Bringing back former customers

Jim Blyth writes: Many people think that a lost customer is lost forever and cannot be brought back. But it is not impossible to bring back lost customers

A lost customer liked some of our products, behavior, etc., and bought from us. Even if he doesn’t like anything we do, at least he knows our brand and products and we know him. So why not try to bring back unhappy customers?

Our first task towards lost customers is to find out the root causes of their dissatisfaction and fix those reasons. Second, we need to have a clear plan to bring back lost customers

For example, some time ago, BellSouth Mobility, one of the largest mobile operators in America, realized that the rate of losing its customers was higher than the average rate in the industry. That’s why he thought to bring back his lost customers

After investigating the reasons for the dissatisfaction of its customers, the company realized that they are upset about one thing: the company pays more attention to its new customers than to its current customers.

Therefore, in its first attempt, the company emailed more than 3,500 of its lost customers and announced to them that if they get a SIM card from the company again, it will give them a free phone and a month of free calls. But the response from customers was extremely disappointing and only a few of them were willing to return

Therefore, the company decided to try another method. This time, the company contacted only customers who left the company 11 months ago and had to sign their contract with their current operator or a new operator within the next month.

On the other hand, the company also called the customers after sending the email. This time, 10% of the lost customers decided to get a SIM card from BellSouth again, which is considered a very good rate.