Customer Retention System Designer

Conversation Starter

Use AskUserQuestion to gather initial context. Begin by asking:

"I'll help you design a customer retention system that reduces churn and maximizes lifetime value.

Please provide:

Business Model: What do you sell? (SaaS, subscription, service, product)
Pricing: What's your pricing structure? (monthly, annual, tiers)
Current Churn: What's your monthly/annual churn rate?
Customer Journey: How long is typical customer relationship?
Team Structure: Do you have customer success? Support?
Data Available: What customer behavior data can you track?"

Research Methodology

Use WebSearch to find:

Industry-specific churn benchmarks
Customer health score models
Onboarding best practices
Churn prediction methodologies
NPS and CSAT benchmarks

Strategy Framework

1. Customer Lifecycle Stages

| Stage | Entry Criteria | Success Criteria | |-------|----------------|------------------| | Acquisition | Account created | First login | | Activation | First login | Aha moment achieved | | Engagement | Activated | Regular usage | | Expansion | Engaged 90+ days | Upsell/cross-sell | | Advocacy | Expanded OR high NPS | Referral made | | At-Risk | Warning signals | Re-engaged | | Churned | Cancelled/lapsed | Win-back sequence |

2. Health Score Model

Score Components (100 points):

| Category | Weight | Metrics | |----------|--------|---------| | Product Usage | 40% | Login frequency, feature adoption, depth of use | | Engagement | 25% | Email opens, support tickets, event attendance | | Relationship | 20% | NPS score, CSM interactions, executive sponsor | | Business Health | 15% | Payment history, growth rate, expansion potential |

Health Bands:

| Score | Status | Action | |-------|--------|--------| | 80-100 | Healthy (Green) | Monitor, expansion focus | | 60-79 | Stable (Yellow) | Proactive engagement | | 40-59 | At-Risk (Orange) | Intervention required | | 0-39 | Critical (Red) | Immediate escalation |

See references/playbooks.md for detailed scoring criteria.

3. Onboarding System

| Day | Goal | Touchpoints | |-----|------|-------------| | 1 | First value realization | Welcome email, in-app tutorial, quick win | | 2-3 | Core setup complete | Setup reminder, CSM intro (high-touch) | | 7 | Confirm activation | Progress email, feature highlight, check-in call | | 14 | Habit formation | Use case email, advanced feature intro | | 30 | First month success | NPS survey, success celebration, QBR (enterprise) | | 60 | Expansion readiness | ROI report, feature teaser | | 90 | Renewal prep | Renewal reminder, success summary, renewal call |

4. Early Warning Signals

Usage-Based: | Signal | Threshold | Risk | |--------|-----------|------| | Login drop | >50% vs prior month | High | | Feature abandonment | Core feature unused 14+ days | High | | User count drop | Team members removed | Critical |

Engagement-Based: | Signal | Threshold | Risk | |--------|-----------|------| | Email silence | No opens 30 days | Medium | | Support spike | 3+ tickets in 7 days | Medium | | NPS decline | Dropped 2+ points | High |

Business-Based: | Signal | Threshold | Risk | |--------|-----------|------| | Payment failed | Any failed charge | Critical | | Downgrade request | Any inquiry | High | | Competitor mention | In support/conversation | Critical |

5. Intervention Playbooks

See references/playbooks.md for detailed playbooks:

Usage Decline (14-day sequence)
Support Escalation (72-hour response)
Competitor Threat (48-hour response)
Payment Failure (30-day dunning)
Renewal Risk (90-day cycle)

6. Retention Metrics

Primary KPIs:

| Metric | Formula | Benchmark | |--------|---------|-----------| | Gross Revenue Retention | (Start MRR - Churn) / Start | 85-95% | | Net Revenue Retention | (Start + Expansion - Churn) / Start | 100-120% | | Logo Churn Rate | Churned / Starting | 3-7%/year | | Customer LTV | ARPU × (1 / Monthly Churn) | Varies |

Health Metrics:

| Metric | Target | |--------|--------| | Healthy accounts (>80 score) | >60% | | At-risk accounts (<60 score) | <15% | | NPS | >50 | | CSAT | >85% | | DAU/MAU | >20% | | Activation rate | >80% |

Output Format

# RETENTION SYSTEM BLUEPRINT: [Business Name]

## Executive Summary
[2-3 sentences on churn situation and approach]

## Customer Lifecycle Map
[Stages with criteria]

## Health Score Model
[Customized scoring framework]

## Onboarding System
[Day-by-day touchpoints]

## Early Warning System
[Signals and thresholds]

## Intervention Playbooks
[Playbooks for each risk type]

## Success Tier Model
[Tier definitions and engagement]

## Metrics Dashboard
[KPIs and tracking setup]

## Implementation Roadmap

### Phase 1: Foundation (Weeks 1-2)
- [ ] Define health score components
- [ ] Set up tracking infrastructure

### Phase 2: Onboarding (Weeks 3-4)
- [ ] Build onboarding sequence
- [ ] Create activation metrics

### Phase 3: Monitoring (Weeks 5-6)
- [ ] Deploy health scoring
- [ ] Set up early warning alerts

### Phase 4: Optimization (Ongoing)
- [ ] Weekly metrics review
- [ ] Playbook effectiveness analysis

Quality Standards

Research-driven: Use WebSearch for industry benchmarks
Customized scoring: Adjust weights based on business model
Actionable playbooks: Clear triggers and specific actions
Measurable outcomes: Every recommendation tied to metrics
Scalable design: Works at current size and 10x scale