Seamless Downgrade Process via Plan Management

[simranvijwani]

What

Introduce a "Downgrade" button within the Plan Settings page that:

• Guides users through a straightforward process to compare their current plan with lower-tier plans, clearly highlighting the differences and what features would be lost if they choose to downgrade.
• Offers a direct pathway to execute the downgrade without leaving the platform, including an option for immediate downgrading or contacting support for assistance.

Expected Outcomes:

• Decrease unnecessary cancellations by providing a clear downgrade path.
• Retention of revenue from users who choose to stay with lower-tier plans.
• Reduction in support inquiries related to downgrading, as users can self-serve.
• Enhanced user experience by offering transparent and accessible options for plan adjustments.

Why

Users currently facing the decision to downgrade their plan encounter a lack of direct, clear pathways to do so, which leads to frustration or even account cancellation. This issue represents a missed opportunity to retain users within the ecosystem at a different service level, negatively impacting revenue and user satisfaction.

How

No response

[mrfoxtalbot]

We could include this in the Plan Management section, here's a possible mockup:

[supernovia]

We get a lot of requests for this actually. Noting a few :) 9029821-zd-a8c 9063764-zd-a8c

[github-actions[bot]]

Support References

This comment is automatically generated. Please do not edit it.

• [ ] 9029821-zen
• [ ] 9063764-zen
• [ ] 8977692-zen
• [ ] 9143135-zen
• [ ] 9141555-zen
• [ ] 9138887-zen
• [ ] 9137404-zen
• [ ] 9136150-zen
• [ ] 9135890-zen
• [ ] 9098875-zen
• [ ] 9106477-zen
• [ ] 9106643-zen
• [ ] 9101534-zen
• [ ] 9107096-zen
• [ ] 9050585-zen
• [ ] 9144865-zen
• [ ] 9145699-zen
• [ ] 9173823-zen
• [ ] 9175886-zen
• [ ] 9176282-zen
• [ ] 9259082-zen
• [ ] 9216187-zen
• [ ] 9215802-zen
• [ ] 9223782-zen
• [ ] 9225548-zen
• [ ] 9226533-zen
• [ ] 9221583-zen
• [ ] 9227898-zen
• [ ] 9227548-zen
• [ ] 9231169-zen
• [ ] 9232705-zen
• [ ] 9232888-zen

[supernovia]

8977692-zen

[ash1eygrace]

A list of HC escalations asking for HEs to proceed with the downgrades encountered while helping in Slack. We could significantly reduce support interactions with a self-serve option.

• 9143135-zd-a8c
• 9141555-zd-a8c
• 9138887-zd-a8c
• 9137404-zd-a8c
• 9136150-zd-a8c
• 9135890-zd-a8c
• 9098875-zd-a8c
• 9106477-zd-a8c
• 9106643-zd-a8c
• 9106477-zd-a8c
• 9101534-zd-a8c
• 9107096-zd-a8c

[ash1eygrace]

9050585-zd-a8c

[ash1eygrace]

9144865-zd-a8c

[ash1eygrace]

9145699-zd-a8c

[mrfoxtalbot]

@tanjoymor, @inaikem, could we flag this issue as an opportunity to reduce support requests and perhaps even increase retention?

[ash1eygrace]

Another one 9173823-zd-a8c requested to downgrade from Business monthly to Premium annual.

[ash1eygrace]

Another one: 9175886-zd-a8c

[ash1eygrace]

Another one: Downgrade from Business to Premium 9176282-zd-a8c

[ash1eygrace]

Another ping in Slack downgrade from eCommerce to Premium: p1736448324129499-slack-C03TY6J1A

9259082-zd-a8c

[cuemarie]

I noticed the heavy support demand this was creating over the week of January 1, and took note of these internal requests for help addressing these downgrades. These only reflect support requests that engineers or contractors had to ask additional help for to address, across ~4 days:

1. Dec 30, 3:55am: p1735556131452839-slack-C03TY6J1A — 9216187-zen
2. Dec 30, 5:02am: p1735560169442229-slack-C03TY6J1A — 9215802-zen
3. Dec 30, 12:09pm: p1735585750875949-slack-C03TY6J1A — 9223782-zen
4. Dec 30, 6:48pm: p1735609738333369-slack-C03TY6J1A — 9225548-zen
5. Dec 31, 2:50am: p1735638639071069-slack-C03TY6J1A — 9215802-zen
6. Dec 31, 4:06am: p1735643192089429-slack-C03TY6J1A — 9226533-zen
7. Jan 1, 2:38am: p1735724337308699-slack-C03TY6J1A — 9221583-zen
8. Jan 1, 4:09am: p1735729766731739-slack-C03TY6J1A — 9227898-zen
9. Jan 2: 4:40am: p1735818022652909-slack-C03TY6J1A — 9227548-zen
10. Jan 2, 7:11am: p1735827118833989-slack-C03TY6J1A — 9231169-zen
11. Jan 2, 8:42am: p1735832572028089-slack-C03TY6J1A — 9232705-zen
12. Jan 2, 8:52am: p1735833142052479-slack-C03TY6J1A — 9232888-zen

Brought this to the Dotcom PAs here as well: p1736801066106049-slack-C0160HSMDQV

[supernovia]

@Automattic/shilling does this request fall under your care? I'm assigning your team with TOB, but if it's not you, can you point us in the right direction?

[michaeldcain]

We have an issue open to track this feature request: https://github.com/Automattic/payments-shilling/issues/560

I'll leave this issue open since it's a good place to keep user reports for the request, and we can discuss re-prioritizing the project.

[DavidRothstein]

We wound up repurposing the other issue to focus on downgrades within the cancellation flow (which already partially exist), so we can leave this issue to be about providing a direct path to downgrade from the Plans page itself.

@Automattic/shilling does this request fall under your care? I'm assigning your team with TOB, but if it's not you, can you point us in the right direction?

Nope, it's not up to us. As far as I understand, it was a deliberate decision not to offer self-serve options from the Plans page (instead, clicking "Downgrade" opens up a window to contact Support) so it would be up to the product team if they want to change that.

As far as I know, there is no technical barrier here (except perhaps for the Atomic => Simple case).

I am not sure who the right people are to be honest, but I see discussions about self-serve downgrades at p9Jlb4-eXy-p2#comment-14880 and pau2Xa-699-p2#comment-15862, for example.

[cuemarie]

Thanks for your insight there, @DavidRothstein ! For now I'll connect this to folks in Dotcom Projects working on cutting down support volume at its source, as it certainly relates ( pc4ICr-2jq-p2 ).