An exit interview allows you to find out why a customer left and, most importantly, what you can change to retain more customers in the future.

Losing a customer is painful for a business. The best thing you can do in this situation is to conduct an exit interview. Ask the customer who has left your company why they left and what you should do to prevent their departure.

Perhaps you're wondering why. The customer has likely left irrevocably, so is it worthwhile to understand the reason for their departure? The purpose of an exit interview is to

find out what you did wrong, why the customer left, and most importantly, what you can change to retain more customers in the future

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Exit Interview

An exit interview is one way to get feedback from your departing customers. Through it, you'll find out if you did something wrong, or if the customer simply found a more favorable or better offer with another company. With the findings from exit interviews, you can improve your services and prevent the loss of additional customers. You can conduct exit interviews in person, by phone, email, or online – depending on how close you were to the customer and what communication channels you have established with them.

What to Ask Customers in an Exit Interview?

Your questions will, of course, depend on the nature of your business. Nevertheless, we have prepared some typical questions that might help you compose an exit interview.

1. What did you like about our products / services (and what didn't you like)? Customers will honestly tell you what they think about your products / services. You will learn what to emphasize more in future customer interactions and what aspects of your assortment you need to fix.
2. What was your experience with our employees you interacted with? If you have an issue with the relationship of one of your employees, you will certainly find out at this point. By recognizing a potential problem, you gain the opportunity to resolve it.
3. Were you satisfied with our communication? Use the customers' answer to improve the company's personal and mass communication with customers.
4. Did we meet your expectations? (If not, what should we have done to meet them?) Perhaps customer expectations are higher than you think, or you are actually doing less to meet them than you are sure of. Never promise something you cannot deliver. If you find out where you went wrong, you can change it.
5. What could we have done differently? With this question, you empower the customer to influence your company's processes with their opinion. Their answer will touch upon the core of their dissatisfaction and give you a clear answer on what you need to change.

An exit interview is a powerful tool for retaining your customers. Those customers who respond to your invitation with their answers will be honest. After all, they have nothing left to lose and can give you their true opinion. You may not always like it, but make an effort to listen to departing customers and implement appropriate changes.