I’m always tracking customer engagement techniques across a range of subscription products and I am always surprised when I see repeated missed opportunities to improve customer lifetime value.

These are mostly simple, miss-targeted messages that I am sure would be fixed tomorrow if the right person took a moment, and stepped into the shoes of their customer.

Here are five common experiences…

 1.  New customer on-boarding

When there is a gap between sign-up and delivery of a subscription product, a basic welcome message is so often followed by an extended silence. Why wouldn’t you fill the gap?

2.  Nurturing trialists

This has got to be the group that is easiest to monetise in terms of engagement effort. When I sign up to a trial or a discounted rate, I am so often treated as if I am fully committed to a long-term relationship. I am not.

3.  Personalised content

If there’s a newsletter then I expect the editor to know that I am a subscriber, don’t you?

4.  Out of date messaging

Likewise, when I stop subscribing, I expect them to know that too. Otherwise my special status gets retrospectively de-valued.

5.  Lost order history

When I do decide to stop my subscription, my most common experience is that I end up straight back in a generic prospect pool, telling me about the features and benefits of subscribing; what a waste!

I am sure that none of these examples apply to your subscription business, but if they do, then try slipping into your customer’s shoes!