To work out how to win back a customer, find out why they stopped buying and offer a change that removes that reason. Confirm that the company can work under the new terms, then write to the buyer and suggest a small order that will show them this. Start with those who still need the product and whose business leaves the company with money after the cost of serving them is covered.
A salesperson persuaded a former buyer to order thirty boxes instead of the previous hundred. The buyer came to collect the goods, but the warehouse refused to release a partial batch. In this illustrative example, the business owner had allowed small orders and the salesperson had told the customer, but no one had changed the collection procedure. Now the salesperson is calling the owner: the sale needs saving urgently.
And they did win the customer back. They even got paid. Yet the customer is facing the same problem that made them leave.
I believe an instruction to win back past customers should start with an uncomfortable question for the company: what will we now do differently after the buyer agrees? If the answer relies on the owner personally sorting things out with the warehouse, we are offering the customer another attempt to get hold of the right person. A discount will not make that way of working more convenient.
How to win back a former customer
First, the head of sales needs to distinguish a buyer who has left from someone who simply no longer needs the product. Including everyone who has not paid for a long time is convenient when exporting data from a CRM system. It is not enough for a conversation.
A customer bought furniture when opening an office. Half a year without another order is normal. Another bought packaging every month, then moved their purchases to a competitor. Here, there is a recurring need worth fighting for. Someone who once asked for a price has not actually been your customer yet: the first sale to them is still in progress.
For each former buyer, the head of sales puts together a short sequence:
- What they bought and when they will need it again. The basis is their order history and the customer's own answer.
- Where things stopped. An email declining a large batch, a complaint about timing or a message about choosing another supplier will do. A salesperson's note saying “disappeared” is not enough.
- What has changed since then. The company has introduced different terms, or the buyer has a new requirement they did not have before.
- What to offer first. A specific quantity, scope of service or quote that addresses the previous difficulty.
An unknown reason stays unknown until the conversation. Deciding that every silent customer thinks it is “too expensive” means choosing a discount in advance, without even hearing what the buyer has to say.
At the same time, removing the reason they left does not mean getting back the previous volume of purchases. The customer has already arranged their work without you. They will have to spend time changing suppliers and risk problems with the order again. That is why I favour a small first order that clearly shows the specific change you have made. If thirty boxes are now allowed, let them buy thirty without trying to persuade them to make it a hundred.
If a buyer is ordering less and less often but the relationship is still ongoing, the work is different. How to spot this decline and make someone responsible for the customer is covered in “Customer retention: who in the sales team is responsible”.
What to write to a customer to win them back
Look, the buyer has already decided once to manage without us. The message needs to give them a reason to reconsider that decision. The words “you are a valued customer” say nothing about why things will be more convenient for them this time.
The messages below are illustrative examples, not real correspondence. You can send them only after filling in confirmed circumstances and promises you can keep.
The previous terms have changed
Hello. You used to need thirty boxes, while our minimum order was a hundred. We now accept orders from thirty boxes for collection, and the warehouse releases them on Wednesdays. If that works for you, shall I send a quote for the quantity you need?
Before sending it, the salesperson confirms stock, batch size and collection day with the warehouse. One question is enough for the customer. There is no reason to ask them to fill in a questionnaire, arrange a meeting and share their plans for the year as well.
We do not know why they left
Hello. You used to buy packaging from us, then the orders stopped. Could you tell me whether you still need it? I want to understand what stopped working for you before offering new terms.
If the buyer replies that they have changed their packaging, the conversation moves on to their current needs. If the issue is an inconvenient collection schedule, the salesperson finds out which day they need. The answer is recorded in the customer's own words: the head of sales then has a basis for choosing what to do.
The customer is already happy with another supplier
I understand that you buy most of your supplies elsewhere. If you need a small additional batch, we now offer collection for orders from thirty boxes on Wednesdays. Would it be appropriate to send you the terms for an order like that?
Here, we are offering to take a small share of their purchases. Demanding that they immediately bring back all their purchases means asking someone who has not yet seen how we now work to make too big a decision. After a successful order, there will be something to discuss next time.
They left after our mistake
We missed the agreed deadline on the last delivery. We now confirm the dispatch date with the warehouse before payment. If you are ready to discuss a new order, I will first check the available date and let you know.
Only write this if the new procedure is in use. Deal with an unresolved complaint separately, without making the correction depend on the next purchase. Why replacing faulty goods does not in itself restore the relationship is explained in “The faulty goods were replaced, but there are no sales”.
After sending the message, there is no endless series of “just getting back in touch” reminders. For the first attempt, the head of sales sets one follow-up, with an interval based on your buying cycle. No reply means a pause until there is a new reason to get in touch. A request to stop writing is acted on immediately; an agreed date for a future purchase is kept.
How to win back lost customers
To work through the customer list, the owner needs to choose which changes the company is ready to maintain permanently. The head of sales brings the options and the cost of each, then assigns buyers to salespeople once a decision has been made.
Let us look at twenty former buyers in an illustrative example, not a RENTROP case study. The reasons have been established from customer messages; these are made-up numbers to help choose what to do.
- Eight left because of the batch size. Small orders are already allowed. We start with this group after agreeing collection with the warehouse.
- Four need delivery of small orders. Collection does not solve their problem. The head of sales calculates the cost of a combined delivery run once a week and paid delivery; the owner chooses what the company will offer.
- Three are buying for next season. The salesperson agrees a date to discuss it. They are not included in the sales plan for immediate payments.
- Two want a price below our costs. The head of sales offers a different mix for the order or ends the negotiations. They were not instructed to recover the previous revenue at any cost.
- There is no explanation for three. The salesperson finds out the reason. They are not assigned new terms in advance.
This leaves eight people who can receive a specific offer right now. For four, a business decision is needed; the others require different actions. The list of twenty now has an order of priority, and salespeople know what to say to each person.
The owner's objection is understandable: while we are working all this out, the salespeople will not call anyone. But they can clarify the need straight away. They can promise changes to the service only after agreeing them with the people who will carry them out. The head of sales starts these actions in parallel: salespeople speak to customers on the list while the head of sales resolves the collection issue. The whole department does not have to wait for a major review to finish.
What the first order costs and what happens with the second
Familiar contacts save the work of getting acquainted, but do not remove the cost of winning them back. The salesperson spends time, the warehouse prepares a separate batch, and the company pays for concessions. It is important to me to understand whether there will be any money left after all this and whether the business can repeat the order on the same terms.
Let us calculate an illustrative scenario, not a RENTROP case study. Eight buyers received an offer. Four placed an order each for 40 thousand roubles. The budget for preparing the group and holding negotiations was 18 thousand, including employees' working time.
- Four orders bring in 160 thousand roubles in revenue.
- The goods and normal order handling cost 28 thousand per order, or 112 thousand in total.
- Additional order preparation and the agreed concession cost another 4 thousand per order, or 16 thousand in total.
- That leaves 160 − 112 − 16 − 18 = 14 thousand roubles before the company's fixed costs.
One order leaves 8 thousand to cover the campaign's costs. Two orders are not enough to cover 18 thousand; at least three are needed. This is the threshold in the calculation, not a promise that three customers will definitely buy.
Now the salesperson adds free delivery costing 4 thousand for each customer. The four orders now leave minus 2 thousand after the cost of winning the customers back. On paper, the result is the same: four buyers have returned. In practice, we paid extra for these orders.
A one-off concession is acceptable if the owner has consciously set aside money for it. But the customer must know in advance that the next order will be on different terms. Otherwise, they will see the removal of free delivery as another change for the worse: they were invited back on terms the company itself never intended to maintain.
Before the campaign starts, the owner approves three limits: the total spend on the attempt, the minimum amount of money left from an order after variable costs, and the concessions available without separate approval. Expected future purchases do not cover today's costs.
What to have the head of sales do before the first message
The owner does not need to listen to conversations personally or negotiate every box. Their decision is to choose acceptable terms and allocate resources. The head of sales then needs a task with a deadline. Here is a ready-to-use instruction for our example:
Within two working days, prepare a group of buyers who left because of the minimum order size. Show the evidence for each, the first-order offer and a cost calculation. List those who need a different delivery arrangement separately, with possible solutions.
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Before making any offers, agree with the warehouse how small orders will be accepted and released: quantity, days and person responsible. Make sure a salesperson can process such an order without a call from me. If a decision from me is needed, bring it to me before making a promise to the buyer.
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Once the terms are approved, set aside time for the salespeople over ten working days. During this period, you are responsible for continuing every conversation and handing each agreed order over to be carried out. If the old problem happens again, stop making new promises to this group and arrange a fix.
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At the end of the period, show the original list, replies, agreed next actions, payments and completed orders. Alongside these, show the costs, the money left from the orders and outstanding commitments to buyers. If the buying cycle is longer, give the agreed date for the next decision.
Ten days here is the period for the team's work, not a promise of sales. The head of sales chooses the size of the group based on the time left after serving current customers. Winning some back at the cost of new delays for others is an expensive way to keep customers coming and going.
Do not stop paying attention to the first order as soon as it has been paid for. In the box example, the salesperson confirms that the small batch is ready before the buyer arrives and immediately involves the head of sales if the warehouse refuses to release it. The head of sales resolves the inconsistency in the working procedure so that the next salesperson does not go through the same round of calls. The owner receives confirmation of the fix and a list of affected orders.
When the reason for leaving gets lost in conversations
With a large customer list, it is hard for the head of sales to piece together the grounds for winning customers back: the record says “declined”, an email mentions an inconvenient quantity, and a call discussed another option. Without these details, the department goes back to offering everyone a discount.
At RENTROP, AI ROP analyses calls and correspondence together with the deal record and shows every day which deals to revive: AI for the sales team. It only reads data; decisions about terms and actions involving the customer remain with people.
Before starting to win customers back, ask the head of sales to show the terms of the second order alongside those of the first. If continuing the relationship will have to begin with withdrawing a promise, revise the offer now. The customer should be able to collect their thirty boxes without trouble on a Wednesday even when their return is no longer an event for the whole company.