How to keep your customers

Reduce churn, one invoice at a time

Customer churn is one of the most pressing challenges for subscription-based and recurring-revenue businesses. For today’s consumers, a new vendor is just a few clicks away. Anything less than a friction-free experience risks pushing your customers into the open arms of your competitors.

This page is all about how you can leverage one of the most overlooked tools for building strong customer relationships: your invoice. Find out how improving your billing experience can help you retain more customers, boost loyalty, and cut churn.

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Why customer retention matters more than ever

It’s cost-efficient. Retaining an existing customer is far more cost-effective than acquiring a new one, especially as acquisition costs are rising across industries.
It drives revenue. Upgrades, cross-sells, and long-term customer lifetime value (CLV) come more easily from those who already trust your brand. A smoother billing journey can be the first step to deeper loyalty.
It builds advocacy. Satisfied customers become advocates. And positive billing experiences – clarity, flexibility, support – are often what they remember and share.

Retention & Churn – Key metrics to track

Customer Retention Rate

Retention Rate = ((Customers at end of period – New customers) ÷ Customers at start of period) × 100

Customer Churn Rate

Churn Rate = (Customers lost during a period ÷ Customers at the start of that period)art of that period)

Customer retention begins with your invoice. Here’s why:

For 8 out of 10 customers, the invoice is the main point of contact with their supplier. This is especially interesting since we also know that around 50% of customers actively evaluate their supplier when they receive the invoice. Among those under 30, this figure is 80%.
8 out of 10 consider smooth payment important for loyalty. Among those under 35, the figure is 89%.
7 out of 10 prefer digital invoices. Among those under 35, the figure is 79%.

A selections of our clients

Customer insights revealed

Want to learn more about customer preferences and the connection between payment experience and retention? Download our 2-pager, based on extensive research among energy, telecom, and insurance customers.

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5 early signs of churn risk

These five indicators often signal a weakening customer relationship – and they frequently appear during the billing cycle:

Frequent or negative customer support interactions
Declining product/service usage
Invoice confusion or failed payments
Complaints about fees or lack of clarity
Delay or hesitation around renewals

How to improve customer retention with friction-free billing

Having established the crucial role of invoicing and payment in reducing churn – how can you leverage technology to make the invoice work for you, rather than against you, to help reach your retention goals? Here are five helpful tips:

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1. Reduce missed payments with soft reminders

Missed payments can break trust and trigger churn. Instead of waiting to contact your customers until their invoice is overdue, help them stay on track with automated, friendly reminders sent out on the due date.

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2. Be mindful about dunning and debt collection

Even with timely reminders in place, some payments will inevitably be late. There is a strong correlation between debt collection and churn risk, where harsh messages or inflexible routines can push customers away for good – especially if fees are involved. With a more empathetic and strategic approach that takes the customer’s payment history into consideration, you can achieve a smart dunning process that helps reduce churn.

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3. Increase digital adoption through nudging and self-service

Churn rates are significantly lower among customers who use automatic payment options, such as direct debit. A modern billing platform enables you to nudge your customers towards digital adoption through embedded prompts and seamless flows, as well as provide simple, self-service paths for those ready to take the step.

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4. Offer proactive support – directly on your invoice

Questions about invoices and payment status typically make up a large portion of a company’s support tickets. Meanwhile, difficulties getting through to customer service is a common source of friction, which can ultimately lead to churn.

With an interactive invoice, your customers can ask questions about due dates, amounts, and more directly on their invoice. While an AI chatbot handles the most common questions, human staff will have more time to deal with more complex requests. Any changes will be updated in real time, where customer and support staff share the same view.

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5. Educate and engage your customers while you have their full attention

An interactive invoice interface also lets you share product updates, tutorials, CSR initiatives, deals or benefits your customer might otherwise miss out on. And as the time of payment is one of their few recurring touchpoints with your brand, you’re wise to make the most of it.

CX Guide: Reduce Churn with an Optimized Payment Experience

Get more hands-on tips in our step-by-step guide to providing a friction-free payment experience that will not only meet, but exceed your customers expectations of you as a vendor.

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How Billogram can help: Proven results from our customers

At Billogram, we help forward-thinking companies turn each billing moment into a value-adding touchpoint. Our SaaS platform for Invoice-to-Cash management is used by a wide range of businesses, primarily in the telecom, energy, insurance, parking, and home security sectors. And treating your customers well truly pays off, as these results clearly illustrate:

80% fewer debt collection cases
75% digital invoice adoption
40% fewer customer service cases

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