Everything is becoming too much.
Social media is intense. People hate without even knowing why.

We’ve lost sight of fun, spontaneous moments, a smile, a hug, or simply meeting a stranger.
Even traveling without a plan seems harder these days.

Bring a smile with you. Enjoy the moment. It’s hard, I know. I’m trying too.

In today’s Storyletter:
• Make the want to stay
• Building in Public
• Fun Stuff – Weekend Vibes

Key learning

While retention is key in most businesses, many think retention starts when a client calls to cancel. They call it customer success or negotiation. In reality, retention starts the moment they sign, not when they ask to leave.

The customer journey is one of the most overlooked steps. This often leads to fewer sales, wasted marketing budgets, and higher churn.

Within the classic AIDA model of user acquisition, retention is missing. It’s probably one of the easiest things to monitor and fix, yet most companies don’t spend a single meeting on it.

Even more surprising, I often get requests for workshops on how to help customer success managers lose fewer clients before they churn. If your client called to cancel because they can’t see the value, you lost them long before this call ever happened.

The moment a client signs, we must start a whole new journey.

When the buyer isn’t the user
If the person buying is a champion, CEO, or procurement, they make the decision. But we need to build a relationship with the actual user. Make them feel like they won, like they got the solution they needed.

When it’s feelings over features
The relationship is not based on features, it’s built on emotion. Make them like you. Give them more. Ensure the journey feels like you are taking some weight off their shoulders.

When they call, it’s too late
When a client calls to cancel, it becomes about convincing them, asking them not to break up with you. Customer success managers might escalate the situation to a VP or CEO, asking for a discount.
If you are playing a money game, your service is not good enough, or worse, your brand and offering are not valuable enough.

In my agency, we used a simple weekly green, yellow, and red lights method.
During our weekly meetings, each account executive would share the client’s work and needs. They would always mention if the client was happy (green), if something was happening that needed attention (yellow), or if it was red (we needed to act immediately and sometimes get me involved).

Each exec also shared one extra thing we did for a client that week: a small gesture, a thoughtful email, a summary, or a piece of extra content. Our client retention averaged more than two years, with some clients staying for four. These are excellent numbers for a marketing agency.

Don’t wait.
Stay proactive.
Turn retention into a powerful tool.

Let me know if you need help with anything.

Building in public

“It was too short.” “Can we have more?”
These were some of the reactions to the two workshop sessions I ran on Friday in Rotterdam. As part of my next level, working on a license model, we hosted these workshops and I had a blast.

More than anything, seeing more than 20 people learn and implement so much in just three hours made me feel grateful to call this my work.

We’re already planning the next step, hosting a few company-specific workshops for teams.

The past week of traveling in Berlin and Amsterdam reminded me that I need to get over my procrastination and upload more videos, teach more, and reach a wider audience.
And for that, I also need to get my ass glued to a chair and write more.

On the client side, I had an interesting week. It reminded me how important it is to have the right people on the bus. One client is struggling to implement simple steps because the team isn’t the right team for him.

I’m working on a big project, writing some exciting things, and I hope to share more toward the end of the year.

On a personal level, I’d like to make some health changes. I might sign up for a gym again (even though I hate the gym) and make my health a priority. How much time do you spend writing your priorities?

Yeah, it’s all about balance. Between traveling, exercising, work, and writing, I feel like I need to sit still to get more done.

What do you think? Agree? Any suggestions?

Just for Fun

Chill & Enjoy

🎧 Music
This week’s newsletter was created while listening to one of my favorite channels. Listen

🎬 Take Me Home Samurai
Nothing beats a thrilling bloody Samurai show, coming up in November. Watch

🍿 Nothing Like a Bit of Bond, James Bond
I wish I could go back to playing computer games, but I still enjoy the trailers. Watch

Resources

📺 How to win the SEO game and AI search in 2025 - Full episode here

💡 The Business Storytelling Guide - A complete guide on how to implement storytelling to improve your business quickly. Available here 

📕 My Amazon best-selling book F*ck The Slides - How to Create a Winning Pitch. Available here: Kindle/Print/Audio

📺 My YOUTUBE Channel: Interviews, tips and some fun content Available here