Buyer wants can change over time, and it’s vital to observe these modifications and deal with any crucial points that prospects have with the product. Buyer analysis performs a significant position on this, and buyer exit surveys are one of the crucial vital varieties of it.
On this article, we’ll focus on what buyer exit surveys are, why and when to make use of them, what to ask, and extra.
Desk of contents
What’s a buyer exit survey?
A buyer exit survey, typically known as a buyer cancellation survey, is a questionnaire offered to prospects after they unsubscribe (or if they’re about to unsubscribe) from a product.
On this article, once we say product, we imply a digital one, equivalent to a SaaS (software program as a service) product.
What are buyer exit surveys used for?
The aim of buyer exit surveys is to search out out why prospects unsubscribed (or “churned”).
Their function is to not uncover all the alternatives for enchancment, simply the crucial points inflicting prospects to churn. By discovering out what these points are — whether or not they’re associated to options, bugs, design, assist, prices, or no matter — and addressing them, you’ll have the ability to retain extra of your future prospects.
It’s attainable to persuade prospects to remain utilizing buyer exit surveys, however it wouldn’t be the precise factor to concentrate on. It’s normally higher to rebuild relationships with ex-customers and put within the work to reacquire them, however we’ll go into that in additional element later.
Buyer exit surveys also can assist groups establish which prospects they need to try to fulfill and which prospects may be higher off with a distinct product. This, in flip, helps groups fine-tune their product-market match (PMF).
Lastly, buyer exit surveys can observe churn charges over time, revealing how efficient the enhancements have been.
The place within the buyer’s journey would you utilize the survey?
Because the identify suggests, it’s best to current prospects with buyer exit surveys as they unsubscribe from the product, or “exit” it.
It’s vital to do not forget that this survey isn’t for customers. We wish to hear from the shoppers particularly, until it’s for a business-to-consumer (B2C) product the place the customers/shoppers are the shoppers. Finally, it’s the shoppers, who’re the patrons and decision-makers, that matter on this context.
The survey additionally isn’t for purchasers which might be nonetheless utilizing the product, even when they’re unhappy prospects which might be more likely to churn ultimately, as a result of we don’t simply need suggestions. We particularly wish to know in regards to the deadly flaws and final straws that truly make prospects give up.
So, with all of this in thoughts, buyer exit surveys ought to function someplace within the product’s subscription cancellation movement, ideally both in a post-cancellation e-mail or in-app/on-site instantly after the shopper unsubscribes. You possibly can see this within the instance beneath from TunnelBear, a VPN supplier:
By presenting the survey post-exit, you’ll catch real churners who couldn’t be saved, however whose insights can be extraordinarily invaluable. They’ve already left, so asking them questions will solely lead to the identical consequence or a greater consequence. You’ve little or no to lose, however so much to achieve.
Nonetheless, when you current the survey pre-exit and try to retain prospects with salesperson language, this may distract you and it’ll be arduous to amass insights. You’ll be spending extra time convincing prospects to remain than studying in regards to the points, shedding any alternative to enhance the product and forestall extra churn. As a substitute of irritating prospects additional, ensure that their final impression of you is a constructive one, as this may assist to reacquire them later.
That being stated, some prospects do rage give up — particularly after they encounter issues they will’t repair. That is extra frequent with free trial prospects, however it doesn’t damage to hyperlink to FAQ and assist sections the place related.
Who ought to counsel a buyer exit survey and why?
The very best product groups are these the place all people feels comfy diving into the product’s analytics, figuring out alternatives for enchancment, and elevating any issues to the crew. With that in thoughts, anyone can counsel {that a} buyer exit survey may be obligatory.
Nonetheless, it’s normally product managers that can resolve to implement a buyer exit survey. They normally do that after confirming that the churn charge has room for enchancment and that enhancing it’ll yield a worthwhile return on funding (ROI).
It’s finest to implement buyer exit surveys sooner relatively than later (earlier than you want them, in reality) since there’s a pure restrict on the provision of churners. Don’t wait till all people has churned.
What sources would a product supervisor must get began?
The sources wanted to hold out buyer exit surveys are fairly minimal. You’ll solely want one crew member to get this off the bottom (utilizing free instruments), however I’ll stroll you thru a barely extra ultimate setup that splits obligations between varied crew members.
Assigning roles
Firstly and most clearly, someone wants to put in writing the questions. Getting an interviewer to ask the questions gained’t be obligatory because the survey is unmoderated, so prospects can fill it out by themselves in their very own time. That being stated, fallacies and biases can discover their means into questions simply as a lot as they will discover their means into solutions. Numerous crew members ought to look over the survey to ensure that they ask the precise questions in the precise means.
Implementing the survey would most probably require a developer, though this is able to be a one-time factor.
The crew that helped write the questions are most geared up to synthesize the outcomes. To successfully analyze the information from quite a lot of views, nevertheless, it’s finest to divide the duty equally relatively than having one particular person take the lead.
Lastly, nominate one particular person (any particular person or the lead particular person) to observe up with respondents if obligatory.
Gathering instruments
Product managers might want to supply the precise instruments. That is pretty simple as any survey software will do. SurveyMonkey, Typeform, and Jotform are all nice decisions, nevertheless, there’s nothing mistaken with Google Varieties both, plus it’s free.
When you’d choose one thing extra suited to product analysis (with prewritten however customizable survey templates and different templates/options for analysis and testing), you’ll undoubtedly wish to take a look at Useberry, Maze, or the brand new child on the block Ballpark (made by the superior folks at Marvel).
It’s only a survey, so don’t get hung up on evaluating the instruments an excessive amount of. When you’re feeling a bit paralyzed by the choices, simply go together with Google Varieties.
Deciding incentives
Product managers must also resolve upon some sort of incentive, if attainable, to steer churners to take the survey. This incentive shouldn’t be product-related — you don’t wish to create the impression that your solely focus is to entice them again. Act such as you need their perception, not their cash, and as a substitute supply a money/voucher reward or donation to a charity on their behalf.
Delegate writing a heartfelt message that expresses disappointment that the product wasn’t in a position to reside as much as their expectations, clarify why you’d like them to take the survey, after which supply them the inducement earlier than presenting them with the survey.
What questions ought to we ask in an exit survey?
First, verify that the respondent is the choice maker and never simply someone tasked with canceling the subscription. If the software you’re utilizing has a conditional logic function, you possibly can forcibly finish the survey if the respondent doesn’t qualify.
Subsequent, get straight to the purpose with “What made you cancel?” This needs to be an open-ended, qualitative query that lets respondents actually open up about what the principle points are and instantly make them really feel heard. Right here’s an incredible instance from Jotform:
After that, you’ll wish to ask “what did you want in regards to the product?” and “what didn’t you want in regards to the product?” That is simply extra of the identical however is essential if we actually need respondents to color an image of their expertise. With these questions, respondents usually tend to record particular grievances, equivalent to bugs or poor buyer assist interactions.
“What particular enhancements would you make?” is a implausible method to remove among the guesswork and make synthesization means simpler.
“Would you rethink our product sooner or later, and if that’s the case, what would that take?” is actually the primary query however barely reframed for added validation and to focus extra on what may occur after, relatively than what’s occurred already.
“Who would you say the perfect buyer for our product is?” focuses barely extra on the product-market match. This may increasingly reveal that the product isn’t assembly the wants of the goal market or that you simply’re concentrating on the mistaken market.
You’ll wish to preserve the survey quick and candy to maximise completion and reduce evaluation paralysis (i.e. having an excessive amount of knowledge to investigate), however when you suppose that there’s extra to ask, be happy to incorporate some further questions.
Rachel Andrea Go’s exit survey query financial institution lists some implausible further questions. Simply do not forget that new info doesn’t essentially imply helpful info — be conscious of what you’re asking and don’t let the FOMO of knowledge get the most effective of you. You possibly can all the time attain out for extra info afterward.
To wrap up the survey, keep in mind to gather the respondent’s e-mail addresses in an effort to observe up with them relating to their solutions, try to reacquire them later, and/or discover out whether or not they switched to a competitor and why.
The best way to synthesize knowledge into actionable insights
Buyer exit surveys are extraordinarily frequent, however solely a handful of them yield actionable insights and an excellent smaller variety of them lead to constructive actions. It’s vital that buyer exit surveys don’t develop into a tick-box train for product groups. It will solely create the phantasm {that a} product is propelling ahead. This implies synthesizing the information appropriately, turning them into actionable insights, after which taking motion.
First, scan the responses and attempt to put respondents into one among three teams:
- Those who thought they wanted the product, however didn’t. If this doesn’t come all the way down to a mistake on their half, then the issue is poor advertising and the quite simple resolution is healthier advertising — cross this on to the advertising division
- Those who want the product, however it didn’t ship. Satisfying this group would require the most important funding
- Those who want the product, however not but. Usually, this means that they’re on the fence and could also be simple wins
After that, you’ll wish to synthesize the information, or extra particularly, group-related issues (voiced throughout the principle “why did you cancel?” query) to make them simpler to digest after which order the teams by dimension. Addressing the most important teams will fulfill probably the most churners, which, in fact, you’ll do utilizing all the qualitative knowledge throughout all the questions.
Subsequent, vote on what to implement first, factoring in ease of implementation and buyer demand. Have interaction all your regular product design processes (e.g. prototyping, testing, and many others.).
Now what?
The crew has absolutely applied the modifications! Now what?
Firstly, you’ll wish to verify that the churn charge has elevated, which takes a while. Keep away from making any modifications throughout this time so that you simply don’t invalidate the experiment.
Whereas ready for brand new knowledge to construct up, purchase some qualitative suggestions by reaching out to the shoppers that initially lifted the lid on the problem. To hit two birds with one stone, award them with free entry for a restricted time and ask them to check the modifications. Who is aware of, possibly they’ll come again as soon as their free entry has expired.
Conclusion
Maybe you’ve heard of buyer exit surveys earlier than however by no means applied one. Possibly you’ve applied one with out additionally implementing a course of for learning the outcomes and making constructive modifications primarily based on them. Or possibly you’re a professional that’s continually on the lookout for methods to enhance their course of.
Regardless, I hope you took one thing away from this text. In case you have any suggestions of your individual you’d prefer to share, you are able to do so within the feedback beneath. Thanks for studying!
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