Retention & Churn
Churn Interview
A churn interview is a conversation held after a customer has already left, with the aim of understanding what really led them to go. With the contract over and nothing left to protect, former customers often speak more openly than they did while they were still paying. These questions are meant to be asked aloud, in a neutral tone, and to uncover the full story, from the first doubt to the final decision.
17 questions
When to use this template
- Two to six weeks after the customer has left, once the account is closed and they have had time to reflect but not to forget.
- To find the real reasons behind churn, which are often different from the reason given in the cancellation form.
- When you see a pattern of departures in one segment, product or plan and need to find out what is behind it.
Questions to ask
Opening and context
- 01Thank you for making time. Can you remind me what you were using us for?
- 02How did your needs evolve over the time you were with us?
- 03Who on your side was involved in the decision to stop?
The path to leaving
- 04When did you first start to think about stopping?
- 05What was the situation at that moment?
- 06Was there a specific event that made the decision final?
- 07Did you try to solve the problem with us before deciding, and how did that go?
What worked and what did not
- 08What did we do well while you were a customer?
- 09Where did our product or service fall short of what you expected?
- 10How did the experience compare with what you had been told at the start?
- 11How was the support you received when something went wrong?
What came next
- 12What are you doing instead today?
- 13What does that option give you that we did not?
- 14Is there anything you miss about working with us?
Closing
- 15If you could change one thing about us, what should it be?
- 16Could anything have kept you as a customer?
- 17Would you be open to hearing from us in the future if things change?
Tips for a useful conversation
- Say at the beginning that you are not trying to win the customer back, so that they can speak without feeling pressured.
- Ask someone who was not their account manager to lead the conversation, to make it easier to discuss the relationship.
- Look for the chain of events rather than one reason: churn is usually the result of several small things.
- Do not correct or justify; if you learn that a fact was wrong, note it and move on.
- Group the findings by reason every quarter, so one story becomes a pattern that the team can act on.
Mistakes to avoid
- Calling too soon, when the customer is still angry, or too late, when they have forgotten the details.
- Treating the call as a last attempt to sell, which ends the candour.
- Accepting the first reason, usually price, without asking what lies beneath it.
- Recording the answers but never passing them to the people who could change something.
Let Passisto Clients hold these conversations
The AI agent calls your clients, asks the right follow-up questions and gives your team a clear report with the actions to take.