Unlock 5–10% retention uplift by fixing the moments of truth that drive customer loss

 

Hi, I’m Tom. I work with senior leaders who carry the retention number and need clarity fast.

My Moments of Truth System uses proven methods and techniques to analyse your critical journeys, pinpoint the interactions driving customer loss, and prioritise the fixes that matter most. 

You get a practical, cross-functional plan you can stand behind and the capability to deliver a 5–10% uplift without guesswork.

 

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Testimonials 

"Tom has had a huge positive impact on the business transforming the retention team to become data driven, commercially minded business leaders and pushing all around him to be better."

Nick Nordarishvilli, Head of CRM, DAZN Japan

 

"I look up to Tom as a leader of digital business, taking all clients to the next level and transforming them in ways they never thought of."

- Humza Ijaz, Managing Director, Accenture Song

 

"I had the pleasure of working with Tom for over two years and he enriched my understanding and application of data science and analytics."

- Ross Mckenna, Head of CRM, Klarna

 

"Tom is formidable, innovative, inspirational, smart and extremely hard working."

Phil Richardson, Salesforce Technical Architect

 

"Brainstorming is always a joy with Tom - you will be sure to find intelligent, unique solutions to business challenges, and learn something new along the way."

Firas Wahida, Client Partner, TikTok

 

"Tom is the best CRM planner I have ever worked with and a great partner on all strategy projects."

- Charlotte Mulley, Head of Strategy, Mullen Lowe

 

Exponential Impact

HBR and Bain have shown that a retention uplift of 5-10% can drive a 25%+ profit improvement (details here) because: 

  • You keep revenue you would have lost 
  • Increase Customer Lifetime Value
  • Acquisition is more efficient 
  • Referral rates improve
  • Cost to serve reduces
  • Upsell increases

The easiest way to achieve this is by improving retention at each moment of truth by 1%-2%. 

Exponential Impact

HBR and Bain have shown that improving retention by 5-10% drives a 25%- 100% profit improvement (details here) because: 

  • You keep revenue you would have lost 
  • Increase Customer Lifetime Value
  • Acquisition is more efficient 
  • Referral rates improve
  • Cost to serve reduces
  • Upsell increases

The easiest way to achieve this is by improving retention at each moment of truth by 1%-2%. 

How I work

  1. Diagnose your critical customer journeys (product, marketing, service, operations)

  2. Identify the moments of truth driving customer loss

  3. Prioritise the fixes with the biggest commercial impact

  4. Turn them into a cross-functional plan your teams can deliver

This approach is structured, practical, and built on proven systems, methods and techniques, informed by behavioural science and 100+ cross-industry case studies, all designed to deliver real retention uplift without guesswork.

Tom Burrell

Linkedin Profile > Retention Consultant 

I’ve spent 26 years helping 35+ global brands (some logos below) understand why customers leave and what to do about it. Retention isn’t a channel problem; it’s a hierarchy-of-needs problem. Who you attract, what you offer, and how you handle moments of truth determine whether customers stay or go.

My work combines diagnosis with proven systems, methods and techniques to optimise customer retention moments of truth. I identify the real drivers of customer loss, map the moments that drive behaviour, and prioritise the fixes that matter most. You get a practical, cross-functional plan leaders can stand behind and a roadmap designed to deliver a 5-10% uplift by improving retention 1-2% at each key moment, informed by patterns from hundreds of cross-industry case studies.

Proven Systems, Methods & Techniques to Optimise Customer Retention Moments of Truth

Ways we can work together

 

Retention Strategy

Moments of Truth

Understand what they are for your brand and develop appropriate retention strategies.  

Onboarding

The most effective anti-churn program you will ever build. 

Behavioural Science

Nudge customers to do what you want: stay and spend more. 

CRM Marketing 

Leverage CRM to become embedded in your customers lives. 

 

Data Strategy:

Customer Retention Data Strategy

Leverage customer data to drive desired retention & ARPU growth outcomes.

Experimentation Fast Track

You don't want an experiment, you want a result. Get 80% of outcome with 20% effort. 

Personalisation 

Ensure efforts are focussed on 'Moments of Truth' for biggest impact.  

AI

Leverage generative and predictive AI to maximise retention outcomes. 

Customer Value Management:

Customer Lifetime Value  

80% of brands measure incorrectly. I help you to measure CLV correctly. 

ARPU Growth

Maximise upsell and cross sell across all your customer touch-points. 

Pricing 

Optimise pricing for CLV, saves, offers, cross-sell & up-sell. 

Customer Led Growth

Leverage existing customers to drive growth through referrals and acquire for value.  

Retention Organisation:

Retention Business Design

Structure your teams to drive retention led growth. 

Customer Love 

Strategies to enable you to be extremely attentive to your most valuable customers. 

Retention Driven Customer Service

Empower Customer Service to know when to activate retention protocols and for who. 

MarTech & CXTech

Solution evaluation support to maximise commerical retention outcomes. 

7Xing Subscribers for a Hypnotherapy Mobile App

 

"Tom's support has transformed my business from one that was regularly making a loss, to one that is self funded in just 5 months. In that time together, we have re-priced the product, built new product conversion journeys, developed an entirely new creative strategy and campaign,  implemented a comprehensive CRM Marketing program to support conversion and retention, resolved multiple tech issues and implemented new Martech. All this has increased average subscriber tenure and resulted in a 7X increase in subscribers since December '23. " June, '24

- Aaron Surtees, Founder & CEO, Subconsciously Hypnotherapy Mobile App

Retention Strategy for an AI SAS Start-Up

 

"Tom has worked with us to develop strong retention and churn prevention strategies for our AI SaaS startup, which helped us enhance our product. Highly recommend working with Tom!" June, '24

- Nikolai Skelbo, Chief Operating Officer, Subsets AI

Prioritising Retention Opportunities for a Monthly Flex Gym Group

"Tom worked with The Gym Group to help identify and prioritise retention opportunities to build into our 2025 plans. He is clearly an expert in his field and if you are looking to improve your retention, he can help." Mar, '25

- Nick Shelmerdine, Strategy Director, The Gym Group 

 

Upskilling Retention Teams

"Tom helped upskill our retention department during a large period of transformation. His passion for retention and depth of industry knowledge had a big impact on the team and this immediately translated into business impact." April '25

- Matt Ramsden, Head of Customer Growth, Kindred

 

AI Customer Lifecycle Transformation

"Tom led an interim key phase of our evoke group (William Hill & 888 brands) customer life cycle transformation programme. He provided a strong framework for identification of detailed valuable behavioural use cases for all life cycle stages. Tom took accountability for change implementation - from commercial workshop engagement and targeted design though to live and post live measurement. This included specific new technical solution requirements where needed. He made a significant impact and added high value to our programme at a key time”" Oct '25

- Mark Kemp, Chief Commercial Officer, Evoke 

How you can work with me

Retention Accelerator

My moments of truth system.

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Bespoke Consultancy 

For help with a specific retention issue.

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Retention Courses

For Retention, CRM & CX practitioners.

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The Retention Accelerator

  • Comprehensive review of the drivers of customer loss, including Moments of Truth analysis

  •  Bespoke retention plan built around the interactions that shape customer outcomes

  •  Leverages proven systems, methods & techniques from my Moments of Truth framework

  •  Clear business cases for recommended improvements

  •  Informed by patterns from 100+ cross-industry case studies

  •  Rapid turnaround: 4–12 weeks

  •  Includes execution support

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FAQs

If you have a question not covered below, email [email protected] or book a call. 

 

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Subscription & Retention Coaching Limited (UK company number: 15350693) trading as Retention Coach.