Customer Retention Manager

General Purpose & Essential Duties:

The Customer Retention Manager is responsible for leading Guardian Alarm's customer retention team and driving initiatives designed to improve customer loyalty, reduce attrition, and increase customer lifetime value. This role combines people leadership, operational execution, and data-driven analysis to identify customer retention opportunities and improve business outcomes.

Working closely with Customer Experience leadership, the Customer Retention Manager utilizes customer insights, retention technologies, performance data, and market trends to identify root causes of customer churn, develop actionable recommendations, and implement retention-focused solutions. This role serves as both a strategic thought partner and operational leader, ensuring Guardian maintains a customer-centric approach to retention while delivering measurable business results.

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Customer for Life (CFL) Specialists responsible for customer retention and customer loyalty initiatives.
• Establish performance expectations and monitor key performance indicators including save rates, customer retention, retention profitability, productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction.
• Conduct regular coaching sessions, performance reviews, call evaluations, and development planning activities.
• Support hiring, onboarding, training, and ongoing development of team members.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and customer advocacy.
• Lead team meetings, huddles, and communication activities to ensure alignment with departmental goals and priorities.

Customer Retention Analytics & Strategy

• Analyze customer behavior, cancellation trends, retention performance, and customer feedback to identify drivers of customer attrition and opportunities for improvement.
• Utilize Microsoft Dynamics, VOZIQ, Cresta AI and other customer intelligence tools to identify trends, risks, and emerging customer retention challenges.
• Investigate root causes of customer churn and develop data-driven recommendations to improve retention outcomes.
• Partner with Customer Experience leadership to develop and implement retention-focused initiatives, programs, and process improvements.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of retention offers, save programs, pricing strategies, and customer engagement efforts, recommending adjustments based on performance results.
• Monitor customer lifetime value, retention metrics, cancellation reasons, and customer engagement trends to support business decision-making.
• Proactively identify emerging risks to customer retention and develop actionable solutions before issues become widespread.

Retention Operations & Performance Management

• Oversee the day-to-day execution of customer retention programs and initiatives designed to reduce customer attrition and improve customer loyalty.
• Ensure team members effectively utilize retention tools, offers, and resources to maximize customer retention opportunities.
• Monitor retention performance and implement corrective actions as necessary to achieve established goals.
• Maintain accountability for departmental performance metrics, service levels, and operational effectiveness.
• Support the development and implementation of retention best practices, workflows, and standard operating procedures.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Continuous Improvement

• Partner with Sales, Service, Billing, Monitoring, Operations, and other departments to support customer retention and customer experience initiatives.
• Collaborate with Customer Experience leadership to implement customer-focused programs and operational improvements.
• Communicate customer trends, retention risks, and performance insights to leadership and key stakeholders.
• Identify opportunities to improve workflows, customer interactions, retention effectiveness, and operational efficiency.
• Support departmental and organizational initiatives that contribute to customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and long-term customer relationships.

Required Skills, Abilities, Education & Experience:

• Strong leadership, coaching, and employee development skills.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills with the ability to identify trends, determine root causes, and develop practical business solutions.
• Ability to translate customer and operational data into actionable recommendations.
• Strong business acumen with an understanding of customer retention, customer lifetime value, and recurring revenue business models.
• Ability to balance strategic thinking with operational execution.
• Demonstrated ability to influence change through data, collaboration, and relationship building.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal and customer service skills.
• Strong organizational, time management, and problem-solving skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, CRM platforms, and customer analytics tools.
• Experience utilizing customer retention technologies, customer engagement platforms, and reporting tools preferred.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, Customer Experience, Analytics, Management, or related field preferred (or equivalent work experience).
• 5+ years of experience in customer retention, customer experience, customer operations, account management, call center operations, or related customer-facing environments.
• 3+ years of leadership experience managing customer-facing teams.
• Experience analyzing customer behavior, customer retention metrics, operational performance data, or customer experience trends.
• Experience working within a recurring revenue, subscription-based, or service-oriented business strongly preferred.
• Experience utilizing CRM platforms, customer analytics tools, and retention technologies such as Microsoft Dynamics, VOZIQ, or similar systems preferred.
• Builds and develops high-performing teams.
• Uses data and insights to drive decision-making and continuous improvement.
• Demonstrates accountability and operational discipline.
• Communicates effectively across all levels of the organization.
• Maintains a customer-centric mindset while balancing business objectives.
• Adapts effectively to changing business needs and priorities.