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Section 7 · Recurring Revenue
Cut Churn Before You Try To Grow Faster
A 5% drop in churn often beats a 20% increase in acquisition.
Retention
Revenue
Profit
Why it works
Churn is a leaky bucket. Pouring more water in costs more than fixing the hole.
Connects to
Retention
Revenue
Profit
When to use it
Whenever monthly churn is above 5% for SMB or 1% for enterprise.
When NOT to use it
Don't try to retain customers who were never the right fit — refund and move on.
How to use it
- Survey cancelers — group reasons into pricing, product, fit, support.
- Build a 30/60/90-day onboarding that drives the customer to a real outcome.
- Add a 'save offer' (pause, downgrade, discount) at the cancel button.
- Win back lapsed customers with a 60-day campaign — they convert cheapest.
Examples
Netflix
Pause subscription instead of cancel — recovered millions of accounts.
Notion
Templates + community drive activation in week one, lowering 30-day churn.