The Challenge
A cancellation survey only works if the brand actually uses what it learns. Most cancel flows ask why a subscriber is leaving and then respond exactly the same way no matter the answer: one discount, offered to everyone, regardless of the reason they gave.
That was Cowboy Colostrum’s starting point. Their cancel flow gathered cancel reasons but treated every subscriber the same way once they answered: same offer, whether they said “it’s too expensive,” “I have too much product,” or “I’m not using it.” A subscriber worried about cost needs a different conversation than one who’s overstocked, and a flat, one-size-fits-all offer wasn’t giving either of them a real reason to stay.
The Solution
1. Optimized the Cancel Survey to respond to the real reasons why subscribers leave.
- What was done: Cowboy Colostrum used Stay AI’s Cancellation Survey to build a flow that offers something different depending on why a subscriber is canceling, instead of the same discount for everyone. The team A/B tested the new flow rigorously before rolling it out fully.
- Why it mattered: Save offers are there to address the actual reason someone is cancelling. Matching the save offer to the reason turns a generic “How about 15% off” save offer into a relevant one that makes the customer reconsider that Cancel click.
- Proof: Save rate jumped from 9% to 40%.
2. Paired optimized save offers with Smart Dunning and enhanced Customer Portal experiences.
- What was done: Alongside the cancel flow optimization, the team refined their Customer Portal experience and turned on Smart Dunning’s final-retry discount to catch passive churn (subscribers who lapse from a failed payment rather than an active cancellation) before it turns into a lost subscription.
- Why it mattered: Save offers at cancellation only solve part of the churn problem. Passive churn from failed payments is just as costly, and catching it requires a different kind of intervention at a different moment in the subscriber lifecycle.
- Proof: Taken together, the cancel flow optimization, portal improvements, and dunning retry discount drove the quarter’s full revenue picture: subscription revenue up 40%, recurring up 57%, and checkout up 15%.
“Subscription revenue is up 40% vs. Q4 last year. Recurring is up 57%. Checkout is up 15%. The 57% on recurring is the one that feels most meaningful to me. That number doesn’t move because of a sale — it moves when the underlying loop is actually working. A lot of it traces back to Stay. Our cancel survey that took our save rate from 9% to 40% is a big piece, but so are the customer portal optimizations and the dunning retry discount catching passive churn before it ever cancels. Watching the platform evolve has been a highlight too – Staylien is a great example of that, the kind of tool that shows where they’re headed. The product has come a long way in the last six months – and I think the numbers show it.”
Danie Moriarty, Senior Manager, Retention & E-Commerce, Cowboy Colostrum
Results
- 40% subscriber save rate with Stay AI’s Cancellation Survey
- +40% increase subscriber revenue, QoQ
- +57% increase recurring subscription revenue
- +15% increase checkout subscription revenue
