Polaris’ Customer Retention / Lost Customer / Churn / Win-back Research Offerings

Customer Lifecycle Research

A comprehensive customer lifecycle research survey program might include surveying:

New Customer or Early Life Customers
Existing Customers
Long Term Loyal Customers
Lost Customers
Competitor’s Customer

Different questions are asked at each stage in a customer lifecycle and the methodology for customer retention surveys may differ, as would questionnaire and sample design.

With over 20 years of experience conducting marketing research surveys throughout the customer lifecycle, Polaris can help you create a research program customized to meet your needs.

Customer Retention vs. Lost Customer (Churn) Research

Customer retention surveys and lost customer research differ by the type of respondent. Customer churn research is traditionally performed with former (lost) customers while customer retention research can be performed with former and/or existing customers. While lost customer research focuses on why they left, customer retention focuses on why they left, why they might be considering leaving and/or what might make them stay. Otherwise, the two surveys focus on the same thing – a better understanding of what can be done to increase satisfaction and your overall retention rate.

Customer Win-back Research

Don’t exclude win-back from your loyalty building strategies. Some customer churn is inevitable but with the proper research, companies can win back customers and reduce negative word-of-mouth. The average customer will tell other people about their negative experience. On the flip side, many unhappy customers will come back if they are impressed and they will even refer new customers. Also, reaching out to past customers can help you understand patterns and recognize “at risk” customers in the future.

Helpful Tips for Tackling the Win-back Research Process:

Ask probing and specific questions. Be strategic with the questions you ask. Important items to cover are: “What brought you here in the first place? What did you want? What has changed? Where have we disappointed you? What improvements would you like to see in our current product or service? What do you feel our competitors do better than us?” These answers will help you positively change your business policies. You may find patterns developing with the answers. Pay attention to responses and consider establishing some new policies and procedures.

Contact us to learn more about customer retention / lost customer / churn / win-back surveys.