Struggling with low new user retention?

In August, I advised a SaaS company struggling with low user retention. Most of their new users were churning in the first 6 mins.

The main reason? Users had to enter too much stuff when they signed up and it took forever to get value. They found it slow and annoying. Most bailed and never came back.

I see this challenge all the time. Companies force users to give too much before they get any tangible value.

Here's what happens:

Users need to enter lots of stuff before they get any value.
Users don't have access to stuff, or it's hard to import.
They explore without stuff - getting little value.
They have a hard time evaluating product.
Assume it's not a good fit.
Move on with their day.

Common examples of "stuff" include company data, financial information, list uploads, api keys, integrations, custom branding, etc.

One solution?

Provide "stuff" that users can borrow from you.

@andrewcapland Struggling with low user retention? Try this 🤔🤔 #saas #productledgrowth #retentiontips ♬ original sound - Coach for SaaS growth teams

That way, users can still experience your product value and evaluate if it's a solution to their problem - with less time and effort.

You can do this on your website and even try this inside your product using no-code tools.

Ramp is a perfect example of this in the wild - and one I showed them for inspiration.

Instead of forcing every user to import a ton of financial information to get started, they have an interactive demo (using borrowed data) to help users experience value.

It decreases the time to value
It builds product excitement and momentum
It increases the number of users who experience value
It filters out the pokers who just wanted to see your product in the first place.

Something every SaaS product can benefit from.