Angry, neglected, and annoyed customers would most probably stop shopping from your store. That means you’ll always be hunting for new clients, which may prove a significantly expensive process than retaining an existing one.
You must ensure you strive for an extensive customer retention performance. In other words, make your customer experience management your top priority. That implies that while you’re looking to add new clients to your business, you must ensure your current ones are satisfied.
Of course, you’ll never keep all your customers happy. But you can sure know when they no longer enjoy your services or plan to leave you.
Gladly, we have outlined ten signs you need to start customer win-back campaigns to amend your business-customer relationship early before you start losing clients.
But first,
What are customer win back campaigns?
Have you ever lost interest in something without a significant reason? Like out of nowhere, you longer want to associate with a particular group of items.
The same feelings may happen to some customers. Your clients can simply lapse over time or have a bad experience, and they lose interest in your products and services. In that case, what actions do you take to win their interest or loyalty back?
Now, the actions you take to re-engage those clients are what we call win-back campaigns.
Ultimately, a win-back campaign is the automation series of messages attempting to re-engage or re-ignite lapsed clients. Those who may have shown some signs that they are no longer interested in your brand.
Therefore, you must learn to make quality win-back plans to keep your potential customers in play and improve their loyalty.
Here are some tips to help you make effective customer win back campaigns
Identify who should receive the message
Before you start sending win-back campaigns to your customers, you must ensure you identify the inactive customer retention strategies. Then segment them from the rest of your customers to ensure the active and loyal customers are not distracted.
Win back subject lines are essential
Ensure you keep your subject line succinct since they act as the gatekeepers to your content. While writing your subject lines, you can use emotional language such as;
- “We miss you.”
- “Did you forget about us?”
- “Hoping we reconnect.”
Such language will evoke your clients’ emotions to activate response.
Watch your content
If the clients are no longer engaging with your brand as they used to, then there are few chances that they’ll read your extended content. Therefore, ensure have clear and concise content with a call to action.
To put it another way, create a lighthearted relevant copy that leads to them taking action. You can also include discount/coupon offers though it isn’t a requirement.
Also, you may include the following;
- Provide content that provides solutions to some of their problems.
- Give updates on what happened with your firm, products, and company policies.
Your content must aim to achieve the following:
Provide updates on the products or services- this implies that you must let your customers know what’s new about your offers. Indicate any improvement they have been missing, plus any bonus should there be one
Secondly, let the content remind the customers why they choose you. This means you have to remind your subscribers of the benefits that won them before and any additional incentives to expect when they get back.
Lastly, you have to honor your previous relationship. Meaning you have to recognize your past engagement with your customers.
Believe this;
Most people would love to be recognized or feel appreciated. Therefore, you must let the customers know how important they were to you by adjusting your emotions to your previous engagement.
Determine the number of messages you send
Certainly, once disengaged from your brand, some customers would not want to return, no matter how many win-back campaigns you send. And that’s why you should always strive for customer retention.
However, you have the responsibility of trying to bring back disengaged customers. And that’s why you need to send a few messages to them. The only challenge comes in the number of campaigns to send.
On one hand, most customers who have lost interest in your brand won’t open your messages, so there is no harm in sending one. On the other hand, sending many win-back campaigns to such clients would damage your reputation and even affect the email deliverability to others esteemed subscribers.
Now that you are aware of the tips, let’s discuss the benefits you intend to gain from having an effective win-back campaign
Benefits of effective customer win-back campaign
One major aim for an effective win-back campaign is customer retention, which helps reduce more customer defections while retaining as many customers as possible.
With effective campaigns, you would be able to win back more customers, which mean the following to your business;
More customer acquisition
What brand image do you think you send out if you can’t retain your customers? A nasty one, right? Therefore, it would mean you take care of the existing customers for you to acquire more customers. And that’s where win back campaign comes in.
Through the campaign, you’ll ask questions about why your customers want to leave or what makes them unhappy.
Of course, if they care, they will provide feedback. You’ll know what they like or dislike about your services plus the changes they would want you to make.
When you act on your customers’ feedback, you stand a chance of winning them back plus more others since you shall have met their needs and expectations.
Saves you marketing expenses
If you are to bring new customers into your firm, it would mean you start afresh by advertising your products and services. Or introduce the service to win your new customers’ attention and interest.
The process would be daunting, unlike in the case of existing customers who already know about your business. And that’s why you must gear your efforts to retain them than focusing wholly on bringing new customers. You can do that by ensuring an effective win-back campaign that addresses their concerns.
Also, in the process of doing customer win-back campaigns, you are bound to experience some challenges.
Let’s take a look at some.
Challenges of customer win-back campaigns
Amongst the challenges are:
Stiff competition
You may not know but, once you don’t realize that your client is disengaging, you stand very minimal chances of winning them back.
A client may leave, but they can never take too much time before getting new providers. That means your delay would cost you your customer. Therefore ensure you know the early signs of disengagement by customers.
Dealing with angry, indecisive and impatient customers
You can always have a hard time dealing with customers, especially the impatient, indecisive ad angry ones. The impatient customers will surely be relentless and won’t give you enough time to handle their concerns.
On one hand, the indecisive ones will always struggle to choose between your products and others. They, however, may not communicate such concerns. So it’s upon you to ask specific questions about common factors that will impact their decisions to choose you again and again.
On the other hand, you must know what makes and how to deal with angry customer. But, you can agree with me that most are not satisfied with results, and your attempt to rectify their situations may make it worse.
However, you have to try handling such situations. And that’s why it would be better if you had an explicitly effective customer win-back campaign. That addresses all grievances or helps identify and manage different clients. Of course, you may never satisfy every client.
Now that you are aware of the benefits and challenges that come with the customer win-back process, plus what kind of customers you may meet on the way, it is best we take you through the signs of the defection of customers.
And here is how you know when your customers are disengaged, unhappy or dissatisfied.
10 Signs you need to start customer win back campaigns
When there are minimal communication
You can agree with me that communication is key to every effective business. And it would continually strengthen the relationship between the business stakeholders.
But what happens when suddenly a customer becomes silent?
Sure, there can be more reasons attached to that. However, for situations where you realized customer disengagement and that your active customer who used to involve in most activities is no longer answering your emails.
You would want to think otherwise.
I don’t know your stand on this, but no communication would mean no relationship. And believe it or not, many active customers would always be engaged on your platforms, asking questions, clarifications, and even providing feedback on your products.
Take an example of sending a message to your client but never get a response to your email. Or you call but no response. That would be a terrible sign.
Suppose a customer is not answering any of your efforts to reach them. In that case, most probably, another business has their attention or plans an escape plan. And that means you have to run a win-back strategy because they are likely on their way negotiating with other firms.
Here are some communication drops you must consider for win-back campaigns.
- A significant drop in marketing email open rates
- Reduced click rate to your digital ads
All these could be an indication that customers are disengaging your brand.
When a customer is ever complaining
Tiny things set customers off. But most is when they feel unsatisfied. Of course, there are also indecisive and demanding customers who never know what’s right or what they want from the start.
Still, you can be providing the best solution to their problems, those that are far much better than needs. But, they would be dead set on whatever option they want. Such customers may be throwing themselves out on you so that you can find ways to let them go.
But how do you deal with demanding and ever complaining customers?
To help through such situations, you must ensure you engage the customer and hear out their concerns. Be transparent and remain calm while addressing them. But you must constantly remind them that you there to help them.
Also, know when to give in, among other strategies of dealing with demanding customers. Finally, if you can’t meet their needs, put them off. Maybe they weren’t meant to be your customers.
Constant comparison game
How often have you heard your customer compare your services or products with other firms?
Think about the last time you considered a purchase. You did check out several options before you could decide on your last chance, right?
Then I gaze there is no doubt every business experience a problem that reduces their sales and revenues. And one of the most significant problems is comparison shopping.
Sometimes you hear them ask;
“Why don’t you provide these services like the other business” such questions indicate a war of competition. Chance is that the customer is weighing or considering the option of taking on the other firm.
The question here is, how do you handle such situations?
Lucky you’re reading this article because we have the answer to that question.
Suppose you find yourself in such cases. You’ll have to go back and engage them, listen carefully to what they want, and provide them with every answer or service they need to satisfy them. Then you’ll have yourself to thank for winning them back to your firm.
Also, here what you can do to prevent the comparison game by your customers:
- Survey why a customer chooses you- helps uncover the marketing objective
- Prepare your comparisons for the prospects- do research and show them you’re the best provider
- Write smarter copies and provide proof of which brings your services as the best
When you stop investing in customers
How will you feel when the person who loved you most has changed and ignore your efforts?
Maybe you have heard of the say, “you must keep dating even after you are married.” Now, if you ask how it relates to customers’ defections and disengagement, then here is how.
Sometimes at the initial stages, when you convince your customers to take your business, you must have provided some incentives, discounts, or bonuses. These might have lured them into choosing you.
But along the way, after they have become loyal customers, you may have forgotten to provide the same services you did. Simple question, how would you feel if it were you? I gaze neglected. And that’s how customers feel when they no longer get the same treatment they used to get.
Up to this point, you must know what happens when customers feel that the business doesn’t care about them or when they aren’t satisfied. That means your chances of losing them are very high.
Therefore, never quit investing in your customers. Besides, work hard to retain them just as you might have work to acquire them. It makes them feel valued, and they will reward you with loyalty.
Here are some of the ways you can invest in your customers for retention:
- Make it a habit of rewarding loyal customers
- Continually follow up on them
- Please invite them for events such as business promotions
- Constantly keep them updated on your products and services
- Never stop providing any support you promised your customers
Disengaged employees
Suppose you have heard of Happy employees, happy customers. Then you know it means you can never make your customers happy when your employees and disengaged. Your business success will always depend on how you treat both your employees and customers.
Meaning when your employees are unsatisfied, you bound to lose them plus your customers.
How’s that?
Simple, most people would not produce their best when they are no motivated or cared for.
Therefore, you ensure your employees are satisfied for them to produce their best. That said, you have to ensure you increase your employee engagement, and the best way to do that is by finding reasons that would make your employees disengaged.
Here are a few reasons to consider:
- Poor leadership- lack of trust in the leadership
- Poor communication between managers and employees
- Lack of motivation- dissatisfaction with pays and benefits
- No or inadequate interest in employee well-being, among other reasons
When customers are not treating you with respect you deserve
No one would love to be disrespected. Would you? Respect should form the base of any working relationship. As a business, you should honor your customers’ needs and respect them. The same should happen to you too.
Of course, your customer is always the king, but that doesn’t give them the leeway to address you the way they feel. However, a client starts being disrespectful or even overcritical of your products or services, then there could be they want out. Or they want you to be the bait.
Get this right, if you’re mistreated, it will hit on your subconscious, and you may burst out onto the customer. They’ll leave you, know the sign.
Change in purchase and order frequency
I know you may associate the change of purchase or order frequency with the availability of the market, which is correct.
But, when you realize your customer is not making the same purchase as they used to do, you may have a problem. You’ll have to consider that a customer disengagement.
And why’s that?
When you realize the amount your customer spends has dropped, there could be a good chance your relationship with the client is weakening. The amount of money they spend correlates with the relationship they have with.
In other words, your client might have found another supplier.
Therefore, contact your customer to identify what could be the problem, reassure them of your services. Otherwise, you’re about to lose your customer to other firms.
When your customer constantly quote the contract
In case you signed a contract with your customers, you realize they have started acting more of an attorney than a client, then you are into a serious problem.
Once they are looking into your contract and maybe quoting lines. They are unhappy but fear starting the discussion of termination. Before you lose the fight, find out what makes them sad and when you get the cause of their reactions, assure them of your support.
When a customer unsubscribed from your emails lists
Unsubscribing from the communication channel would mean customers are critically concerned with something. It may show they are dissatisfied and are cutting you off, or you’re sending too many emails, among other reasons for customer un-subscription.
Whichever case, it is your responsibility to find out the main reason for their actions.
You can also ensure you have a program in place that allows your clients to explain why they unsubscribe from your services. That ensures you know what to handle before things worsen.
When there is a change of contract
There are situations where a business may shift its operations into a different role. What is there is a new person who has inherited the role? That could be a sign to most customers that change is on the way. So, they may decide to make their early move.
Should that happen, you have to explain to the customers that the change would not interfere with the business operations. Thus engage your customers before they seek other alternatives.
Conclusion
Losing a customer would be a setback to any business success. Therefore, every business should ensure that they always find ways to retain their clients. However, some circumstances may indicate customer disengagement and that customers are not satisfied and thus plans to leave the business.
Such situations include; when there’s a change in contract, reduced customer communication, customer constantly complaining and quotes the contract. Also, when a customer unsubscribes from your email lists when you see a change in the purchase and order frequency, and when your customers are not treating you with respect, you deserve.
When you experience the above situations, you should know your clients are leaving you. It would be better if you start customer win-back campaigns to help retain them.