Understanding What the Customer Truly Needs

Opportunity

A leading educational software nonprofit had seen its normally high customer retention rate drop in recent years. Although the company’s product had long been considered the best on the market, other products had started to gain ground, and the company feared they were no longer competitive on price or performance. The sales team hoped to identify a course of action to regain their competitive status.

Solution

30 former clients of differing sizes and profiles were identified and interviewed. They were asked about their overall experiences with the product and services offered by the company, their reasons for canceling their licenses, the factors that had led them to choose another product, and to compare the old product with their new solution. Their responses were catalogued and analyzed for common themes and specific action items.

Outcome

Prior to the outreach, the company believed its retention rate had dropped due to product deficiencies that were being addressed through product updates. The interviews revealed that while the product enhancements already underway would be beneficial, addressing a different set of challenges would likely yield even greater results. Based on this knowledge, a precise set of recommendations for product and service enhancements was developed that would directly address the issues that had prompted customers to move away from the product.