Why Stay? A Framework For Winning More Renewal Business

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Tim Riesterer

Co-Author:Customer Message ManagementConversations That Win the Complex SaleThe Three Value Conversations

Chief Strategy and Research OfficerCorporate Visions@TRiesterer

Why Change?

Customer Acquisition Customer Renewal

Why Stay?

Customer lifecycle

You

Them

Why Change?

74 26% %Buying Vision Bake-Off

Why Us?

Status Quo60%

Prospect Engages

YourSolution

Defeating the Status Quo Bias

PreferenceStability

De-stabilize their preferences

YourSolution

Defeating the Status Quo Bias

PreferenceStability

De-stabilize their preferences

Cost of Staying same

Cost of Action/ Change

YourSolution

Defeating the Status Quo Bias

Cost of Action/ Change

PreferenceStability

Selection Difficulty

De-stabilize their preferences

Cost of Staying same

Create enough Contrast

Defeating the Status Quo Bias

YourSolution

PreferenceStability Anticipated

Regret /Blame

Cost of Action/ Change

Selection Difficulty

Cost of Staying same

De-stabilize their preferences

Create enough Contrast

Before and after hero Story

Defeating the Status Quo Bias

YourSolution

Why Change Story Model

Unconsidered Need

Flawed Current Approach

Improved New Way

Story with Contrast

Why Change Story

Unconsidered Needs Test

Uniqueness

2

3

4

5

6

Standard Solution

Value Added Solution

Unconsidered Needs Last

Unconsidered Needs First

Statistically Significant Uniqueness Improvement 50%

Quality

5

6

7

8

9

Standard Solution

Value Added Solution

Unconsidered Needs Last

Unconsidered Needs First

Statistically Significant Quality Improvement 10+%

Persuasiveness

4

5

6

7

8

StandardSolution

ValueAddedSolution

UnconsideredNeedsLast

UnconsideredNeedsFirst

Statistically Significant Persuasion Improvement (10+%)

Why Change Story Model

Unconsidered Need

Flawed Current Approach

Improved New Way

Story with Contrast

You

Them

Why Change?

74 26% %Buying Vision Bake-Off

Why Us?

Status Quo60%

Prospect Engages

You

Them

Why Change?

Acquisition Renewal?

Why Stay?

$$$$$

PreferenceStability Anticipated

Regret /Blame

Cost of Action/ Change

Selection Difficulty

Cost of Staying same

De-stabilize their preferences

Create enough Contrast

Before and after hero Story

Defeating the Status Quo Bias

YourSolution

PreferenceStability Anticipated

Regret /Blame

Cost of Action/ Change

Selection Difficulty

Cost of Staying same

De-stabilize their preferences

Create enough Contrast

Before and after hero Story

Defeating the Status Quo Bias

Reinforce

Reinforce Reinforce

Reinforce

REINFORCING

YourSolution

Why Stay Story

Messaging Test

Situation BackgroundSmall business owner, hired firm to promote retirement planAfter two years the contract is up for renewal

Started at 20% participation, goal was 80%, achieved 50%Turnover down, but not sure if attributable to program

Reminded that they did a thorough investigation originally reviewing multiple competitors for the program

Tested messages to Provocative Why Change vs. Reinforcing Status Quo

Provocative Message

You have made great progress on your goals over these last two years. You’ve seen 401k participation grow from 20% to 50%. Your employee satisfaction scores are up, and you’ve said some employees have even taken the time to thank you for the changes you’ve made. In addition, your employee retention rates have started to improve, which you stated was the ultimate goal of making these changes.

This is great progress, but we’ve seen that for many companies it can be harder going from 50% to 80% than it was going from 20% to 50%. The latest research shows that it’s no longer just about improving communications of the benefits of contributing to the 401k. In fact, companies that achieve world class participation rates are actually “flipping” their approach to enrollment. Instead of the traditional “opt-in” approach to enrollment where people sign up for the plan, these companies are automatically enrolling their employees in the 401k plan, and requiring them to fill out a form to “opt-out” of participating.

We can switch your program over to this “opt-out” approach and waive any additional set-up and administrative costs in exchange for renewing our partnership for the next two years. We’re looking forward to working with you over the next two years to adopt this approach and reach the world-class goals you’ve set.

Prov

ocat

ive

Mes

sage

You have made great progress on your goals over these last two years. You’ve seen 401k participation grow from 20% to 50%. Your employee satisfaction scores are up, and you’ve said some employees have even taken the time to thank you for the changes you’ve made. In addition, your employee retention rates have started to improve, which you stated was the ultimate goal of making these changes.

This is great progress, but we’ve seen that for many companies it can be harder going from 50% to 80% than it was going from 20% to 50%. The latest research shows that it’s no longer just about improving communications of the benefits of contributing to the 401k. In fact, companies that achieve world class participation rates are actually “flipping” their approach to enrollment. Instead of the traditional “opt-in” approach to enrollment where people sign up for the plan, these companies are automatically enrolling their employees in the 401k plan, and requiring them to fill out a form to “opt-out” of participating.

We can switch your program over to this “opt-out” approach and waive any additional set-up and administrative costs in exchange for renewing our partnership for the next two years. We’re looking forward to working with you over the next two years to adopt this approach and reach the world-class goals you’ve set.

Open with reporting on progress toward goals

Prov

ocat

ive

Mes

sage

You have made great progress on your goals over these last two years. You’ve seen 401k participation grow from 20% to 50%. Your employee satisfaction scores are up, and you’ve said some employees have even taken the time to thank you for the changes you’ve made. In addition, your employee retention rates have started to improve, which you stated was the ultimate goal of making these changes.

This is great progress, but we’ve seen that for many companies it can be harder going from 50% to 80% than it was going from 20% to 50%. The latest research shows that it’s no longer just about improving communications of the benefits of contributing to the 401k. In fact, companies that achieve world class participation rates are actually “flipping” their approach to enrollment. Instead of the traditional “opt-in” approach to enrollment where people sign up for the plan, these companies are automatically enrolling their employees in the 401k plan, and requiring them to fill out a form to “opt-out” of participating.

We can switch your program over to this “opt-out” approach and waive any additional set-up and administrative costs in exchange for renewing our partnership for the next two years. We’re looking forward to working with you over the next two years to adopt this approach and reach the world-class goals you’ve set.

Introduce Unconsidered Need to Destabilize Preferences

Prov

ocat

ive

Mes

sage

You have made great progress on your goals over these last two years. You’ve seen 401k participation grow from 20% to 50%. Your employee satisfaction scores are up, and you’ve said some employees have even taken the time to thank you for the changes you’ve made. In addition, your employee retention rates have started to improve, which you stated was the ultimate goal of making these changes.

This is great progress, but we’ve seen that for many companies it can be harder going from 50% to 80% than it was going from 20% to 50%. The latest research shows that it’s no longer just about improving communications of the benefits of contributing to the 401k. In fact, companies that achieve world class participation rates are actually “flipping” their approach to enrollment. Instead of the traditional “opt-in” approach to enrollment where people sign up for the plan, these companies are automatically enrolling their employees in the 401k plan, and requiring them to fill out a form to “opt-out” of participating.

We can switch your program over to this “opt-out” approach and waive any additional set-up and administrative costs in exchange for renewing our partnership for the next two years. We’re looking forward to working with you over the next two years to adopt this approach and reach the world-class goals you’ve set.

Reduce Perceived Cost of Change

Prov

ocat

ive

Mes

sage

You have made great progress on your goals over these last two years. You’ve seen 401k participation grow from 20% to 50%. Your employee satisfaction scores are up, and you’ve said some employees have even taken the time to thank you for the changes you’ve made. In addition, your employee retention rates have started to improve, which you stated was the ultimate goal of making these changes.

This is great progress, but we’ve seen that for many companies it can be harder going from 50% to 80% than it was going from 20% to 50%. The latest research shows that it’s no longer just about improving communications of the benefits of contributing to the 401k. In fact, companies that achieve world class participation rates are actually “flipping” their approach to enrollment. Instead of the traditional “opt-in” approach to enrollment where people sign up for the plan, these companies are automatically enrolling their employees in the 401k plan, and requiring them to fill out a form to “opt-out” of participating.

We can switch your program over to this “opt-out” approach and waive any additional set-up and administrative costs in exchange for renewing our partnership for the next two years. We’re looking forward to working with you over the next two years to adopt this approach and reach the world-class goals you’ve set.

Reduce Anticipated Regret/Blame

Prov

ocat

ive

Mes

sage

Reinforce the Status Quo

You have made great progress on your goals over these last two years. You’ve seen 401k participation grow from 20% to 50%. Your employee satisfaction scores are up, and you’ve said some employees have even taken the time to thank you for the changes you’ve made. In addition, your employee retention rates have started to improve, which you stated was the ultimate goal of making these changes.

When you signed up two years ago, you really did your homework and looked at a lot of options before getting your entire team to come to a consensus and choose us. As you look at making a renewal decision, it’s important to realize that you are at a critical point in this journey and that it’s important to maintain momentum to achieve your ultimate participation and retention goals.

Any change to the program at this point would create an unnecessary risk of losing the positive gains you’ve made. Not to mention that bringing in another company that does something similar to us would require you to invest time in their learning curve and money on implementation costs that you won’t have to spend if you continue working with us. You’re making great progress. Stick with it another two years, and I know you’ll get there.

Rei

nfor

ce th

e St

atus

Quo

You have made great progress on your goals over these last two years. You’ve seen 401k participation grow from 20% to 50%. Your employee satisfaction scores are up, and you’ve said some employees have even taken the time to thank you for the changes you’ve made. In addition, your employee retention rates have started to improve, which you stated was the ultimate goal of making these changes.

When you signed up two years ago, you really did your homework and looked at a lot of options before getting your entire team to come to a consensus and choose us. As you look at making a renewal decision, it’s important to realize that you are at a critical point in this journey and that it’s important to maintain momentum to achieve your ultimate participation and retention goals.

Any change to the program at this point would create an unnecessary risk of losing the positive gains you’ve made. Not to mention that bringing in another company that does something similar to us would require you to invest time in their learning curve and money on implementation costs that you won’t have to spend if you continue working with us. You’re making great progress. Stick with it another two years, and I know you’ll get there.

Open with reporting on progress toward goals

Rei

nfor

ce th

e St

atus

Quo

You have made great progress on your goals over these last two years. You’ve seen 401k participation grow from 20% to 50%. Your employee satisfaction scores are up, and you’ve said some employees have even taken the time to thank you for the changes you’ve made. In addition, your employee retention rates have started to improve, which you stated was the ultimate goal of making these changes.

When you signed up two years ago, you really did your homework and looked at a lot of options before getting your entire team to come to a consensus and choose us. As you look at making a renewal decision, it’s important to realize that you are at a critical point in this journey and that it’s important to maintain momentum to achieve your ultimate participation and retention goals.

Any change to the program at this point would create an unnecessary risk of losing the positive gains you’ve made. Not to mention that bringing in another company that does something similar to us would require you to invest time in their learning curve and money on implementation costs that you won’t have to spend if you continue working with us. You’re making great progress. Stick with it another two years, and I know you’ll get there.

Reinforce Preference Stability

Rei

nfor

ce th

e St

atus

Quo

You have made great progress on your goals over these last two years. You’ve seen 401k participation grow from 20% to 50%. Your employee satisfaction scores are up, and you’ve said some employees have even taken the time to thank you for the changes you’ve made. In addition, your employee retention rates have started to improve, which you stated was the ultimate goal of making these changes.

When you signed up two years ago, you really did your homework and looked at a lot of options before getting your entire team to come to a consensus and choose us. As you look at making a renewal decision, it’s important to realize that you are at a critical point in this journey and that it’s important to maintain momentum to achieve your ultimate participation and retention goals.

Any change to the program at this point would create an unnecessary risk of losing the positive gains you’ve made. Not to mention that bringing in another company that does something similar to us would require you to invest time in their learning curve and money on implementation costs that you won’t have to spend if you continue working with us. You’re making great progress. Stick with it another two years, and I know you’ll get there.

Reinforce Perceived Cost of Change

Rei

nfor

ce th

e St

atus

Quo

You have made great progress on your goals over these last two years. You’ve seen 401k participation grow from 20% to 50%. Your employee satisfaction scores are up, and you’ve said some employees have even taken the time to thank you for the changes you’ve made. In addition, your employee retention rates have started to improve, which you stated was the ultimate goal of making these changes.

When you signed up two years ago, you really did your homework and looked at a lot of options before getting your entire team to come to a consensus and choose us. As you look at making a renewal decision, it’s important to realize that you are at a critical point in this journey and that it’s important to maintain momentum to achieve your ultimate participation and retention goals.

Any change to the program at this point would create an unnecessary risk of losing the positive gains you’ve made. Not to mention that bringing in another company that does something similar to us would require you to invest time in their learning curve and money on implementation costs that you won’t have to spend if you continue working with us. You’re making great progress. Stick with it another two years, and I know you’ll get there.

Reinforce Selection Difficulty

Rei

nfor

ce th

e St

atus

Quo

You have made great progress on your goals over these last two years. You’ve seen 401k participation grow from 20% to 50%. Your employee satisfaction scores are up, and you’ve said some employees have even taken the time to thank you for the changes you’ve made. In addition, your employee retention rates have started to improve, which you stated was the ultimate goal of making these changes.

When you signed up two years ago, you really did your homework and looked at a lot of options before getting your entire team to come to a consensus and choose us. As you look at making a renewal decision, it’s important to realize that you are at a critical point in this journey and that it’s important to maintain momentum to achieve your ultimate participation and retention goals.

Any change to the program at this point would create an unnecessary risk of losing the positive gains you’ve made. Not to mention that bringing in another company that does something similar to us would require you to invest time in their learning curve and money on implementation costs that you won’t have to spend if you continue working with us. You’re making great progress. Stick with it another two years, and I know you’ll get there.

Reinforce Anticipated Regret/Blame

Rei

nfor

ce th

e St

atus

Quo

Attitudes

4

5

6

7

Status Quo Point of View Point of View + UpsellReinforce Status Quo

Provocative Message

Provocative Message w/Upsell

Statistically Significant Improvement 9.63%

4

5

6

7

8

Status Quo Point of View Point of View + Upsell

Intention to Renew

Reinforce Status Quo

Provocative Message

Provocative Message w/Upsell

Statistically Significant Improvement 13.27%

Switching Likelihood

4

5

6

7

Status Quo Point of View Point of View + UpsellReinforce Status Quo

Provocative Message

Provocative Message w/Upsell

Statistically Significant Decrease 10.61%

Across multiple dimensions, the status quo reinforcement messages were more persuasive and effective than the provocative messages in the ‘why stay’ context.

Dr. Zakary Tormala

Stanford

PreferenceStability Anticipated

Regret /Blame

Cost of Action/ Change

Selection Difficulty

Cost of Staying same

De-stabilize their preferences

Create enough Contrast

Before and after hero Story

Defeating the Status Quo Bias

Reinforce

Reinforce Reinforce

Reinforce

REINFORCING

YourSolution

Why Stay

Messaging Framework Test

You have made great progress on your goals over these last two years. You’ve seen 401k participation grow from 20% to 50%. Your employee satisfaction scores are up, and you’ve said some employees have even taken the time to thank you for the changes you’vemade. In addition, your employee retention rates have started to improve, which you said was the ultimate goal of making these changes. (Documented Results)

When you signed up two years ago, you really did your homework and looked at a lot of options before getting your entire team tocome to a consensus and choose our company. It was a long process that involved a lot of people, but you ultimately arrived at a big decision to bring this program on board. (Preference Stability)

As you look at making a renewal decision, it’s important to realize that you are at a critical point in this journey and that it’s important to maintain momentum to achieve your ultimate participation and retention goals. Any change to the program at this point could create an unnecessary risk of losing the positive gains you’ve made. (Anticipated Regret/Blame)

Not to mention that bringing in another vendor would require you to invest time in getting them up to speed and money on implementation costs and other changes that you won’t have to spend if you continue working with us. (Perceived Cost of Change)

We’ve continued to update and tweak your program over the last two years to make sure you are keeping pace with anything elseavailable in the market today. Specifically, you will get two new features designed to help improve your goals of employee participation and satisfaction. The first is a monthly report that shows how many tax dollars your 401k participants saved versus those who aren’t in the 401k. You can share this with your employees monthly to provide a gentle nudge to get into the program for the tax benefits. Second, we’ve also added a new smartphone app with retirement planning calculators and budgeting tools to help your employees make more informed decisions, and feel like they’re making progress on their goals. (Selection Difficulty).

You’re making great progress. Stick with our program for another two years, and I know you’ll get to your 80% participation goal and further increase your employee retention rates.

Why Stay Story Model

Document Results

Review Prior Decision Process

Mention Risk of Change

Highlight Cost of Change

Detail Competitive Advances

Why Stay Story Model

Document Results

Review Prior Decision Process

Mention Risk of Change

Highlight Cost of Change

Detail Competitive Advances

You have made great progress on your goals over these last two years. You’ve seen 401k participation grow from 20% to 50%. Your employee satisfaction scores are up, and you’ve said some employees have even taken the time to thank you for the changes you’vemade. In addition, your employee retention rates have started to improve, which you said was the ultimate goal of making these changes. (Documented Results)

When you signed up two years ago, you really did your homework and looked at a lot of options before getting your entire team tocome to a consensus and choose our company. It was a long process that involved a lot of people, but you ultimately arrived at a big decision to bring this program on board. (Preference Stability)

As you look at making a renewal decision, it’s important to realize that you are at a critical point in this journey and that it’s important to maintain momentum to achieve your ultimate participation and retention goals. Any change to the program at this point could create an unnecessary risk of losing the positive gains you’ve made. (Anticipated Regret/Blame)

Not to mention that bringing in another vendor would require you to invest time in getting them up to speed and money on implementation costs and other changes that you won’t have to spend if you continue working with us. (Perceived Cost of Change)

We’ve continued to update and tweak your program over the last two years to make sure you are keeping pace with anything elseavailable in the market today. Specifically, you will get two new features designed to help improve your goals of employee participation and satisfaction. The first is a monthly report that shows how many tax dollars your 401k participants saved versus those who aren’t in the 401k. You can share this with your employees monthly to provide a gentle nudge to get into the program for the tax benefits. Second, we’ve also added a new smartphone app with retirement planning calculators and budgeting tools to help your employees make more informed decisions, and feel like they’re making progress on their goals. (Selection Difficulty).

You’re making great progress. Stick with our program for another two years, and I know you’ll get to your 80% participation goal and further increase your employee retention rates.

Why Stay Story Model

Document Results

Review Prior Decision Process

Mention Risk of Change

Highlight Cost of Change

Detail Competitive Advances

Why Stay Story Model

Document Results

Review Prior Decision Process

Mention Risk of Change

Highlight Cost of Change

Detail Competitive Advances

You have made great progress on your goals over these last two years. You’ve seen 401k participation grow from 20% to 50%. Your employee satisfaction scores are up, and you’ve said some employees have even taken the time to thank you for the changes you’vemade. In addition, your employee retention rates have started to improve, which you said was the ultimate goal of making these changes. (Documented Results)

When you signed up two years ago, you really did your homework and looked at a lot of options before getting your entire team tocome to a consensus and choose our company. It was a long process that involved a lot of people, but you ultimately arrived at a big decision to bring this program on board. (Preference Stability)

As you look at making a renewal decision, it’s important to realize that you are at a critical point in this journey and that it’s important to maintain momentum to achieve your ultimate participation and retention goals. Any change to the program at this point could create an unnecessary risk of losing the positive gains you’ve made. (Anticipated Regret/Blame)

Not to mention that bringing in another vendor would require you to invest time in getting them up to speed and money on implementation costs and other changes that you won’t have to spend if you continue working with us. (Perceived Cost of Change)

We’ve continued to update and tweak your program over the last two years to make sure you are keeping pace with anything elseavailable in the market today. Specifically, you will get two new features designed to help improve your goals of employee participation and satisfaction. The first is a monthly report that shows how many tax dollars your 401k participants saved versus those who aren’t in the 401k. You can share this with your employees monthly to provide a gentle nudge to get into the program for the tax benefits. Second, we’ve also added a new smartphone app with retirement planning calculators and budgeting tools to help your employees make more informed decisions, and feel like they’re making progress on their goals. (Selection Difficulty).

You’re making great progress. Stick with our program for another two years, and I know you’ll get to your 80% participation goal and further increase your employee retention rates.

Why Stay Story Model

Document Results

Review Prior Decision Process

Mention Risk of Change

Highlight Cost of Change

Detail Competitive Advances

Why Stay Story Model

Document Results

Review Prior Decision Process

Mention Risk of Change

Highlight Cost of Change

Detail Competitive Advances

You have made great progress on your goals over these last two years. You’ve seen 401k participation grow from 20% to 50%. Your employee satisfaction scores are up, and you’ve said some employees have even taken the time to thank you for the changes you’vemade. In addition, your employee retention rates have started to improve, which you said was the ultimate goal of making these changes. (Documented Results)

When you signed up two years ago, you really did your homework and looked at a lot of options before getting your entire team tocome to a consensus and choose our company. It was a long process that involved a lot of people, but you ultimately arrived at a big decision to bring this program on board. (Preference Stability)

As you look at making a renewal decision, it’s important to realize that you are at a critical point in this journey and that it’s important to maintain momentum to achieve your ultimate participation and retention goals. Any change to the program at this point could create an unnecessary risk of losing the positive gains you’ve made. (Anticipated Regret/Blame)

Not to mention that bringing in another vendor would require you to invest time in getting them up to speed and money on implementation costs and other changes that you won’t have to spend if you continue working with us. (Perceived Cost of Change)

We’ve continued to update and tweak your program over the last two years to make sure you are keeping pace with anything elseavailable in the market today. Specifically, you will get two new features designed to help improve your goals of employee participation and satisfaction. The first is a monthly report that shows how many tax dollars your 401k participants saved versus those who aren’t in the 401k. You can share this with your employees monthly to provide a gentle nudge to get into the program for the tax benefits. Second, we’ve also added a new smartphone app with retirement planning calculators and budgeting tools to help your employees make more informed decisions, and feel like they’re making progress on their goals. (Selection Difficulty).

You’re making great progress. Stick with our program for another two years, and I know you’ll get to your 80% participation goal and further increase your employee retention rates.

Why Stay Story Model

Document Results

Review Prior Decision Process

Mention Risk of Change

Highlight Cost of Change

Detail Competitive Advances

Why Stay Story Model

Document Results

Review Prior Decision Process

Mention Risk of Change

Highlight Cost of Change

Detail Competitive Advances

You have made great progress on your goals over these last two years. You’ve seen 401k participation grow from 20% to 50%. Your employee satisfaction scores are up, and you’ve said some employees have even taken the time to thank you for the changes you’vemade. In addition, your employee retention rates have started to improve, which you said was the ultimate goal of making these changes. (Documented Results)

When you signed up two years ago, you really did your homework and looked at a lot of options before getting your entire team tocome to a consensus and choose our company. It was a long process that involved a lot of people, but you ultimately arrived at a big decision to bring this program on board. (Preference Stability)

As you look at making a renewal decision, it’s important to realize that you are at a critical point in this journey and that it’s important to maintain momentum to achieve your ultimate participation and retention goals. Any change to the program at this point could create an unnecessary risk of losing the positive gains you’ve made. (Anticipated Regret/Blame)

Not to mention that bringing in another vendor would require you to invest time in getting them up to speed and money on implementation costs and other changes that you won’t have to spend if you continue working with us. (Perceived Cost of Change)

We’ve continued to update and tweak your program over the last two years to make sure you are keeping pace with anything elseavailable in the market today. Specifically, you will get two new features designed to help improve your goals of employee participation and satisfaction. The first is a monthly report that shows how many tax dollars your 401k participants saved versus those who aren’t in the 401k. You can share this with your employees monthly to provide a gentle nudge to get into the program for the tax benefits. Second, we’ve also added a new smartphone app with retirement planning calculators and budgeting tools to help your employees make more informed decisions, and feel like they’re making progress on their goals. (Selection Difficulty).

You’re making great progress. Stick with our program for another two years, and I know you’ll get to your 80% participation goal and further increase your employee retention rates.

Why Stay Story Model

Document Results

Review Prior Decision Process

Mention Risk of Change

Highlight Cost of Change

Detail Competitive Advances

Why Stay Story Model

Document Results

Review Prior Decision Process

Mention Risk of Change

Highlight Cost of Change

Detail Competitive Advances

You have made great progress on your goals over these last two years. You’ve seen 401k participation grow from 20% to 50%. Your employee satisfaction scores are up, and you’ve said some employees have even taken the time to thank you for the changes you’vemade. In addition, your employee retention rates have started to improve, which you said was the ultimate goal of making these changes. (Documented Results)

When you signed up two years ago, you really did your homework and looked at a lot of options before getting your entire team tocome to a consensus and choose our company. It was a long process that involved a lot of people, but you ultimately arrived at a big decision to bring this program on board. (Preference Stability)

As you look at making a renewal decision, it’s important to realize that you are at a critical point in this journey and that it’s important to maintain momentum to achieve your ultimate participation and retention goals. Any change to the program at this point could create an unnecessary risk of losing the positive gains you’ve made. (Anticipated Regret/Blame)

Not to mention that bringing in another vendor would require you to invest time in getting them up to speed and money on implementation costs and other changes that you won’t have to spend if you continue working with us. (Perceived Cost of Change)

We’ve continued to update and tweak your program over the last two years to make sure you are keeping pace with anything elseavailable in the market today. Specifically, you have two new features designed to help improve your goals of employee participation and satisfaction. The first is a monthly report that shows how many tax dollars your 401k participants saved versus those who aren’t in the 401k. You can share this with your employees monthly to provide a gentle nudge to get into the program for the tax benefits. Second, we’ve also added a new smartphone app with retirement planning calculators and budgeting tools to help your employees make more informed decisions, and feel like they’re making progress on their goals. (Selection Difficulty).

You’re making great progress. Stick with our program for another two years, and I know you’ll get to your 80% participation goal and further increase your employee retention rates.

Why Stay Story Model

Document Results

Review Prior Decision Process

Mention Risk of Change

Highlight Cost of Change

Detail Competitive Advances

Defeat the Status Quo

Why Change?

Acquisition Renewal

Why Stay?

Reinforce the Status Quo

Lifecycle messaging framework

Why Change?

Acquisition Renewal

Why Stay?

Lifecycle messaging framework

Why PAY?

Tim RiestererChief Strategy and Research OfficerCorporate Visions

@triestererLinkedin/in/tim-riesterer

FREE REPORThttp://cvi.to/whystaysotc