Terminating Subscriptions [Legacy]

Churn is part of the subscription-based economy we work in, particularly when it comes to renewal management. However undesirable it may be to recognize churn, it's important to understand how this functionality works within ClientSuccess.

Before we get started, here are two terms to remember:

• Subscription (or Revenue) churn: when an active, recurring subscription does not renew and is terminated.
• Client (or Logo) churn: when a logo or client terminates the relationship all together.

More often than not, subscription and logo churn occur at the same time. There are, however, situations where a client may be subscribed to more than one product at a time and not terminate all of their subscriptions.

The following outlines how to best manage terminating subscriptions and logos in ClientSuccess.

Step 1: Terminate the subscription

Imagine a client has a subscription that is active May 1, 2016 - April 30, 2017. That client reaches out to you on March 19, 2017 expressing their desire to churn. Because they're subscribed through the end of April, you'll want to terminate the subscription on April 30, 2017. If you terminate the subscription or mark the termination date before then, the revenue churn will be reported incorrectly or unexpectedly.

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You'll be prompted with a list for termination reason codes and a section for notes. The reason codes can be configured under Global Settings > Reason Codes > "Termination".

You'll see this subscription termination reflected on the Renewals Screen if you're looking at subscriptions that have an end date during the designated timeframe.

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Note: This is process works well for tracking when what is being consumed (ie an active subscription) comes to an end. ClientSuccess renewal management wasn't built to manage what has or hasn't been paid, and wasn't designed for future-dating churn.

Step 2: Terminate the client

Once all subscriptions have been terminated, you'll also want to terminate the logo or client. To do this, you'll want to set "Client Status" to terminated. Depending on when the last subscription was terminated, you'll also want to match those dates.

For example, if a client's last subscription terminates on April 30, 2017 you should also set the client termination date to April 30, 2017 as well.

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This step directly influences the Customer Growth report. 

IMPORTANT: If you are future-dating either the subscription or client churn dates, they will not show up properly in our reporting.

Un-terminating a subscription or client

If you accidentally terminate something, it's pretty easy to correct the mistake.

• Subscription: under the subscription module, click the "Past" tab. Hover to the ellipsis on the left, click "un-terminate".

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• Client: set Client Status to Active.

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Deleting a subscription

Note that deleting a subscription permanently removes it, including it’s forecast. There is no undo. This should only be done to remove a subscription that was added or renewed by mistake. Deleting a renewed subscription will re-active the previous subscription. If your customer has decided end their subscription, it should be terminated.

To delete a subscription:

1. Locate the subscription on the Active tab and then select "Delete" from the contextual menu that appears on the right edge when you hover over the row.

2. Click "Yes, delete."

Deleting a one-time purchase

To delete a one-time purchase:

1. Locate the purchase on the Past tab and then select "Delete" from the contextual menu that appears on the right edge when you hover over the row.

2. Click "Yes, delete."