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[SPEAKER_00]: I recently had a client cancel my retain group coaching program, but I don't see it as a bad thing.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to explain why in this episode and help you understand how you need to think differently about your cancellations.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So I was leading my retain coaching call this morning and we got an conversation about cancellation mindset.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We were talking about the cancellation process and
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[SPEAKER_00]: it has a landing page with multiple paths.
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[SPEAKER_00]: One of the things that I talked about is this mindset around cancellations.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I think oftentimes we think that we need to deter 100% of cancellations, that all cancellations are bad cancellations, but that's actually true.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I really like to approach cancellations in the same way that I like to approach sales, which is ethically.
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[SPEAKER_00]: What does that mean?
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[SPEAKER_00]: That means that my job isn't necessarily to keep you in the membership.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Just like my job isn't to sell you on the membership.
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[SPEAKER_00]: My job is to give you the information that you need to make the decision that's best for you right now.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So the decision that's best for you may be to not join, or it may be to leave for various reasons.
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[SPEAKER_00]: No we've talked before about how
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[SPEAKER_00]: who the right fit customers are and not being so worried about the ones who aren't right fit for your program leaving they never should have joined in the first place right which is kind of like a bonus I guess if they joined but today we want to talk about the other form of cancellation that I think a lot of people forget about and it's really missed opportunity to help people feel good about leaving and even to continue to be
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[SPEAKER_00]: So recently, I had a client in my retained program who canceled.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And cancellation's never feel good, trust me.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I know the feeling when cancellation's don't feel good.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But in talking with this client about why they were leaving, it became very evident.
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[SPEAKER_00]: This was not a cancellation.
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[SPEAKER_00]: This is a graduation.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Why?
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[SPEAKER_00]: Well, their retention rate is regularly in the 97% or 98%.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And the majority of people who are in that two to three percent of churn are people who literally
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[SPEAKER_00]: because
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they've changed careers, they've retired, or whatever it may be.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So the work is done, right?
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[SPEAKER_00]: I should be celebrating this, not greeting the cancellation.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And this is the thing.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We often forget that the way to graduate our program is to cancel our program.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So why do we treat everybody who cancels the same when we know that a portion of them are graduates?
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[SPEAKER_00]: So this is how I'm thinking about the team that's leaving my retain program because at 97 to 98% retention month after month and that has been steadily true, not just pop up, but they've been this way for a few months now.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And they have a solid retention leader in place that is leading the charge.
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[SPEAKER_00]: They've done what they came to do.
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[SPEAKER_00]: They have strong retention systems in place.
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[SPEAKER_00]: They have a great retention leader.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And that's actually created space for them to move forward with some other revenue generating initiatives inside of their business, like group membership sales.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm excited for them.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm excited that they got the result that they came for, and I'm sad to see them go because they are amazing.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Their leader is amazing, but at the same time, I am celebrating their graduation.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Now, some people would argue with me on this.
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[SPEAKER_00]: They would tell me that if somebody is graduating, well, then I need to think about additional programs, or how can I cater to people and create content for people who are at this more advanced level.
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[SPEAKER_00]: but I just don't agree with that and you know honestly the business owner she wants to stay plugged in she wishes that I had another product that is maybe not as intensive that would be an ongoing support opportunity for her and her team but not necessarily at the level of the retained program.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So, and actually, my thought is, yes, what can I create for them?
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[SPEAKER_00]: That would be so great.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But I always go back to my priority action priority matrix that I talk about in the previous episode.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And that matrix is so important because it really keeps me grounded on the things that are going to produce over turn on investment because I've limited time, limited energy, limited resources, and you do too, even though technology and AI has helped us be able to expand those, they're still a limit and we need to make sure that we know where we're putting our efforts.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So, for where I'm at in business right now, it is not a wise business move to try and add another program or to add to this existing program to try and keep people who ultimately have achieved and sustained the result that we wanted them to get.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I would much rather send them on their way with a congratulations, graduation, and hope that when they encounter people who need community and retention help, that they're going to continue to refer because, hey, they got such a great result that they actually graduated in the program.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So here's a little homework for you to do.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I want you to look at your cancellations from the last
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[SPEAKER_00]: And I want you to break out any of those that should be considered graduations instead of cancellations.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Now, if you don't know what to look for, you can look at your cancellation surveys, which hopefully you're at least asking one question when they cancel.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You can look at the progress that they've made in the program where they
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[SPEAKER_00]: You can look at how long they've been in the program, so for most programs, most memberships and subscriptions if they've been in it for three months, they're probably not graduating if they cancel.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So length of time can be an indication of graduation, although time in a program doesn't necessarily equate to progress, so I do really like.
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[SPEAKER_00]: to be either able to directly ask them why they're leaving and get them to tell me essentially that I've made the progress, I've done the thing, I've achieved the result.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Or I like to see some sort of indicator or progress inside of their data, okay?
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[SPEAKER_00]: So you gotta know why people are leaving.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And if not, I want you to implement that.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I want you to ask one question when people go through the cancellation process,
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[SPEAKER_00]: Then I want you to calculate the percentage of cancellations that are graduations, and what this will do, it should tell you a couple of things.
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[SPEAKER_00]: One, it should indicate to you if you need to shift your cancellation process a little bit to acknowledge those that are graduating.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So talk about this in other episodes where I talk about cancellation.
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[SPEAKER_00]: but we really like to have a landing page or the video on the landing page and that video acknowledging people who are graduating from the program who have achieved the result.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And then we go on to acknowledge people who are giving up on themselves, you know, not making any progress, feel stuck, or those that are truly no longer a fit for the program.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But that'll tell you, like, is it a priority for me to revise my cancellation process because I'm leaving just a bad taste for the people who are actually graduating because I'm treating them like somebody who's canceling.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And the other thing that you should learn is how good are you at getting people results?
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[SPEAKER_00]: This is a challenging question to ask.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But if you don't see people graduating from your program, I would be concerned about my ability to get people results.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Now, something you may tell me, well, they're not leaving because we provide all the song going to support, and etc.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And I get it!
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[SPEAKER_00]: But at the end of the day, our job as leaders and coaches or whatever role that you play should not be to make people dependent on you.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It should be to equip people to be independent, to lead and run their businesses on their own, to maintain their health within a established routine that no longer requires them to like, auditional resources or whatever it might be.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Now, there are some journeys that are lifelong journeys.
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[SPEAKER_00]: like support for different health and wellness concerns.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I get that.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I get that.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There are some situations that are bad nuance.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We're really you're not going to have people graduate, but I would bet for most of you that you truly haven't end to the program where you have a point where people have achieved
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[SPEAKER_00]: a particular result.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So when you break out the graduations versus the cancellations, you're going to be looking for those two pieces of data that are important for you.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Do we have enough graduations to warrant thinking about how to shift to this process so that we're acknowledging those graduations?
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[SPEAKER_00]: And then, second, if we don't have enough, we should be concerned about our ability to help people make progress.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Now, this is really important because it can impact your retention rate.
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[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, I often will tell business owners to break down their retention rate.
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[SPEAKER_00]: separately so that we can actually look at the customers who are right fit for the business, who are still needing or help who are leaving, versus the ones that truly aren't right fit or are graduating.
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[SPEAKER_00]: That's going to give us a more accurate look at our ability to keep people.
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[SPEAKER_00]: A great example of this is my dear friend Leslie Baranick.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Leslie has a community for a Christian women in destructive marriages.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Now Leslie does have the opportunities for those women to become mentors in the community as they get healthy and get out of those destructive marriages if that's the right path for them.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But ultimately, Leslie wants to see people in healthy, happy, secure relationships.
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[SPEAKER_00]: and she wants them to be healthy, happy, and secure in themselves, and if they achieve those things, they may not need her program anymore.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And Leslie is not going to be upset about that.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She should be having lots of graduate.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She should be having lots of people who are saying, you have helped me.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I've gotten the result, and I'm so thankful for this community, and maybe I want to stay because I love this community and I want to give back as a mentor, but maybe it's time
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[SPEAKER_00]: So I just wanted to plant this seed for you, give you a little bit of homework to help you start thinking about cancellations versus graduations, realizing that although they're probably going through the exact same process in your business, there are actually two different people that should be getting two different experiences.