# Churn Prevention Playbook > Creates churn prevention playbooks with early warning indicators, intervention sequences, and save offer strategies. Use when reducing customer churn in subscription businesses. - Skill: `reaperinvest/churn-prevention-playbook` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add reaperinvest/churn-prevention-playbook` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/reaperinvest/churn-prevention-playbook/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Marketing & Growth - Author: reaperinvest (https://skillmd.com/u/reaperinvest) - Updated: 2026-09-22 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/reaperinvest/churn-prevention-playbook --- # Churn Prevention Playbook ## When to Use This Skill Use this skill when you need to: - Build a systematic churn prevention strategy for a subscription business - Identify early warning signals that predict customer cancellation - Design intervention sequences to save at-risk accounts - Create save offers and retention playbooks for support teams **DO NOT** use this skill for win-back campaigns (post-churn), customer acquisition strategies, or pricing restructuring. This is for preventing active customers from leaving. --- ## Core Principle CHURN PREVENTION STARTS 60 DAYS BEFORE THE CANCELLATION CLICK — BY THE TIME A CUSTOMER ASKS TO CANCEL, YOU HAVE ALREADY LOST MOST OF THE BATTLE. --- ## Phase 1: Brief ### Required Inputs | Input | What to Ask | Default | |-------|------------|---------| | **Product type** | "What is your subscription product?" | No default — must be provided | | **Current churn rate** | "What is your monthly churn rate?" | Unknown — estimate from available data | | **Billing cycle** | "Monthly, annual, or both?" | Monthly | | **Top cancellation reasons** | "Why do customers say they leave? Top 3 reasons." | No default — critical input | | **Customer segments** | "Do you have different customer tiers or segments?" | Single tier | | **Current retention efforts** | "What do you currently do to prevent churn?" | Nothing systematic | **GATE: Confirm the brief before building the playbook.** --- ## Phase 2: Plan ### Early Warning System Define 5-8 behavioral signals that predict churn: ``` ## Early Warning Indicators | Signal | Risk Level | Detection Window | |--------|-----------|-----------------| | Login frequency drops 50%+ | High | 14 days | | Key feature usage stops | High | 7 days | | Support tickets increase 3x | Medium | 30 days | | Payment failure (no update) | High | Immediate | | Team seats decrease | Medium | Billing cycle | | Downgrade inquiry | High | Immediate | | NPS score drops below 6 | Medium | Survey cycle | | No login for 14+ days | Critical | 14 days | ``` ### Risk Scoring Model Create a simple scoring framework: - **Green (0-2 signals):** Healthy — standard engagement - **Yellow (3-4 signals):** At risk — trigger proactive outreach - **Red (5+ signals):** High risk — immediate intervention **GATE: Confirm warning indicators and risk levels before designing interventions.** --- ## Phase 3: Write ### Intervention Playbook For each risk level, define the response: **Yellow — Proactive Engagement:** - Automated email: "We noticed you haven't used [feature] recently. Here's a quick tip..." - In-app message highlighting underused features - Customer success check-in (if high-value account) **Red — Active Retention:** - Personal email from founder or CS lead - Offer a 15-minute strategy call - Share a customer success story relevant to their use case - Present a save offer (see Save Offer Menu below) **Cancellation Page — Last Resort:** - Exit survey (required, 3 questions max) - Save offer based on stated reason - Downgrade option instead of full cancellation - Pause subscription option (30/60/90 days) ### Save Offer Menu Design offers matched to cancellation reasons: | Reason | Save Offer | Terms | |--------|-----------|-------| | Too expensive | Discount (20-30% for 3 months) | One-time, non-renewable | | Not using it enough | Free strategy call + usage guide | Within 7 days | | Missing a feature | Roadmap preview + beta access | Feature ETA required | | Switching to competitor | Match competitor pricing or feature | Case-by-case | | Business closing | Pause subscription | Up to 90 days | ### Email Templates Write 3 core retention emails: 1. **Check-in email** — friendly, value-focused, no mention of churn 2. **Re-engagement email** — highlight a feature they have not tried 3. **Save email** — direct, empathetic, includes a specific offer --- ## Phase 4: Polish ### 1. Metrics Framework ``` ## Churn Prevention Metrics - **Monthly churn rate:** Track month-over-month trend - **Save rate:** % of at-risk accounts retained after intervention - **Intervention response rate:** % of at-risk users who engage with outreach - **Save offer acceptance rate:** % who accept a retention offer - **Time to churn signal:** Average days between first warning signal and cancellation - **Reactivation rate:** % of paused accounts that resume ``` ### 2. Team Playbook Card Create a quick-reference card for support/CS teams: - Risk signals to watch for - Approved save offers and their limits - Escalation path for high-value accounts - Scripts for common cancellation conversations ### 3. Quality Checklist ``` ## Churn Prevention Checklist - [ ] 5-8 early warning indicators defined with detection windows - [ ] Risk scoring model has clear thresholds (green/yellow/red) - [ ] Intervention sequence exists for each risk level - [ ] Save offers are matched to specific cancellation reasons - [ ] Cancellation page includes exit survey, save offer, and pause option - [ ] 3 retention email templates are written - [ ] Metrics framework tracks save rate and intervention effectiveness - [ ] Support team has a quick-reference playbook card - [ ] Save offers have clear terms and limits (not unlimited discounts) ``` --- ## Example **Product:** Social media scheduling SaaS, $29/month **Churn rate:** 8% monthly **Top reasons:** Too expensive, not posting enough to justify it, switched to free tool **Check-in email excerpt:** "Hey [Name], I noticed you scheduled 3 posts this month — down from 12 last month. Quick tip: our new batch scheduling feature lets you plan a full week in under 10 minutes. Here is a 2-minute walkthrough. [Watch Video]" **Save offer for "too expensive":** "I get it — every dollar matters when you are running your own business. I can offer you 3 months at $19/month (35% off) while you evaluate the ROI. No strings — if it is still not working after 3 months, cancel with one click." --- ## Anti-Patterns - **Discounting everyone** — save offers for price-sensitive churners only. Usage-based churners need value, not discounts. - **Ignoring the warning signals** — waiting until cancellation to act is too late. Intervene at yellow, not red. - **Generic "We miss you" emails** — reference specific behavior or features. Generic emails feel automated and impersonal. - **No exit survey** — if you do not know why people leave, you cannot fix the product. Always collect the reason. - **Unlimited save offers** — one discount per customer, with clear terms. Otherwise you train customers to threaten cancellation for discounts. --- ## Recovery - **No churn data exists:** Start with an exit survey on the cancellation page. Collect 30 days of data before building the full playbook. - **Churn rate is unknown:** Calculate from billing data: (customers lost this month / customers at start of month) x 100. - **Too few customers for patterns:** Use qualitative interviews with 5-10 recent churners. Their stories reveal the signals data cannot show yet. - **Team too small for manual outreach:** Automate the yellow-tier interventions. Reserve manual effort for red-tier and high-value accounts only.