Question

Topic: Strategy

Sales Vs Marketing - Win Back Campaign Strategy

Posted by Anonymous on 7/1/2014 at 9:31 AM ET 25 Points
One of our clients is in the process of cleansing their database of inactive clients. They have asked us to assist with a win-back campaign. Our recommendation is to split the list in half, send an email highlighting new and upgraded products with a special promotion. If the responder clicks on the link and fills out a form (A group) or calls to claim their product (B group) they can claim a free sample of one of the upgraded products. The sales rep would then be alerted to the interested client for a follow-up call. The sales department is opposed for the following reasons:

1. They feel it punishes the "good clients" who order each month. They are concerned that clients in good standing will find out about it and they can only imagine their reaction, and they are not not willing to jeopardize that relationship in an effort to win back inactive and non-supportive clients.

2. They state that it has been proven time and time again that to give non-interested clients incentives to get them to purchase more simply does not work. And, that is one of the reasons why they don’t give free samples – they feel it simply does not lead to additional purchasing but instead is something that they come to expect.

Our perspective is that it costs less to re-aquire an inactive client than to attract a new one, we can test the effectiveness of the a/b campaign with this promotion, get the product and brand in front of more people and the cost per client, whether they are gained or lost is very reasonable.

I would love to hear the perspective of fellow marketers. If you have any questions, please let me know.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 7/1/2014 at 5:36 PM Member
    Sounds to me like the tail wagging the dog. It's the role of sales to sell, to close deals.

    I agree that it costs less to attract a current though inactive client that it does to acquire a new one. To counter the first objection, offer clients in good standing an even better deal. This instantly shuts the sales people up.

    Then, move ahead with your original plan and onto it, tack a scorched earth policy onto it aimed solid at the naysayers in the sales team: this is going to happen with you or without you. If you have a problem, the company has a problem. The company does not need a problem: the company needs to make sales. So, make sales, or feel free to begin looking for new employment elsewhere.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 7/1/2014 at 8:09 PM Member
    So, what does the sales department offer as a suggestion to increase sales?
  • Posted by mgoodman on 7/1/2014 at 8:10 PM Moderator
    I wouldn't do anything until I understood why the accounts are inactive. Is it because they are out of business? Have they found a supplier they think better meets their needs? Is it just a price war? Have their needs changed? Did they have a bad experience with the company?

    I also question whether it really costs less to re-activate an inactive client than to attract a new one. If they are inactive for a reason, they may have made a conscious decision to defect, and that could be a very difficult decision to reverse.
  • Posted by telemoxie on 7/2/2014 at 8:44 AM Accepted
    the majority of companies which become "former" or "inactive" customers do so because of an attitude of indifference by your company and your staff.
    For example, see: https://365daysofmarketing.wordpress.com/2012/06/12/why-70-of-your-former-c...

    Let me understand. This client company cares so little about potential and former customers that they can no longer afford space in their database? Do they only want to keep records on companies which purchase from them each and every month?

    Here's an idea: pretend that you care about those inactive customers. Maybe you might even consider picking up the telephone.

    It sounds like there are problems, but I don't believe the problem is "too many records in the database". The problem might be a sales compensation problem. The problem might be a CRM problem. the problem might be a poor working relationship between the sales and marketing departments.

    But the problems are not your customers and prospects.

    There are many issues related to sales funnels and prospect nurturing and sales qualification. I've worked with well over 100 small technical companies on that one issue. I'd be happy to talk with you by phone to learn a bit more about your market and offer and challenges. You can click on my username and send me an e-mail if you like.

    Good luck.
  • Posted by matthewmnex on 7/2/2014 at 7:52 PM Accepted
    It is hard to give a meaningful answer to this question without knowing a lot more about the product or service being offered and the length of time that these former buyers have been inactive.

    is this a B2B offer or a B2C?

    how many records are we talking about 500 or 500,000 ?

    The approach will be very different depending upon the case.

    I have to agree however with #Telemoxie,

    I have won back customers in my Db after 5 years of inactivity so never 'cleanse' them.

    What is important is to find out why they stopped buying. Either call them up and ask them or if the volume is too large, send them a re qualification email campaign that asks them to fill up a form or answer some basic questions before presenting the offer.

    This way you can :

    confirm email is still good
    confirm the company is still in business
    generate qualified new leads for sales teams to call
    learn more about buyers perception of the offer / service and hopefully understand why they stopped buying.

    Good luck.
  • Posted by msjenniferwoodard on 7/7/2014 at 7:45 PM Member
    If you client is sure they do not want to offer a free sample then do the email as planned without offering the free sample. Send they an email highlighting new and upgraded products and send the email to all within the database. If they feel they must cleanse the list then cleanse the people who do not open the email, just make sure you have a good subject like to get them to open the email.

    Good luck,
    Jenn
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