Your cohort numbers
Type your actuals. Calculator runs live. We model an exponential decay curve based on your monthly churn — close to reality for solo coaching cohorts.
Cohort size you onboard each month
10-15% is industry typical for online coaching
What you would hit with the 8 levers below
Your cohort retention curve
% of a cohort still active at 30 / 60 / 90 / 180 / 365 days, given your monthly churn rate.
If you hit the target churn rate
Same cohort, but at the target churn you set above.
The 12-month delta
—
Run the math above. The delta is the additional revenue you keep over 12 months by holding more of each cohort.
The 8 retention levers — ranked by impact-per-effort
Tier 1 = high impact + low effort. Start there. Tier 2 = mid both. Tier 3 = high impact but expensive in time/money. Don't try to do all 8 at once.
1. Day-7 personal check-in (text or voice memo)
Tier 1
A 60-second text or voice memo on Day 7 — name them, reference one specific thing from their first week's check-in. Lifts 90-day retention 4-8 percentage points.
How: weekly calendar block, batched at 9am Sunday. Same template + 1 personalized line per client. Total time: ~10 min for a 30-client roster.
2. Visible progress chart (their own, in-app)
Tier 1
Most clients open the app to look at their OWN data, not yours. A weight-trend chart, a streak count, a habit-completion grid — these drive recurring opens, which drive retention.
How: ensure your platform exposes per-client charts on their home screen, not buried 3 taps deep. If yours doesn't, that's a platform decision.
3. AI-summarized check-ins (your morning review)
Tier 1
When your morning review is fast (3-bullet AI summary per client), you actually respond to each one, fast. When it's slow (read 30 paragraphs), you skip people. Skipped people churn.
How: enable AI check-in summaries in your platform. ~8-12 min/day saved on a 30-client roster. Cadence has this; not all platforms do.
4. Day-30 retention call (15 min, scheduled at signup)
Tier 2
Block a 15-min Loom call OR voice call at Day 30. Calendar invite goes out at signup so it's never optional. Drives 5-10 pp retention lift on the 30-90 day window.
How: Calendly link with a 15-min "30-day check-in" template. Pre-baked into your onboarding sequence. Most clients keep them; the ones who skip are usually the ones about to churn anyway.
5. Win-back automation at Day-7 inactive
Tier 2
Push notification + email + SMS, in that sequence. Recovers 15-25% of would-be churners. Most coaches don't have this set up.
How: trigger from your platform's inactivity detection. Brevo, ActiveCampaign, Cadence (built-in) all support this. Costs ~30 min to set up once.
6. Quarterly results check-in (vs. signup baseline)
Tier 2
Day 90 + 180 + 270 + 365: side-by-side photo + numbers vs Day 0. Forces them to see the win. Strongest retention moment in the calendar year.
How: schedule the quarterly review on every client's first day. The platform should auto-pull the comparison; if not, do it manually for the high-LTV clients.
7. Cohort community (private group, scheduled posting)
Tier 3
Group of 8-12 clients in a private channel. Weekly prompts. Lifts retention 5-10 pp via peer accountability. But: time-expensive to moderate well, and bad cohorts hurt retention.
How: only attempt with 25+ clients (need critical mass). Discord, Slack, or a private channel in your app. 30-60 min/week of moderation.
8. Tiered pricing with annual discount
Tier 3
Annual prepay at a 15-20% discount locks revenue in a single payment + structurally improves your retention numbers (annual customers churn at ~3%/yr vs ~12%/mo monthly).
How: Stripe annual subscription option. Offer at the 60-day mark when commitment is highest. ~15-25% of monthly subscribers convert to annual when offered correctly.
Want this playbook + your retention math snapshot emailed?
The full retention playbook PDF (with the diagnostic questions per lever, week-by-week implementation plan, and the 4 levers most coaches accidentally hurt retention with). Plus your specific cohort math from above. Free, one email.
Sent! Check your inbox in 1-2 minutes.
Brand-agnostic playbook. Cadence is the studio's flagship — built around these retention levers. No SMS, no aggressive sequence.