One of the best moments as a marketer or salesperson is converting a potential customer into a sale. But just as importantly as converting visitors into customers, marketers need to be on the lookout for making sure that customers stay customers. Dormant customers are a bummer for any business, and it’s important as CMO to...
One of the best moments as a marketer or salesperson is converting a potential customer into a sale. But just as importantly as converting visitors into customers, marketers need to be on the lookout for making sure that customers stay customers.
Dormant customers are a bummer for any business, and it’s important as CMO to create a strategy that successfully awakens these sleepy buyers and gets them back interested in your product.
There are a lot of techniques that you can use to try and catch the interest of dormant customers. One of the most effective ways is to get them talking. A great way to do this is through sending out a survey.
As a marketer, surveys are useful for a myriad of reasons, and hopefully you are already using them to track your customer satisfaction and gain insight into your customer experience.
However, a specific survey targeted to your dormant customers can be a great way to get them to express what interests them, and give you an idea why they haven’t been buying.
There are three main things you should focus on when sending out a dormant customer survey: A snappy subject line, solid questions that give insight to any problems, and an offer at the end.
Choosing the right subject line when you email dormant customers
The key to sending this type of survey is getting your customer to open it.
If your customer is already dormant, that means they have a decreased interest in your product and are getting more and more detached from your brand.
Because of this, it’s important to advertise your survey in a way that peaks their interest and makes them feel like it’s worth opening.
A few example subject lines could be:
- Did we do something wrong? We want to know about it.
- Can we earn your business back?
- Will you tell us how you’re feeling?
These questions suggest two things:
- You’re aware that you’ve lost your customer’s interest and are interested in getting it back.
- You’re ready to listen to what the customer has to say.
Customers like cultivating a relationship with a company. In fact, feeling like you can trust a business is one of the main reasons many customers stay loyal to a product or service.
Sending out this survey and assuming the blame for losing this customer is a way to earn back any customers who actually are frustrated or dissatisfied with your product.
Those customers who simply haven’t needed to use your services for whatever reason will also be encouraged to open the survey in order to voice their opinions.
Asking specific questions to understand your dormant customers
Once the dormant customer opens the survey, you can take advantage of the opportunity to ask honest, important questions about their customer experience.
The questions you must ask
- Why haven’t you bought from our store recently?
- Is there anything we can do to remedy this for you?
- Are there competitor’s products you believe are better quality or more valuable than ours?
- Do you have any suggestions for our company to improve our products?
- What can we do to earn your return business?
- How can we make our product more convenient to buy?
These questions will give you very helpful insight into what your dormant customers signify.
The main reasons a customer has turned into a dormant one
Do you have dormant customers because your product is a one-time-buy kind of product?
Or do your dormant customers signify dissatisfied customers who have gone elsewhere for their needs?
Figuring out why you have dormant customers is the most useful part of sending out this kind of survey.
Getting information on how you can win your customers back is also useful. This is where customer’s will offer suggestions and let you know what they value in a brand.
If your customers say you can win them back by having better customer service, you have a launch point to make changes in your company.
Once you make the change, you can reach out and let this customer know that you listened to them, took their advice, and acted. If this doesn’t promote customer loyalty, nothing will.
Offering a Promotion to awake dormant customers
At the end of the survey, it might be a good idea to include some sort of promotional offer to the dormant customer. Sometimes all dormant customer’s need is a push or an incentive to purchase.
Offering a simple 25% off the product or a special gift included in a purchase could help you to bring these customers back.
Coupons are extremely effective ways to win over customers, as almost half of consumers will switch brands happily in order to use a coupon.
All companies experience dormant customers.
But knowing how to talk to them, assess the problem, and win back the ones you can is what makes a CMO great.
Take the time to ask your customers what they want and how you can keep them happy, and you will certainly see results.
