Every time a subscriber cancels we have the feeling of an opportunity lost, the feeling of mismatched expectations on both ends and it all comes down to a simple question: what’s the reason behind the cancelation? How can we improve? Can we do anything to avoid the next cancelation?
When we were just starting Little Fun Club, each cancelation was also a validation of the fears and doubts we as founders had in our minds: is this a viable idea? Do parents really need a book club for their kids? Can we compete with all the electronics? Is there enough critical mass to make this work as a business? Conversely, each new and especially each recurring subscription validated our idea of the Little Fun Club. Fortunately, these fears have mostly dissipated and it’s not about the validity of the idea anymore, but rather it’s the feeling of a missed opportunity that lingers with each cancelation notice.
There are several types of cancelations. Some are positive, for example:
“Our house has started to overflow with baby books/board books. :) Will join again when son is older. Love the concept!”
“I absolutely loved the book club my niece was so excited about getting it the only reason i am leaving is it was her birthday present and i will most likely be back next year thank you for your wonderful books.”
“I love your service and the books but my son wants to try something else. I really appreciate the small details that you provided. Maybe in the future we will subscribe again.”
Then there are those who lost a job or are trying to trim expenses because of a bad economy.
And lastly, there are the ones that are somewhere between “The service is too pricey” and the “The contents of the box are not satisfactory.” These particular types of cancelations require our special attention and improvement on our part. Who knows, maybe one day we will have our first month with no cancelations at all :).
