This is what we have always believed and found true: every month, the majority of revenue come from existing clients. Think about it. Who paid you the most last month? Current customers or new customers? Yet we spend most of our time, budget and effort on people who don't know us, those who are indifferent to us and our offering (at least, initially). How much more value can we create if, instead, we focus on those who know us, who has paid us and who trust in our work – our past customers. Let's see how to win back those wonderful folks.
Why working on winning back old clients is better.
- They are familiar with your work (you don't have to spend time pitching about your better quality of work.). They know what to expect.
- They know you. We humans generally are comfortable to work with the people we already know.
- They understand and respect your working style. They know your pricing. They generally don't negotiate a lower price than what they paid earlier. If you have good reasons, you can get a higher price.
- Heck, they have trusted us enough to pay us. This is golden. This is the ultimate test: when someone trusts you with their hard-earned money. Provide outstanding value that they stay with you forever.
Why working on winning back old clients is better
Before we try to win back your old clients, it's important to find out why they stopped buying in the first place.
- They simply lost in touch. (They forgot you.)
- They have found a new vendor.
- They have moved places. Left the job. Changed careers.
- They don't need your product or service anymore.
- They are unhappy with your service or product.
If you think a particular has stopped buying from you because they are unhappy with your service, none of the following ideas will work. Fix what's broken. Then tell the client that you've fixed what caused them dissatisfaction.
They might come back to you or not. But you've done your best. Now, let's see how to win them back if other reasons are at play.
- Offer something for free. Consultation calls. An ebook. A book. Free inspection. Free review. List of 10 ideas for them.
- Introduce your new offerings
- Tell about your recent projects, and tell them how you can work together in the future.
- Share a success story
- Write a best-practice report.
- Upgrade them for free
- Ask about their work
- Find out their biggest struggles at work
- Offer a no-risk trial of a product
- Offer a product or service at ten times the value of their average ticket
- Subscribe them to your newsletter
Prabu Rajasekaran is guest blogging for NewPath Consulting. He wrote this article on winning your old clients in September 2013.
