Customer churn survey

Ask someone why they cancelled and you get a shrug or 'too expensive'. This survey asks what they did instead: the job they signed up for, what they used last time, and what happened the week they left. Those answers point at something you can fix.

Best for: Product and retention teams hearing from people who cancelled, or trying to win them back.

Use this template free

1 of 7

What were you trying to get done when you first signed up?

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The questions

1What were you trying to get done when you first signed up?Long textTies the cancel back to the job they signed up for.
2What did you do the last time you needed that, instead of using us?Long textPast behavior is more honest than guesses about the future. This is the Mom Test move.
3When did you first feel like it wasn't working for you?Short text
4What was happening right before you decided to cancel?Long text
5How are you solving this now?Long textShows the real competitor. Often it's a spreadsheet, or nothing at all.
6How disappointed would you be if you couldn't use us anymore?Single selectVery disappointed / Somewhat disappointed / Not disappointed. The Sean Ellis question still tells you something on the way out.
7What would have had to be true for you to stay?Long text

Sample replies, counted

These replies are made up to show the method.

Asked: What was happening right before you decided to cancel?

our card renewal came up and finance asked what we used it for. nobody could answerCouldn't justify the cost
The person who set it all up left in March and no one else knew how it worked.The person who ran it left
We hit the 5-seat limit and the next plan was $49 a month more. Not worth it for two extra people.Couldn't justify the cost
switched to the one that came free with our CRMMoved to a bundled tool
I was exporting everything to a spreadsheet every Friday anyway, so I just stopped logging in.Never got the value
Honestly I hadn't opened it in six weeks. The renewal email reminded me it existed.Never got the value
Our project wrapped up. Might be back for the next one.Other
The reports took four clicks to find and I always forgot where they were. Gave up.Never got the value

8 replies, one label each
Label	Replies
Never got the value	3
Couldn't justify the cost	2
The person who ran it left	1
Moved to a bundled tool	1
Other	1

Three of eight had stopped getting value weeks before they cancelled, and the two cost replies read like the same problem seen from the budget. Fix what happens in the first month before you touch pricing.

How to run it well

Send it soon after they cancel, while they still remember the week it went wrong.
Put the behavior questions first and the rating last. Earlier questions shape the answers that follow, so a scale up front colours everything after it.
Tag each reply with plan and how long they stayed. People who leave in week two and people who leave after a year left for different reasons.
Quote their exact words in your roadmap. 'Too expensive' often means 'I never got enough out of it'.

When not to use this: If the person never became a paying account and walked away during a sales process, a churn survey asks the wrong things. Use a win-loss interview instead.

FAQ

How many churn replies do I need?

Read them as they come in. Once the same few reasons keep repeating, you have enough to act on. Until then, treat each count as an early sign, not a conclusion.

Should churn surveys be anonymous?

Tie replies to the account so you can split them by plan and tenure. Tell people up front that nobody will use their answers to sell to them. People are more honest when no pitch is coming.

Where the method comes from

A Primer on Talking to Customers From Rob Fitzpatrick's The Mom Test, Sachin Rekhi (2023)sachinrekhi.com
Writing Survey Questions, Pew Research Centerpewresearch.org
How Superhuman Built an Engine to Find Product Market Fit, First Round Review (2018)review.firstround.com