and requirements; start with a campaign.

# Core Users:

Users on the Pro Plan ($94/month) who rely on Smartlead for more advanced outreach operations. They include:

• Startups or SMBs optimizing outreach at a higher scale.
• Agencies aiming to increase operational efficiency and streamline deal management.

Key Features Valued:

• Unlimited AI-enabled warmups and unlimited mailboxes.
• Custom CRM integrations and Unified Master Inbox for unified deal flow management.
• Global Block List for filtering unqualified leads.
• Webhooks and API access for email automation.
• Enhanced Global Analytics and reporting dashboards to improve campaign performance.
• 24x7 support for immediate assistance.

# Power Users:

Users on custom plans (starts at $174/month) tailored for heavy usage and advanced needs, including:

• Startups in hyper-growth phase scaling outreach for significant revenue impact.
• Agencies for whom cold outreach is a primary revenue driver.

Key Features Valued:

• Unlimited AI-enabled warmups and unlimited mailboxes (Usually have higher volumes with an avg. of 600 mailboxes per Smartlead account).
• Advanced CRM and API integrations and master inbox for extensive deal flow management.
• Global Block List, client addition for agencies, and white-label access.
• KAM (Key Account Manager) support and 24x7 support for personalized assistance.
• Detailed analytics, seat additions for team members, and extensive email credits (≥150,000).

2. ICP Based Users

Currently, for the exercise, we have assumed two core ICPs. Please find them shared in a tabular format for better understanding below:

ICP-based user segmentation - Startups and Agencies

#Startups

The core problem statement of a startup founder when evaluating email outreach tools is that they need a single tool which enables them with a solution for each of their pain points and allows them to effective setup and start driving business revenue for their business.

Problem Statement | JTBD | Feature | Frequency

#Agencies

The core problem statement for SMEs/Agencies is to scale their email outreach efforts while ensuring their teams can achieve operation efficiency. For this purpose, they are looking for tools that streamline their lead generation efforts along with deal flow management in a single tool for increasing revenue output and operation efficiency.

Problem Statement | JTBD | Feature | Frequency

4. Advanced Engagement Categories

# Loyalists

Users who have demonstrated consistent usage over several months, primarily in the Core or Power categories. These users often make use of:

• AI warmup features, analytics, multi-mailbox setups, and CRM integrations.
• Consistent creation of new campaigns and extensive use of reporting dashboards.
• Avg. 100 mailboxes added to Smartlead

Behavioral Patterns: Frequent logins and high feature engagement; likely to renew subscriptions and engage in new feature offerings.

# Champions/Certified Partners

Power users who frequently utilize Smartlead’s full suite of tools and provide referrals or testimonials. Champions often:

• Rely heavily on advanced integrations and API capabilities.
• Hundreds of mailboxes added to Smartlead
• High feature usage, have 2 or more team members added to Smartlead Workspace.
• Use add-on features like SmartDelivery, Email Verification, Client Add-ons

Behavioral Patterns:

• Advocate for Smartlead within their networks (LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube) and contribute feedback for product improvement.
• Regular positive interactions with customer support
• Participate actively in webinars, tutorials, content collaborations with Smartlead.
• Participate actively in product beta launches and core
• Refer Smartlead to people with/without referral codes or links.

# At Risk

Users with a declining engagement trend, often in the Core or Casual segments, who may not have explored all of Smartlead’s capabilities. They typically:

• Under-utilize available credits and rarely interact with analytics or reporting tools.
• Hardly use add-on features
• Negative reviews or multiple support tickets in a span or 2-3 months
• Campaign performance is not great.
• Less than 50 mailboxes added

Behavioral Patterns: Monthly or lower login frequency with minimal email outreach volume; need targeted re-engagement.

# Hibernating

Primarily Casual users who tried the tool but have low usage, often limited to mailbox testing or single campaigns. These users may be:

• Startups or SMBs still assessing email tools or those with inactive campaigns.
• Delay in paid renewals
• Hardly interact with customer support
• Display reduced login frequency and fewer active campaigns.
• Less than 50 mailboxes added.

Behavioral Patterns: Rare logins and very low feature engagement, often limited to just the AI warmup and mailbox management.

Engagement Product Hook

1. Goal: Help clients close more deals and generate more revenue with premium email deliverability

3. Problem statement: Users need to come back to create new campaigns, generate more positive replies, book more meetings with prospects and close more deals.

4. Current alternative: Other cold outreach tools like Instantly, Mailshake, Saleshandy (we have more than 40 direct competitors 🤯).

5. Solution (User Flow)

6. Ramp Up Milestones

Milestone 1: Onboarding Engagement (Weeks 1-2 after paid purchase)

• Objective: Ensure new users understand the core features and start using the platform effectively.
• Actions:
• • Guided Onboarding: Provide interactive onboarding with tooltips for key features (e.g., creating campaigns, setting up automation).
  • Initial Success: Encourage users to complete their first campaign setup within 3 days.
  • Welcome Email Sequence: Send a series of emails covering best practices, video tutorials, and use-case examples.

Milestone 2: Feature Adoption/Highlight (Weeks 2-4 based on plan type)

• Objective: Encourage users to explore additional features to see more value in the platform.
• Actions:
• • Weekly Feature Spotlight: Send in-app notifications or emails highlighting specific features (e.g., email warmup, dynamic sequences).
  • Quick Tips & Templates: Offer downloadable templates for sequences and outreach messages to simplify usage.
  • Product Tour for Key Features: For users who haven’t accessed certain features, prompt a quick product tour.

Milestone 3: Performance Insights (Weekly Newsletter)

• Objective: Help users see measurable results from their engagement with Smartlead.
• Actions:
• • Weekly Performance Reports: Automatically send personalized performance reports that highlight response rates, placement rates, and deliverability. This is Work In Progess.
  • Optimization Tips: Offer suggestions on how to improve metrics based on their performance.
  • Nudge for Feature Use: If a user’s results indicate potential improvements, recommend using specific features (e.g., email warmup).

Milestone 4: Community and Continued Learning (Weekly Activity)

• Objective: Foster a sense of community and continuous learning among users.
• Actions:
• • Invite to Weekly Webinars: Encourage attendance at weekly office hours or live strategy webinars. I have already spoken about this in the Content Loop Acquisition Deep Dive project.
  • User Community Access: Invite them to a Slack or forum group for networking and sharing strategies.
  • Advanced Training Modules: Offer access to advanced training videos or courses after users reach a certain level of feature usage via Smartlead University.

Engagement Campaigns

For Smartlead, the engagement framework focuses on deepening user activity by encouraging users to grow their mailing lists and increase email frequency.

The strategy guides users through different user types and leverages Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) to prompt feature exploration, ultimately boosting sustained engagement and satisfaction with the platform.

Engagement Campaign #1

Campaign Name: Welcome Sequence (Sequence of 8 emails)

User Type: New/Trial Users

Description: New Users are those on the 14-day free trial plan, primarily testing and using Smartlead for initial email setup and exploration for 14 days.

Goal of the campaign: Convert them to paid users by increasing depth and frequency of usage by enabling them to better use the platform to generate more leads and thereby increase more revenue.

Feature/Usage to be promoted:

• Focus on activation for core JTBD to set them for success
• Invite them for LIVE onboarding sessions
• Educate the user on how to use the platform for better success rates.
• Share case studies from power users
• Share Tutorials and Resources for easier account setup
• Invitation to join 9K strong Slack community to boost their confidence and motivate them.

Content/Pitch: Sharing a few email screenshots for this campaign, created by me END-to-END

Email 1


Email 2

Email 3

Email 4

Email 5

Email 6

Email 7

Email 8

Channels Used: Emails

Frequency/Timing:

• Immediately after a user signs-up for 14-day Free Trial
• Set of 7 emails for a span of 13 days (before their trial ends)

Success Metric:

• % Increase in campaign creation within first 24 hours of Signup
• % Increase in Signup to Purchase ratio
• Participation in LIVE onboarding session
• CTR of the links added
• Part of Slack Community

Engagement Campaign #2

Campaign Name: First Reply Strategy (Sequence of 3 emails)

User Type: New/Trial Users

Description: New Users are those on the 14-day free trial plan, primarily testing and using Smartlead for initial email setup and exploration for 14 days.

Goal of the campaign: Sharing email copy writing tips to set them up for success

Feature/Usage to be promoted:

• Copywriting tips and A/B guides
• Share Tutorials and Resources on copywriting
• Invitation to join 9K strong Slack community to boost their confidence and motivate them.

Content/Pitch: Sharing a few email screenshots for this campaign, created by me END-to-END

Email 1

Email 2

Email 3

Channels Used: Emails

Frequency/Timing:

• 2 Days after a user signs up for 14-day Free Trial
• Set of 3 emails for a span of 13 days (before their trial ends)

Success Metric:

• % Increase in Video Tutorial
• % Increase in number of A/B testings feature usage
  

Engagement Campaign #3

Campaign Name: Upgrade Pro to Custom (Sequence of 4 emails)

User Type: Pro Plan Users

Description: Pro Plan Users are loyal users trying to scale their outbound efforts. They use most of the features but have a lot of scope to become our Power users by upgrading to a higher plan—the Custom Plan.

Goal of the campaign: Introduce exclusive features and access for custom plan users

Feature/Usage to be promoted:

• Benefits of Custom Plan include 60K active leads, 300,000 Email Credits/months
• Custom CRM option for enhanced lead management workflows

Content/Pitch: Sharing a few email screenshots for this campaign, created by me END-to-END

Email 1

Email 2

Email 3

Email 4

Channels Used: Emails

Frequency/Timing:

• 45 Days after a purchase Pro Plan
• Set of 4 emails over a span of 20 days (before their trial ends)

Success Metric:

• CTR of the CTAs added in emails
• % Increase in the number of Custom Plan Users
  

Engagement Campaign #4

Campaign Name: Feature Highlight Series (Pro Plan) (Sequence of 3 emails)

User Type: Pro Plan Users

Description: Pro Plan Users are loyal users trying to scale their outbound efforts.

Goal of the campaign: Sharing feature highlights of the Pro Plan, case studies to set them up for success.

Feature/Usage to be promoted:

• 30K active leads, 150K email credits
• Webhooks and integrations, global block lists are available from Pro Plan onwards.
• Invitation to join 9K strong Slack community to boost their confidence and motivate them.

Content/Pitch: Sharing a few email screenshots for this campaign, created by me END-to-END

Email 1

Email 2

Email 3

Email 4

Channels Used: Emails

Frequency/Timing:

• 2 Days after a user signs up for Paid Pro Plan
• Set of 4 emails over 15 days

Success Metric:

• % Core pro plan feature usage
• CTR of the links and resources shared
  

Engagement Campaign 5

Campaign Name: Upgrade to Yearly (Sequence of 1 email)

User Type: Any Paid Plan User

Description: Any paid plan user who has been using Smartlead for 90 days gets this email campaign where we prompt them to buy our yearly plan at a 17% discount.

Goal of the campaign: Convert retained customers into loyal customers and increase LTV.

Feature/Usage to be promoted:

• Offer of 17% discount on yearly plan
• Invitation to join 9K strong Slack community to boost their confidence and motivate them.

Content/Pitch: Sharing email screenshot for this campaign, created by me END-to-END

Email 1

Channels Used: Emails

Frequency/Timing:

• 90 Days after a user signs up for any Paid Plan

Success Metric:

• CTR of the CTA added
• % Increase in yearly plan purchases
  

Retention Deep Dive

Retention Rate Overview

• An overview of the retention rate from M0 till M11 (Data from last 12 months).
  
  
  

Churn Rate Overview

• An overview of the churn rate from M0 till M11 (Data from last 12 months).
  

Microscopic View | Churn rate and Retention Rate broken down by user segment type:

Casual Users {Free Trial + Base Plan Users} - (Data from last 12 months)

Core Users {Pro Plan Users} - (Data from last 12 months)

Power Users {Custom Plan Users} - (Data from last 12 months)

• The retention curve flattens after M2 (i.e., after 3 months).
• Users who use Smartlead for 3 months tend to stay for a longer period of time.
• The net churn rate between M6-9 flatlines at an average monthly churn rate of 5%.
• Compared to industry standards, this is ideal since [industry benchmarks] for SaaS companies observe an average monthly churn between 3-8%.

ICPs driving the best retention

ICP 1: Startup Founders

🔹 Characteristics:

• Typically have contact lists of over 10,000 active leads.
• Use advanced features like automation, AI-enabled warmups, dynamic sequences, and AI-based response categorization.
• Subscribed to the mostly Pro plan, indicating a serious commitment.
• Engage with Smartlead 2-3 times a week.

🔹 Retention Analysis:

• Financial Commitment: Choosing Pro plan shows a significant investment, indicating they're committed to making the most out of Smartlead.
• Feature Adoption: Their use of advanced features suggests a strong understanding of what Smartlead offers. This deeper engagement makes them more likely to stay, as they rely on these tools for their growth.
• Frequency of Use: Engaging 2-3 times weekly shows that Smartlead is a key part of their marketing workflow.
• Large Contact Lists: Managing large lists (10,000+) highlights a need for efficient, automated outreach. The more they rely on Smartlead for this, the higher their likelihood of staying.

ICP 2: SMBs/Agencies

🔹 Characteristics:

• Typically have contact lists exceeding 30,000 active leads
• Rely on advanced features like automation, AI-enabled warmups, dynamic sequences, lead categorization, white-labeling, and client management.
• Subscribed to the Custom plan, indicating they are power users.
• Engage with Smartlead 3-4 times a week.

🔹 Retention Analysis:

• Diverse Use Cases: SMBs use Smartlead for lead generation, while agencies manage client campaigns. Smartlead’s versatility meets their varied needs, making it more essential to them.
• Large Contact Lists: The automation and lead management features of Smartlead are especially valuable for handling larger contact lists, making it an indispensable tool.
• High Engagement: Regular usage (3-4 times a week) shows that Smartlead is embedded into their daily operations.
• Feature Depth: SMBs and agencies often utilize a broader range of features, increasing their reliance on Smartlead.
• Client Relationships: For agencies, Smartlead isn’t just a tool; it’s key to delivering results for their clients. This dependency on Smartlead to maintain client relationships makes them less likely to switch to another solution.

Features driving retention

Based on user calls and the survey rolled out, here is what Smartlead’s customers had to say:

1. Email Warmup - Mentioned by approximately 26% of customers.
2. • This feature helps improve email deliverability and inbox placement, which is crucial for successful cold email campaigns.
3. Inbox Rotation - Mentioned by approximately 10% of customers.
4. • Inbox rotation helps maintain the health of email accounts by avoiding overuse of a single account for sending emails.
5. Ease of Use - Mentioned by approximately 9% of customers.
6. • Users found Smartlead's interface to be user-friendly and easy to navigate.
7. Good Reporting - Mentioned by approximately 7% of customers.
8. • Some customers appreciated the reporting features, although specific details were not mentioned.
9. Multi-Account Support - Mentioned by approximately 6% of customers.
10. • Users valued the ability to send emails from multiple email accounts, which is useful for managing various outreach efforts.
11. ESP Matching - Mentioned by 15% of the customers
12. • Users value the ESP level matching feature in their campaigns. This feature enables them to achieve higher placement rates and better deliverability.

Churn Analysis

Basis the churn survey rolled out to users, following is the mapping of top reasons for churn broken down by involuntary and voluntary churn.

Note: This data is result of hundreds of churned user calls done by the entire growth team over a span of 9 months.

Reasons for Churn

1. Cold emailing isn't working for my business (25.3%)
2. • Users reported lower-than-expected response rates and engagement.
   • Challenges with email deliverability and reaching the target audience.
   • Some users are shifting away from cold emailing as a primary strategy.
3. Transitioning to a new business/operations (22.1%)
4. • Users indicated changes in business focus or operations, leading to a reduced need for cold emailing services.
   • Lack of alignment with new business strategies and goals.
5. Smartlead lacks features we want (19.8%)
6. • Users expressed a need for more advanced features, including better analytics and integration capabilities.
   • Specific requests for tools not currently available on the platform.
7. Difficulties in using the platform (14.5%)
8. • Challenges with the user interface and overall usability.
   • Difficulties managing multiple accounts and automation workflows.
9. Pricing concerns (14.2%)
10. • Perception of high costs compared to the value received.
    • Calls for more flexible pricing options to accommodate different budget sizes.
11. Other (4.1%)
12. • Includes temporary suspensions, dissatisfaction with customer support, and technical issues.
      
      

Churn By Plan Type

• BASE_PLAN: 65.2% of total churned users, indicating significant dissatisfaction among entry-level users.
• PRO_PLAN: 22.1% of churned users, reflecting unmet needs among more advanced users.
• CUSTOM_PLAN: 12.7% of churned users, showing a relatively lower churn rate.

Key Indicators of Potential Churn:

• Spike in customer support requests
• Card details removed from the account
• Decrease in the number of campaigns launched on the platform
• Reduction in the number of user roles linked to the account
• Exporting data or contact lists from the platform
• Declining CSAT and NPS scores
• Drop in platform engagement frequency among Core & Power Users
• Reduction or removal of client add-ons
• Disconnecting or deactivating key feature integrations

Customer Feedback & Recurring Themes

• Strong demand for additional features, especially around automation and analytics.
• Ongoing pricing concerns, with a desire for more flexible and tiered options.
• Usability and technical issues continue to impact user satisfaction negatively.
• Requests for more responsive and proactive customer support.

Segment Analysis & Most Prone Segments

• BASE_PLAN users are the most prone to churn, highlighting the need for targeted retention efforts.
• Business transitions away from cold emailing suggest a need for better alignment with changing market dynamics.

Satisfaction Levels & Prior to Churn

• Satisfaction levels generally moderate, with declines noted among users facing technical and usability issues.
• Addressing key concerns could potentially improve retention, especially through feature enhancement and better support.

Actionable Recommendations

• Feature Development: Focus on adding features related to automation, analytics, and integrations.
• Usability Enhancements: Invest in user experience improvements to reduce complexity and enhance ease of use.
• Pricing Strategy: Reevaluate pricing structures to offer more flexible and affordable plans, catering to diverse user needs.
• Customer Support: Enhance support services, offering quicker resolutions and proactive guidance.
• Ongoing Feedback Collection: Implement continuous feedback mechanisms to stay responsive to user needs and market trends.

Resurrection Campaigns

Resurrection Campaign 1: Churn Reason - Moved to Competitor

• User Segment: Users who moved to a competitor.
• Goal: Win back users by showcasing unique, advanced features and offering a discount.
• Feature to be Promoted: New Features like - SmartDelivery, Email Verification, SmartSenders.
• Pitch/Content: The goal is to rekindle interest and highlight how our advanced tools make Smartlead a superior choice. By introducing new, value-driven features like SmartDelivery, Email Verification, and SmartSenders, we position Smartlead as the ideal platform for maximizing email outreach results. The email will showcase our standout functionalities, underscore the benefits of returning to Smartlead, and offer an exclusive discount to encourage re-engagement.
• Offer: X% reactivation discount.
• Frequency/Timing: Set of 2 emails (including followup)
• Success Metric: % of users reactivating within a month.

Email Example

• • Subject Line: "Missed Us? Reignite Your Growth with Our New Features + Exclusive Discount!"
  • Content:

    Hi [User’s Name],

    We noticed you moved to a new platform recently, and while we understand the need to explore, we’d love to welcome you back with something special!

    Since you were last here, Smartlead has evolved, introducing a suite of powerful features that deliver even better results for email campaigns. Here’s what’s new:

    • SmartDelivery: Get your emails exactly where they belong—in the inbox! SmartDelivery optimizes sending behavior, improving deliverability and keeping your messages out of spam.
    • Email Verification: With our in-platform verification, ensure your emails are sent to active, engaged contacts only, reducing bounce rates and improving your sender reputation.
    • SmartSenders: Smartlead’s advanced sender rotation helps increase open rates by diversifying sender profiles, emulating natural outreach patterns.

    To make it easier for you to experience these improvements, we’re offering you a 20% discount on your subscription when you return. Don’t miss this chance to elevate your campaigns with features built for modern, high-performing email outreach.

    Ready to get started? Click here to reactivate your account: [Reactivation Link]

    We’d love to see you back and help you achieve your best campaign results yet!

    
    Regards,

    Vaibhav Namburi | Founder, Smartlead.ai

Resurrection Campaign 2: Churn Reason - Difficult to Use

• User Segment: Users who found the platform difficult to navigate.
• Goal: Bring back users by highlighting recent UI/UX improvements.
• Feature to be Promoted: Updated user interface and guided onboarding (new onboarding workflow will be implemented based on my Onboarding Teardown deck)
• Pitch/Content: This campaign targets users who found Smartlead challenging to use, highlighting how our newly streamlined interface and enhanced onboarding process make it easier than ever to get started and achieve results. We’ll also showcase the improved user experience and introduce Smartlead University, a resource hub that offers step-by-step tutorials, guides, and best practices to ensure users feel confident and supported as they navigate the platform.
• Offer: X% discount on reactivation.
• Frequency/Timing: Email sent once UI/UX and new onboarding workflows are live.
• Success Metric: % increase in reactivations from users who left due to usability issues.

Email Example

• • Subject Line: "We’ve Made Smartlead Easier for You + New Learning Hub!"
  • Content:

    Dear [User's Name],

    
    We’ve listened to your feedback about usability and have revamped our interface to make it smoother and more intuitive.

    Smartlead is now better and easier than ever!

    
    

    Based on feedback from users like you, we’ve completely revamped our interface, simplifying the experience to make each step more intuitive and productive.

    Plus, we’re excited to introduce Smartlead University—our dedicated learning platform designed to guide you every step of the way.

    
    

    Here’s what’s new and how it can help you succeed:

    • Updated User Interface: With a streamlined design, simplified navigation, and easy-access tools, managing your campaigns is now more intuitive, saving you time and effort.
    • Guided Onboarding: Step-by-step guidance to maximize efficiency. Our new onboarding process will walk you through each key feature, making sure you feel confident and supported as you start using Smartlead again.
    • Smartlead University: From tutorials and best practices to advanced tactics, Smartlead University is your all-in-one hub for learning and growing with Smartlead.

    We’d love to have you back and show you how easy email outreach can be.

    Click here to reactivate your account and experience the new Smartlead: [Reactivation Link]

    
    

    Regards,

    Vaibhav Namburi | Founder, Smartlead.ai

Resurrection Campaign 3: Churn Reason - Need More Integrations

• User Segment: Users who required integrations that were unavailable at the time of churn.
• Goal: Show enhanced integration options and bring users back.
• Feature to be Promoted: Expanded list of third-party integrations.
• Pitch/Content: This campaign is aimed at users who left Smartlead because they needed integrations that weren’t available at the time. We’ll inform them about our new and improved suite of integrations (Hubspot, Clay, Listkit, as well as Open APIs), showcasing how these enhancements can help streamline their workflows. A follow-up notification in-app or on the dashboard will remind users of the available integrations if they don’t take immediate action.
• Offer: Early Bird Access to new integration and automation setup feature
• Frequency/Timing: Send as integrations become available. (set of 2-3 emails)
• Success Metric: % of reactivations from users previously requesting more integrations.

Email Example

• • Subject Line: "New Integrations to Power Your Workflows: A Sweet Surprise Inside"
  • Content:

    Dear [User's Name],

    
    We know integrations were a key factor for you, and we’ve been hard at work expanding our list to make Smartlead a seamless part of your tech stack.

    Now, with Hubspot, Clay, Listkit and many more added, Smartlead is more connected than ever—meaning you can sync data, automate tasks, and reach your audience with ease.
    
    We also have an open API, so that you can easily automate your workflow by intergrating your favourites app and tools in a few clicks.
    
    That's not all!
    
    We now bringing in something within Smartlead that can't miss.
    
    Hint?
    
    Our own automation setup with easy templates that you can copy and get started.

    Want an Early Bird Access to explore the Beta?
    
    [Apply Here]

    
    

    We’d love to have you back and support you in taking your campaigns to new heights.
    

    Regards,

    Vaibhav Namburi | Founder, Smartlead.ai

Resurrection Campaign 4: Churn Reason - Lack of Features

• User Segment: Users who left due to perceived feature limitations.
• Goal: Encourage return by showcasing recent feature rollouts.
• Feature to be Promoted: New advanced functionalities and capabilities.
• Pitch/Content: This campaign aims to re-engage users who left Smartlead due to feature limitations by showcasing our latest advancements, including SmartDelivery, Email Verification, SmartSenders, an enhanced user interface with guided onboarding, and Smartlead University.
• Offer: X% reactivation discount.
• Frequency/Timing: Set of 4-5 emails highlighting all the features
• Success Metric: % increase in reactivation from users citing feature gaps.

Email Example

• • Subject Line: "New Features to Power Up Your Campaigns—Come See What’s New!"
  • Content:

    Dear [User's Name],
    

    We noticed that you left Smartlead because we didn’t have the features you needed—but we’re excited to share that a lot has changed since then!

    Smartlead has rolled out several powerful tools and updates designed to make email outreach more effective and seamless.

    Here’s what’s new and how it can make a difference for you:

    
    

    • SmartDelivery: A sophisticated tool to boost deliverability by ensuring your emails reach the inbox instead of spam. Say goodbye to deliverability worries!
    • Email Verification: Built-in verification keeps your list clean and active, improving sender reputation and reducing bounce rates—right from within Smartlead.
    • SmartSenders: Rotate between multiple sender profiles to increase open rates and create a more authentic sender experience, boosting your campaigns’ effectiveness.
    • Smartlead University: Access comprehensive tutorials, best practices, and advanced strategies in our new learning hub, so you’re always equipped with the latest insights.

    We’d love for you to experience these new enhancements!

    To make it even easier, we’re offering a special reactivation discount. Use code RENEW20 for [X]% off when you return.

    Click here to reactivate your account and explore everything Smartlead has to offer: [Reactivation Link]

    Looking forward to helping you succeed,
    
    Regards,

    Vaibhav Namburi | Founder, Smartlead.ai

Resurrection Campaign 5: Churn Reason - Pricing

• User Segment: Users who found pricing to be a barrier.
• Goal: Encourage return by introducing flexible pricing options.
• Feature to be Promoted: Updated, tiered pricing plans.
• Pitch/Content: This campaign focuses on adding value to the user’s existing plan rather than reducing or changing prices, while also offering a one-time reactivation discount. You’ll highlight recent feature updates and offer additional perks such as exclusive access to Smartlead University, personalized onboarding, or extended support to make their experience more valuable. The aim is to reinforce that for the same price, users now get more functionality, guidance, and support than before.
• Offer: X% reactivation discount.
• Frequency/Timing: Email immediately after churn is detected due to pricing.
• Success Metric: % reactivation of users previously citing pricing as a concern.

Email Example

• • Subject Line: "Unlock More Features & Save—Exclusive Offer Just for You!"
  • Content:

    Dear [User's Name],

    
    

    We know pricing was a factor in your decision to leave Smartlead, but we’ve made some exciting updates that make your return even more valuable.

    While we’ve kept our pricing the same, Smartlead now includes even more advanced features, exclusive resources, and personalized support—at no extra cost.

    And to make it even sweeter, we’re offering you a one-time reactivation discount!

    
    

    Here’s what you’ll get when you come back:

    • New Features: Boost your email outreach with SmartDelivery for better inbox placement, SmartSenders for optimized sender rotation, and Email Verification to keep your lists clean and effective—all included in your current plan.
    • Smartlead University: Gain access to our exclusive learning hub, where you can access tutorials, best practices, and expert strategies to get the most out of your Smartlead experience.
    • Personalized Onboarding: We’ll walk you through the latest features with a personalized session to ensure you’re making the most of Smartlead from day one.
    • Extended Support: Enjoy priority support to get you back on track quickly, and our team is ready to assist with any questions or needs you may have.

    To make your return even better, we’re offering a [X]% discount on your next month’s subscription when you reactivate today.

    Click here to reactivate your account and take advantage of this limited-time offer: [Reactivation Link]

    
    

    We can’t wait to help you get the most out of Smartlead!

    
    

    Regards,

    Vaibhav Namburi | Founder, Smartlead.ai

That's all!
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