Andrew Michael, Churn FM | Hotjar – InnovaBuzz 207
Andrew Michael, Churn FM | Hotjar
In this episode, I’m really excited to have on the InnovaBuzz podcast as my guest, Andrew Michael, Business Intelligence Manager at Hotjar and host of the Churn.FM podcast, the podcast for subscription economy pros to learn how the world’s fastest-growing companies are tackling churn and using retention to fuel their growth.
In our discussion, Andrew talked to me about:
- Customer retention and making the customer the centre of all you do – right throughout your organisation
- Creating exceptional onboarding processes to help retain your customers for the long term
- Measuring value and considering lifetime customer value in the longer term
Andrus Purde on episode 195 introduced us to Andrew.
Listen to the podcast to find out more.
Listen to the Podcast
Deliver value as quickly as possible. The faster you can get a person to that point of value, the more chance you have of keeping them happy and keeping them with you. @AndrewMichaelSA on #InnovaBuzz podcast Click To Tweet
Show Notes from this episode with Andrew Michael, host of the Churn FM Podcast
Key points and takeaways from this episode include:
- Churn is an organisational problem.
- Retention is the biggest lever that you can pull in your business. It is all about looking after your existing customers. The longer you keep these customers around you, the more money you can make that you can then use to acquire new customers.
- The way to grow faster is to retain customers.
- Alignment is critical for any company that is looking to tackle churn.
- Success comes from having a really solid onboarding process for new customers. Your efforts are better spent trying to make sure that people get the value from your product right at the beginning rather than trying to win back people who have decided that your product is not good for them.
- Deliver value as quickly as possible. The faster you can get a person to that point of value, the more chance you have of keeping them happy and keeping them with you.
- The more you can get close to measuring the actual value that people get out of your product and increasing on that, the more successful your product and your company will be.
- Churn only happens when you are not delivering value. If people are not satisfied with your product and are not seeing the value, they are going to leave.
- Hotjar is a user feedback and behaviour analytics tool that allows you to get instant feedback from customers through on-page surveys or widgets that help you understand why things are happening in your site.
- A heatmap lets you visualise where people have clicked or scrolled on your page. It gives you an understanding of what content is being consumed and where people are clicking the most on your website.
- Session recordings are playbacks of a user session that allows you to see where people went, where they are scrolling at, and how much time they spent on a specific page.
- The three types of website visitors. People who will always be your customers, people who will never be your customers, and people who are not sure about your product, who might make it to the end of the purchase or not. You are better off focusing and getting feedback from those people who are always going to be your customers and those who weren’t too sure, as opposed to getting feedback very early on from people who will never be your customers.
- Asking customers who have purchased “What made you nearly not purchase today?”, is a great way to get the most honest and direct feedback.
- Sending regular updates is a powerful way to keep customers happy and excited.
- Get close to your customers. The closer you get to your customers and continuously get feedback and iterating on that, the more powerful the changes that you make in your product become.
- Product is the new marketing.
Churn only happens when you are not delivering value. If people are not satisfied with your product and are not seeing the value, they are going to leave. @AndrewMichaelSA on #InnovaBuzz podcast Click To Tweet
The Buzz – Our Innovation Round
Here are Andrew’s answers to the questions of our Innovation round. Listen to the interview to get the full scoop.
- #1 thing to be more innovative – Really having a solid understanding of your ideal customer.
- Best thing for new ideas – Focus on the ideal customer. People know what they want. It is your understanding and interpretation that is critical in the process. Ask questions and dig deeper.
- Favourite tool for innovation – Hotjar
- Keep project / client on track – Communication. Setting clear milestones and being realistic of what’s manageable and achievable for the time period.
- Differentiate – Continuous learning. Be curious. Pick a specific niche that really excites you and motivates you then dig deep and understand it as much as you can.
To Be a Leader
Get close to the customer. Be as close to the customer as possible and have a deep understanding of how to decide on user feedback.
Reach Out
You can reach out and thank Andrew through his website, email and on Twitter.
Suggested Guest
Andrew suggested I interview David Cancel, CEO of Drift. So David, keep an eye on your inbox for an invitation from us to the InnovaBuzz podcast, courtesy of Andrew Michael.
Links
Cool things about Andrew
- He’s a founding member of Startup Cyprus.
- He used to be a mentor at Founder Institute, the world’s largest entrepreneur training and startup launch program, helping aspiring founders across the globe build enduring technology companies.
- He has 12 years experience in digital growth companies as a founder or senior manager, including adJelly, Pouch, and Finifi.
The more you can get close to measuring the actual value that people get out of your product and increasing on that, the more successful your product and your company will be. @AndrewMichaelSA on #InnovaBuzz podcast Click To Tweet