What is Customer Churn?
Customer churn, also known as customer attrition, refers to the percentage of customers that stopped using a company's product or service during a defined period. It's a crucial metric as it's often more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one.
A high churn rate could indicate customer dissatisfaction, cheaper and/or better offers from competitors, or the success of a product or service coming to its natural end. Calculating churn rate helps businesses identify potential issues in their offerings or customer service.
What is Customer Churn Rate?
Customer churn rate is defined as the % of a company's total customers that stop doing business with the company over a specified period. No matter what you sell, customer churn is one of the most impactful metrics for companies because it's the ultimate measure of customer happiness.
How to calculate Customer Churn Rate?
To identify your company's churn rate, choose a period you want to measure the following values: Number of customers at the start of the period(X) Number of customers lost during that period(Y) Customer churn rate (Z):
(Y/X) *100 = Z
For example, if a business had 100 existing customers at the start of the month and lost 20 customers by the end of the month, it would divide 20 into 100 and get .05, or 5 percent. This means the company had a monthly churn rate of 5 percent.
Why is Customer Churn Rate important?
Lost customers equal missed revenue. If a company fails enough customers, it can have a severe impact on revenue. It is also significant because it costs more to acquire new customers than to retain existing customers. Companies that lose customers to churn aren't just losing the revenue from those customers, but they're also stuck with the high cost of finding new customers. It's critical to understand customer churn rate, customer happiness and focus on their loyal customers to maximize their customer retention rate.
Churn matters for several reasons:
Revenue Loss: Churn directly impacts a company's revenue. Losing customers means losing recurring revenue from subscriptions or repeat purchases.
Increased Acquisition Costs: Acquiring a new customer is often more expensive than retaining an existing one. With high churn, a company must continually invest in customer acquisition to maintain its customer base.
Lost Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV): Churn reduces the total revenue a company can earn from a customer over the entirety of their relationship.
Negative Word of Mouth: Dissatisfied customers are more likely to share negative experiences with others, potentially deterring potential customers.
Company Valuation and Growth: High churn rates can decrease the perceived value of a company, making it less attractive to investors and stakeholders.
Operational Inefficiency: Constantly replacing lost customers diverts resources from growth initiatives to acquisition efforts.
Lost Opportunities for Upselling and Cross-selling: Retained customers often have a higher propensity to buy additional products or upgrade their existing services.
Decreased Competitive Advantage: High churn can signal underlying issues in a company's offerings, allowing competitors to capitalize on those weaknesses.
Feedback Loop Breakdown: Loyal customers provide valuable feedback. Churn breaks this feedback loop, making it harder for companies to adapt and innovate based on user needs.
Reduced Market Share: Over time, high churn rates can result in a declining market share, especially if competitors have lower churn rates.
What drives Customer Churn?
Several factors drive customer churn, including:
Product or Service Dissatisfaction: If the product or service does not meet a customer's expectations or is inferior to competitors, they might leave.
Poor Customer Service: Negative experiences with support teams, delayed response times, or unresolved issues can push customers away.
Price: An increase in prices or perception of not receiving value for the price can cause customers to churn, especially if competitors offer similar services at a lower cost.
Onboarding Experience: A complicated or unclear onboarding process can frustrate new users, causing them to abandon the product early.
Lack of Ongoing Customer Engagement: Without regular engagement or updates, customers may feel neglected and look elsewhere.
Product Complexity: If a product is too complex and users can't easily understand or use its main features, they might switch to a more user-friendly alternative.
Economic Factors: During economic downturns, customers might cut costs, leading them to cancel certain services or subscriptions.
Availability of Alternatives: As new competitors enter the market or existing ones improve their offerings, customers might be tempted to switch.
Mismatch of Expectations: Sometimes, the way a product is marketed might not align with its actual capabilities, leading to disillusioned customers.
Changes in Customer Needs: Over time, a customer's needs or preferences might change, rendering a product or service less relevant to them.