involve.me is a SaaS platform that enables users to create interactive forms, surveys, quizzes, and calculators. The platform aims to help businesses engage with their customers and collect valuable feedback.
Despite its advanced features, involve.me, like any SaaS product, experiences customer churn. In this case study, we’d like to share how we created a cancellation survey, the mistakes we made along the way, and how a cancellation survey helps us improve the service and reduce churn rates.
Why Cancellation Surveys Matter
Cancellation surveys help SaaS companies identify specific areas for improvement. Common reasons for churn often include poor product performance and inadequate customer support. Understanding these issues allows companies to make targeted improvements to their products.
Moreover, cancellation surveys can offer a competitive advantage by revealing what competitors might be doing better. Customers often switch to competitors for superior features or better service. This information is invaluable for SaaS companies looking to stay ahead.
The involve.me team created the cancellation survey using their own survey maker tool. Test it out by generating any kind of form, survey, or quiz on the spot:
Create your survey with AI
Just paste your URL & click generate
The Structure of the Cancellation Survey
The involve.me team initially had a completely different cancellation survey. Let me walk you through it.
The first question presented in a dropdown format asked why the customer decided to cancel their subscription. The available options included:
The first version of the cancellation survey
Based on their answer, customers would be redirected to a specific outcome page. For example, if they chose "my campaign just ended," they would be redirected to a page with a question about their campaign:
At the end of the survey, there was an invitation to schedule a call with an agent who could help answer questions about the product. The customer could choose a time slot that worked for them. If the customer chose "too expensive" as the reason for canceling, they would be redirected to a page with discounts.
While it included elements of personalization, the team developed a much better version of the cancellation survey to gather more insights. It now has only two questions:
Benefits of a Simple Cancellation Survey
Having just two open-ended questions in a SaaS cancellation survey is more beneficial than many questions with pre-designed answers for several reasons:
Simplicity: Short surveys are easier and quicker for customers to complete, leading to higher response rates.
Depth of insight: Open-ended questions allow customers to express their thoughts in their own words.
Unbiased responses: Without pre-designed answers, customers aren't limited or influenced by the options given. This can reveal insights that might be overlooked with closed questions.
Customer focus: Asking what made them cancel and what could make them reconsider shows that the company values their specific experience and is willing to listen and improve.
The involve.me team increased the response rate by 11% and gained more valuable insights into the product by restructuring the cancellation survey.
This doesn't mean that more customers started to cancel, but rather that more customers were eager to share their insights, this time through open-ended questions rather than just choosing from pre-designed answers.
Advanced Features and Customer Focus
As involve.me’s form and survey builder has matured, it now offers advanced features for enterprises, such as AI reports, email validation options, an AI text generator, and a formula builder. This evolution has also shifted our Ideal Customer Profile.
The updated cancellation survey reflects this change, as we aim to understand what features and capabilities businesses need to continue choosing involve.me as their preferred tool.
It's crucial that a cancellation survey page is designed with the customer in mind.
At involve.me, we've reworked this page to include calls-to-action for contacting support or downgrading before starting the survey. Also, an automatic live chat message from customer success (via Intercom) typically pops up, offering immediate assistance.
This approach aims to address customer concerns proactively and potentially retain users before they finalize their cancellation.
10 Tips to Improve Your Cancellation Survey
Keep it short and simple
Use a minimal number of questions to respect the customer's time.
Focus on open-ended questions to gather detailed feedback.
Ask the right questions
Include questions like "What made you cancel your subscription?" and "What could we do to make you reconsider?"
Design with the customer in mind
Ensure the survey page is user-friendly and easy to navigate.
Include calls-to-action for contacting support or downgrading before the survey starts.
Offer immediate assistance
Implement live chat support (e.g., Intercom) that pops up automatically to offer help and address issues in real-time. This can help retain some customers before they cancel their subscription.
Make it personal
Address the customer by name and customize the survey to their specific usage and experiences.
Provide incentives
Offer small incentives, such as discounts or gift cards, to encourage survey completion.
Analyze and act on feedback
Regularly review the survey responses to identify common themes and actionable insights. Use AI insights feature to summarize open feedback and generate key insights reports on the spot.
Implement changes based on feedback to improve the product and customer experience.
Follow up
Reach out to customers who provided feedback to let them know their input is valued and any actions taken based on their suggestions.
Test and iterate
Continuously test different survey formats and questions to see what yields the best response rates and insights.
Iterate based on findings to keep the survey relevant and effective.
Integrate with CRM
Sync survey data with your CRM to track feedback trends and correlate with customer behavior for deeper insights. Check out our article on how to connect forms and surveys to the CRM of your choice.
Final Words + Survey Templates
The cancellation survey offered valuable insights into the reasons behind subscription cancellations and pinpointed specific areas for improvement. By constantly analyzing and acting on this feedback, involve.me was able to make strategic changes that enhanced customer satisfaction and reduced churn rates.
Looking for a tool to create customer surveys for your company? Start with one of our pre-designed templates:
