EPISODE 63 OF WHAT WOULD THEY DO? THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE PODCAST FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS
NOTE: Some of the tools and resources mentioned in these shownotes could be affiliate links. That means when you click the link to create an account, start a free trial or make a purchase, it won’t cost you any more but I may receive a commission for introducing you. One thing I want to stress is that I would never recommend anything or anyone I haven’t successfully worked with myself or trust unconditionally.
If you’ve ever thought…
“I just need more leads.”
“Why aren’t people sticking around?”
“There has to be a smarter way to grow this…”
…this episode is your snack platter of ideas.
In this special teaser episode, I’m giving you a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming Retention Games from 12-15 May 2026, my completely reimagined virtual event where 20 retention strategies go head-to-head.
You’ll hear directly from the contestants as they share raw, unscripted previews of the strategies they’ll be revealing inside the Games.
We’re talking:
172% retention increases
99% conversion strategies
$66K in additional revenue from one tweak
High-retention memberships running for years
If retention has been your blind spot, this episode will give you 12 specific ideas on how to fix it.
What we cover:
How one membership increased retention by 172% while reducing launches
A 20-minute gamification strategy that boosts engagement instantly
A 3-part “retention engine” that turns retention into your main growth driver
A high-touch strategy that generated $66K in extra revenue
Personalisation strategies that make customers feel seen (and stay)
An offboarding sequence with a 99% conversion rate
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Your next steps:
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Check out my favourite CX tools and resources here.
Episode Transcript:
(0:00) Hello, hello and welcome to this episode. Today I have something pretty cool for you because as you (0:08) likely know if you’ve been listening to the podcast, the retention games are kicking off (0:13) in exactly one week from now as this episode airs and I wanted to give you a sneak peek of what is (0:22) waiting for you. If you already have your ticket, yay, super excited to get to connect with you in (0:28) the games arena.
If you don’t have a ticket yet, well, let me give you a super cool preview (0:34) straight from the source into some of the strategies that are waiting for you as provided by (0:42) the contestants. They have recorded little voxel messages for me, totally raw and unscripted, (0:48) so excuse the audio, where they’re taking you behind the scenes of what they’re going to share. (0:54) A little sneak peek to hopefully make you even more excited if you already have a ticket (0:58) and convince you to grab your free ticket.
If you haven’t done so yet, you can do so via the link (1:06) in the show notes. It takes you straight to the ticket office to hopefully secure your front row (1:11) seat. Without further ado, I’m going to hand over to the contestants and I’ll see you after they’ve (1:19) shared their little golden nuggets with you.
Hey, I’m Sam from Nomad Copy Agency and I have (1:25) a membership where I increased my retention of my members by 172% in just two years and decreased (1:34) my launches by 400%. I’m telling you exactly how I did this in the upcoming retention games (1:41) and can’t wait for you to listen to my strategy. Hi, this is Shelley Hitz from christianbookacademy.com (1:48) and in the retention games, I’m going to share how to use a tool called Bonjoro to amplify (1:53) what you’re already doing in your live launches to start conversations.
Now, I will say I used (1:59) Bonjoro years ago and it exhausted me. I would create a new video for every member that joined (2:06) our membership and I just get drained by too much video, so I decided to approach it differently (2:13) this time and it actually worked really well. So, step one was to identify a specific group (2:20) that I wanted to target and it could be that they’re really engaging or there’s a certain, (2:26) there’s something that they’ve done during the launch that you recognise this is a group (2:30) that I want to serve in a deeper way by sending this video message.
And then what I did, step (2:38) number two, is I recorded one video that was more general but was still personal and Bonjoro allows (2:46) you to upload videos instead of having to record every single one. So, I imported that list of (2:54) people and then I created a template for this particular outreach and then I just uploaded (3:00) the videos. Now, you could even have a VA log into your account and do this for you.
(3:06) And step number three, I would wait to see who personally replies and then I would follow up (3:13) with them and we would start these amazing conversations and many people did convert (3:17) to buying during those conversations. And so, it’s a great way to start a conversation and to help (3:24) people take that next step. In the presentation during retention games, I’m going to be sharing (3:31) my two specific use cases that I used this successfully this year and they’re two different (3:38) programmes and so I think you’re going to really enjoy these case studies and how you can also (3:44) apply this to your next live launch.
Hi, I’m Kirsty. I am an ex-psychotherapist and an ex-copywriter (3:52) who now uses skills from both of those professions to help business owners ace all points of (3:59) communication right across the board from real-time verbal things like keynotes, podcast interviews, (4:05) and team meetings to asynchronous written stuff like sales pages, emails, pitches, and even (4:11) your communication inside of Slack. The thing that you’ll hear me lead you through in the retention (4:17) games is a really low-lift, high-impact strategy that gamifies and also maximises engagement within (4:27) online courses, programmes, and memberships.
So, if you are someone who hosts or leads one of those (4:33) spaces in your business, it is something you’re really going to want to hear. It takes about (4:38) maybe 20 minutes to implement and the results that I have seen it have have been absolutely (4:44) phenomenal. All right, I can’t wait to share it with you.
Hey Nadine, it’s Destiny Copp from the Creators (4:50) MBA. I am super excited to be a contestant in the retention games this year. It’s such a fun (4:58) concept for a summit.
So, a little bit about me. I am a college marketing professor. I actually still (5:04) teach full-time in the MBA programme, turn online serial entrepreneur.
I definitely run multiple (5:11) digital product brands including the Creators MBA, Hello Content, and Hobby School, which is my B2C (5:18) brand. And my whole thing is helping digital product creators build businesses that generate (5:24) consistent compounding revenue without being chained to launches or algorithms. And that last part is (5:32) exactly what my session is about.
Here’s the thing I constantly see with folks. They are running on a (5:39) treadmill. They’re launching and launching and launching just to replace the people who’ve left (5:44) last month.
And everyone keeps telling them that the answer is more leads. But more leads will not (5:51) fix a leaky butt bucket. In my session, I am sharing what I call the retain engine.
It is a (5:59) three-part framework that stops the leak and turns your retention stage into the most powerful growth (6:08) driver in your entire business. And honestly, when you get this right, everything else gets easier. (6:17) Your acquisition costs go down, your revenue stabilises, and your best customers start doing (6:23) your marketing for you.
And I cannot wait to share this with your audience and see everyone at the (6:30) Retention Games. Hey, I’m Krista from Summit in a Box, where I help online educators grow their (6:36) audience and make more sales through virtual summits. And I’m so excited to be a part of (6:41) Retention Games because I am sharing a strategy that, I mean, number one, I’ve never shared before.
(6:46) And number two, most people just completely overlook it. And it’s one of the highest ROI (6:51) things we do in our entire group coaching programme, which is the core of our business. (6:56) And I think the thing is that most coaches and course creators and membership site owners (7:02) kind of just consider their job done when someone in their programme completes whatever (7:08) the main milestone is.
In our case, it’s when the summit is over. They’re like, great, see you later, (7:13) peace out. But that is the worst time to step back, especially when you’re looking at it from (7:18) the lens of retention and serving your people at a deeper level in the best way you possibly can.
(7:24) And what we do instead is the opposite. We offer some of our most intentional high-touch support (7:30) right at that finish line. And it’s become, what I realised when I was making this presentation, (7:35) a five-fold win for us and our clients.
I’m talking results like better results for them, (7:40) more testimonials, better client data. In the last six months alone, we’ve made an extra $66,000 (7:46) in revenue just because of this. We would have left that just sitting otherwise.
So I’m going (7:50) to be breaking down exactly how this works, the process, the tools, how you can build it into your (7:55) own programme inside of retention games. So come and find me there. (8:00) Hi, I’m Jacqui, and I am a graphic designer.
And I have a programme that helps business owners (8:06) learn how to do their own branding and graphics. I pretty much act like their creative director, (8:10) help their teams, and then kind of put out really quality graphics and branding. (8:14) And that was really fun.
So I made this great programme, and it was going really, really well. (8:19) There’s a six-month commitment, and I invite people to stay on after those six months is over. (8:23) And I didn’t really expect people to want to stay on.
I thought they would be able to have a really (8:28) great six months with me, learn a lot, and then want to leave. But I accidentally stumbled across (8:33) an incredible retention hack that’s meant I’ve had probably over 70% retention of my programme (8:39) for a programme I didn’t even think would have any retention. And it’s incredible.
It pretty much, (8:45) to give you a little sneak peek, means that while people are here in my six months, (8:49) they’re earning something. And then if they were to leave, they lose it. But if they were to stay (8:54) on, they continue earning.
And so that little hack has made a huge difference in the revenue (8:59) of my business, because this is an Achieve programme. And it means that I have recurring (9:03) revenue ongoing just because of this one hack. And I cannot wait to share it with you in the (9:07) retention games.
I hope to see you there. Bye. I’m Michelle Pontvert.
I am a collaborative (9:13) marketing strategist, and I’m going to be sharing an engaging way that I kept my email list (9:19) nice and warm and replying, responding, opening, all those good things while I took a month off (9:25) last summer. It is a collaborative experience that I know you’re going to enjoy because it is (9:30) so low lift and was a huge fan favourite with my subscribers. So make sure you tune in so that you (9:35) can see everything that I put together to keep my email list nice and warm while I was out of office.
(9:42) Hi, it’s Kristin Lawton, your brand mixologist from District Brand Bar. You know when you’re at the bar (9:46) and you’ve been chatting with the bartender for a while, and before you even ask for another round, (9:50) they slide over a cocktail based on what you’ve already said you like. That keeps you coming back.
(9:55) In the retention games, I’m going to show you how to bring that type of surprise and delight (9:59) into your online business in a way that gets people to really stay engaged with you, reply to your (10:03) emails, and keep them coming back for another round. I use data you already have, tags from (10:08) purchases, forms, v-notes, and I turn it around into personalised moments that make your customers (10:14) feel seen. These are the kind of moments that actually keep your customers coming back.
(10:18) There’s so many ways to do this using AI, doing it manually, setting up automations, and I’m going to (10:23) walk you through a few different ways that you can do this for your business. Can’t wait to show, (10:27) can’t wait to show you, and I’ll see you in the retention games. Hey, I’m Belinda Weaver.
I’m a (10:34) conversion copywriter, copy coach, and I’m slightly obsessive about retention. In fact, my copywriting (10:40) membership has had a 93% retention rate average for the past five years. Now, for the retention (10:49) games, I’m going to be talking about something I call the retention window.
The first, the critical (10:56) first 30 days after someone joins your programme or your membership. I’m going to walk you through (11:02) three reasons members leave after the first 30 days and specific fixes that actually work. (11:10) Some of them are only going to take a few minutes.
Some of them don’t scale at all, but that’s exactly (11:17) the point. Hey, I’m Shannon Pruitt. I run Sunday Muse Design, which is a brand and web design studio (11:24) based in the U.S. The strategy I’m bringing to the retention games has become the most consistent (11:29) revenue driver in my entire business, which is a little embarrassing to say out loud because it has (11:33) nothing to do with marketing or launching or an algorithm or any of the things we’re supposed to (11:38) be doing.
It’s how I end a project. Okay, I know, but bear with me. I have an off-boarding sequence (11:44) that does most of the selling before I ever make an ask.
A few intentional steps and almost every (11:50) single client who’s gone through it has booked the next thing. The one person who didn’t book the next (11:56) thing decided to DIY her website herself. She’s the whole exception to the whole list.
I have a 99% (12:03) conversion rate on this strategy, and I’m going to walk you through the whole thing at the retention (12:07) games, including how it translates if you run a membership or a course or even a product-based (12:13) business because the principle is the same regardless of what you sell. It’s one of those (12:17) things where once you hear it, you’re going to be a little annoyed you weren’t doing it already. (12:21) I’ll see you there.
Hey there, Jessica here from Jessica Haines Design, and I’m a strategic website (12:27) designer and SEO coach. I’m really excited to be competing in the retention games with Nadine (12:32) and all the other contestants. I can’t wait to see what everyone has to share.
I’ll actually be (12:38) sharing one of my favourite strategies that I’ve implemented in my website design business, and (12:42) that’s my client success hub that I create at the end of each project. Rather than just saying, (12:47) hey, here’s your website. Good luck.
This is a simple post-project page that I have that really (12:54) helps my clients celebrate their wins, share their new website, and build momentum well after a (12:59) project’s done, which helps to keep me top of mind anytime they have to go back to this page to look (13:05) up any information about their website. It helps increase referrals and word-of-mouth recommendations, (13:10) which has been really helpful for growing my business as well. Because I’m top of mind with (13:15) my clients, they often come back for more design work or purchase some of my other supporting (13:21) products, which can really help them grow their business further as well.
(13:26) So this has been one of my favourite strategies I’ve implemented in my business, and it’s so (13:30) much fun to create and share with my clients, and I can’t wait to share it with everyone. (13:35) Hello, everyone. My name is Pamela Pritchard-Howell.
I am a business mentor and life coach, (13:40) certified through the ICF, with a couple of other certifications under my belt. (13:45) I come from a corporate background, and I left my corporate career six years ago and transitioned (13:52) into full-time business ownership. One of the things that I love supporting my clients with (13:58) is retention.
So much of what we do as business mentors on the front end is often supporting (14:05) clients with sales, marketing, branding, identity, but retention isn’t spoken about enough, (14:12) which is why I’m so excited to be part of this summit. Credit to Nadine for creating something (14:17) so original. I’m also a huge Hunger Games fan, so I absolutely loved the premise of this idea.
(14:23) So the ideas that I’m going to be bringing to the table are things that have helped me build (14:29) my business to beyond six figures, and I have also supported my clients with these things as (14:35) well. They are so simple. They are so service-led and client-centred that the renewal is almost (14:45) the secondary benefit.
The focus is on service, and the focus is on an excellent client experience, (14:53) and I find when you think about developing coaching containers that put the client at the (15:00) centre, that is when you’re going to get the most incredible, loyal clientele that love to work with (15:07) you and stay with you. So the three shifts or the three renewal strategies, if you will, that I am (15:15) going to be discussing, one of them happens much earlier than most people think. The second will (15:22) completely shift how you actually close out a coaching container, and the third is all about (15:29) re-engaging clients in a way that feels really natural and aligned, so you’re doing it from a (15:36) place of true service.
I cannot wait to share more with you, but I’ll leave it there for now, (15:42) and if you want to connect, you can find me at the Corporate to Coach podcast and hear a little bit (15:47) more about my background then, but otherwise, I’ll see you inside the retention games. (15:52) So what do you reckon? I am genuinely so excited to be sharing these amazing online business experts (16:01) with you. They are generously going to take you behind the scenes of their proven retention (16:09) strategy, ready for you to swipe in your business.
All strategies are going to be available for 48 (16:17) hours, and then it’s up to you to shape the remainder of the event. You are going to directly (16:25) influence how everything is going to pan out, so the top 10 strategies are going to make it through (16:31) into the semi-final, at which point you get another chance to vote. You also get an extra 24 hours (16:37) access to those top 10 strategies, and after the semi-finals, I’m going to count the votes and (16:44) take the top three strategies as voted by you, the spectators, and take them through to the (16:51) grand final, where you again get to vote.
Every round comes with amazing prizes up for grabs, so (16:59) one vote equals one entry into the prize draw, so there’s plenty in it for you to be an active (17:06) participant in these first ever retention games. There are also live crosses from the commentary (17:13) box from me, the host, to update you with the votes, tell you how things are going, who made it (17:19) into the next round. There is the games arena for you to connect with the fellow spectators and the (17:24) contestants as well.
I’m genuinely so excited by this fresh take on virtual summits, where you (17:32) directly influence the event, so I hope I have given you plenty to be excited about. Make sure (17:38) you grab your ticket via the link in the show notes. If you already have your ticket, I will (17:42) see you there.
Thank you so much for listening. I hopefully will see you at the games next week. (17:49) Have a good one.
