Do you have a customer reactivation campaign in place?
I'm assuming you don’t, because most small businesses tend to ignore this idea. Don't be like everyone else. It’s time you put one in place. In fact, I consider this one of your marketing staples.
Here's why...
Because just like so many other things I talk about here on this blog, there exists potential opportunity here for new business that will cost you a lot less than your efforts to obtain brand new customers.
When I was running my fitness business, I developed a beautiful little three-step direct-response mail campaign designed specifically to deliver to those clients I had not seen for personal training or health coaching over the last 1-2 years. This effort always brought people back. Not everyone comes back, but some of them do, and it costs you a lot less, is a lot easier, and is easy enough to do.
Of course, in combination with this campaign, you should also have others that focus on keeping your relationship with current customers as sticky as possible so they stay longer, spend more money, and leave you less frequently. But in every business, there exists a finite timeline on which your customers exist, and when they begin to fall away, it’s very important to do everything you can to bring them back; and continue to look for ways to keep your customers around longer.
You don’t have to over complicate this campaign to get it started, either. Sometimes all it takes is a phone call or two and a conversation about why they might have left and why you haven’t seen them in awhile; and then asking them what you might need to do for them to motivate them to come back. You will find that many of them have departed for reasons that are easy for you to correct. Often, it’s simply that you ignored them for a little too long.
The specifics will depend on your business and your intentions and the customers you work with.
The important thing is that you put this campaign in place as soon as you can. Pick-up the phone and call 10 or these people right now. Take action!
Good luck.
-John
