What is Customer churn?
Customer churn is the loss of customers who stop buying, cancel a subscription or do not renew a contract over a given period. It is usually tracked as a churn rate, the share of customers lost in that period, and is the opposite of customer retention.
Why it matters for your business
Keeping an existing customer usually costs less than winning a new one, so understanding and reducing churn has a direct effect on recurring revenue and growth.
A software company scores each account monthly on login activity and support tickets, and its customer success team contacts accounts flagged as likely to cancel before renewal.