4 Ways HubSpot Can Help Decrease Customer Churn Rates

Unfortunately, in any business, customer churn is inevitable.  For one reason or another, companies decide they no longer need the product or service they’re currently paying for, and decide to cancel.  For reasons such as budgeting or a shift in company model, there isn’t much to do to combat this.  However, many companies find that the most common churns are from clients who are less engaged with the product or are in infrequent contact with your company.  This is certainly something that can be improved upon.  HubSpot’s tools make it easy to engage with your customers, keep them interested in your products and services and as an effect, help to decrease customer churn rates.

Here are 4 ways to use HubSpot to do just that:

1. Encourage cross-selling and upgrades through smart content: Existing customers often return back your site to see what’s new and read additional content.  For many businesses, there is a great opportunity for upgrades and sales of additional products.  Using HubSpot’s smart content tools, you can tailor information or calls-to-action on the site specifically for your customers.
   
   To take it a step further, we can adjust the text, images and use Smart CTA’s uniquely based on the product or subscription level the customer has.  This can help introduce new product offerings and additional services that the customer might not already know about.  Upgrades and new product sales are a very sustainable way to offset churn rates and increase monthly revenue.
   
   
2. Use Property-Based Workflows to be Proactive about Renewals and Expirations: For many companies, especially SaaS-based businesses, products are centered around a particular renewal or expiration date.  For those customers who are highly-engaged, there is little doubt that they will renew for another year.  Where it becomes less certain, is with the lower-usage, less-engaged set of customers.  As their renewal date approaches, there is less incentive to stay on, and they might cancel.  HubSpot’s workflows tool can easily remedy this issue.  
   
   Using a property-based workflow, your company can proactively reach out your clients throughout their subscription, alerting them of key dates and renewal information.  This outreach can be centered around their particular subscription date, uniquely providing them account information needed to re-up for another year.  If there is any confusion surrounding these next steps, they can easily reach out to their account manager or rep via the email itself.
   
   
3. Stay in Touch with Customers through Educational Lead Nurturing Campaigns: There is often a sentiment when it comes to customers that once they’ve paid and the sales process is over, contact with their account manager or rep diminishes.  As a company, one can argue that it makes more sense to focus attention on driving new business rather than spending time on already closed deals.  Although this is sometimes the case, it is necessary to show customers that they are still a priority and keep them engaged further.  
   
   Using HubSpot’s Lead Nurturing workflows, customers can be nurtured and provided additional information that is most useful to them.  Customers can be segmented by product or service level, job titles, or even when they became a customer initially.  By doing so, these customer can receive company updates, helpful documentation on new tools, and alerts for upcoming events.  All of which will keep customers engaged with your business as well as your products.
   
   
4. Build a Community through Blogs and Social Media:  If you ask customers what it is they like best about a company they do business with, often they will bring up the culture.  Of course, the products and services they provide have to be of high quality, but customers like to feel part of a community.  Take HubSpot for example.  Between user groups, annual conferences, and weekly webinars, customers feel a sense of belonging.  It’s important to build a similar community for your customers as well.  
   
   Use HubSpot to create a customer blog, featuring company information, product updates, and promote upcoming events.  Encouraging customers to subscribe to these updates keep them up to date with all company news.

   Additionally, social media can have a similar effect.  Make sure to follow your customers on social and invite them to groups that you manage.  Connecting with existing customers and contributing to a robust social calendar will build out a culture your customers won’t want to leave.

   The common theme here is communication.  Be sure to engage with your existing customers via email, content on your website, or social media channels.  Customers often churn as a result of little to no outreach from their account manager or client rep.  Be sure to use HubSpot’s tools to keep them up to date on company happenings, new product releases, as well as their renewal information.  This, in turn, will help to decrease churn rates.