Where to Focus Your Retention Efforts

by | Aug 28, 2025

Forrester Research conducts an annual consumer satisfaction survey called the Consumer Experience Index.

In the survey, they ask customers to rate their experiences with various companies from 1 (very bad) to 7 (very good).

When collecting the data, they categorize the responses into three groups:

Group A (Champions)—clients with a score of 7

Group B (Positives)—clients with scores 4–6

Group C (Negatives)—clients with scores 1–3

When presented with this data, companies either attempt to eliminate the Negatives (turn 1–3s into 4s or higher) or elevate the Positives (turn 4–6s into 7s).

Which is a better strategy?

On almost every performance metric, spending time and effort on elevating the Positives produces better results.

In fact, Forrester estimates that companies earn 9X more revenue by elevating the Positives than by attempting to eliminate the Negatives.

Is it possible this consumer retention principle would also apply to agent retention?

I don’t know of anyone who has specifically researched this topic, but I suspect it would.

Since you only have a limited amount of time to spend on retention, dedicate it to trying to convert your Positives into Champions.

 

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The Attrition Variables

The Attrition Variables

While these attrition constants still have the greatest influence, there are some emerging attrition variables worth noting. People also tend to leave companies when: They feel like they’re not doing as well as others in their peer group outside the company. They feel like they’re not as far along as they should be at a certain point in life.

The Attrition Constants

The Attrition Constants

If you’re not focusing most of your retention effort on these issues, you’ll miss the mark. If you’re not focusing most of your recruiting effort on exploiting these weaknesses among your competitors, you’re missing the best opportunities.

The Persistence Mindset

The Persistence Mindset

A leader equipped with this mindset can have a profound effect on the life and career of each individual they engage. It works because an agent is getting a real-time glimpse of what it would be like to work on your team. But it only becomes believable when it is persistently applied over time.