Winning Back Past Clients
Winning Back Past Clients
It all begins the day they leave
All businesses lose clients. It could be due to pricing, poor customer experience, lack of support or any number of reasons. Some clients you’re sad to see go, while others maybe you aren’t as sad to see go. As much as you try, you can’t please everyone all the time. But it’s still hard to watch good clients leave.
Once they do leave, what’s your plan to get them back? Do you have a plan to get them back? Or are you just going to give up and not try to ever get them back?
What most overlook is once that client decides to leave, your chance of ever getting that client back is based upon how you reacted to that client leaving. The reaction to that client leaving will determine if that client ever does business with you again.
What has been the reaction when you have left a company that you did business with? What was their reaction like? Would you ever do business with them again?
Winning back clients starts the day they leave you. When you’re notified a client is leaving what do you do? Do you argue, create a hostile and bad client experience? Or do you thank them for their past business and tell them if anything changes they’re always welcome back?
Two things we do whenever we lose a client is the following.
Letter. We send them a letter breaking down all their products and services with our firm. We state what they were all receiving from us. We’ll list any benefits or things that they won’t be able to get back anymore. This letter also thanks them and mentions that they’re welcome to come back.
Thank you card. We then send a hand written thank you. People have a multitude of options nowadays of who they do business with. We thank them and show our appreciation for the years they had their business with us.
They don’t know it yet, but those two things begin the first steps in our client recapture process.
Recapturing old clients is much easier than finding brand new clients. Many clients over the years leave for various reasons only to realize the grass isn’t always greener somewhere else. Past clients already know what to expect from you and your firm. If you’re offering top notch customer service and creating positive customer experiences, people will come back for your product or service.
It’s the value that you provide that will keep clients coming back to you. That’s why it’s never worth it to burn bridges. If people leave for whatever reason don’t hold a grudge. Thank them and tell them they're always welcome back if things change. You’ll be surprised how many times things do change and people come back on their own.
What about the past clients you’d like back that don’t come back on their own. How do you win them back? Here is what we do.
Identify who. You aren’t going to want every client that leaves to come back. We run a list to see who left in the past year that we would like back. They’re then added to our ongoing client recapture program.
The longer a past client is gone the harder it will be to get them back. As I discussed in a prior post, Welcoming New Clients the highest retention tenure for our clients is once they reach five years with us. We use this data to assume that’s accurate for other businesses so we want to try and get that client back during the lowest retention period (1 to 3 years). This is why we begin reaching out right at the one year point. The honeymoon period with their new company is over and we want to try and earn them back.
Why did they leave? One of the most important notes to take when someone informs you that they're leaving your firm, is why. What’s the reason? Then be sure you note their file so that when you are working on recapturing them you can see the reason they left in the first place. This is also vital information for training and improving upon your programs and efficiencies in your business. It gives insight into what isn’t working and what can be better.
What will be the message? To spur a past client’s interest in returning you need to make it clear why they should come back. What’s changed? What’s improved? What would make you come back? Create curiosity. Craft your message around what you want to convey to them.
Contacting them. The hardest part in your recapture program is getting in touch with them again. We operate a consistent touch program with everyone the following ways at specific timeframes in the 1-3 year recapture period after they left.
We try to find a way to run into them in person. This allows us to have a conversation. We will place a phone call and send out a text. We will send a personalized email, handwritten letter and postcard. By using these different approaches it allows us to convey the message we want to send them and touch them multiple ways.
Be consistent. Make sure you and your team have a formal program set and stick with it. Once a client leaves they still receive our popular newsletter which I wrote about in Keeping In Touch and our annual letter which I wrote about in Your Annual Letter. This allows us to keep in contact with them even if they’re no longer a client. These are both highly informative beyond just regarding the business they had with us. That’s why many still appreciate getting these and don’t unsubscribe.
Work on increasing your client return rate. When a client leaves and then returns, odds are they aren’t leaving again. Maintain persistence in your recapture program and remember that it all begins the day they leave with how you react to them leaving.
The Coffee Table ☕
Ryan Holiday wrote a post that really stuck out to me called All Success Is A Lagging Indicator. He shows how most of what we do from day to day has a lagging indicator of success and happiness in our personal and professional lives.
Tim Ferriss interviewed Mark Manson author of the acclaimed bestseller The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck on his recent podcast. His story about what he did to find his way as first a blogger just trying to make enough money to live on, to now becoming one of the most known and read book authors in the world. Enjoyable and informative.
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