{"id":2470,"date":"2023-06-07T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/138.197.200.24\/resources\/blog\/managing-customer-churn-during-covid-19\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T10:23:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T10:23:45","slug":"managing-customer-churn-during-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.smartkarrot.com\/resources\/blog\/managing-customer-churn-during-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Managing Churn During COVID-19: What Customer Success Can Do"},"content":{"rendered":"
Customer churn is one of the biggest fears for businesses focused on growth. Now, in the wake of a life-threatening pandemic, COVID-19 has given businesses a run for their money, to say the least. Managing churn during COVID-19 has become a prime necessity, more than ever before.<\/p>\n
It goes without saying that this pandemic has had an economic impact that could cause a sharp downturn in the SaaS industry. As a result,\u00a0customer success managers\u00a0are readying themselves for battle.<\/p>\n
According to a report published by\u00a0TSIA<\/a>, the pandemic is reducing consumer cash flow. This, in turn, will result in large churn rates, as more than 90% of customer value is driven from the recurring revenue.<\/p>\n But, could customer success be the answer to COVID-19?<\/em><\/p>\n Yes, it is.<\/p>\n Get ready. It\u2019s time to reprioritize your sales process. Investing in new customers is between\u00a05 and 25<\/a>\u00a0times more expensive than retaining existing ones. Plus, acquiring new customers amid a pandemic could be even tougher than you think. So, what should you do?<\/p>\n The answer is to retain your existing ones!<\/p>\n This is when recurring revenue\u00a0saves the day. As customer success managers, it\u2019s imperative to have a plan to recuperate losses in 2020. Here are some solutions that you can follow to embrace customer\u00a0retention<\/a>\u00a0and navigate through the current business landscape to make it to the other side:<\/p>\n You can turn this potential curse into a gift. This is your golden opportunity to win back customers on the verge of churning. In tough times like these, healthy and clear communication is invaluable. Don\u2019t let the pandemic cost you your relationship with your customers.<\/p>\n Reach out to them and regularly engage with them to ascertain if they need any assistance from you. Suggestions for better communications include:<\/p>\n One of the best practices during COVID-19 is offering customers help. Offer them discounts, if they have financial restraints, in order to avoid churn, for instance.<\/p>\n You can also offer 10 or 20% off renewals or free subscriptions for a specific period of time. If your customers are struggling financially, you can also offer pay deferments, allowing them to pay when the economy picks back up.<\/p>\n Additionally, you can always freeze or pause subscriptions. You can do this for a certain period until they have the means to continue subscribing. This also cuts down the hassle of re-onboarding<\/a>\u00a0them. Simply put, they can resume their subscriptions once they are able.<\/p>\n During the pandemic, customer success teams must have all of their strategies ready. It doesn\u2019t do you any good to plan for disasters after the fact.<\/p>\n You will want to come up with comprehensive business continuity plans and test them frequently. Despite the uncertainty, you should be ready to ramp up productivity.<\/p>\n Schedule meetings online on platforms such as\u00a0Zoom<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Microsoft Teams<\/a>, and have weekly discussions on how to combat the situation. Take up your employees\u2019 suggestions and review\u00a0succession plans<\/a>.<\/p>\n Interestingly, this is the time you need to spend more time listening to your customers and less time selling to them.<\/p>\n Remember, during times of crisis, they want to be heard, they want to know that you are there for them and they want to be understood.<\/p>\n Customer success teams that pay more attention to their customers will be in a better position to understand what they need, both as an individual and as a team.<\/p>\n Needless to say, customers during a crisis can hit a rough patch. In such tough times, it is a good idea to show empathy and be compassionate.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, as the pandemic cripples so many people, both financially and economically, churn will be unavoidable. In that case, how do you judge if a customer is about to churn?<\/p>\n1. Communicate and engage<\/h2>\n
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2. Offer discounts, deferments or pauses<\/strong><\/h2>\n
3. Predict future needs and plans<\/h2>\n
4. Empathy precedes sales<\/h2>\n
5. Organize data and alerts<\/strong><\/h2>\n