5 proven ways to win customers back

Even the most famous and successful companies lose clients. The percentage of customers that stopped using your company’s product/service during a certain period is called customer churn. It is in the nature of things because client flow has its high and low picks as every process in the world. But do not ease up, the fewer clients you lose, the better. It’s obvious.

Measure your customer churn by dividing the number of customers you lost during a specific time frame, for instance, a quarter, by the number of customers you had at the beginning of that time period. For example, you started your quarter with 200 clients and ended with 190 customers. Your churn rate is 5% because you lost 5% of your customers. Ideally, your customer churn should be as close to 0% as possible.

After you faced the bitter truth, it’s time to get things in order.

Check out the following true and proven methods of winning clients back.

Find out Why they left

First of all, define the reason clients left you. What have you done wrong? It might be poor customer service, not good enough quality product/service, high prices, low demand or something else. Anyway, to return a client you need to know it exactly.

Ask several additional questions to find out exactly what you could improve in your offer. You may not win this client back but you’ll have valuable information to adjust your current offer and save existing clients and if there are such cases, to avoid loss of a customer who may be thinking of leaving. 

After you analyze a situation and found out a reason, think about a way to resolve an issue (if it’s still relevant) and the value you can bring to clients to rebuild your good working relationship. Be perfectly clear and honest on this stage.

Renew a conversation and take responsibility

Write an email to a client reminding them about yourself and the company you’re working for. Don’t forget about refreshing their memory on where you stopped last time, what questions were on a table and what is more important – let them know you understand their feelings/opinion. This step simplifies everything and helps you reestablish the connection.

If your fault was a reason they left, ask them what they would like to have to get them back. Fix the situation but understand that this doesn’t guarantee their returning. At least, they will have a good final opinion of your company and may refer you to friends and partners who may be a better fit as a client.

Ask how their project is going and what they are up to

There is a high probability you’ll receive an answer and after it, will be able to continue the conversation in the right direction and mood.

Give the value

This might be an announcement of improvement or a solution you haven’t guessed and offered them earlier.

Depending on the answer, you will understand whether you returned the client or not. Continue the conversation to achieve your goal, and once it’s reached, go to the next round of nurturing clients.

Nurture a returned client and show them you care 

Be sure you are on the same page with the client. Starting the cooperation once again, don’t be lazy to create a questionnaire to know exactly clients’ needs and expectations from your cooperation. As a result, it will exclude any inconvenience, misunderstanding or misleading in the future when the project is delivered. 

To not lose them again, make sure your client is happy on every stage of partnership and a product/service meets their expectations. Look for ways to nurture clients so they will not only return to you but also spread the word about your company. 

Last but not least. Don’t take your customers for granted and focus not on having more clients but on delivering your brand promise, nurturing your customer experience and reducing customer churn. This approach will give you customer loyalty and new potential clients came by recommendations accordingly. 

How many clients have you returned? What approaches did you use to get them back?