How to Win Back Lost Customers: A 7-Step Strategy to Reactivate Dormant Clients

And, though we wish we could hold onto every customer forever, the truth is that customers move on.

Some no longer need your service, others move to a competitor, or they are distracted by something else.

The constant media bombardment that goes hand in hand with our modern digital age makes it harder than ever to capture customers’ attention, let alone long-term loyalty.

In fact, businesses expect to lose customers. There’s even a term for measuring that loss – churn rate.

If you’re starting a business, this is particularly important. As you write your business plan, consider ways you can reduce churn.

Sometimes, it takes just a little effort to prevent customers from leaving when something goes wrong.

Don’t take my word for this. It’s 5-25 times less expensive to maintain relationships with current customers than to acquire new customers.

But, it does mean that you should evaluate how much time your business spends trying to get new customers vs. building stronger relationships with the ones it already has.

What if you could resurrect those customers who have “ghosted” your business? What if you could rebuild those relationships and reclaim that revenue?

And the truth is that you can re-engage with lost customers. But only if you put in the effort.

Offer a “win-back” incentive

One of the most tried and true methods for winning back a lost customer is the “win-back” incentive. Joanna Lord explains,

And people love discounts.

So, this tactic may work… for a time.

If your customer left as a negotiating ploy for a lower price… Or simply got distracted and wandered off, the win-back incentive may be just the ticket to reeling them back in.

But Lord also reminds us that customers who re-engage due to a low price point are usually the least loyal customer group. And, it’s likely you’ll be saying goodbye again as soon as they’ve taken advantage of your discounted offer.

So, if your customer left because of a larger issue, a win-back incentive may serve only as a final hurrah unless you remedy the initial problem.

While discounts and promotional offers can encourage customers to come back, you’re more likely to retain those customers if you pair your offer with another of the techniques we’ve discussed.

Here are 8 effective techniques you can use to revive customers your business lost.

Before formulating a plan to re-engage customers, you need to know what a disengaged customer looks like.

Consider customer activity and timeline to define what a disengaged customer looks like in your business.

What sort of activity does an active customer exhibit? Is it enough to open an e-letter? Or does the customer have to make a purchase periodically?

Define what behaviors your business considers active.

Next, ask how long it’s been since the customer last interacted with your business. Also, consider how frequently you expect an active customer to interact with your business.

Set a timeframe for an active customer. Any customer who falls outside of that timeframe should then be considered disengaged.

For instance, if I expect my customers to make a purchase roughly once every 3 months, and 6 months have gone by, and I haven’t heard from them… they’re now on my disengaged list.

It’s possible that your customers will fall into different groups (these are called “cohorts”). Let me illustrate with a few examples.

Crowdspring has helped tens of thousands of the world’s best entrepreneurs, small businesses, agencies, and big Brands with naming businesses and products and logo design, among other creative services.

Typically, a business will use the name and logo for a long time, so it would make little sense for us to consider clients that purchase naming or logo design services as lost customers after only 6 months. We put clients who post only a naming or logo project into one cohort.

On the other hand, crowdspring has many clients who purchase other creative services.

Take packaging design or product design, for example.

Companies that create new products will often create successive new products, and each new product will need product packaging and package graphics. Some of our clients regularly create new products and packaging, and we do consider them “lost” if they don’t post another similar project within 6 months.

Therefore, we put clients who post mostly product packaging, product design, or package graphics projects into a different cohort from our naming and logo clients.

Keep a running disengaged or “ghost” customer list (or lists!) to track your churn rate and know who to contact when you launch your re-engagement efforts.

If a customer has gone silent – no purchases, no email opens, no anything – it’s probably safe to assume that whatever you’ve offered hasn’t quite hit the target for this customer.

So, offer an alternative.

If you’ve already lost touch with a customer, you won’t endear yourself to them if you reach out with an equally off-base offer.

If your email subscriber has gone dead, consider offering a more limited form of contact that still offers valuable content.

This could mean a more streamlined email schedule or digest format, a subscription to your blog, an ebook download, or even simply asking them to follow you on Facebook instead of via email.

If a customer has stopped purchasing your products or using your service, consider offering an alternative product or service that might better meet their needs.

You won’t hit the mark with everyone – that’s an impossible goal. But, if you’re smart about assessing why you’re losing customers’ interest, you’re bound to find some success.

Not everyone responds to a break-up the same way.

Some folks go on a drinking binge, while others may watch a sappy rom-com or read self-help books.

But, everyone tends to wonder, “Why???”

“Why?” is a valuable question.

The answer to “Why?” can help guide you to a better relationship or strengthen your business next time.

So, when a customer breaks up with your business, take the time to ask why.

There are several benefits to asking for feedback:

• Requesting feedback shows your customers that you actually care about where you went wrong with them.
• Asking for feedback shows that you are invested in doing better in the future.
• Collecting feedback gives you a pool of customer data that can help your business make wiser choices.

Showing your customers that you actually care about them and that you’re willing to learn and improve builds stronger customer relationships. And stronger relationships pave the way for customers to return if they should ever need your product or service again.

Here are a few suggestions for executing a feedback campaign like a pro…

• Make it easy to provide feedback by linking directly to a survey with a clear call to action.
• Keep your survey short and direct.
• Always provide an open field for participants to include any unique info not covered elsewhere.
• Offer an incentive for completing the survey – a coupon or reward of some kind. This increases the odds that they will complete the survey and makes them feel good about doing it.

If you want to revive a relationship with a customer who has moved on, it helps to show them that their loyalty is appreciated and valued through a reward.

Enter the loyalty program.

Marketing guru Joanna Lord points out:

Rewarding customers for their patronage increases the range of offerings your business can provide its customers. You provide a fantastic product or service – that’s great! Now, you can also offer loyalty benefits as well.

Loyalty programs can be as simple or as complex as you want them to be. This means that they can be scaled to work for nearly any business.

At the simple end of the spectrum is the humble punch card. (Ex. The 10th punch will get you coffee for free!)

You can also offer consistent loyalty discounts for frequent shoppers, a point system that earns buyers a discount over time, freebies, or exclusive content and special offers.

There are so many options for how to execute a loyalty program! Just remember to make choices for your program that complement your business model and will provide real value to your customers.

The old saying goes, “It’s not personal; it’s just business.”

But the truth is that if you want to build lasting relationships with customers, you have to make it personal.

Customers are more likely to invest in your business if you invest in them.

This isn’t just hearsay; it’s based on elementary principles of psychology.

In a previous article, 7 Marketing Psychology Tips to Improve Your Business Marketing, we discussed the law of reciprocity:

In other words, investing the time and effort to show your customers you care about them personally increases the likelihood that they will invest time and effort in your business.

So how does this translate into actual practice?

Here are a few ideas you can implement:

• Make sure to use your customer’s name – in email, text, or social media communication.
• Observe your customer’s birthday (if you have reason to know it). You may want to offer them a free gift or a discount. But, at the very least, wish them a happy birthday!
• If you interact with customers in person, show an interest in their lives. Ask thoughtful questions and inquire about their family’s well-being.

Showing sincere personal interest in a client or customer who has ghosted your business gives them a powerful motivation to return.

When I go shopping with my husband, we rarely leave the store without a product we don’t need that’s labeled “NEW!”

This isn’t surprising since “new” is one of the most powerful words in marketing. In fact, if you google “powerful marketing words,” you’ll see “new” appear on nearly every list.

Our human brains are wired to identify things, put them in categories, and then pay less attention to them. Once something becomes familiar, it tends to fade into the background.

But “NEW!” cuts through the white noise of familiarity and tells your brain to pay attention.

So, if you want to re-engage with a customer long gone, approach with something shiny and new to wake them up and build excitement.

This could be a new product, website, or blog… Maybe even a new study, infographic, or e-book.

Just remember that while novelty might open the door, substance will encourage them to walk through it.

A new item offering your disengaged customers real value will likely entice them back. So, make sure that whatever new item you offer is actually relevant to your customer.

How to Systematically Win Back Lost Clients

How to win back lost customers?

It helps to have a solid strategy for winning back lost customers. A win-back strategy refers to a calculated marketing plan to get churned customers back, retain their business, and help keep overall churn rate low.

How do companies win back customers?

One of the most common ways for companies to win back customers is through special offers that motivate them to return. The goal is to make the customer feel like they’re getting too good of a deal to turn down. One way to do this is to offer them a discount for a future purchase, or a reduced rate on their subscription.

Is it possible to win back every customer?

Take customer feedback seriously and watch your business grow to new heights. It’s not feasible to win back every customer, nor does it make sense to spend the budget for that.

Do you have a customer win-back strategy?

Taking the time to devise customer win-back strategies will go a long way towards generating more revenue and help build long-term relationships with lost customers, further increasing your business’s long-term success. The good news is that winning back customers can be more cost-effective than acquiring new ones.