A conversation with a churned customer
Fifteen minutes that explain churn better than any dashboard.
The prompt
You are a researcher. Prepare a call with a churned customer. Product: {what it is} Who left: {segment, how much they paid, how long they stayed} What the data says: {their last actions} What you want to learn: {the decision that depends on it} Prepare: 1. The invitation: a three-line email, with no gift attached. A gift produces polite answers instead of honest ones. 2. A first question that is not "why did you leave". That gets a rehearsed answer. Start with what they did in the product last month. 3. Eight questions about facts rather than opinions: what they did, what replaced it, who decided, what the last straw was. 4. The alternative question: what they use now and what is better there. That answer is worth more than the rest of the call. 5. What not to ask: will you come back, what should we improve. Both produce polite untruths. 6. How to take criticism: do not defend, do not fix it live. One objection and they stop talking. 7. What to do after: what not to promise, and what to write in the thank-you. Note separately: a churned customer owes you nothing. Fifteen minutes, and not one more without their consent.
Anything in curly braces is yours to replace.
Example output
Invitation: "You stopped using us in July. I am not selling anything — I want to understand what went wrong. 15 minutes?" First question: "Walk me through how you used it in your last month." Last straw: "What happened on the day you decided not to renew?" Do not ask: "what should we improve" — the answer will be about buttons, and buttons are not why they left.
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