Guest Author - Pamela Blackmon

One of my favorite movie scenes is from “The Champ” starring Jon Voight as a has-been boxer and Ricky Schroeder as his young son. After his final fight, Voight’s character dies, leaving his son in tears so heart-wrenching that I always long for a miraculous resurrection even though it’s only a movie.

While losing an ezine subscriber shouldn’t drive you to that depth of emotion, it may sting a little. After all, you tell yourself, you work hard to deliver cutting edge news and information. You faithfully stick to your schedule, even when you have the flu and prefer to dive under your favorite comforter with your one-eyed stuffed teddy bear and sleep the day away. But no. In the spirit of Michael Vale, the late Dunkin Donuts man who met himself coming and going while trying to make the donuts, you’ve got to put out the newsletter. And, you do.

Until one day, someone wants to unsubscribe. You glance at the opt-out report, note the email address if your system offers that capability, and long to know why they left.

In all likelihood, the dear departed is leaving for reasons that have nothing to do with you. They may have enjoyed your newsletter but simply no longer have time to read it. Email can be overwhelming and so can major life events such as getting married, starting a new job or beginning a family. Time suddenly becomes so tight that even a one-page newsletter can feel like a thick tome.

All is not lost, however, if you use the departure to gain any invaluable feedback the subscriber is willing to provide.

Here are a few suggestions on how to handle a subscription cancellation:

Ask the subscriber why they’re leaving. A simple request for feedback will do. Don’t be obnoxious or require the completion of a long drawn-out form that feels like the third degree. Most people will ignore it..

If you must offer a pre-selected list of possible reasons, include an “other” section with room for a personal explanation. The person could be deleting an old email address in order to add a new one.

Offer them a friendly good-bye and continued well wishes. Tell them how sorry you are to see them go. Remind reminding them that re-subscribing is only a few clicks away and tell them how to do it.

Carefully review any feedback you receive. Some may not be valid. Comments like “too many sales pitches”, “too long,” or “not enough useful information” are all good reasons to re-examine your newsletter to be sure it’s delivering the content your readers want and need in accordance with your stated mission.

Let them go. While it is harder to attract a new subscriber than it is to keep an old one, the truth is that you can't hold on to readers who've moved on. Instead, use their departure as an impetus to make sure your publication is the best it can be.