Lure Back Lost Customers for a Win-Win

Tips for Winning Back Lost Customers

Customers stop shopping at businesses for a variety of reasons. For whatever reason customers leave your business, winning back former customers is a significantly less complicated way to expand your business and build a loyal customer base than acquiring new customers.

According to the Harvard Business Review, “Acquiring a new customer costs 5 to 25 times more than retaining an existing one.” First, retaining existing customers is often more cost-effective than acquiring new ones, requiring less marketing spend and effort. Second, previous customers are familiar with your products or services, reducing the need for extensive education or onboarding. Also, loyal customers spend more over time and are more likely to refer others, creating brand loyalty and a ripple effect of new and return business. So, how do you win back customers that have dropped off your radar? Here are some tips for winning back lost customers.

Do your research

Finding out why your customers left is important in winning them back. Several scenarios that cause businesses to lose shoppers include:

• Increasing prices on your products or services to the point that customers no longer see your product as a value can send customers in search of a less expensive option from competitors
• Some customers might encounter a customer service issue that causes them to drop your brand
• Not carrying the latest version of a product or service could lead shoppers to go elsewhere

Reaching out to these customers is important to determine why they left your business. You can do this in several ways.

Let them know you care

Showing concern about why your customer left appeals to many shoppers. When you reach out to former customers and ask them for feedback about why they left your business, this appeal itself can win back former customers, as it makes them feel like they matter to your brand. You can do this by creating surveys or messages that ask for their honest feedback. Former customer responses can also help you gain insights about your customer service, customer retention, and reacquisition strategies, and sparking ideas about improving your marketing and advertising strategies.

Offer your apologies

When a customer leaves your business due to a customer service complaint, it is in your best interest to contact that customer as soon as possible after the incident and take responsibility for the unfortunate incident or misunderstanding that occurred to cause your customer to stop shopping with your brand. Resolving the issue with your customer goes a long way in regaining their trust and return business. Offer customers a complimentary product to replace the one in question, or offer them a free service, such as an oil change, a nail or hair treatment, or a gift voucher for your products, to let them know you are sincere about retaining them as a customer.

Offer coupons and savings

If you notice that raising your prices on certain products or services is causing your company to lose some customers, you can offer coupons or promotional sales for those products or services. Because most shoppers are attracted to opportunities to save, your business might also feature savings on quantities of products and subscriptions, bundling products and services, buy-one-get-one-free offers, and other deals, such as free products with purchases, and free shipping to entice customers back to your brand and expand your customer base.

Offer incentives and special deals

Reaching out to former customers with special offers and inviting incentives is often effective in letting them know your business appreciates them and that you miss their business. Along with providing discounts, you can also offer free trials of products, programs, and services. Rewarding former customers with a certain dollar amount or points when they sign up for your loyalty rewards program can help turn former customers into frequent customers. Inviting former customers to exclusive store events, such as a new product launch or a virtual fashion show can get former customers excited about your products and your company once more.

Promote New Products and Services

Suppose customers say they have left because they couldn’t find the latest, most updated, or upgraded version of the products, programs, or services they like, in your store or in your online offerings. In that case, your brand should consider whether it works financially for you to offer the most current versions and upgrades of these products to win customers back. Then, promote these updated products, programs, or services and directly invite former and potential customers with a special sales event to win them back and acquire new customers.

Reducing costs

If you know customers are leaving your business because the prices of the products, programs, or services are too high, ideally, lowering your prices on products that are causing you to lose customers will help regain their business. If this is an option, you could reach out to former customers to determine how much customers are willing to pay for the products and services they want, then send out messages to former customers that say because of their input, your business is now selling their favorite products, programs, or services for a price they are going to like.

Improve your brand’s customer service

For those customer service complaints, improve your customer care process by thoroughly training them and providing the support they need to field all questions or concerns customers may have. Then, take the opportunity to inform your former customers that your business has corrected the issues that caused them to leave, and make sure that your business delivers your exemplary customer care promises when your customers do return.

For local advertisers, winning customers back involves connecting with your former customers, to find out why they left and taking steps to win them back with personalized messages that offer them the products, programs, or services they want at prices they can live with from businesses they already know. The Direct Mail Experts offers these tips to help grow your brand, reclaim former customers, and build brand loyalty.

Source: https://moneymailer.com/blog/2025/4/10/tips-for-winning-back-lost-customers