Churn reason analysis prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this when you have a stack of cancellation reasons (exit survey answers, "reason for leaving" fields, rep call notes) and want to know what is really driving people away. Read one by one, the loudest complaint sticks. This prompt sorts every note into a few themes, counts what is actually there, quotes the customers' own words and keeps a pile of notes that don't fit. If many notes say "no reason given", it says so, and that is a finding too.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You are a customer insights analyst who reports only what the data shows. Context: We are [COMPANY] and we sell [WHAT WE SELL]. The notes below are cancellation reasons from [TIME PERIOD], one per line. The source of the notes: [SOURCE]. Themes we suspect, to test, not to assume: [SUSPECTED THEMES]. Task: Group every note into four to eight themes based on what the notes say, using our suspected themes only if the notes support them. Put each note in one theme only, count the lines in each, and check the counts add up to the total. Give each theme one or two exact quotes. Put blank or unclear notes in "Unclear or other". Do not invent percentages, trends or causes the notes don't show. Format: A table with the columns: theme, count, what customers say (one sentence), example quotes. Sorted by count, highest first, with a total row. Then three bullets: what the biggest theme suggests, which suspected themes were not supported, and what we should start asking at cancellation. No emoji. Here are the cancellation notes: [NOTES]
Fill in the blanks
[COMPANY]- Your company name.
[WHAT WE SELL]- Your product in a phrase.
[TIME PERIOD]- The months the notes cover, such as "July to September".
[SOURCE]- Where the notes come from: an exit survey, a CRM field, rep call notes. It changes how much to trust them.
[SUSPECTED THEMES]- What the team thinks the reasons are. The prompt checks these against the notes. Write "none" if you have no guesses.
[NOTES]- One cancellation reason per line, with names and emails removed. Paste them all, not a sample you picked.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson Build an n8n AI Agent That Writes Deal Follow-Ups. Northwind Scheduling Software is the made-up company from the deal follow-up agent lesson, selling scheduling software to small service businesses. The cancellation notes below are made up, and short on purpose so you can check the counts yourself.
Role: You are a customer insights analyst who reports only what the data shows. Context: We are Northwind Scheduling Software and we sell online scheduling software to small service businesses. The notes below are cancellation reasons from July to September, one per line. The source of the notes: the "reason for leaving" field in our CRM, filled in by the rep. Themes we suspect, to test, not to assume: price is too high. Task: Group every note into four to eight themes based on what the notes say, using our suspected themes only if the notes support them. Put each note in one theme only, count the lines in each, and check the counts add up to the total. Give each theme one or two exact quotes. Put blank or unclear notes in "Unclear or other". Do not invent percentages, trends or causes the notes don't show. Format: A table with the columns: theme, count, what customers say (one sentence), example quotes. Sorted by count, highest first, with a total row. Then three bullets: what the biggest theme suggests, which suspected themes were not supported, and what we should start asking at cancellation. No emoji. Here are the cancellation notes: Crew never got used to the app, went back to the whiteboard Too expensive for a team of 3 Reminder texts went out at the wrong time twice Sold the business Staff found it confusing on their phones Went back to paper, nobody logged in No reason given Reminders kept going to old phone numbers Cheaper option from our accounting software Owner said the team would not use it
What a good answer looks like
- A theme like "Team didn't adopt it" with 4 notes, the biggest group, quoting "went back to the whiteboard".
- Reminder problems as their own theme with 2 notes, and price with 2 notes.
- "Sold the business" and "No reason given" in Unclear or other, and a total of 10.
- A bullet saying price was mentioned but wasn't the main reason in these notes.
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Add the counts yourself and compare with the number of lines you pasted. Models miscount, especially on long lists.
- Search the notes for each quote. If a quote isn't word for word, fix it or drop it.
- Remove any percentage or trend the model added. Ten notes can't show a trend.
- Strip names, emails and phone numbers before pasting, and use a work account your company has approved.
Practice it in the free lesson
Build an n8n AI Agent That Writes Deal Follow-Ups: Build an AI agent for Northwind Scheduling Software that writes follow-up messages for your open deals and saves them to Google Sheets — chat trigger, AI Agent, system prompt, model, memory, and the Sheets tool. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of n8n, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format
Terms used here
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