Customers who’ve dumped you are not a lost cause. You can win them back at almost any point, but the faster you start courting them again, the more likely you are to get them to come back happily.
It takes a strategy, though.
“Forget the saying, ‘It’s not personal, it’s just business,'” says Duke Chung, Parature co-founder and chief marketing officer. “In the Age of the Customer, business is personal, and the more so, the better in achieving customer retention.”
Repair broken relationships
Here’s what customer experience professionals can do repair broken relationships and win back customers who’ve quit:
- Stay focused on customer retention. In sports, they say, “Keep your eye on the ball.” In business, the ball is your customer. So the best defense is offense, constantly making moves to keep those you have happy and coming back. While it’s important to acquire new customers, the priority needs to be appreciating those you have.
- Remove silos. When a relationship has been broken and you make the first attempt to repair it by reaching out, make it a one-person operation. Make finding help, answers and personal contact a breeze. Ideally, the person who reaches out is the same person those wayward customers can call, email, text or connect with on social media.
- Pick it up where you left off. Customers usually leave people, not companies or products. So they probably liked the products or services they were using before they left but were disheartened by a contact within the company. So remind them of what they liked and, ideally, let them try it again at little or no cost on a trial basis. Or, if you don’t have those products or services any more, introduce them to the most similar.
- Stay connected. Many former customers won’t jump at the chance to buy again and restart the relationship. Ask for permission to send them more information and contact them periodically. Then explain exactly when and how you’ll continue the connection.
