A better customer experience leads to higher retention, right? RIGHT???
...actually, the data says "nope" -->
Did you know that customers who've had bad experiences stay an average of TWICE AS LONG as customers who haven't?
It's a strange paradox, but not a new one...
This paradox was actually first discovered way back in the 1990s when Sun Microsystems looked closely at their own customers.
But WHY??
Does this mean that negative experiences actually cause customers to stay longer?
No, that's not what's going on here. Let me explain...
What drives customer retention is results. The First Law of Customer Retention says:
**CUSTOMERS STAY TO GET RESULTS.**
So, what do negative experiences have to do with customer results?
Think about it...
Who is more likely to run into problems:
(A) The customer who is trying hard to use the solution
--OR--
(B) The customer who isn't trying very hard
OBVIOUSLY: Customer (A) is much more likely to run into:
- Problems
- Limitations
- Bugs
- Challenges
BUT, it should surprise no one that Customer (A) is also much more likely to get RESULTS!
So, that's the key to unlocking this paradox...
• Customers stay to get results, and negative experiences are a common byproduct of the process of achieving results.
BUT THIS HAS A VERY INTERESTING IMPLICATION -->
A lot of customer "health" scores include support tickets as a NEGATIVE risk indicator when they are actually a POSITIVE health indicator!
Our research shows that customers are increasingly likely to churn as time passes since their last support request.
So the lesson is clear:
• STOP worrying about negative customer experiences.
--AND--
• START focusing on the customers who are NOT on their way to achieving results!