The question
Halcyon makes planning software for small agencies. Too many new accounts went quiet in their first two weeks, and the team had a theory: the price was right for agencies that stayed, and too high for the ones still deciding.
They were ready to test a cheaper starter plan. Before they did, they asked twelve of the people who had left.
What people said
Nobody mentioned price first. Eight of the twelve described the same moment: they signed up, landed on an empty workspace, and did not know what a finished project was supposed to look like. Several had closed the tab meaning to come back with real data. Most never did.
“I wanted to see it working before I put my own stuff in.”
What they changed
Halcyon replaced the empty first screen with a sample project that looks like an agency’s real week, and a single prompt to swap in their own client. It took two sprints. The cheaper plan went back on the shelf.
What happened
Over the next quarter, the share of new accounts that went quiet in their first two weeks fell by a third. Halcyon now interviews everyone who leaves in their first 30 days, every month, and the empty screen has not come up again.