CX as a Retention Lever

Hi Superstars,

It’s been so special seeing great feedback around Retention Uncensored, The Loyalist, and WalkAway. It’s really just the beginning of what we’ve got planned, though, so stay tuned. 👀

It’s been a slightly quieter week after the whirlwind of last week—but I am not getting too comfy. 🙃

Next week, I’m off to Los Angeles to speak at the Gorgias DTCx Retain conference, and I will be hosting a very special meetup for all my CX friends in LA. If you are local, would love to see you Tuesday night in Weho!

Prepping for my Gorgias session got me reflecting on the convergence of these two worlds—CX and retention—and how that combo somehow became the backbone of my career.

I’ve recently been thinking about how impactful the CX x Retention connection is, and that’s what we will chat about today. 

Ok, enough chit-chat, let’s dive in.

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My Foray into CX:

When I started my career with no high school education or college degree, I figured customer service would be an easy fit. It felt like a part of the business I could easily wrap my head around.

I knew I had an ok dose of EQ, and—being a difficult customer myself—I figured I could land in the top quartile of customer service operators without breaking a sweat. 

At the time, it also happened to be one of the few areas in business where you didn’t need much experience, though the $35k annual salary wasn’t exactly glamorous.

Very quickly, I learned that customer service was mostly reactive—constantly running around with a fire extinguisher—and that got old fast. 

On top of that, I started to notice patterns. We were dealing with issues that I knew could be tackled proactively to build real brand advocates before they ever blew up.

I started asking myself, “Why aren’t we leveraging these opportunities to set different expectations and create loyalty upfront?”

 It became clear that proactive CX could be the differentiator for brands, and at the time, only Zappos and Chewy were thinking that way.

The gap between Zappos and everyone else was staggering. If Zappos was a 10, most brands were sitting at a 2. 

And the kicker? They could easily push to a 6 by just genuinely giving a sh!t.

The bar was that low. 

And then into Retention: 

But what does any of that have to do with retention?

Early in my career, I began taking these instances that were creating detractors and flipping them into something positive. 

I’d use them to drive meaningful changes within the business and then track cohorts to see if there was any impact on LTV. 

Spoiler alert: there was. 

And it wasn’t just me noticing—the crash of the Facebook frothy arbitrage put a huge spotlight on retention, accelerating its importance across the board.

Retention as a role was even blurrier than it is today. Most of the "retention" folks back then were just rebranded email marketers, CRM managers, lifecycle marketers—whatever you wanted to call them. 

They were responsible for squeezing more revenue out of existing customers, generally measured against a percentage of the total forecast.

But without much firepower beyond email, their go-to move was to crank up the send frequency whenever they were short on revenue. I’d hear stories of brands sending 3-4 emails a DAY—just hammering the inbox.

We’ve come a long way, but two things became really clear to me early on:

1. My CX team had an insane amount of data on what customers loved and hated about our products, but barely any of it was being used. This was a huge miss—both pre-purchase to tackle objections and post-purchase to drive re-engagement and keep the conversation going.

2. Most of the emails we were sending were generic AF. Sure, they were on-brand, but they didn’t resonate. There was no sense of journey—just a bunch of siloed touchpoints that didn’t connect the dots.

It was obvious to me that bringing the voice of the customer into our retention strategy was a no-brainer. It led to some serious wins. Here are a few examples:

Example A: Luggage brand and unrealistic delivery promises

This brand was making wild promises about delivery timelines and then staying completely quiet when delays hit, thinking it was better to "not wake the sleeping bear."

CX Learning: The bears were never sleeping—they were pissed off and waiting for updates. So, we fed them.

CX Outcome on Retention: Once we started giving customers real-time, detailed updates, they were 10x more forgiving about the wait. Transparency bought us time—and loyalty.

Example B: Food brand pushing 2-day delivery that wasn’t 2-day

The brand advertised a 2-day delivery to close deals and bring down CAC, but LTV was a mess because "2-day" didn’t include the processing time, which meant customers felt burned right out of the gate.

CX Learning: The processing delay killed trust. Customers felt duped, which crushed any chance of retention.

CX Outcome on Retention: We pivoted the messaging. Instead of selling on speed, we focused on flavor, consistency, and what made the product better than competitors. We set honest delivery expectations in the post-order flow and celebrated when we actually hit the express timelines.

Example C: Beverage brand going too deep on nutrition

This brand was shouting about nutritional value to justify a premium price tag, but not everyone was buying into that story—and it hurt CAC.

CX Learning: Customers loved the flavor and the fact that it wasn’t as bad for you as the full-sugar version. They loved indulging without the guilt.

CX Outcome on Retention: We dialed back the nutrition message and led with flavor as the win. The nutrition angle came later, in the post-purchase journey, when customers were already on board and loving the product.

Practical Tips: CX as a Retention Lever

We’ve talked about the magic of proactive CX and how flipping the script can lead to big wins in retention. 

Here are 10 tips you can start using today to make CX your #1 retention lever in 2024.

1. Make CX the Core of Your Brand:

CX isn’t just something your team deals with after a customer runs into a problem. It needs to be at the center of every decision your brand makes. 

Whether it’s product messaging, email flows, or post-purchase communication, CX should run through it all. Make sure your customer is heard. 

2. Fix the Basics Before You Aim for “Wow” Moments:

Everyone wants to create surprise-and-delight moments, but if your customers are frustrated with basic stuff like unclear delivery times or product confusion, you’re just messing around. 

Fill the valleys first, and then go for the peaks.

Some easy ways to do this: Study your customer feedback and reviews (Yotpo reviews AI helps with this, Retently for NPS/CES, Gorgias for tickets and CSAT.)

3. Use Basic Segmentation–Don’t be Dumb:

If you’re still sending generic emails, we need to talk. Use the data your CX team gathers to make your emails relevant to each customer’s experience. 

If someone just ordered yesterday, exclude them from your promo push. If someone gave you a one-star review for a product, exclude them from your SMS push for that particular product.

Full-list sends are for suckers. Sorry, I said it.

4. Don’t Let CX and Marketing Operate in Silos:

It blows my mind how often CX and marketing teams are working toward the same goals but have no idea what the other is doing. 

Integrate CX insights into your marketing flows. If your marketing team is pushing a promo, and your CX team knows customers hate delayed shipping, work together to set expectations on delays before the complaints roll in.

5. Automate the Boring Stuff—Add a Human Touch Where It Matters:

Automation is awesome, but it can’t do everything. Let the bots handle the routine tasks, like order status updates or FAQs, but make sure your team is available for the moments where a human touch is critical. 

A thoughtful response from a real person in the right moment can turn a frustrated customer into a loyal one.

6. Keep Customers in the Loop—Even If the News Isn’t Great:

Silence isn’t golden. If something goes wrong—whether it’s a shipping delay or a product issue—communicate early and often. 

Customers are way more forgiving when they feel informed. The longer they wait without hearing from you, the more likely they are to churn.

7. Close the Loop on Every Issue:

Don’t just solve the problem and move on. After you’ve fixed an issue, follow up. 

Check in with the customer to make sure they’re happy, and use that opportunity to offer a gesture of goodwill, whether it’s a discount, free shipping, or just a thank-you note. 

8. Build Customer Trust by Setting Realistic Expectations:

This one’s simple: don’t overpromise and underdeliver. Be clear about your delivery times, product availability, and anything else that could impact the customer experience. 

Customers are way more likely to stick around if you meet or exceed the expectations you set. The moment you overpromise and underdeliver, trust erodes—and retention goes with it.

That’s it for this week!

Any topics you'd like to see me cover in the future?

Just shoot me a DM or an email!

Cheers, 

Eli 💛

P.S. Looking for inspo on your next email/sms campaign? 

I know you will love this.