wizz-method 1.0.2 → 1.1.0

package/src/skills-lib/churn-prevention/references/cancel-flow-patterns.md

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+# Cancel Flow Patterns
+
+Detailed cancel flow patterns by business type, billing provider, and industry.
+
+---
+
+## Cancel Flow by Business Type
+
+### B2C / Self-Serve SaaS
+
+High volume, low touch. The flow must work without human intervention.
+
+**Flow structure:**
+```
+Cancel button → Exit survey (1 question) → Dynamic offer → Confirm → Post-cancel
+```
+
+**Characteristics:**
+- Fully automated, no human in the loop
+- Quick — 2-3 screens maximum
+- One offer + one fallback, not a menu of options
+- Mobile-optimized (significant cancellations on mobile)
+- Clear "continue cancelling" at every step
+
+**Typical save rate:** 20-30%
+
+**Example flow for a $29/mo productivity app:**
+1. "What's the main reason?" → 6 options
+2. Selected "Too expensive" → "Get 25% off for 3 months (save $21.75)"
+3. Declined → "Or switch to our Starter plan at $12/mo"
+4. Declined → "We're sorry to see you go. Your access continues until [date]."
+
+---
+
+### B2B / Team Plans
+
+Lower volume, higher stakes. Personal outreach is worth the cost.
+
+**Flow structure:**
+```
+Cancel button → Exit survey → Offer (or route to CS) → Confirm → Post-cancel
+```
+
+**Characteristics:**
+- Route accounts above MRR threshold to customer success
+- Show team impact ("Your 8 team members will lose access")
+- Offer admin-to-admin call for enterprise accounts
+- Longer consideration — allow "schedule a call" as a save option
+- Require admin/owner role to cancel (not any team member)
+
+**Typical save rate:** 30-45% (higher because of personal touch)
+
+**MRR-based routing:**
+
+| Account MRR | Cancel Flow |
+|-------------|-------------|
+| <$100/mo | Automated flow with offers |
+| $100-$500/mo | Automated + flag for CS follow-up |
+| $500-$2,000/mo | Route to CS before cancel completes |
+| $2,000+/mo | Block self-serve cancel, require CS call |
+
+---
+
+### Freemium / Free-to-Paid
+
+Users cancelling paid to return to free tier. Different psychology — they're not leaving, they're downgrading.
+
+**Flow structure:**
+```
+Cancel button → "Switch to Free?" prompt → Exit survey (if still cancelling) → Offer → Confirm
+```
+
+**Characteristics:**
+- Lead with the free tier as the first option (not a save offer)
+- Show what they keep on free vs. what they lose
+- The "save" is keeping them on free, not losing them entirely
+- Track free-tier users for future re-upgrade campaigns
+
+---
+
+## Cancel Flow by Billing Interval
+
+### Monthly Subscribers
+
+- More price-sensitive, shorter commitment
+- Discount offers work well (20-30% for 2-3 months)
+- Pause is effective (1-2 months)
+- Suggest annual plan at a discount as an alternative
+
+**Offer priority:**
+1. Discount (if reason = price)
+2. Pause (if reason = not using / temporary)
+3. Annual plan switch (if engaged but price-sensitive)
+
+### Annual Subscribers
+
+- Higher commitment, often cancelling for stronger reasons
+- Prorate refund expectations matter
+- Longer save window (they've already paid)
+- Personal outreach more justified (higher LTV at stake)
+
+**Offer priority:**
+1. Pause remainder of term (if temporary)
+2. Plan adjustment + credit for next renewal
+3. Personal outreach from CS
+4. Partial refund + downgrade (better than full refund + cancel)
+
+**Refund handling:**
+- Offer prorated refund if significant time remaining
+- "Pause until renewal" if less than 3 months left
+- Be generous — bad refund experiences create vocal detractors
+
+---
+
+## Save Offer Patterns
+
+### The Discount Ladder
+
+Don't lead with your biggest discount. Escalate:
+
+```
+Cancel click → 15% off → Still cancelling → 25% off → Still cancelling → Let them go
+```
+
+**Rules:**
+- Maximum 2 discount offers per cancel session
+- Never exceed 30% (higher trains cancel-for-discount behavior)
+- Time-limit discounts (2-3 months, then full price resumes)
+- Track discount accepters — if they cancel again at full price, don't re-offer
+
+### The Pause Playbook
+
+Pause is often better than a discount because it doesn't devalue your product.
+
+**Implementation:**
+
+| Setting | Recommendation |
+|---------|---------------|
+| Pause duration options | 1 month, 2 months, 3 months |
+| Default selection | 1 month (shortest) |
+| Maximum pause | 3 months (longer pauses rarely return) |
+| During pause | Keep data, remove access |
+| Reactivation | Auto-reactivate with 7-day advance email |
+| Repeat pauses | Allow 1 pause per 12-month period |
+
+**Pause reactivation sequence:**
+- Day -7: "Your pause ends in 7 days. We've been busy — here's what's new."
+- Day -1: "Welcome back tomorrow! Here's what's waiting for you."
+- Day 0: "You're back! Here's a quick tour of what's new."
+
+### The Downgrade Path
+
+For multi-plan products, downgrade is the strongest save:
+
+```
+┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
+│  Before you go, what about right-sizing │
+│  your plan?                             │
+│                                         │
+│  Current: Pro ($49/mo)                  │
+│                                         │
+│  ┌─────────────────────────────────┐    │
+│  │ Switch to Starter ($19/mo)      │    │
+│  │                                 │    │
+│  │ ✓ Keep: Projects, integrations  │    │
+│  │ ✗ Lose: Advanced analytics,     │    │
+│  │         team features           │    │
+│  │                                 │    │
+│  │ [Switch to Starter]             │    │
+│  └─────────────────────────────────┘    │
+│                                         │
+│  [No thanks, continue cancelling]       │
+└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
+```
+
+**Downgrade best practices:**
+- Show exactly what they keep and what they lose
+- Use checkmarks and X marks for scanability
+- Preserve their data even on the lower plan
+- If they downgrade, don't show upgrade prompts for at least 30 days
+
+### The Competitor Switch Handler
+
+When the cancel reason is "switching to competitor":
+
+1. **Ask which competitor** (optional, don't force it)
+2. **Show a comparison** if you have one (see competitor-alternatives skill)
+3. **Offer a migration credit** ("We'll match their price for 3 months")
+4. **Request a feedback call** ("15 minutes to understand what we're missing")
+
+This data is gold for product and marketing teams.
+
+---
+
+## Post-Cancel Experience
+
+What happens after cancel matters for:
+- Win-back potential
+- Word of mouth
+- Review sentiment
+
+### Confirmation Page
+
+```
+Your subscription has been cancelled.
+
+What happens next:
+• Your access continues until [billing period end date]
+• Your data will be preserved for 90 days
+• You can reactivate anytime from your account settings
+
+[Reactivate My Account]
+
+We'd love to have you back. We'll keep improving based on feedback
+from customers like you.
+```
+
+### Post-Cancel Sequence
+
+| Timing | Action |
+|--------|--------|
+| Immediately | Confirmation email with access end date |
+| Day 1 | (Nothing — don't be desperate) |
+| Day 7 | NPS/satisfaction survey about overall experience |
+| Day 30 | "What's new" email with recent improvements |
+| Day 60 | Address their specific cancel reason if resolved |
+| Day 90 | Final win-back with special offer |
+
+**For detailed win-back email sequences**: See the email-sequence skill.
+
+---
+
+## Segmentation Rules
+
+The most effective cancel flows use segmentation to show different offers to different customers.
+
+### Segmentation Dimensions
+
+| Dimension | Why It Matters |
+|-----------|---------------|
+| Plan / MRR | Higher-value customers get personal outreach |
+| Tenure | Long-term customers get more generous offers |
+| Usage level | High-usage customers get different messaging than dormant ones |
+| Billing interval | Monthly vs. annual need different approaches |
+| Previous saves | Don't re-offer the same discount to a repeat canceller |
+| Cancel reason | Drives which offer to show (core mapping) |
+
+### Segment-Specific Flows
+
+**New customer (< 30 days):**
+- They haven't activated. The save is onboarding, not discounts.
+- Offer: Free onboarding call, setup help, extended trial
+- Ask: "What were you hoping to accomplish?" (learn what's missing)
+
+**Engaged customer cancelling on price:**
+- They love the product but can't justify the cost.
+- Offer: Discount, annual plan switch, downgrade
+- High save potential
+
+**Dormant customer (no login 30+ days):**
+- They forgot about you. A discount won't bring them back.
+- Offer: Pause subscription, "what changed?" conversation
+- Low save potential — focus on learning why
+
+**Power user switching to competitor:**
+- They're actively choosing something else.
+- Offer: Competitive match, feedback call, roadmap preview
+- Medium save potential — depends on reason
+
+---
+
+## Implementation Checklist
+
+### Phase 1: Foundation (Week 1)
+- [ ] Add cancel flow (survey + 1 offer + confirmation)
+- [ ] Set up exit survey with 5-7 reason categories
+- [ ] Map one offer per reason (simple 1:1 mapping)
+- [ ] Track cancel reasons and save rate in analytics
+- [ ] Enable pre-dunning card expiry emails
+
+### Phase 2: Optimization (Weeks 2-4)
+- [ ] Add fallback offers (primary + secondary per reason)
+- [ ] Implement pause subscription option
+- [ ] Set up dunning email sequence (4 emails over 10 days)
+- [ ] Enable smart retries (Stripe Smart Retries or equivalent)
+- [ ] Add MRR-based routing for high-value accounts
+
+### Phase 3: Advanced (Month 2+)
+- [ ] Build health score from usage signals
+- [ ] Set up proactive intervention triggers
+- [ ] A/B test discount amounts and offer types
+- [ ] Segment flows by plan, tenure, and usage
+- [ ] Post-cancel win-back sequence (coordinate with email-sequence skill)
+- [ ] Cohort analysis: churn by channel, plan, tenure
+
+---
+
+## Compliance Notes
+
+### FTC Click-to-Cancel Rule (US)
+- Cancellation must be as easy as signup
+- Cannot require a phone call to cancel if signup was online
+- Cannot add excessive steps to discourage cancellation
+- Save offers are allowed but "continue cancelling" must be clear
+
+### GDPR / Data Retention (EU)
+- Inform users about data retention period post-cancel
+- Offer data export before account deletion
+- Honor deletion requests within 30 days
+- Don't use post-cancel data for marketing without consent
+
+### General Best Practices
+- Always show a clear path to complete cancellation
+- Never hide the cancel button (dark pattern)
+- Process cancellation even if save flow has errors
+- Confirm cancellation with email receipt