Refund Rescue and Churn Guard

TLDR

Step in before people cancel. Offer a pause, a cheaper plan or a quick setup call. Fix failed payments within 48 to 72 hours. Track a few core numbers and keep the flows simple.

Goal

Reduce refunds and monthly churn with clear choices, friendly messages and tight billing automation.

What you set up

• One cancel flow that asks why, shows save options and routes the outcome
• One refund rescue sequence that verifies, helps and offers a pause or downgrade
• One dunning flow that prevents and recovers failed payments
• One KPI board, refund rate, voluntary churn, involuntary churn, recovery time, EPC, RPM

Who to watch

• New buyers in their first 30 days
• Low activation users, no domain or calendar connected
• High ticket add-ons in the first cycle
• Past due or payment failed customers

Policy, keep it clear

• Plain refund window with simple rules
• Pause or downgrade before full cancel
• Bonuses delivered only after verified purchase
• For partial refunds, credit tied to an active subscription

Cancel flow, simple and helpful

1. Ask for the reason, switching tools, price, missing feature, no time, technical issue
2. Show a tailored save, pause 30 days, downgrade plan, setup call, niche snapshot, short extension
3. If they accept, apply the choice and confirm. If not, cancel cleanly and share an offboarding checklist

Refund rescue, short and kind

• Day 0, confirm the request and ask one clarifying question
• Day 0, offer two paths, a quick setup call or a plan change with a clear benefit
• Day 1, send a short checklist that fixes the top issue for their reason
• Day 2, offer a pause or downgrade as the final option
• Close, implement if accepted, otherwise process the refund inside policy and remove bonus items that require an active subscription

Dunning, prevent and recover

• 3 days before billing, send a heads up with a secure update link
• On failure, Email at T, retry in 12 hours
• At +6 hours, optional SMS nudge for opted in users
• At +24 hours, second email and retry
• At +48 hours, third email, final retry and a pause warning
• At +72 hours, apply a grace tag, pause access and send clear instructions to restore

GoHighLevel automation, light but precise

Triggers

• Form submitted, Cancel or Refund Intent
• Tag applied, past_due, payment_failed
• Event received, subscription_canceled, subscription_updated

Tags

• refund_requested, churn_risk, save_offer, save_accept, save_decline, grace_active, past_due, recovered

Branches

• Switching tools, show a simple migration guide plus a pause offer
• Price, show downgrade or an annual prepay math block
• Missing feature, show a workaround or a snapshot
• Technical issue, auto create a support task and book a quick fix call

Actions

• On save_accept, stop refund flow and confirm new status
• On payment_succeeded, remove past_due and grace_active, apply recovered and send a welcome back
• On subscription_canceled, run offboarding checklist and a short survey

Message kits

• Save offers, pause 30 days, downgrade to starter, 30 minute setup call
• Proof, 2 to 3 anonymized wins or screenshots
• Checklists, domain and email auth, publish one funnel, test an automation
• Billing copy, clear steps and what changes on pause

Simple pricing math, show the choice

• Current monthly total with typical email and SMS use
• Downgrade total and what turns off
• One line break even, revenue from one client at your median price

Offboarding, polite and open

• Export contacts and tags
• Keep DNS as is if they plan to return
• Snapshot of what to rebuild later
• Offer a 30 day check in for a soft win back

Targets to track

• Refund rate under 5 percent
• Voluntary churn under 3 to 5 percent
• Involuntary churn under 1 to 1.5 percent
• Failed payment recovery in under 48 hours median
• Save rate on cancel flow 25 to 40 percent
• Win back at 30 days 5 to 10 percent

Tests to run

• Headline, Pause 30 days vs Free setup session
• Order, pause first vs downgrade first by reason
• Retries, 12 hour vs 24 hour
• Mix, email only vs email plus SMS

Fixes

• Too many refunds, show save options earlier and limit to 2 choices
• Low save accept rate, switch to the best performing offer per reason
• High failed payment churn, add the 3 day pre bill notice and a second SMS nudge
• Slow recovery, surface the secure update link higher and shorten retry gaps

CTA blocks to paste

• Primary, Fix my issue and keep my account
• Secondary, Pause for 30 days
• Text link, Cancel now, no questions

FAQ

Does a pause affect my bonuses
Yes. Bonuses tied to an active subscription pause too. Static downloads stay. Live updates and credits resume when billing resumes.

Can I downgrade without losing data
Yes. Contacts, pipelines and automations remain. Features outside the new plan switch off until you upgrade.

How fast are refunds processed
Within the stated window, refunds complete in 3 to 5 business days after approval. Bank timing may vary.

What happens when a payment fails
You get a reminder before billing, then a few retries over 48 to 72 hours. Access may pause until the card is updated.

What save offer works best
For technical or setup issues, a 30 minute call wins. For price or timing, a pause or downgrade works better.

Will canceling remove my data right away
No. Data is kept for a short grace period per policy. You can export during that time.