Canceling Adobe shouldn’t feel like escaping a hostage situation – but it does. Fitness First, Foxtel, gym memberships, subscription perfume (yes, really), and a lot of advice tech vendors share the same playbook: make it easy to sign up, and brutally hard to leave.
In this episode, Danni and Pete sit down in person (a rare one) to unpack the latest Code & Capital newsletter – Breaking Up Is Hard to Do – and ask why so many software companies still prey on apathy instead of earning loyalty. They draw on 37signals’ “easy on, easy off” philosophy, Basecamp’s pause-and-price-lock approach, and David Heinemeier Hansson’s idea that every business is a referral business – and cancellation is the moment that decides whether you get a promoter, a boomerang, or a detractor.
They ground the conversation in Finura’s Technology Health Check Scorecard data (n=279+ Australian advice practices):
- 73% of firms aren’t fully happy with their current advice CRM
- 81% don’t run an RFP when choosing tech
- 37% skip due diligence on new vendors
- 49% don’t have a comprehensive understanding of their own tech stack
- 33% have zero integrations
They also look at what AI-driven MCPs will do to vendors whose entire retention strategy is “hoard the data,” why transparent pricing beats coupon-code chaos, and what practice owners should take from all of this – because if you’re running an Advice business, your clients are judging you on exactly the same things.
Pete’s tip: design your cancellation experience like a marketing exercise. Danni’s tip: audit your vendor contracts before you need to leave – check the exit terms, not just the onboarding pitch.