---
title: "Retention Software for Martech and Salestech | Churnkey"
description: "Churnkey helps martech and salestech companies understand why users leave, recover failed payments, and turn churn into recurring revenue."
canonical: "https://churnkey.co/use-case/martech"
category: "use-case"
related:
  - /feature/cancel-flows.html.md
  - /feature/payment-recovery/index.html.md
  - /feature/adaptive-offers.html.md
  - /feature/customer-insights-ai.html.md
  - /feature/subscription-pauses.html.md
  - /use-case/b2b-saas/index.html.md
  - /use-case/index.html.md
last_updated: "2026-09-11"
---

# Retention Software for Martech and Salestech Companies

## Overview

In martech, every renewal is an audit. Churnkey saves the customers about to cancel and recovers the payments that fail.

Churnkey is retention infrastructure for martech and salestech companies. It answers the moment a user moves to cancel with a Cancel Flow segmented by subscription age, usage, and plan tier, recovers failed payments with Precision Retries and omnichannel dunning, and uses Feedback AI to show why users leave. Across Churnkey's martech and salestech customers, Cancel Flows save 32.0% of attempted cancellations and Payment Recovery reclaims 53.1% of failed payments (trailing 12 months).

## Who It's For

Churnkey is built for every martech and salestech company:

- **Lead generation and prospecting** — Finding and reaching new prospects at scale
- **Sales intelligence and B2B data** — Contact data, enrichment, and account intelligence
- **Email outreach and deliverability** — Cold email, sequences, and inbox placement
- **Sales engagement and CRM** — Cadences, pipeline, and the system of record
- **Marketing automation** — Campaigns, nurture, and lifecycle marketing
- **RevOps and analytics** — Attribution, reporting, and the go-to-market data layer

## Key Results for Martech and Salestech Companies

Based on Churnkey's martech and salestech customers, trailing 12 months:

- **32.0%** of attempted cancellations saved by Cancel Flows
- **53.1%** of failed payments recovered by the full Payment Recovery stack (about 53 of every 100)

## Customer Testimonials

Sales and marketing teams already retain more with Churnkey:

> "No founder wants to think about failed payments or has the time to deal with them. Churnkey stepped up and did it for us."
> — Grant Cooper, Co-founder, Cometly

> "With Churnkey's Cancel Flows and Payment Recovery, we improved them greatly thanks to feedback received through the platform."
> — Tibo Louis-Lucas, CEO, Tweet Hunter

> "Because of Churnkey, our marketing team was able to design the best exit funnel that increases LTV, reduces churn, and gives us the right insights to reactivate users."
> — Austin Distel, Marketing, Jasper

## ROI Calculator

The page includes an ROI calculator. Enter your monthly churned revenue and set how that churn splits between cancellations (voluntary) and failed payments (involuntary). Churnkey applies the martech and salestech segment averages:

- Saved per month = churned revenue × voluntary share × 32.0%
- Recovered per month = churned revenue × involuntary share × 53.1%
- Revenue kept per year = (saved + recovered) × 12

With the calculator's defaults ($50,000 of monthly churned revenue, 75% cancellations and 25% failed payments), that works out to roughly $12,000 saved and $6,640 recovered every month, or about $223,650 kept per year.

## Why Martech Users Slip Away

There are eight ways martech users slip away:

1. **The stack got too crowded** — Every renewal is an audit. Tools that do not clearly earn their seat get cut first.
2. **Nobody logged in** — Seats sit idle. Once usage drops to zero, the tool becomes the easy line item to cancel.
3. **The data went stale** — Wrong emails and dead numbers erode trust fast. Bad data is the most common cancel reason in reviews.
4. **Deliverability collapsed** — For outreach tools, when emails stop reaching the inbox, the reason to pay disappears.
5. **They didn't see the ROI** — One underwhelming campaign and the buyer cancels on a single line: I do not see the ROI.
6. **Only needed it for one campaign** — The work is seasonal. They pull the value once, then leave until the next push.
7. **Too expensive per seat** — At team pricing, every seat gets scrutinized, and a cheaper option is one click away.
8. **Switched to a cheaper tool** — Low switching costs mean a rival with the same promise can pull them away in an afternoon.

## The Insight: The Cheaper the Seat, the Faster It Churns

Cheap, self-serve tools keep the smallest share of their revenue. Most sales and marketing software sits in that band, so a seat you win cheaply is a seat you lose fast.

| Price point | Top-quartile net revenue retention |
|---|---|
| Tools under $10 per seat | 65% (worst-retaining tier) |
| Tools over $500 per seat | 109% |

Source: [ChartMogul](https://chartmogul.com/reports/saas-retention-report/) SaaS Retention Report, 2023 (2,100+ SaaS businesses).

## Industry Voices

Retention is the problem martech keeps talking about:

> "Every company I've ever seen that tried to solve this late struggled."
> — Matthew Tharp, CEO, Hunter.io ([Churn.fm](https://www.churn.fm/episode/building-retention-into-your-dna))

> "We now know that people are leaving not because the software doesn't work but because they're not experiencing success."
> — Raul Kaevand, CEO, Instantly.ai ([GetLatka](https://getlatka.com/blog/new-cold-email-saas-instantly-goes-0-to-2-4m-in-9-months-using-genius-growth-strategy/))

> "Per-seat is no longer the atomic unit of software."
> — Andreessen Horowitz, a16z ([Outcome-based pricing](https://a16z.com/newsletter/december-2024-enterprise-newsletter-ai-is-driving-a-shift-towards-outcome-based-pricing/))

> "Every day is now a potential revenue event, or a churn event."
> — Kyle Poyar, Growth Unhinged ([Growth Unhinged](https://substack.com/@kylepoyar/note/c-78269933))

## How Churnkey Works for Martech and Salestech

### 1. Ask: Understand Why Users Leave

A [Cancel Flow](/feature/cancel-flows.html.md) opens with a survey step that collects why the user is leaving, then a freeform feedback step where free text captures the nuance. Example survey reasons for a sales or marketing tool:

- Too expensive for the team
- We stopped using it
- Switched to another tool
- The data wasn't accurate enough
- Only needed it for one campaign
- Other

### 2. Offer: Give Them a Reason to Stay

- **Pause** — Temporarily halts the subscription for a set number of months (for example one, two, or three). Users who are between projects or in a slow stretch stay on the product without the pressure of an active charge. Example copy: "Pause between campaigns. Your lists, sequences, and settings stay in place." See [Subscription Pauses](/feature/subscription-pauses.html.md).
- **Plan switch** — Moves the user to a lower tier or a usage-based plan. For users who find the monthly charge hard to justify, it keeps them active at a price that matches how they actually use the product. Example: "Only pay for the seats you use. Drop the seats sitting idle and keep the ones your team lives in."
- **Trial extension** — Grants more time before the next charge, giving users who have not yet seen a result room to get there before they decide. Example: "Your first campaign needs a few weeks." The preview offers 30 more days.
- **Onboarding help** — Routes the user to a real person before they finalize the decision. When the problem is a missing workflow rather than a missing feature, a short session brings the customer back. Example: a setup session to get sequences and data dialed in, or a talk with the team about a missing feature.
- **Adaptive Offers** — [Adaptive Offers](/feature/adaptive-offers.html.md) uses machine learning to find the right discount amount and duration for each user rather than defaulting to a fixed percentage, so a save does not come at the cost of an already-thin margin. Example variants: a free month for new users, or 30% off for 12 months for loyal users.
- **Usage credits** — A credit applies a one-time amount rather than reducing the recurring price, giving the user an immediate reason to stay without a permanent pricing change.

### 3. Segment: Every User Is Different

- **Segment by subscription age** — Route a week-one signup into a different flow than a power user on month twelve. The curious tourist and the committed resident are not the same person, and they should not see the same offer.
- **Segment by usage** — A user burning through credits and a user who has not logged in for three weeks need different responses. Pass usage, credits consumed, and feature adoption straight from your product and segment on any of them.
- **Segment by plan tier** — A twenty-dollar self-serve user and a five-hundred-dollar team plan are different economics. Give each a flow that reflects what the customer is actually worth to you.

See [Customer Segmentation](/feature/customer-segmentation.html.md).

### 4. Optimize: Test, Watch, and Stay Compliant

- **A/B test your flows** — Run a pause against a downgrade for the same cancel reason, and let the data decide which one keeps more users on the product.
- **Stay compliant** — Self-serve marketing subscriptions fall under the FTC's click-to-cancel rules. Churnkey's compliance mode keeps your Cancel Flow aligned with consumer protection requirements without your team tracking every update.
- **Session recordings** — Watch exactly how users move through the Cancel Flow. See where they hesitate, what they skip, and what makes them stay. See [Session Recordings](/feature/session-recordings.html.md).

## Churnkey Data: Martech and Salestech Accounts

Across Churnkey's martech and salestech customers, Cancel Flows save 32.0% of attempted cancellations and Payment Recovery reclaims 53.1% of failed payments. Anonymized account results:

| Account | Cancel Flows save rate (voluntary) | Payment Recovery rate (involuntary) |
|---|---|---|
| Company A | 48.9% | — |
| Company B | 29.5% | 23.5% |
| Company C | 28.0% | 67.5% |
| Company D | 26.8% | 52.9% |
| Company E | 26.6% | 68.4% |
| Average estimate | 32.0% | 53.1% |

Recovered revenue in failed payments, for accounts where the data exists:

- **Company C** — $2,899,933 recovered (67.5% recovery rate)
- **Company D** — $27,601 recovered (52.9% recovery rate)
- **Company B** — $23,736 recovered (23.5% recovery rate)

## Feedback AI: The Nuance Is in the Comments

Martech companies get thousands of free-text cancel responses every month, and reading them by hand is impossible. [Feedback AI](/feature/customer-insights-ai.html.md) reads every response and tells you whether the churn is a data problem, a price problem, or a results gap.

- **Automatic categorization** — Freeform feedback is grouped into emergent categories and themes for prioritization and analysis.
- **MRR connection** — Rank the impact of each cancel reason on your bottom line so you know where to focus your product roadmap.
- **Intelligent search** — Use natural language to search for specific feedback, themes, and customers.

## Deployment Options

There are three ways to deploy Churnkey Cancel Flows:

- **React SDK** — Open-source component you fully control, with optional analytics. See the [SDK overview](/sdk-overview.html.md).
- **Hosted flow** — A hosted page with the full retention feature set that requires no engineering lift. See [Hosted Cancel Flows](/feature/hosted-cancel-flows.html.md).
- **Embed** — Drop-in script for any web app, with an advanced no-code builder. See [Cancel Flows](/feature/cancel-flows.html.md).

## Payment Recovery: Most Failed Payments Are Recoverable

Up to 40% of churn is involuntary. Most of it comes from soft declines, like a low balance or a bank timeout, that clear on their own with a well-timed retry. Churnkey reads every decline code, retries the payments that can still succeed, and only asks the customer to update a card when one truly needs it.

- **+20%** more recovered when Churnkey runs alongside Stripe
- **98%** SMS open rate, against roughly 20% on email

### Precision Retries

Card issuers allow only a handful of retry attempts before they start blocking you, so each one has to count. [Precision Retries](/feature/payment-recovery/payment-retries/index.html.md) uses models trained on tens of millions of transactions to pick the time, day, and method most likely to clear for each card type, decline code, and processor.

- Works alongside Stripe to recover about 20% more failed-payment revenue
- Too many retries make banks flag you, so Churnkey caps and spaces them to protect your approval rate

### Omnichannel Dunning

Expired and closed cards need the customer to act. Churnkey runs that outreach across email, SMS, and an in-app payment wall, all on your own verified domain and branding. Campaigns are segmented by plan, language, time zone, and payment method, and routed to the right billing contact on the subscription. See [Dunning Campaigns](/feature/payment-recovery/dunning-campaigns/index.html.md).

- SMS opens at 98%, and in Churnkey's pilots recovered three to four times what email did
- One-tap, pre-authenticated links, so bypassing the login removes the friction entirely
- Fixed fees, never a percentage of what you recover

### Payment Recovery Wall

Some customers never open the email. The Payment Recovery Wall asks for the card update inside your product, where they already are, and holds back access until the payment clears. It uses your brand styles and your wording, and you decide how firm it gets.

- Lifts recovery of failed payments by 4% to 12%
- Soft restriction toggles set how much of the product stays usable
- Past-due customers stop running up usage you are not paid for

The full recovery stack recovers about 53% of failed payments for martech and salestech companies.

## Integrations

Churnkey connects natively to:

- [Stripe](/integrations/stripe/index.html.md)
- [Chargebee](/integrations/chargebee/index.html.md)
- [Maxio](/integrations/maxio/index.html.md)
- [Paddle](/integrations/paddle/index.html.md)
- [Braintree](/integrations/braintree/index.html.md)

A custom integration framework connects Churnkey to any other payment provider or subscription management system.

## FAQ

### What tools do you integrate with?

Churnkey connects natively to Stripe, Chargebee, Maxio, Paddle, and Braintree. It also offers a custom integration framework that connects Churnkey to any payment provider or subscription management system. Usage signals like credits consumed and feature adoption can be piped in from your billing provider or sent directly.

### Does Churnkey work with usage-based and credit billing?

Yes. Cancel Flows and offers can be segmented on usage, credits consumed, and plan tier, and Precision Retries recovers failed charges from credit top-ups and usage-based invoices, not just fixed monthly subscriptions.

### How do I get started, and how long does it take?

Three steps. Connect your billing provider, configure your Cancel Flow and recovery sequence, then go live with a dashboard showing save rates, recovered revenue, and campaign performance. Hosted Cancel Flows and Precision Retries require no engineering lift, so most teams are up and running in days.

### What are my deployment options?

Three ways to work with Churnkey: the open-source [React SDK](https://sdk.churnkey.co) you fully control, a [fully hosted flow](/feature/hosted-cancel-flows.html.md), or a [drop-in embed](/feature/cancel-flows.html.md) with a no-code builder.

### Is my data secure and compliant?

Yes. Churnkey is SOC 2 Type I and GDPR compliant.

## Related

- [Cancel Flows](/feature/cancel-flows.html.md) — Personalized cancellation experiences with surveys, offers, and segmentation
- [Payment Recovery](/feature/payment-recovery/index.html.md) — Precision Retries, dunning, and the Payment Recovery Wall
- [Adaptive Offers](/feature/adaptive-offers.html.md) — Machine-learned discount amount and duration per user
- [Feedback AI](/feature/customer-insights-ai.html.md) — Categorize free-text cancel feedback and tie it to MRR
- [Subscription Pauses](/feature/subscription-pauses.html.md) — Let users pause between campaigns instead of cancelling
- [B2B SaaS Use Case](/use-case/b2b-saas/index.html.md) — Retention for B2B SaaS
- [All Use Cases](/use-case/index.html.md) — Retention software by industry