How do you minimise churn rates for your services/products?
Since the start of the year, over 30 people have approached me about working together – only a few actually paid.
The paying clients were straightforward: they booked, paid, and it was done.
The rest asked endless questions and wanted previews, and then disappeared out of nowhere.
Apart from the fact that it is demotivating, it is also time-demanding to answer it all.
Does this happen to you too?
How do you handle it?
Side note (for me):
I admit that I need to do some improvements, e.g. add section: How it works
Replies
I think it also depends on the size of the client. The small start-ups are out of the big budgets, so they aim to make collaboration on a free basis, which is not always the right way to contact an independent consultant without bringing the added value. As you said its pretty obvious, those who are eager to pay is straightforward and those who are not, ask a lot of questions. Maybe it could be a solution to make them a one-time value proposition for less money with limited services?
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@theonebroker Olga, thank you for your standpoint. From my experience, many of these people only try your boundaries and as soon as you show them you are okay... they try further.
I live with conversion rate 2% which means I have to talk to 50 people to get a customer.
Just take it easy. Instead of thinking they’re wasting your time and money, think that you are spending their time to study the world, refine your approach, and just have fun with it.
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Mindset plays a huge role, but it is like a lottery – people who really wants something they will pay without wasting your time.
@busmark_w_nika
I keep seeing three cases and they are very distinct
They start paying before I even ask. No friction, just business.
They keep asking, "How would you handle it if <new requirement>?" Most likely, they plan to do it themselves and are fishing for free analytics and design decisions.
They say something like, "Your proposal includes a table with three rows and four columns, but we can only accept four rows and three columns." This signals the presence of a rigid corporate structure in the background.
Type 3 cannot be managed with a small upfront payment or a few quick answers. In their world, even modest budgets and timelines still require the exact "four rows and three columns" and a meeting with nine people—where eight have no idea what the project is about.
You have to learn to enjoy it—as long as you can survive it.
You can probably manage this type—it’s just a matter of setting boundaries. You can be polite, you can be sharp, or you can ask for money. Whatever makes you happy.
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@maxirmx I think you defined it pretty well and probably identified the group (3) of people I have to talk to. Good to know that someone shares the same situation and even better – is more experienced. Thank you! :)
I started offering a small paid discovery call for anyone who wants previews or lots of questions answered. It filters out time-wasters real quick.
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@tomina_veronika Does it help convert faster?
Purposeful Poop
@tomina_veronika does paid mean you pay them or they pay you? I've heard of people offer small amount of money for an hour long user interview and things like that, but you are just charging for a demo i think?
@tomina_veronika @catt_marroll I think she meant she asks people to pay for her time on the call. :)
But you're right about the user interviews. People offer direct payments or gift cards.
Purposeful Poop
@tomina_veronika @rohanrecommends :sweat-smile:
This is suuuuch a relatable challenge! What you're describing is actually a common pattern in service businesses - the "tire kickers" who consume time but never convert.
Here's what's worked for me (back when I was running an agency):
Qualify leads earlier: Create a simple intake form/questionnaire that serious clients won't mind completing but casual inquirers might skip. This filters out people who aren't ready to commit. This could also include a text field where they input their budget or related information. The irrelevant people you will quickly realize that won't put much effort into completing anything, or will say totally irrelevant stuff lol.
Implement a paid discovery call: Even a small fee ($25-50) for an initial consultation dramatically increases commitment. You can credit this toward their project if they move forward.
Clear, upfront pricing: When possible, having transparent pricing packages on your website eliminates the "how much?" back-and-forth that can drain your time. HOWEVER.... We used to have this, and literally the simplest pricing plan, and people would still ask...
Now I'm running a SaaS (Yahini), but back in my agency days, this used to happen all the time. I think it's because there's such a low-effort bar to asking questions without any real commitment to purchasing.
The reasons vary wildly. Some have nothing to do with actually wanting your service. I'll be honest, I've been on the other side too. Sometimes I engage with cold emails to see how people respond, check out competition, or learn about marketing approaches in different fields. People's priorities can also shift mid-conversation.
With my product, I get TONS of questions about how it works who's it for, etc etc. Some people clearly haven't read the landing page or have the slightest idea what the product does, even though it's stated in the headline and social messaging. I've come to realize that some folks just like to engage and throw themselves out there (some might even be competitors doing research).
Trust me, no amount of sections, FAQs or knowledge hubs will be enough for these kinds of people. And as you mentioned, more often than not, they're not your ICP anyway.
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@mia_k1 This is so well written, thank you Maria :) Can it be applied to sponsorship? Because I already shared all my statistics, they know where their logo will be placed, they know the price and I really do not know what else people should know :D
@busmark_w_nika not super familiar with sponsorships as I've never done that. But I think those who're looking to become sponsors are a bit more serious hahah and have kind of a checklist they go through when looking for opportunities. How do these people reach out to you? I think #1 could easily apply here, with different criteria though!
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@mia_k1 They usually reach out to me through Passionfroot page: https://www.passionfroot.me/business-and-marketing-with-nika
I think that things are pretty clear from that website :D
I also face this, there seems to be interest but the conversion is quite low.
Two things upset me:
1. It's asking for free test photos (in my case, since I'm a retoucher). Although I have a portfolio that indicates my level of professionalism. And sometimes I find that the client in some way wants to get my work for free. So I have become very selective in this
2. When you tell the terms, the client just stops responding and it is difficult for you to understand what exactly did not suit you to analyze your services, prices, etc.
I am still searching for an algorithm for interacting with new clients that would suit me well
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Thanks you mentioned retouching. I have seen one example from an AI tool that retouched a photo and even was able to remove a watermark. Do you somehow feel the effect of this technology? Like taking your work from you?
@busmark_w_nika Yes, I use AI in my work, it makes a lot of tasks easier and can solve, but still it can't completely replace a retoucher. Retouching requires a different approach, creative or technical, each has its own style, which is what the client is looking for, so far it is not possible for AI.😅
Ongoing discounts or a legacy pricing structure can work wonders for keeping churn low once you've got those loyal customers. It’s a great way to build loyalty and give them a solid reason to stick with you.
Make your customers feel valued :)
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@isibol01 I think this is good for productised service or product. What about sponsorship? Because intention of many is to pay for one-time sponsorship.
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So in that case, what do you recommend I should improve in my offer?
https://www.passionfroot.me/business-and-marketing-with-nika
The free-consultation black hole—been there! My survival hack:
Pre-qualify like a bouncer: Make 'em answer 3 quick questions (e.g., budget/timeline) before booking. Killed 70% of time-wasters for me.
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It seems that I will apply this and will create an urgency for them because they would talk about details for months lol :D
Instead of offering a traditional service, provide a productized service, where you clearly define the scope of work (X), the timeframe (Y), and the expected results (Z). Charge upfront before starting the work.
Headliner
We are diving pretty deep into this for our SaaS tool rn.
In our personal experience, it all points to the onboarding experience. We saw that the majority of people made their decision to purchase within the first hour of using the tool. After that first hour, the drop-off was pretty shocking with most users churning out.
Basically, if you cannot quickly provide value, a lot of users will move on and try something different.
As a result, we are looking at improving our Learn Center, building a more sophisticated onboarding via email, and having department heads/co-founder's email paying customers directly. We found the direct emailing actually has a pretty high success rate in reducing paid churn.
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What do you deliver in that email? (To convince them to go back and make a purchase?)