Cancellation and Retention
'Pausing' a subscription
Currently, the only way to pause a customer's subscription is by changing their next bill date, by accessing their individual subscriptions page. To do this, navigate to the menu on the left-hand side and click 'Subscriptions' to access the Subscriptions Page.
Next, select the customer whose subscription you wish to pause and this will take you to their individual subscriptions page. Here, you will find a box on the right-hand side that contains the option to 'Change bill date'. For more information this, refer to the individual subscriptions documentation.
Here you will be able to change the date you would like the subscription to resume billing on - effectively pausing the subscription until the new bill date.
To have the subscription status display as 'Paused' simply select the 'Paused' status from the 'Status until new bill' drop-down.
If you select the 'Paused' subscription status when changing a bill date, the subscription will display as 'paused' until the new bill date.
Then the status is automatically changed back to 'Active' when the subscription is next billed.
'Paused' subscriptions
Please note that whilst a subscription's status is marked as 'Paused' you will not be able to refund an invoice for that customer. Instead, capture a negative one-time charge
Cancel
The 'Cancel' tab enables you to configure the cancellation journey for your customers when they cancel via the self-service cancellation tool. There are several sections available for edit in this tab including exit reasons, refund policy and retention steps.
Exit reasons
The 'Exit reasons' section handles the automated feedback response that will be shown to your customer when they cancel their subscription.
There are several default reasons pre-configured but you also have the option to add any additional exit reasons to fit your company's personality. To do this, simply type the exit reason in the space provided and click 'Add'.
To delete any of the exit reasons, select the red delete icon on the right-hand side of the box. Make sure to click 'Update exit reasons' after you've made any changes.
Refund policy
When a customer cancels their subscription through our self-service cancellation tool, you can decide what refund policy you'd like to apply. There are two options: to issue a pro-rated refund, or to not issue a refund.
What is proration?
Proration is a very simple concept which involves the adjustment of billing in accordance to the amount of time a product is used in accordance to the cycle it is sold in. Essentially, if you use something for less time than you're scheduled to use it for, you may be entitled to a price reduction and end up being charged only for the time you used it.
This is essentially what we mean when we refer to a prorated charge, or a prorated amount.
In a broader sense, proration involves any financial adjustments made to a customer's bill in accordance to any changes that were made within the course of their billing cycle.
Pro-rated refund
If you choose to issue a pro-rated refund, the customer will be refunded for the unused time between the day they canceled their subscription and the last day they paid for.
This is only relevant to you, however, if your company provides a continued service throughout the cycle. So, for example, if you offered a weekly cleaning service to be carried out on the first day of the week, you don't need to worry about pro-rated refunds as there is no additional service to refund for.
Retention steps
There are several retention steps to choose from. To make them appear in the self-service modal, simply click the toggle next to the one(s) you want, then make sure to click 'Update retention steps' once you've made any changes.
Help interrupt
The Help interrupt retention step aims to retain customers by offering them support. Here, you can direct your customers to support pages or provide them with contact information, such as a phone number or email address or any other additional information you may find to be beneficial.
To preview this step click the edit icon and this will take you to the preview page where you can add any additional information and preview how this retention step will look to your customers.
Remember to select 'Update help interrupt' after you've made any changes.
Reasons to stay
The Reasons to stay retention step encourages customers to continue with their subscription by reminding them why they chose your product in the first place.
To preview this step click the edit icon and this will take you to the preview page where you can add any lines of text that reflect your company's personality and preview how this retention step will look to your customers.
Remember to select 'Update Reasons to stay' after you've made any changes.
Time remaining
The time remaining retention step reminds customers of the time they have paid for and will be losing by cancelling their subscription.
To preview this step click the edit icon and this will take you to the preview page where you can edit the text your customer will see in the reminder and preview how this retention step will look to your customers.
Remember to select 'Update Time remaining' after you've made any changes.
Plan change
The Plan change retention step gives customers who attempt to cancel their subscription the option to switch to an alternate plan, rather than cancelling their subscription altogether.
To preview this step click the edit icon and this will take you to the preview page where you can edit the text your customer will see and preview how this retention step will look to your customers.
Remember to select 'Update Plan change' after you've made any changes.
Apply discount
The Apply discount retention step offers customers who attempt to cancel their subscription a discount and/or promotion as incentive to stay.
To preview this step click the edit icon and this will take you to the preview page where you can determine the size and length of the discount or promotion and preview how this retention step will look to your customers.
You also have the ability to customise whether the discount is applicable to all customers, or just those who have held subscriptions for a designated amount of time by setting a minimum tenure.
Please note that you need to set up the discount by clicking on the edit icon and configuring the amount you would like the discount to be, otherwise the toggle will not stay on when saved.
Remember to select 'Update Apply discount' after you've made any changes.
Updated about 3 years ago