On many P2P marketplaces, taking business off-platform is common. Depending on the model, this issue costs the business because of lost fees from the interaction being lost. At Rover, we determined one of the signs a sitter/pet parent pair might take their business off platform was discussion of taking payment or communications off platform. Initially, the team implemented a single, broadly targeted email when these discussions were detected, but it received a lot of negative feedback and was not yielding results.
I worked collaboratively with a data scientist to dig into the data around the existing email, the conversations that were being targeted, and broader insight into the issue of taking business off platform, as well as studying the audiences and our product and brand to create an update to the existing email. I designed a system of seven total emails that acknowledged the situation and addressed the subject matter of the conversation happening (payment, communication, or general) and the audience (sitter or pet parent) that were appropriate in tone and relevant to the recipient.
The system took into account the strong possibility that the mention of alternative payment or communication methods was innocent or even thwarted by the other party to deliver a benefits-driven message with an emphasis on assistance with our payments and communications capabilities and a secondary mention of our policies related to staying on platform. A second detection of a similar mention, in addition to other data related to this issue, delivered a stronger message about the policies and consequences of violating them.
The initial results include less negative feedback and complaints about the emails, and good email metrics.