, 2 min read
Bringing back customers who drifted away, without being pushy
Most lapsed customers didn't leave on purpose. They just didn't come back. How a short, friendly message at the right time brings many of them back, and how to do it with consent.
Look at your customer list and you'll find people who used to come regularly and then stopped. It's easy to assume they went elsewhere. Often they didn't. Life got busy, they meant to book and forgot, and the longer it went on, the less likely they were to come back.
These are your easiest customers to win. They already know you, already trust you, and already live nearby.
Why a nudge works
People rarely decide to stop using a business. They just don't decide to book again. A short reminder at the right moment turns "I must book that" into an actual booking.
What a good win-back message looks like
- Personal. Use their name and mention what they had last time.
- Short. One or two sentences. This isn't a newsletter.
- Useful. Offer a time, or make booking easy by replying to the message.
- Respectful. No pressure and no guilt. "We'd love to see you again" is enough.
Timing
Send it when the customer would naturally be due again: a few weeks after a haircut, a year after a boiler service, a season after the last visit. Too soon feels pushy. Too late and they may have found someone else.
Consent comes first
Only message customers who have agreed to hear from you, and make it easy to say no. Anyone who replies "stop" should never get another message.
Measure what matters
The point of a win-back message is a booking, not a reply. Track how many people you contacted, how many replied, and how many actually came back. If the numbers are low, change one thing at a time: the timing, the wording or the channel. Don't just send more messages.
And keep an eye on opt-outs. A few are normal. A lot means the message, the timing or the audience is wrong.
How RingPost does it
RingPost finds customers who haven't been back for a while and who have agreed to hear from you, and drafts a short, personal message for each one on the channel they used before. You approve the messages, or put win-back on autopilot, and it sends them at a sensible hour. When customers reply, it books them straight into your calendar. Opt-outs are honoured automatically, and you can see who came back.
See win-back.
Written by the RingPost team.