10 Ways to Revive Connections with Former Customers

It happens. People buy from you and they love you. Then life and other work circumstances get in the way, and they don’t return.

Sometimes it’s because they no longer have use for your products or services like when you offer hair cuts and they've gone bald or you sell tractor supplies and they decided to stop farming. Sometimes they simply move out of the area and a more convenient option is down the road.

But most often, though, your business has managed to slip their minds. You're no longer on their radar or part of their buying habits. It wasn’t something you did. They just have other things going on.

In these cases, you need to reengage them and bring yourself back to top of mind. Here are a few ideas on how you can do that.

Some Ideas to Reengage Past Customers for More Sales

Selling to previous customers is easier than winning over new ones. It costs less and because they’ve given you their money once—unless they had a terrible experience—they are likely to do it again…once you grab their interest.

Here are ten ways you can get them to pay attention to you again:

1. Send to your list. If you have a past customer list, use it. Send out an email (or mailer) telling them you miss them. Offer them a discount, BOGO offer, or free gift (or upgrade) with purchase to bring them back.
2. Host and market an event. Invite people whose past buying history matches your event.
3. Share pictures of past customers (if you have them) and invite people to tag themselves on social media.
4. Start sending out email newsletters or launch an email nurture campaign.
5. Utilize digital retargeting through Facebook or Google so your ads are shown to people who have visited your site.
6. Post pictures on Facebook of your items and tag the items with cost and description (this is a nifty feature on Facebook).
7. Ask people to share pictures of themselves on social media with whatever they purchased from you.
8. Ask funny questions (or tell stories) involving your product or services on social media. For instance, if you’re a plumber, ask your social media audience what they think the weirdest thing you’ve ever pulled out of a drain was and then tell them.
9. Create a Facebook group for past customers (if it makes sense for your product and brand).
10. Attend industry or community (or Chamber) events. Nothing like the serendipitous meeting to get them thinking about you again.

When it comes to reengaging customers, it’s a lot like your other relationships. Out of sight can be out of mind. Even if you’re not out of mind, you need to spur action. If you want to increase sales, you must reconnect.