How To Reactivate Past Clients by Rod Moore

Why have I placed a huge pile of cash at the top of this article?

Well for two essential reasons really:

1/ Because I want to get your ATTENTION and cash usually does the trick, and ...

2/ Because I want to alert you to the fact that right now you are probably missing out on huge piles of cash that you could easily be attracting into your bank account.

No doubt you have heard the saying that it is five times easier to sell to an existing client than to find a new client, right? Have you ever stopped to ask why this is the case? Its simple ...

Existing clients have already overcome their fears of doing business with you and have developed a level of trust in you and your business.

Fear and a lack of trust are two key reasons why prospects do not turn into clients. You have to overcome these two obstacles to bring people on board as clients. This is perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of marketing.

So it always amazes me when a business will go to all that trouble to develop a new client only to then completely forget all about that client after the initial transaction. It just seems ludicrous to me that you would invest the time, money and effort into finding a prospect and developing them into a client to then let them wander off never to be spoken to again.

You should keep in mind my golden rule of business success ...

'Never let a customer or client forget you!'

It doesn't take much to keep your happy customers and clients coming back to you again and again. When they do the profit margin is substantially higher than if you have to drag out a new client from a list of cold suspects.

So here are five strategies to bring your past clients back for more so that you fully monetise the value of each client:

1/ Reactivation Letter - This is simply sending all of your past clients who you haven't heard from or dealt with in the last six months or more a letter to say that you miss them. There are a number of variations on this theme however the general idea is just to be back in contact, apologise for not being in touch for awhile, and let them know you value them as a client and would love to see them back. This particular strategy works well in transactional type businesses and can be adopted to practically any type of business.

2/ Exclusive Irresistible Offer - Give them a reason to come back. The easiest way to do this is to create exclusive irresistible offers just for past clients. Make them an incredible offer that they can not refuse just to get them back doing business with you. Once they are back in the fold as a happy paying customer or client they are far more likely to continue.

3/ New Products or Services - Sometimes your customers or clients just simply get bored. They move on because you are just peddling the same old stuff over and over to them. It is really important to keep developing new products, new services, new ways of bundling your products and services together. This way you always have a reason to go back to them.

4/ Client Appreciation - You should value your clients and show them that you value them. One of the best ways to do this is to use the Client Appreciation strategy. This can take many different forms but one of the best ways to do this is to hold a Client Appreciation Seminar complimentary for your clients and past clients. Invite them all along and provide real value to them. You will be amazed at how they will respond and how their enthusiasm for doing business with you will be re-ignited.

5/ Say Thanks - We live in a fast paced world where few people take the time to simply say thanks. Most customers and clients feel unappreciated which is why they wander off over time never to be heard of again. Why not send them a simple hand written card to let them know you are thinking of them and to say thanks for having been a client. At the very least this will help maintain top of mind awareness with them.

These are just a few simple ideas to get you started. There are of course many other ways to reactivate past clients. The key is to maintain regular contact with them, continue to add value to them through the relationship you have with them, and continue to offer them different products and services.

You do not want to be like the Personal Trainer I spoke with recently complaining about how hard it is to get clients. When I quizzed her about how many clients she had in the past she said probably close to a hundred or so over a few times. I asked how she maintains contact with the past clients to which there was silence on the phone. It hadn't occured to her that those people where likely still overweight and unfit and desperately needing her help.

When was the last time you spoke to all of your past clients or customers?

What strategies can you put in place today to reactivate them?

If you do nothing then you are leaving behind large amounts of cash that could easily be flowing through your business. After all there is no point marketing for new clients if you can not take care of the existing and past ones.