While growing up, I spent a lot of time in and around the water. Eventually, my passion for the water and ocean pushed me to become a lifeguard. I learned how to recognize distressed swimmers and take action as needed. Quickly recognizing a distressed swimmer is key to preventing him or her from becoming a drowning victim. Once a swimmer starts to drown, the action turns from "recognition" to "response". Typical drowning victims only stay on the surface for about 20 to 60 seconds. They may continue to struggle underwater, but eventually will lose consciousness and stop moving. My summer days as a lifeguard are long past gone, but the principles of recognition and response still stay with me in my professional career. Being able to recognize distressed customers and respond appropriately when they start "drowning" is a skill that deserves mastery.
From my experience, here are 4 customer distress signals you should look for to prevent your customers from drowning:
- Declining NPS Score: A customer's NPS score should tell you the real story regarding how they feel about your product or service. If you're not collecting an NPS rating from your customers, start now. Watch your customer's NPS ratings regularly, looking for trends and big jumps (up or down). If a customer X usually rates you a 9 or 10, but suddenly gives you a score of 4, it's time to get on the phone and speak with them.
- Product/Service Usage: If your customers are using your product or service less as time goes on (for example, if they logged in 15 times a month and now it's down to 3), this is a solid distress signal they may churn soon.
- # of Support Requests: This distress signal can go two-ways, but both signify that a potential churned customer may be soon approaching. (A) increase in the number of support requests from a customer who typically doesn't need help, OR, (B) a sudden drop in requests from a customer who does typically need help. Both require more investigation, but watching these trends will help you decide which customers to allocate your time to.
- Change in Ownership: New ownership will often bring new and fresh ideas to a business. What you don't want to have happen is have the new owners also bring in new products or services. Be mindful of ownership change and respond accordingly as you see changes in the customers you manage. New owners often don't understand the gap your product or service is fulfilling. In many cases, you will need to treat owners as a new lead, re-selling them on your offering.
How do you recognize your distressed customers? What metrics do you watch that tell you they're starting to struggle? If they do start to "drown" with your service, what does your actionable response look like?