You only know what you know. It’s no secret that customer retention is one of the most important factors when running and growing a SaaS business. But what happens when you’re failing your customers and you don’t even know it? In this session we will reveal 5 ways you’re probably failing your customers and how embracing humility will help you overcome them. From marketing to customer success, we will dive into some fail proof tactics that are guaranteed to help you decrease churn while also increasing your product engagement.

1. 1
H U M I L T Y
E M B R A C I N G
5 W A Y S Y O U A R E P R O B A B L Y F A I L I N G Y O U R
C U S T O M E R S A N D W H A T Y O U S H O U L D D O A B O U T I T
T A R A R O B E R T S O N
@ t a r a e r o b e r t s o n

2. 2
And a whole lot more...
TARA ROBERTSON
GROWTH & INBOUND CONSULTANT

3. 3
“I am the wisest man
alive, for I know one
thing, and that is that I
know nothing.”
- S o c r a t e s

4. 4
E V E R Y O N E S T A N D U P

5. 5
WHY DID WE
DO THAT?

6. 6
2 REASONS FOR CHURN
The customer did not reach their perceived value
Environmental

7. 7
“Don’t find customers
for your products. Find
products for your
customers.”
- S e t h G o d i n

8. 8
TRULY KNOWING YOUR CUSTOMERS
“you only know what you know.”
FAILURE
1

9. 9
Do you know the pulse of your current customers?

10. 10
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS
S T A R T I N G Y O U R C O H O R T A N A L Y S I S
S U R V E Y Y O U R C U S T O M E R S : A S K & I N C E N T I V I Z E
S TA R T W I T H 3 C O H O R T S ( H E A LT H Y, U N H E A LT H Y, & C H U R N E D )
bit.ly/top-questions

11. 11
HEALTHY COHORT
W H A T T O A S K Y O U R
W H AT W A S T H E M A I N R E A S O N Y O U U P G R A D E D Y O U R A C C O U N T ?
L I S T 3 T H I N G S T H AT A L M O S T S T O P P E D Y O U F R O M U P G R A D I N G .
I F Y O U C O U L D N O L O N G E R U S E [ P R O D U C T ] W H AT W O U L D Y O U M I S S M O S T ?
I F Y O U H A D A M A G I C W A N D , W H AT W O U L D Y O U C H A N G E A B O U T [ P R O D U C T ] ?
H O W W O U L D Y O U F E E L I F Y O U C O U L D N O L O N G E R U S E [ P R O D U C T ] ?

12. 12
UNHEALTHY COHORT
W H A T T O A S K Y O U R
W H AT W A S T H E M A I N R E A S O N Y O U S TA R T E D U S I N G [ P R O D U C T ] ?
W H AT ’ S T H E O N E T H I N G T H AT ’ S M I S S I N G I N [ P R O D U C T ] ?
W H AT ' S O N E F E AT U R E T H AT W O U L D M A K E O U R P R O D U C T I N D I S P E N S A B L E ?
W H AT W O U L D P E R S U A D E Y O U T O U S E U S M O R E O F T E N ?

13. 13
CHURNED COHORT
W H A T T O A S K Y O U R
WHAT IS THE MAIN REASON WHY YOU'RE CANCELING YOUR ACCOUNT?
W H AT W A S T H E M A I N R E A S O N Y O U S TA R T E D U S I N G [ P R O D U C T ] ?
I F Y O U C O U L D C H A N G E J U S T O N E T H I N G I N [ N A M E ] , W H AT W O U L D I T B E ?
I F Y O U H A D A M A G I C W A N D , W H AT W O U L D Y O U C H A N G E A B O U T [ P R O D U C T ] ?
W H AT C O U L D W E C H A N G E T O M A K E Y O U W A N T T O C O N T I N U E U S I N G U S ?

14. 14
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS
S T A R T I N G Y O U R C O H O R T A N A L Y S I S
bit.ly/survey-analysisbit.ly/survey-calculator

15. 15
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
S T A R T I N G Y O U R C O H O R T A N A L Y S I S
A N A LY T I C S
S A L E S A N D M A R K E T I N G P L AT F O R M S
C U S T O M E R S U C C E S S P L AT F O R M

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FIND FINITE DETAILS
S E T A G O A L T O S T U D Y S O T H A T Y O U C A N
W H AT T O O L S
D O T H E Y U S E ?
H O W M A N Y U S E R S
D O T H E Y H AV E ?
H O W O F T E N T O T H E Y
S P E A K W I T H S U P P O R T ?

18. 18
DATA NIRVANA
H o w t o p r i o r i t i z e b a s e d o n y o u r f i n a l f i n d i n g s a n d w h a t t o a c t u a l l y d o a b o u t i t …
P R I O R I T I Z E Y O U R T O P 3
O P P O R T U N I T I E S
S E T A S I D E ~ 1 W E E K P E R
Q U A R T E R T O R E F I N E
A LW AY S B E L E A R N I N G
& P I V O T I N G

19. 19
TOO MUCH ONBOARDING
FAILURE
2

20. 20

21. 21
ONE GOAL - GET THEM TO THE AHA MOMENT
E V E R Y T H I N G E L S E
UPGRADE - FEATURES - REFERRALS
21 A H A M O M E N T

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THE RULE OF ONE
ONE
READER
ONE
OFFER
ONE
BIG IDEA
ONE
PROMISE

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Segment your readers based on their stage of
awareness and how intent they are to purchase.
Segment based on user:
• Role
• Opportunity
• Plan Type
ONE READER

24. 24
What’s your most powerful benefit?
What makes your users say AHA!
Never change the big idea.
Make it sticky.
Make it emotional.
Carry this throughout your entire
Onboarding until they reach the AHA
moment. Only then can you shift gears.
ONE BIG IDEA

25. 25
Everything builds up to this and how
you will clearly explain what you are
offering.
THINK VALUE = AHA
Note: This is not an incentive it’s happiness
inducing.
ONE OFFER

26. 26
Goal is to take away ANY hesitation and
amplify your offer with a promise.
Make it believable.
Make it measurable.
Let your user overcome risk and anxiety.
Examples:
Money back guarantee
User groups
Dedicated support / success
ONE PROMISE

27. 27
HOW TO IMPLEMENT THE RULE OF ONE
M a k e a m a s s i v e I m p a c t
B u i l d O n b o a r d i n g f o r a s m a n y c o h o r t s y o u n e e d . E a c h o f t h e m w i l l b e a u n i q u e r e a d e r, w i t h a u n i q u e
n e e d a n d l o o k i n g t o y o u r p r o d u c t f o r a u n i q u e p r o m i s e .
R E V I E W C U R R E N T
S T R U C T U R E
M O D I F Y T O F O L L O W
T H E R U L E O F O N E
C R E AT E N E W S T R E A M S
F O R A O N E T O O N E
U S E R E X P E R I E N C E

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NOT ENOUGH RETENTION OPTIMIZATION
FAILURE
3

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Awareness
Consideration
Intent
Purchase
TRADITIONAL MARKETING FUNNEL

30. 30
Awareness
Conversion Rate Optimization

31. 31
Reverse the Funnel

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Purchase
Awareness
Consideration
Support
Loyalty
Intent
Advocacy
Churn
ONLY 5 - 30%
from the initial sale
70 - 95% revenues
come from upsells

33. 33
I D E N T I F Y
E N G A G E
E X P A N D
A D V O C A T E
Owner: Marketing
Lead Scoring
• Predictive + Traditional
• Create a [PRODUCT] score
• Triage CS agents based on opportunity
type
Retention Optimization
T h e R e v e r s e F u n n e l F o c u s e s o nSupport
}
}
}
Support Loyalty Advocacy
Owner: Marketing & Customer Success
Persona Based Workflows
• Automate Educational Content
• Tag support requests to enroll
• Create tracking URL’s to determine
which content is digested most for
product engagement
• Set up sales sequences to notify sales
• Test and Iterate constantly
Owner: Sales & Customer Success
Review Client Portfolios Monthly
• Farm don’t Hunt
• Set up sales & CS sequences to trigger
opportunities when they arise
• Use an always-on approach to success
• Set up monthly goal setting calls with all
parties involved (if pricing model allows
for this)
• Recommend the best plan clearly and
don’t push, just educate
Owner: Marketing
Where to Look
• Social Media
• Reviews
• Advocacy Programs
Where to see opportunities for Growth:
• Look into options for Gamification
• Incentivize for referrals
• Engagement is key (and critically
important)
• Consider a marketing advocate manager

34. 34
NEXT STEPS FOR RETENTION OPTIMIZATION
R e t e n t i o n O p t i m i z a t i o n s h o u l d b e j u s t a s ( i f n o t m o r e ) i m p o r t a n t t h a n c o n v e r s i o n r a t e o p t i m i z a t i o n . M a k e
s u r e y o u h a v e t h e t e a m s i n p l a c e t o f o c u s o n s u c c e s s t h r o u g h e d u c a t i o n .
R E V I E W Y O U R C U R R E N T
R E T E N T I O N T E A M
R E V I E W M A R K E T I N G & S A L E S
‘ P O S T- S A L E ’ F U N N E L S
I M P L E M E N T AT L E A S T 1 N E W
R E T E N T I O N C A M PA I G N A N D
I T E R AT E F R O M T H E R E !

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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
FAILURE
4

36. 36
“It’s a mistake to think
that your SaaS customers
are in it only for the
software. They’re in it for
the experience, too.””
- K i s s m e t r i c s

37. 37
BEHIND A BAD
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
T H E N U M B E R S
9
9 out of 10 customers have
abandoned a business because
of a poor experience.
(Oracle).
OUT OF 10
86%
In the same study, 86% of customers
were willing to pay more for a better
customer experience.
(Oracle)
PAY MORE
89%
Accenture found that customers get
frustrated because they need to
repeat their issues to multiple
representatives.
FRUSTRATED
3%
67% of customers mention bad
experiences as a reason for churn,
but only 1 out of 26 unhappy
customers complain.
COMPLAIN

38. 38
Develop A Customer Credo

39. 39
C U S T O M E R S D E S I R E
( I M M E D I AT E ) S U C C E S S
U N AT T E N D E D
C U S T O M E R S W I L L C H U R N
C U S T O M E R S S H O U L D
( N O T ) B E T R E AT E D E Q U A L
S U C C E S S ( D O E S N O T )
E Q U A L ( S ) H A P P I N E S S
C U S T O M E R S N E E D G U I D A N C E
( O R ) S H O U L D G U I D E
R E L AT I O N S H I P S A R E
( N O T ) E N O U G H

40. 40
GET A CUSTOMER PULSE
C u s t o m e r s R e q u i r e H u m i l i t y
Yo u s h o u l d n e v e r b e t o o b u s y t o s p e a k t o y o u r c u s t o m e r s . Tr y t h e s e 3 t h i n g s o u t w e e k l y ( o r a t l e a s t
m o n t h l y ) t o s t a y h u m b l e t o y o u r b u s i n e s s a n d y o u r p r o d u c t .
S P E N D 1 H O U R A W E E K
S P E A K I N G T O C U S T O M E R S
T R I A G E A N D A N S W E R
S U P P O R T T I C K E T S
S O LV E R O U T I N E R E Q U E S T S
W I T H N E W C O N T E N T

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CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
FAILURE
5

42. #INBOUND16@BobRuffolo @taraerobertson

43. 43
6 PILLARS OF FEEDBACK
I m p l e m e n t i n g t h e
F E E D B A C K
Run monthly or quarterly surveys
Always include an NPS score and ask
open ended questions.
S U R V E Y S
Interview 5-10 customers per cohort
each quarter. Share recordings &
findings with your team.
I N T E R V I E W S
Run routine testing to truly empathize
with customers.Tests can be specific,
broad, or based on funnel completion.
U S A B I I LT Y T E S T I N G
Add comment boxes into your product
to ask for ongoing feedback.
C O M M E N T B O X E S
Always include an option for feedback
in newsletters or any company
announcements via email.
E M A I L
Simply asking for feedback makes a
huge difference. If someone
downgrades, ask them why!
O N G O I N G C O M M U N I C AT I O N

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45. 45
bit.ly/user-requests
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK BOARD

46. 46
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK NEXT STEPS
D o n ’ t j u s t a s k , a c t o n w h a t y o u r e c e i v e . Tr y t h e s e 3 s t e p s f o r y o u r o r g a n i z a t i o n :
O R G A N I Z E A L L F E E D B A C K
I N T O O N E L O C AT I O N
S E T A S I D E P R O D U C T T I M E
& F I X W H AT ’ S B R O K E N
C R E AT E A N O N G O I N G C H A N N E L
F O R F E E D B A C K

47. 47
CONCULSION
WRAP
UP

48. 48
BECOMING A
HUMBLE
CUSTOMER
DRIVEN
BUSINESS
5 S T E P S T O

49. 49
HUMILITY
E M B R A C I N G
STEP ONE
You only know what you
know. Learn more about
your customers so that you
can continuously solve for
their unique needs.
STEP TWO
Test a new sequence in your
Onboarding to talk less
about you and more about
your customers by using the
Rule of One.
STEP THREE
Stop focusing so much on
CRO and start focusing
more on Retention
Optimization. Invest in
success marketing!
STEP FOUR
Spend more time with your
customers. You’re never too
busy to jump on the phone
or answer support tickets
and empathize.
STEP FIVE
Ask for feedback on an
ongoing basis. Embrace the
6 pillars and take the time to
fix ongoing issues that are
tracked.

50. 50
QUESTIONS?
h i @ t a r a r o b e r t s o n . m e t a r a e r o b e r t s o n t a r a r o b e r t s o n . m e