Instead of always focusing on bringing new leads into your funnel, what if you could re-engage past customers and all those prospects who expressed interest in the past, but never came on board?
Re-engaging past customers and prospects is one of the best ways to bring in new business and boost your sales. This is partly because selling to people who already know who you are (and, in theory, who like you) is much easier to do than finding new customers.
And in my experience, it’s effective. We consistently have past clients return to us (in fact, we’ve had a few clients come back three or four times each!). Very often, when prospects didn’t bite in the past, it was due to timing…so when we connect with them again down the road, they’re in a different place and ready to engage.
In other words: Don’t be so quick to give up on your past clients and prospects.
If you want the chance to re-engage past customers and prospects, you need to stay top of mind.
But please, for the love of all things, skip the generic “just touching base” emails. No one likes them. In fact, a 2023 survey showed that “touch base” was the third-most hated corporate buzzword.
Think about it: when you get those emails from vendors or sales people you haven’t talked to in a while (we’ve all gotten them), how likely are you to respond? Most of us just ignore them and go about our days.
And therein lies the problem. Aside from being boring, phrases like “just touching base” or “just checking in” don’t give a clear call to action or offer any kind of value for the customer or prospect.
If you want them to sit up and take notice, you need to do something a lot more creative that offers them something of value.
First of all, personalize, personalize, personalize. Should I say it again? Personalize!
Any re-engagement campaign you send should be tailored to the person you’re sending it to. It should speak to their preferences, history with your company, current happenings within their industry, and so on. More than anything, it should convey that you understand their specific needs and are ready and able to meet those needs.
Get creative with these emails too. Don’t just give a standard sales pitch—tell a story. Engage your reader’s emotional side by showing them what life can be like if they choose to work with you. Highlight specific, relatable pain points and how you intend to fix them.
Your email should show them not just that you’re available to help, but also that you thoroughly understand their priorities and how to help them reach their goals.
When you get specific, creative, and personal, you have a better chance of rekindling their interest in working with you.
If you want past clients and prospects to consider you again, you have to offer them something of value. That doesn’t mean you always have to offer a financial incentive…but it sure doesn’t hurt. 😉
Consider offering an incentive like a free trial, personalized discount, free shipping, or loyalty reward. Or, invite them to take part in an exclusive event or receive early access to new products or services.
But the twist is: make it time-sensitive. If it’s an incentive they can take advantage of any old time, they probably won’t. But when you make something time-sensitive, it adds a sense of urgency to your offer and gives them a clear next step to doing business with you again.
Sending valuable content is another way to provide value to cold prospects or past clients. When you send them content you know they’ll find useful and compelling, it not only gives them something of value, but also invites them to engage with you further.
Try sending recent articles, case studies, infographics, industry reports, or ebooks (your own or from a third party) that speak to their particular pain points or contain information you know they’ll find helpful. Sending these sorts of “freebies” with no strings attached helps build trust and establish your authority in your industry.
To take things even further, send content that has value and is also interactive. For example:
Then, once you’ve sent them this great content, follow up with a more direct CTA inviting them to talk.
Speaking of interactive…short of an in-person meeting, a live webinar is about as interactive as you can get!
The right webinar will not only give your prospects and past clients a chance to engage with your company, it will provide them the opportunity to connect with others within their industry or adjacent industries.
For best results:
Really want to get a prospect’s attention? Try sending physical mail…preferably “chunky” mail—mail that contains something more than a form letter or postcard.
You could use a service like SendOutCards to send a personalized card with a sweet treat, for example. Or, you could do what we did—find a small, unique gift you can send and create a mailing campaign around it.
That’s what we did with our Incredibulb campaign. You can read all about it on our blog, but the TL;DR is that we sent a package with a super inventive light bulb to a specific list of prospects, tied it to the services we offer, and included a QR code linking them to a calendar to set up a meeting. And—spoiler alert—it worked! One recipient said, “OK, you caught my eye. I did receive your package and thought to myself, these guys are different in a world of the same ol’ same ol’....”
I know what you’re thinking: This kind of campaign can cost a little more than a typical mailer. And you’re right. But if it’s used strategically, it can pay for itself over and over. Just make sure to choose your list of recipients wisely (i.e., send it to those clients you really want or who are more competitive to reach).
This one works especially well for past clients. Send them a brief survey asking for their feedback about your company, products, services, and staff. Ask them how you can improve or what you could do differently to regain their business.
Asking clients for their feedback like this shows that you value their thoughts and are committed to making improvements. It can help you rebuild trust and earn back their loyalty while also gaining valuable insight into why they left and what it would take to bring them back.
To streamline your information gathering, use a tool like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms to keep things organized. And to encourage higher rates of participation, consider offering some kind of reward (a gift card for coffee or ice cream, free products, a discount, etc).
Including social proof in your communications with past customers and prospects helps show them what they’re missing out on—namely, all the benefits of working with you!
Sharing content like:
that highlight similar customers is one of the best ways to show potential clients what you can do for them.
Think about it—which would be more convincing to you: someone telling you how great they are or a third party telling you how great that person is (especially if what they have to say is unprompted)? I don’t know about you, but the latter is wayyyy more likely to convince me.
When it comes to re-engaging past customers and prospects, less is more. While you want to stay top-of-mind, too much communication can be a big turn-off.
Learn how much communication is too much in this blog!
Start small. Try reaching out on special occasions (holidays, birthdays, work anniversaries), when big things happen in their industry, or when they achieve a particular goal or win an accolade (i.e., “I was thrilled to see you won x award and wanted to say congratulations!”). When you have a specific reason to reach out, it comes off a lot less sales-y and a lot more genuine.
From there, connect with them consistently, always providing something of value (a relevant article or podcast, exclusive webinar, etc). Pick a couple of ideas from this list and do them consistently, and see if you don’t find it easier to re-engage past customers and prospects.
Want more help building a solid strategy for email marketing, lead generation, or sales follow-up? Schedule an exploratory call today to talk about your needs and how the Wild Fig team can help!
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