Episode 6 - Summary of the Previous 5 Episodes

Welcome to the sixth episode of the Retention Blueprint. This newsletter promises to transform your retention impact in just 5 minutes per week, providing digestible retention content that adds value every time. 

Since launching the Retention Blueprint in early June, the subscriber base has grown tenfold, which is awesome ♥️.  

However, the downside is that many subscribers will have missed earlier episodes. Therefore, this episode aims to provide a high-level guide to the previous five episodes. Read the description and then click the link to read the full episode on the retention coach website. 

Episode 1 - Where to Focus Customer Retention Efforts 

While working within and consulting with subscription brands, one of the key challenges I have observed is a real lack of understanding of where to focus retention efforts. There can be a desire to optimize all customer interactions for all customer types and this would be fine with infinite resources, but I have never encountered an organization that has infinite resources.  The key challenge is knowing where to focus retention efforts to drive the P&L impact that c-suite demand. Focussing on the right customers at the right moments is key to retention-led growth. A case study from Amazon Prime exemplifies this strategy.

Episode 2 - Customer Love = Growth 

In this episode, we explore how NPS is often mismeasured. To be a genuinely valid view of customer happiness, NPS needs to be conducted by a third party, double-blinded, validated, and competitively benchmarked. The episode explores how, when correctly measured, NPS can be a really accurate barometer of customer happiness, before exploring how and why customer love drives growth with a case study from T-Mobile.

Episode 3 - The 3 Most Important Metrics 

This episode focuses on retention measurement and the common pitfalls brands face, such as focusing on short-term metrics or mismeasuring CLV. Only three metrics truly matter for effective retention: churn rates, Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), and incrementality. Properly analysing churn rates by tenure, cohort, and value is crucial for understanding business health. Accurate CLV measurement, which should be forward-looking and predictive, is essential for justifying retention actions. Incrementality helps gauge the true impact of retention initiatives. By focusing on these metrics, you can drive growth and profitability through improved retention strategies.

Episode 4 - The Importance of Early Life Retention

Given churn by volume is often concentrated in the first 90 days (often 50%+ of total churn) if you focus on that stage of the lifecycle, you can dramatically reduce overall churn. In this episode, we explore, 6 key principles and accompanying strategies that can improve early-life retention through onboarding programs.

Episode 5 - The Retention-Acquisition Connection 

A 5% reduction in churn can drive between a 25%-95% improvement in profitability.  In this episode, we explore how exceeding retention targets can significantly enhance profitability. The episode includes a case study from First Gulf Bank, for whom 82% of deposit growth was achieved with zero acquisition marketing spend. Finally, we wrap up by shining a light on how CLV, a powerful, but often overlooked tool, can be used to drive more efficient and more valuable customer acquisition.