In this episode of Churn Bites, host Dan Wilson talks with Joe Wilkinson, a growth consultant specializing in conversion and retention, about tackling churn at the top of the funnel. Joe shares the story of a company struggling so much with churn that they had to lay off their entire marketing team and stop all paid and organic acquisition.

Through a deep dive into their user journey, Joe identified major issues: misleading acquisition tactics, an overloaded onboarding experience, and a product cluttered with unnecessary features. By streamlining the product, focusing on the 80% use case, and removing distractions, they significantly improved retention—without restarting marketing. Eventually, the company regained profitability and successfully resumed ad spend.

Joe also shares actionable strategies for handling resistance when making product changes, including escape hatches (minimizing but not eliminating features) and A/B testing to validate what truly drives retention.

If your company is battling churn, this episode is packed with insights on refining customer journeys and making data-driven decisions.

Find Joe’s insights at artisanstrategies.substack.com and more Churn Bites episodes at churnassassin.com.