Always Be Customer-Centric, Not Business-Centric

Here’s a gripe I have with so many businesses I deal with (e.g. gyms, subscription services, banks, etc.).

They make it nearly impossible to cancel.

If a customer no longer wants to be in a relationship with you, why make it difficult for them to breakup with you?

It just sends the wrong kind of message as you’re heading out the door and almost guarantees their last impression with your business will be negative.

Surely this will negatively impact return rates, reviews, word of mouth referrals…

It’s such backward thinking.

Increasing cancellation friction may allow you to squeeze out another monthly charge or two… good job! You’ve increased revenue.

But, long term, what does this do for your business?

👉 What if your gym had an app that allowed you to open, cancel, pause your membership as needed. What if you could book classes, see schedules, track progress, set reminders, participate in challenges, earn rewards, consume content (video tutorials), etc.

Do you think this would be good for revenue or bad for revenue?

You’d have customers saying, “You should sign up to my gym, it’s awesome. They have this app, they make it super easy to join, you can cancel anytime, no questions asked, they do this, they do that…”

What’s good for the customer is good for the business.

What’s good for the business is usually bad for the customer.