Manual Renewal KPIs – Part 2

In my previous article, I outlined KPIs for manual renewal processes that mirror an Acquisition purchasing flow.

In this article, we will discuss the measurable KPIs for when the renewal process involves updating the billing profile.

1. The Context

One or more billing attempts have failed, or the automatic renewal didn’t work for the reasons mentioned in the article on this topic.

Usually, updating the billing profile solves the issue. For instance, the subscriber might update their card’s expiry or switch payment methods. The merchant must simply ask the customer to manually update the information.

This subscription-related issue allows merchants to contact all subscribers, even those opted out of marketing communications.

2. The User Experience

This process is easy to implement, as subscribers can already update payment methods.

The merchant prompts the subscriber to update their payment information. It may be wise to make a billing attempt immediately after the update. If it fails, this keeps the customer in the update process. If future billing attempts are scheduled, the merchant can wait.

From the customer’s perspective, this isn’t about completing a transaction, but simply updating their information.

3. Manual Renewal KPIs

In this process, the merchant generates traffic to the customer account with the objective of updating the payment profile. Success is measured by the number of profiles successfully updated.

It will be important to sent customers precisely to the location where the update happens to avoid any distractions.

The KPIs to measure will be:

• The number of billing attempts that generated a billing profile update request
• The number of subscribers who initiated the process
• The number of updates completed
• The number of transactions completed after an update
• The impact on the overall retention rate
• The ratios at each stage

4. The advantages of this procedure compared to acquisition-based purchasing

This procedure is preferred by most merchants because it combines several advantages:

• The customer experience already exists; there is no need to create a new flow
• Therefore, there is no need to maintain a new flow
• The customer is asked to update their payment method; they are not asked if they want to renew. They are more likely to stay
• Unlike in the acquisition-based purchasing experience, the customer does not need to choose between multiple options, with highly visible prices

The other advantage is financial. In the process using an acquisition flow, it will be tempting to make commercial offers (lower prices, upgrades, gifts) that will have a cost. In the case of the billing profile update process, the renewal price won’t be discounted or won’t support additional costs.

👉 Key Takeaways 👈

1. In the event of a failed billing attempt, requesting a billing profile update is generally the best solution. It requires no additional development or maintenance.
2. To avoid disrupting KPIs measurement, it’s important to differentiate between updates resulting from a failed automatic renewal and spontaneous updates.
3. If the merchant plans to implement both types of manual renewal, the acquisition-looking flow will fit better with your price-sensitive customer segment.