Here are some of the best questions for a Canceled Subscribers survey about reasons for cancellation, plus quick tips on crafting them. We use Specific to build these surveys in seconds—try to generate yours and see just how effective conversational surveys can be.
The best open-ended questions for canceled subscribers
Open-ended questions let people tell their stories in their own words—great for uncovering details you’d never find in a list of options. These questions work best when you want rich, qualitative feedback and aren’t just looking to quantify patterns. Here are some of our favorites:
What was the main reason you decided to cancel your subscription?
Were there any features or benefits you felt were missing from our service?
Was there a particular experience or event that triggered your decision to cancel?
If you considered switching to a competitor, what attracted you to their offering?
How did you feel about the value you received compared to the price paid?
Was there anything we could have done differently to keep you as a subscriber?
How easy or difficult did you find the cancellation process?
Are there circumstances under which you’d consider re-subscribing in the future?
What could we improve to better serve your needs going forward?
Anything else you’d like to tell us about your overall experience?
Pro tip: Open-ended questions often surface the biggest surprises—the ones that spark your next big retention win. Plus, with digital products facing a churn rate of up to 22% in online retail/ecommerce alone [1], insights from these responses can make a measurable difference.
Best single-select multiple-choice questions for canceled subscribers
Single-select multiple-choice questions are perfect if you need data you can easily quantify or want to lower the friction for people unsure about what to write. They help start conversations and sometimes, picking from a list is just simpler for someone who’s ready to move on. Smart survey design combines both quick picks and space for follow-ups.
Question: What was the primary reason for canceling your subscription?
Too expensive
Lack of needed features
Switching to a competitor
Didn't use the service enough
Poor customer experience
Other
Question: Did you contact support before canceling?
Yes
No
Don't remember
Question: How would you rate the overall value you received?
Excellent
Good
Fair
Poor
When to followup with "why?" The magic happens when you follow up a choice with “why?”—especially if you want to dig beneath surface-level answers. For example: if someone selects “Didn’t use the service enough,” asking “Can you tell us more about what made it less relevant for you?” uncovers actionable context. These follow-ups help you move from data points to real insight.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always consider an “Other” option for closed questions. Follow up by inviting the subscriber to explain their unique reason—this often reveals blind spots in your assumptions and opens the door to feedback you might have missed.
NPS for canceled subscribers: does it make sense?
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures how likely a subscriber is to recommend your service to others—even after they’ve canceled. Asking it after cancellation is powerful: it tells you whether your brand still has advocates who may return or refer others, or if you have detractors spreading negative sentiment. NPS is quick, benchmarkable, and creates a natural lead-in for a “why” follow-up. You can instantly launch a cancellation-focused NPS survey with Specific.
The power of follow-up questions
Follow-ups are where conversational surveys shine. Instead of static forms, platforms like Specific use AI to generate personalized follow-up questions that probe for deeper context—automatically and in real time. If you haven’t seen how AI follow-up questions work, it’s worth checking out.
Canceled Subscriber: I just didn’t have time to use it.
AI follow-up: Can you share more about what made it hard for you to find time—was it the type of content, your schedule, or something else?
How many followups to ask? Generally, 2-3 smart follow-ups are enough to clarify ambiguous comments or get additional details—especially if you let people skip ahead once they’ve provided what you’re after. Specific lets you set this, so every conversation feels natural and respectful of people’s time.
This makes it a conversational survey. Instead of filling blanks, people feel like they’re having a conversation with a thoughtful interviewer. That’s the key to a true conversational survey: richer data, more engagement, and higher completion rates.
AI-powered response analysis is a game changer—analyzing qualitative, open-text answers used to be a slog. Now, with features like AI survey response analysis, summarizing themes and spotting trends is fast and intuitive.
Automated, AI-powered follow-up questions are a brand new survey concept—it’s worth trying Specific to build your survey and see the difference in depth yourself.
How to write a prompt for ChatGPT to generate survey questions
Prompting AI is all about being specific. Here’s a basic prompt to get started:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for Canceled Subscribers survey about Reasons For Cancellation.
Add context for better results. For example, mention your subscription type, user base, or business goals:
We run a SaaS subscription focused on small businesses. Our goal is to understand why customers cancel so we can improve retention and feature set. Suggest 10 open-ended questions for Canceled Subscribers survey about Reasons For Cancellation.
After you generate candidate questions, ask the AI to refine them by category:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Once you see categories—like “Pricing,” “Product Fit,” or “Competitor Comparison”—double-click to dig deeper:
Generate 10 questions for categories Pricing, Product Fit, and Competitor Comparison.
This layered approach makes sure your survey covers the right ground and isn’t stuck at the surface.
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey isn’t just a static list of questions; it’s an interactive, chat-style experience powered by AI. This makes a world of difference when compared to manual survey building. Here’s how they stack up:
Manual Surveys | AI-Generated Conversational Surveys |
|---|---|
Time-consuming to write, edit, and refine questions | Questions created instantly by AI using best practices |
No dynamic follow-ups—every question is static | AI probes and clarifies in real time, like a smart interviewer |
Harder to personalize per respondent | Questions adapt based on responses and context |
Analysis of open-ended answers is slow and manual | AI instantly summarizes responses and finds key themes |
Easier to miss gaps in your understanding | Conversational style surfaces what you didn’t think to ask |
Why use AI for canceled subscribers surveys? AI-powered conversational survey tools like Specific remove the heavy lifting—no need to brainstorm every potential question or wonder if you’re missing something obvious. Plus, survey response rates have historically lagged for web and email surveys (around 29% and 15–25% respectively [2]), making engagement crucial. Conversational surveys break through “form fatigue” and draw more honest, nuanced feedback.
Want a step-by-step? Check our guide on how to create canceled subscriber surveys on reasons for cancellation—it covers everything from survey flow to AI best practices.
Specific’s conversational experience really is best-in-class, making feedback smooth and even enjoyable—for you and your former subscribers.
See this reasons for cancellation survey example now
Speed matters. With AI survey generation, your survey is live in minutes, complete with expert follow-ups and instant analytics. Get inside the minds of your former customers—see what’s driving churn, what you can fix, and how easy it is to analyze every reply. Make your next retention campaign smarter by starting with real insights.