Requirements
- A one-time payment Offer: Course, Access Group or Digital Product (no memberships or subscriptions)
- A second, lower-cost Offer or group to downsell into (or a plan to create one)
- Optional: Access to Settings > Workflows for automated outreach
Not sure which Offer type you have? Check your Offers in Settings →
Why Cancel Flows Don't Apply Here
Cancel flows are a feature of Membership Offers only, as they intercept a subscriber at the exact moment they try to cancel a recurring subscription.
If your offer is a one-time payment (a course, a group access pass, or a tiered offer without recurring billing), there's no subscription to cancel and no trigger for the cancel flow system to fire.
The goal is the same — give an at-risk member a reason to stay — but the approach is different:
- Membership cancel flow – reactive, triggered automatically when a member hits "cancel"
- One-time offer retention – proactive, triggered by you when you spot disengagement signals
How to Offer a Downgrade
Option 1: Personal outreach (best for smaller communities)
Reach out directly before a member drifts away. The best window is when engagement drops, not after they've mentally checked out.
A simple message works well:
"Hey [Name], I noticed you haven't been around lately. If the full program feels like too much right now, I have a lighter option at [price]. Want me to set that up for you?"
Once they accept, move them to the lower-tier group manually.
Option 2: Automated Group + Workflow (best for scale)
Use an Automated Group and Workflow to catch disengaged members before they leave.
- Go to Settings > Groups and create an Automated Group for paid members who haven't logged in for 21+ days
- Go to Settings > Workflows and create a Workflow triggered when someone joins that group
- Set the Workflow to send a DM or email with your downgrade offer and a direct link to purchase
This runs in the background and surfaces the offer at exactly the right moment: when someone is drifting, not after they've already decided to leave.
✨ Try this with Pulse
Pulse can help you set up an Automated Group and Workflow for this. Open Pulse →
Option 3: One-time bulk message sweep
Use this for a one-off campaign targeting low-engagement paid members.
- Go to Members and filter by your paid group
- Sort by last active to surface the most at-risk members
- Use Bulk Message to send a personal-feeling offer to all of them at once
What to Offer as a Downgrade
The right downgrade depends on what you sell. The goal isn't just to save the sale, it's to stay in the relationship so they can upgrade again later when the timing is right.
- Lighter tier – access to recordings or a single channel, without live sessions or direct support
- Free community access – keeps them in your orbit for a future upsell
- Pause option – ask if they want to step back temporarily rather than leave entirely; many say yes