15% Retention at Cancelation

Project Overview

Role: Senior Product Manager (Packaging, Billing and Support team)
Company: Philo (Live TV Streaming Service)
Scope: Increase Retention
Team: 1 backend engineer, 1 frontend engineer, 1 product designer

Background

As a Senior Product Manager of the Packaging, Billing and Support team (PBS for short), my team and I worked on subscription and retention initiatives during a period of major company changes, including the launch of a new HBO bundle. These updates required adjustments across pricing and acquisition funnels, including a price increase and the removal of the 7-day free trial. While necessary for the business, these changes had immediate downstream effects on user behavior.

Problem

Following the price increase and trial removal, we observed a significant rise in user cancellations. Many users were not leaving due to lack of interest in the product, but rather due to price sensitivity and reduced perceived value. Without intervention, this posed a risk to overall retention and revenue stability.

Hypothesis

If price-sensitive users were given a lower-cost alternative at the point of cancellation, they would be more likely to remain subscribed rather than churn completely.

Approach

Monitored cancellation metrics closely after pricing changes to quickly identify negative trends.
Designed and launched a Legacy Plan offer at cancellation:
- Lower-priced option
- No HBO access, but continued access to strong core content
Integrated the downgrade option directly into the cancellation flow to reduce friction.
Collaborated with engineering, marketing, and design stakeholders to ship quickly and minimize churn impact.

Results

The introduction of the Legacy Plan at the point of cancellation led to a 15% increase in retention, with a meaningful share of users choosing to downgrade instead of fully canceling their subscription. This change helped retain price-sensitive customers who still valued the content offering, preserving long-term customer relationships during a period of significant pricing and bundle changes. By reacting quickly and adjusting the cancellation funnel, the team successfully mitigated churn and stabilized retention despite the removal of the free trial and the price increase.