How To Win Back Lost Customers And Keep Them For Good

Losing a customer is one less income stream for any business. Your revenues slightly drop, and depending on how many customers were lost in comparison to new customers gained, your financial statement would tell.

No one directly anticipates a customer loss, but sometimes, it’s inevitable. While your marketing team should be highly focused on acquiring new customers every day, a small part of the team should strive to win back lost customers.

Retaining old customers, more importantly, is a lot cheaper than acquiring new ones. Making it a must for every business to ensure they do everything in their power to either retain old customers or make some efforts to win back the lost ones.

To ensure you’re putting in real efforts to win back customers who have abandoned your business for another, here are 8 steps to win them back and keep them for good:

Step 1: Find Out What Made Them Leave

Many factors could drive an individual’s decision to walk away from a business. It could be because of bad customer service, high product & service charges, outdated products, or a juicy deal a different business offered them.

Whatever the reason, determining the root cause of their exit will help you prepare a win-back strategy for the lost customers.

Step 2: Determine If You Want Them Back

After determining why a customer left, it’s important you decide if you want them back, before you proceed to contact them.

Some customers who leave don’t need to be retrieved. For example, customers who are constantly annoying and bitter for no reason are better left alone. Nothing you do can make them happy, and so it’s better you focus your efforts on retrieving other types of customers.

It’s important you decide to regain most of your lost customers because an average individual knows a minimum of 50 people they interact directly or indirectly with, weekly. Getting them back in the best possible way would earn you a potential 50 mouth-piece word of mouth advertisement.

See Also: 7 Major Sales Mistakes You Must Avoid

Step 3: Research Their Current Needs

What better way to acquire new or lost customers, than to solve a new problem they’re experiencing that no one else has solved yet for them?

Trying a direct approach to winning back your lost customers based on an existing service you used to offer them that they now patronize a different business for, could be tricky. But offering to solve a new problem for them is much easier, because they could easier make a decision to head back to your company.

Pitch them something they need, and they’d be more likely to consider a return to your business.

Step 4: Re-Engage The Customer

Send a detailed email/text pitch to the lost customer. Have them know how your business has changed since you last let them down. Show them how some customers are now getting by better, through using your products & services. And pitch them the new service your business offers that can solve their other pressing problems.

First sending the customer a small gift is also a good idea. Then you can call them to book an appointment to discuss the possibility of bringing them back on-board with your business.

See Also: 7 Intelligent Ways To Turn Prospects Into Customers

Step 5: Take Responsibility For Their Earlier Exit

When trying to get the customers’ return decision to be positive, ensure you make it known that you fully accept the blame for the customers’ earlier exit. Let the customer know how deeply sorry you are for making them feel less appreciated, and how far you’d go to make it up to them.

Even if the customer still refuses to get back with your business, you would have left a great last impression on them, and they’d periodically refer you to their friends, family, and colleagues, along side the existing business they now patronize.

Step 6: Adjust Your Pricing Just For Them

Giving incentives is a great way of motivating people to act on anything. Show you value them by offering a great discount they can’t refuse. You can also offer to give them a free month of your business’ services. A customer who has little to nothing to lose will consider trying out your business one more time.

A customer who has little to nothing to lose will consider trying out your business one more time.

See Also: 7 Ways To Immediately Increase Revenue In Your Business

Step 7: Make Their Return Easy

Offer to help the customer make the transition back to your business as easy as possible. If the customer was a large seller on your online market place, but moved on to another for whatever reason, offer to help them bring on their items to your website yourself. No matter what type of business you run, offer to make the transition back to yours look seamless.

Most customers who want to get back onboard usually hesitate because of both the psychological and physical stress it would cost them. Offer to take their worries off that, and a come-back to your business would be a lot easier.

Step 8: Show Them Your Full Appreciation

After all is said and done, show your full appreciation to the customer for once again believing in your business, and the proposed value you’d add to them. People love to be appreciated. Making them feel truly special and powerful will keep them with your business for a while longer.

What are your thoughts on these 8 steps to win-back lost customers and keep them for good? Let me know by leaving a comment below.

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