Tech scaleups face a brutal reality: acquiring users is hard, but keeping them is even harder. High churn rates can stall momentum, drain resources, and leave your business constantly scrambling for new customers just to stay afloat. But why do users leave?

It’s easy to blame product-market fit, feature gaps, or pricing models. However, one of the most overlooked drivers of churn is poor positioning.

The Positioning Problem: Nice-to-Have vs. Must-Have

In my Wisdom From Wizards episode featuring Luka Kankaras, Product Growth Lead at Storylane, we discuss a crucial insight:

Products that become a habitual part of daily life have higher retention, stronger engagement, and long-term success.

Many scaleups unknowingly position their product as a “nice-to-have” rather than a “must-have.” If your messaging doesn’t communicate a clear, indispensable role in your users’ daily workflows, they won’t hesitate to churn when budgets tighten or competitors knock on their door.

How Positioning Impacts Churn

1️⃣ If users don’t see an immediate and ongoing need, they disengage.

• Does your positioning emphasize long-term value or just a quick win?

2️⃣ If your product is perceived as replaceable, users won’t stick around.

• Are you differentiating enough from competitors, or are you blending into the noise?

3️⃣ If the habit isn’t built, retention suffers.

• Does your onboarding and GTM strategy reinforce daily or weekly usage?

Fixing Your Positioning to Reduce Churn

🔹 Focus on the Habit Loop — Show how your product seamlessly integrates into existing workflows, making it difficult to remove.
🔹 Reinforce Urgency & Necessity — Shift messaging from “This is helpful” to “You can’t afford to go without this.”
🔹 Highlight Cost of Churn — Make users aware of what they lose by leaving, not just what they gain by staying.

Don’t Let Poor Positioning Kill Your Retention

If your churn rates are high, take a hard look at your positioning. Are you truly seen as indispensable? If not, it’s time to make a change.

If you are struggling with high churn rates, we can help. Visit www.cariboustrategic.com and book a call.