Survey template

Customer churn survey

Most churn surveys ask 'why did you cancel?' and get a shrug. This one asks about what people actually did, so you get reasons you can act on instead of polite generalities.

Best for: SaaS founders and PMs running cancellation or win-back research.

The questions

1. 01What were you trying to get done when you first signed up?Long textAnchors the cancel in the original job-to-be-done.
2. 02What did you do the last time you needed that, instead of using us?Long textPast behavior beats hypotheticals — this is the Mom Test move.
3. 03When did you first feel like it wasn't working for you?Short text
4. 04What was happening right before you decided to cancel?Long text
5. 05How are you solving this now?Long textReveals the real competitor — often a spreadsheet or doing nothing.
6. 06How disappointed would you be if you couldn't use us anymore?Single selectVery / Somewhat / Not disappointed — the Sean Ellis signal, even on the way out.
7. 07What would have had to be true for you to stay?Long text

How to run it well

• Send within 24 hours of cancellation — memory decays fast.
• Lead with behavior questions; save the rating scale for last so it doesn't anchor the open answers.
• Tag responses by plan and tenure — week-2 churn and month-12 churn have different causes.
• Quote the exact words back in your roadmap. 'Too expensive' usually means 'I never hit the value'.

FAQ

How many churn responses do I need?

Themes usually stabilize around 15–20 open-ended responses. Below that, treat patterns as hypotheses, not conclusions.

Should churn surveys be anonymous?

Tie responses to the account so you can segment by plan and tenure, but tell respondents you won't use it for a sales pitch — honesty rises when there's no upsell coming.

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