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contacting people who had defected 11 months previously, who
would therefore be approaching the end of their contract with the
new provider. Mailings were followed by a telephone call: this time
around 10 percent of the lost customers returned, at a cost of $325
per returning customer. This was considerably less than the cost of
recruiting new customers.
In practice
• Develop your plan around the real customer defection issues.
Don’t guess about these issues—research the problem by asking
defected customers why they left.
• Communicate in a relevant way—you need to tell them that you
know why they left, and you are prepared to make amends.
• Test your approach. Often what seems like a logical way to
proceed turns out not to be—and then those customers are
REALLY lost!
• Time your win-back plan to coincide with the customer’s ability
to return.
44 • 100 GREAT MARKETING IDEAS
