When it comes to increasing sales, there are all kinds of levers you can pull.
Selling to your current customers is at the very top of that list. This is the easiest and most cost-effective way to boost your sales numbers, as you’re dealing with customers who already know you, like you, and trust you.
The second-best way to increase sales? Recovering lost customers. These are the prospects who connected with you in the past but ultimately decided that it wasn’t the right time to buy.
Businesses make a huge blunder by writing these people off. Rather than simply reconnecting with them down the road, they give up on them entirely. This represents a wasted opportunity for a few reasons.
For one, your business has already exerted a significant amount of time, money, and effort to communicate with these people and make your sales pitch to them. What’s more, there’s at least some semblance of a relationship already in place. While these people may not trust you enough to buy just yet, they do know you, and perhaps they even like you!
There are various reasons why they might have decided not to buy. Maybe it’s because their needs changed, a competitor beat your price, or they could no longer afford what you were offering. However, it could simply be because they forgot about you!
So, knowing that reconnecting with lost customers is one of the best ways to increase sales, how do you go about doing it?
As simple as it might seem, the first thing you must do is invite them back.
How to Invite Your Lost Customers Back
How do you go about inviting a lost customer back into the fold? The truth is that there are a few different methods you can use to achieve this. The most important thing is that you indicate the following to your lost customers:
1. They Are Welcome Back
Above all, your customers need to know that there is no awkwardness or hard feelings on your end—even if they ended up giving their business to your competitors at one time. Let them know that you would love the opportunity to connect with them again and discuss the ways in which you can help them.
2. You Have Eliminated Their Pain Points
Chances are that there was a specific reason why your lost customer didn’t buy or continue to buy from you. Perhaps there was an issue with one of your products. Maybe the price was too high for their budget at the time. Whatever the pain point might be, make sure your lost customer knows that you have worked hard to eliminate it.
3. You Have Something New to Offer
Great businesses allow their products and services to evolve with their customers’ needs. Assuming that you have improved your products or services in some way, it’s time to let your lost customer that you have a better version of your original offering—one that is more likely to meet their needs.
3 Proven Ways to Reconnect with Your Lost Customers
Ready to connect with some of your lost customers again? Here are a few of the best ways to achieve this:
1. Launch a Direct Mail Campaign
I worked with a dentist a few years back who had over 6,000 past customers. To reconnect with these customers, we crafted a powerful direct mail campaign. It ended up generating a 12% reactivation rate. In other words, more than 700 people reconnected with this dentist and gave him their business because of a simple mailer!
2. Create an Email Campaign
The email campaign is the 21st-century version of the direct mailer. While it may not offer the same personal touch, it serves the same purpose and delivers similar results at a fraction of the cost of direct mail. Rather than having to invest in print supplies, you can draft everything up from your computer and deliver it with the click of a mouse.
3. Leverage Retargeting Ads
Thanks to modern tools like internet search and social media, it has never been easier to find a lost customer. Retargeting ads allow you to connect with past prospects without email addresses or physical addresses. Keep in mind that retargeting ads can become expensive, depending on the size of your campaign. You’ll need to invest a decent chunk of money if you want the best results!