Businesses Employ Six Strategies to Persuade Customers to Maintain Their Subscription Service Commitments
Navigating the world of subscriptions and memberships has become a common occurrence in our daily lives. Whether it's streaming services, gym memberships, or any other service, the cycle of signing up, using it for a while, and eventually canceling is something many of us are familiar with. But have you ever found canceling a subscription challenging, even with the new rules in place supposedly making it easier? The culprit might be "cancellation funnels" and the psychological tricks companies use to keep you subscribed.
When you inform a customer service representative (CSR) that you wish to cancel, you trigger a retention script, often referred to as a "cancellation funnel" or "churn funnel." Companies invest significant time and resources to try and change your mind. By employing subtle tricks, they seek to make the cancellation process a sufficient challenge to deter those who aren't fully committed to it.
The key to the cancellation challenge is the difficulty itself. Companies know that many people make these calls during their lunch break or when tired, with limited time and energy. By creating a lengthy, tiresome process, more people will give up halfway, reducing the number of cancelled subscriptions.
Let's delve into some of the most frequent tactics companies use to maintain their subscription base:
The Ask
Upon hearing that you're canceling a service, a CSR's first move is to query your reasons. While this may seem straightforward, no matter your answer, the CSR has a corresponding section in their retention script designed to invalidate it. If you mention the service's cost is too high, they may offer a free month, or a temporary discount. By doing so, they attempt to minimize the cost in your eyes, hoping that when increased fees return, you'll forget about cancelling, keeping them a few more months in your wallet.
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
The fear of missing out (FOMO) is a powerful motivator. Thus, many retention scripts leverage it by emphasizing the benefits you're giving up. Even if you're unsure about those perks or rarely used them, the thought of losing something sparks anxiety and could cause you to reconsider your decision.
Cooling-off Periods
Companies sometimes seek to delay the actual cancellation of your account to create a "cooling-off" period. This is accomplished with an offer of a free month or a temporary pause in your subscription rather than an outright cancellation. Although this may feel like a victory, it's increasingly designed to provide you time to forget your reasons for cancelling, without addressing those motivations.
Confusing Language
Companies often employ dark patterns to make the cancellation process misleading. For instance, a lot of companies (such as Amazon) utilize words like "continue" and "cancel" next to one another, intentionally blurring the lines. You may believe "continue" implies continuing to pay for the service, but often, clicking it leads to the cancellation process, while "cancel" actually stops it.
Furthermore, companies use terminology like "benefits" instead of "membership" or "account." This shift in language emphasizes the unwanted abandonment of a desirable end, enabling them to shift the focus away from a straightforward cost-benefit analysis.
Guilt Copy
A technique known as "confirmshaming" or "guilt copy" employs language designed to make you feel guilty about cancelling. For example, giving you choices like "Keep my benefits" and "No thanks, I hate having benefits" can create an uncomfortable atmosphere, encouraging you to reconsider the cancellation.
Comparison Prevention
When a company presents you with a complex list of options to replace cancellation, you've fallen into their "comparison prevention" trap. This is when the company intentionally makes it challenging to evaluate an offer's true value. They may bundle features and costs in different ways across various packages or subscription levels, making it difficult to perform a one-to-one comparison. Through deliberately complex processes or hiding details, they seek to make it challenging for you to understand the offer's actual worth.
Regulatory bodies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are working to combat these tactics by introducing rules to improve the cancellation process. The "Click to Cancel" regulation requires companies to provide a clear cancellation process, similar to the one used for subscription sign-ups, and to avoid mandatory conversations with retention specialists. This rule aims to dismantle "dark patterns" and deceitful design practices that make cancellation unnecessarily intricate.
- Despite the new regulations intended to make cancellation easier, navigating the retention script presented by customer service representatives (CSRs) can still be challenging, with companies employing various tactics like offering discounts or free months to change your mind.
- The use of confusing language is another common tactic companies use to maintain their subscription base, such as Amazon using words like "continue" and "cancel" next to each other to blur the lines and lead customers into unintended actions.
- To combat these practices, regulatory bodies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have introduced rules like the "Click to Cancel" regulation, requiring companies to provide a clear cancellation process and avoid mandatory conversations with retention specialists, aiming to dismantle deceitful design practices that make cancellation unnecessarily complex.
