I’m a writer—that much should be clear. So you’d expect me to have an unshakable grasp of spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
Erm…not always.
And I probably have a better grasp than most—I know the difference between a -, an –, and an — and when to use each (and whether you put a space before or after, both or neither).
I also know when to use a semi-colon (almost never).
But I rely more often than not on the powers of Grammarly.
It’s a brilliant piece of software, and it helps me spot passive voice creeping into my writing, helps me to grapple with the best place to put a comma, and, helps me from mixing straight and curly punctuation (who knew?!).
But it has its flaws.
For some reason, the desktop editor hasn't had a blinking cursor for months (it's infuriating not knowing where you’re about to start typing).
It hates the fact that I use elipses... and has an obsession with telling me that “This” is an unclear antecedent (I had to Google what that meant).
I even take perverse pleasure in using Grammarly to check I've not made any errors in this post. Any you spot are stylistic choices, I assure you… 😉
But if my recent experience is anything to go by, they don’t place a huge value on their email experience and customer retention.
I use the Premium version of Grammarly, which carries an annual subscription price of $139.95—a price I was pretty happy to pay.
Until now, that is.
You see, without warning, they just billed my card for my annual subscription fee.
The $ exchange is killing me
I find the lack of notice sticks in the throat a little.
The brand that emails me once a week to tell me my Your word use has been 👍 and my writing is confident, can’t seem to find the will to create a decent customer experience that recognises loyalty. Pretty mixed priorities if you ask me.
Tones from my writing. Confident—I like it
And it’s a bugbear of mine.
The number of subscription brands who seem to adopt a “let's hope they forget to cancel” approach to subscription renewals rather than make their products so good that people choose to resubscribe astounds me.
Any positive revenue impact of this renewed subscription will be cancelled out with the slight sneer I’ve adopted every time I open the app and count the days down to October next year when I’ll cancel the subscription.
Or, more likely, forget and get charged again.
Let’s hope Grammarly takes my advice on board and provides a better experience.
So what could they, and every brand ( Saas, eCom, Coach, or Guru), that uses a subscription model, do to make this problem go away?
Simple.
3 emails that you set on autopilot to look after your loyal customers on your behalf.
Your Subscription is due to renew soon!
This is crucial if you offer an annual subscription—nobody will remember when the next payment is due to come out.
Remind them. Let your customer know how much is due to be collected and when, and how to cancel if they choose to—and make it easy.
But…but….but…what if they cancel?
Well, do what you can to avoid it. Remind your customer what they get for their money. Why they signed up in the first place.
Resell the benefits to them.
Remind them how great your service is and how they can’t do with it.
In Grammarly’s case, the fear of sending an email to your customer or boss or potential lead riddled with typos should be enough to persuade anyone to reinvest.
And if they are going to cancel, maybe ask if they can recommend you to a friend who would benefit from your service.
One in, one out. Net Zero.
Nice.
2. Your payment has been collected!
For most people, that’s all they need to know—they’ve locked in another year or month of your service.
Often, the payment could be a business expense, for which you need a receipt, so include it.
In Grammarly’s case, I got neither payment confirmation nor receipt, so I now have to go to their website. Log in. Find the receipt. Download it.
All while muttering under my breath as I go to this extra effort.
Make your customer’s life easy and think of what they need from you and provide it—before they need to ask.
3. Thank you!
This one’s a no-brainer. A genuine thank you from a named person at your company. The owner. The founder. The Customer Service person.
We all know they didn’t write it themselves, but just the appearance that the company values your business—your repeat business—is a powerful driver of loyalty.
Heck, you can even ask for a review or a testimonial if you want (although I’d save that for another email, ideally. They just paid you money, don’t ask them for anything else. Not yet, anyway).
That’s it. 3 simple emails written weeks, months, or more likely years ago all triggered to send at specific points in the customer life-cycle.
And if you need help to do this for your brand, drop me an note, and let's chat.
(I’m looking at you, Grammarly)