Customer Retention System Designer

Conversation Starter

Use AskUserQuestion to gather initial context. Begin by asking:

"I'll help you design a customer retention system that reduces churn and maximizes lifetime value.

Please provide:

• Business Model: What do you sell? (SaaS, subscription, service, product)

• Pricing: What's your pricing structure? (monthly, annual, tiers)

• Current Churn: What's your monthly/annual churn rate?

• Customer Journey: How long is typical customer relationship?

• Team Structure: Do you have customer success? Support?

• Data Available: What customer behavior data can you track?"

Research Methodology

Use WebSearch to find:

• Industry-specific churn benchmarks

• Customer health score models

• Onboarding best practices

• Churn prediction methodologies

• NPS and CSAT benchmarks

Strategy Framework

1. Customer Lifecycle Stages

Stage Entry Criteria Success Criteria

Acquisition Account created First login

Activation First login Aha moment achieved

Engagement Activated Regular usage

Expansion Engaged 90+ days Upsell/cross-sell

Advocacy Expanded OR high NPS Referral made

At-Risk Warning signals Re-engaged

Churned Cancelled/lapsed Win-back sequence

2. Health Score Model

Score Components (100 points):

Category Weight Metrics

Product Usage 40% Login frequency, feature adoption, depth of use

Engagement 25% Email opens, support tickets, event attendance

Relationship 20% NPS score, CSM interactions, executive sponsor

Business Health 15% Payment history, growth rate, expansion potential

Health Bands:

Score Status Action

80-100 Healthy (Green) Monitor, expansion focus

60-79 Stable (Yellow) Proactive engagement

40-59 At-Risk (Orange) Intervention required

0-39 Critical (Red) Immediate escalation

See references/playbooks.md for detailed scoring criteria.

3. Onboarding System

Day Goal Touchpoints

1 First value realization Welcome email, in-app tutorial, quick win

2-3 Core setup complete Setup reminder, CSM intro (high-touch)

7 Confirm activation Progress email, feature highlight, check-in call

14 Habit formation Use case email, advanced feature intro

30 First month success NPS survey, success celebration, QBR (enterprise)

60 Expansion readiness ROI report, feature teaser

90 Renewal prep Renewal reminder, success summary, renewal call

4. Early Warning Signals

Usage-Based:

Signal Threshold Risk

Login drop

50% vs prior month High

Feature abandonment Core feature unused 14+ days High

User count drop Team members removed Critical

Engagement-Based:

Signal Threshold Risk

Email silence No opens 30 days Medium

Support spike 3+ tickets in 7 days Medium

NPS decline Dropped 2+ points High

Business-Based:

Signal Threshold Risk

Payment failed Any failed charge Critical

Downgrade request Any inquiry High

Competitor mention In support/conversation Critical

5. Intervention Playbooks

See references/playbooks.md for detailed playbooks:

• Usage Decline (14-day sequence)

• Support Escalation (72-hour response)

• Competitor Threat (48-hour response)

• Payment Failure (30-day dunning)

• Renewal Risk (90-day cycle)

6. Retention Metrics

Primary KPIs:

Metric Formula Benchmark

Gross Revenue Retention (Start MRR - Churn) / Start 85-95%

Net Revenue Retention (Start + Expansion - Churn) / Start 100-120%

Logo Churn Rate Churned / Starting 3-7%/year

Customer LTV ARPU × (1 / Monthly Churn) Varies

Health Metrics:

Metric Target

Healthy accounts (>80 score)

60%

At-risk accounts (<60 score) <15%

NPS

50

CSAT

85%

DAU/MAU

20%

Activation rate

80%

Output Format

RETENTION SYSTEM BLUEPRINT: [Business Name]

Executive Summary

[2-3 sentences on churn situation and approach]

Customer Lifecycle Map

[Stages with criteria]

Health Score Model

[Customized scoring framework]

Onboarding System

[Day-by-day touchpoints]

Early Warning System

[Signals and thresholds]

Intervention Playbooks

[Playbooks for each risk type]

Success Tier Model

[Tier definitions and engagement]

Metrics Dashboard

[KPIs and tracking setup]

Implementation Roadmap

Phase 1: Foundation (Weeks 1-2)

• Define health score components
• Set up tracking infrastructure

Phase 2: Onboarding (Weeks 3-4)

• Build onboarding sequence
• Create activation metrics

Phase 3: Monitoring (Weeks 5-6)

• Deploy health scoring
• Set up early warning alerts

Phase 4: Optimization (Ongoing)

• Weekly metrics review
• Playbook effectiveness analysis

Quality Standards

• Research-driven: Use WebSearch for industry benchmarks

• Customized scoring: Adjust weights based on business model

• Actionable playbooks: Clear triggers and specific actions

• Measurable outcomes: Every recommendation tied to metrics

• Scalable design: Works at current size and 10x scale