Marketing Your Business - Maximizing Your Marketing Profits"Letters to Lure Back Clients And Those Lost Sheep."By Dr. Andrew S. Linick,Ph.D. The
Copyologist®
How often have you said to yourself, "Why have the number of repeat sales gone down for the sixth straight month? I wonder what's happened?" The probable reason is that your old client base…is dwindling. They have gone elsewhere for their needs. Master copywriter and direct marketing legend Andrew S. Linick, Ph.D. says returning to fundamental business strategies is required for today's volatile economy.
The tendency in selling most products and services, as well as offering business opportunities, is to place more emphasis on acquiring new clients than on holding old ones. This is understandable as there is no greater thrill for a businessperson or owner than to land a new account, especially if the struggle for new buyers has been long and difficult. Getting new business is one way to increase sales volume, but not the only way. Encouraging existing clients to buy more can also increase sales. What's gained when the amount of new business is offset by the loss of the old? Your best sales program is one that pays equal attention to both objectives-gaining new clients and holding onto old clients.
The least you should do is an annual inventory of your clients. For example, what percentage of last year's sales came from newly acquired buyers compared to sales from clients carried over from previous years? How many old clients stopped buying and why? With today's technology, it's quite easy to monitor new sales as well as repeat business.
What can be done, if anything, to bring these lost sheep back to you? Have the lost
clients gone out of business or moved? Not usually. Are they buying from another source? Obviously. But what happened? Why do clients leave one company for another?
When reasonably certain of the answer to the last question-why clients run away-you are
better qualified to 1) take steps to eliminate the faults that have caused dissatisfaction and 2) decide intelligently how to go about reclaiming some of your lost business.
To find out why clients quit buying, we selected a cross section of a hundred inactive charge accounts of a large agency, whose clients hadn't done any business with it for at least a year. We asked each to state frankly what had happened. Why were they no longer buying from that company? The answers were surprising …
Do clients leave a company because they are angry, they can get a better price elsewhere, or have been influenced by friends or relatives?
You might expect these to be the major reasons for lost business. However, none rated high on our survey lists. In fact, more than two-thirds of the inactive clients gave no special reason-the company had simply let them drift away.
Here are the figures:
o Sixty-eight had no special reason.
o Fourteen had grievances which had not been adjusted.
o Nine were lured away by lower prices or better service.
o Five had been influenced by friends to shop elsewhere.
o Three had moved and were using a local company in their area.
o One had died.
To be sure, the figures just cited would vary for other groups of one hundred among the clients for other types of business. But it seems fair to assume that the indifferent attitude of companies is the leading reason in a great number of cases. People stop buying because they are
allowed to stop. Perhaps the company forgets to show appreciation for the client's patronage or does little to retain that goodwill. Often the only check on accounts is for credit purposes. No one notices that certain accounts are going stale or follows up by asking clients why they stopped shopping.
This is not true of all companies and agencies. Some watch their clients as closely as a hen watches her chicks. Of course the company with strong field representation, and counselors calling regularly on clients, has a better chance of hanging on to clients than the one that limits personal contact with representatives. In today's economic times, however, your agency or firm cannot afford to overlook any way that might help to keep clients satisfied and assured of their importance to your firm.
One proven way is with a well-written sales letter-one that doesn't easily wind up in junk mail or "circular file."
A SALES LETTER THAT WORKS
The fact that your client/customer has stopped doing business with you doesn't necessarily mean that they cannot be induced to buy again. A small percentage of these "lost sheep" may even wander back on their own, but the far greater percentage need just a little encouragement-perhaps only, "We've missed you; where have you been?" It only takes a postage stamp, a professionally written sales letter, and a little time to ask that question. The payoff in revived business makes the effort worth many times the cost of hiring an experienced direct response advertising copywriter.
Some sales analysts maintain that a company spends 20 times as much to land a new client as to regain an old one. The cost of getting back an old customer is considerably less than searching for a replacement.
A new fish is merely a stranger to the agency. He knows nothing about the uncompromising quality of your products, services and/or opportunities. He may have been buying a long time from a competitor and has no reason for wanting to buy elsewhere. It takes hard, intensive effort to get his first sale.
Now the old client knows all about your company. Your worldwide capabilities. Your high quality products and media buying services. Three-fourths of your usual sales pitch is unnecessary in this case. What remains may involve adjusting a complaint. Or simply giving the client the attention that was lacking when he drifted away.
You have already seen from the client survey of a hundred lost clients that more than two-thirds of them had no real reason for leaving. The ease with which they left suggests the ease with which they can be brought back. Of course, the inactive buyer likes to be noticed and probably will never return, if you or your company remains aloof. Not to be asked to buy again is damaging to one's ego. Why should a customer go back to where she has not been missed?
But suppose you were the inactive client/customer. How would you react to this letter from the company you did business with in the past?
Dear Mr. Browne:
Back in the early days of this company, I learned a very valuable lesson. In those days we
depended more on footwork-and less on headwork! Well, here's what happened.
One day I was traveling through the territory with one of our men and we called on an old-time
client who had suddenly stopped buying. After exchanging the usual greeting, I asked him why we
weren't receiving any more of his business. Here's his reply:
"There's really no reason at all. I just happened to give my business to another company who had
been calling on me for a long time-a nice lady and I wanted to give her a break!
"You folks have never made any effort to resell me, so I concluded you no longer were interested in
my business. Never even got a letter from you asking why I quit and so I've been going along with
this other company."
Well, we ARE interested in your business.
And to prove it, we're writing to ask you why we haven't been selling to you. We don't want to
make the same mistake we made years ago. We want you to know that your account is really valued
and that we'd like to keep it. If there's anything we can do to restore our relationship, we'd
appreciate it a lot if you would let us know.
Will you? Thanks!
Sincerely…
P.S. Please call, e-mail, or fax us. We'd like to hear from you.
This letter was used with considerable success by one of my clients in Chicago. The approach is simple-"We appreciate your business...why have you stopped buying?" The story made the letter longer but it was a good one and helped to convey my client's sentiments.
Here are three quite short contacts of the same sort:
Used by Hotel Fontenelle, Omaha
Dear Dr. Linick:
Do you realize that it has been all of six months since you and Hotel Fontenelle got
together?
We enjoyed having you with us. When will you be back? We miss you.
Watchfully yours,
Used by an outside sales rep in Florida
Dear Mrs. Tompkins:
Just a short note to let you know that we have missed your coming in-or ordering online-
for your cosmetics.
Anything wrong? If so, tell us, because you know we want to please you in every way
possible.
Won't you come in? Or better still, phone-our number is 800-777-7711. Or if you prefer, email us at cosmetics4less.com. Thank you very much.
(No complimentary close)
Used by wholesaler, St. Louis
Dear Mr. Roberts:
Can you spare me two minutes? One minute to read this and one minute to say, "We
haven't bought any of your services because ________________________________
Please fill in your answer and return this sheet to us in the enclosed stamped envelope.
(To email this letter use … Please email us your answer in confidence.)
This won't obligate you in the least and we'll surely thank you for your two minutes-and
your courtesy.
Yours in anticipation,
(Your signature signed in blue using a felt tip pen)
A light, humorous touch can help you get the inactive client/customer back in the fold again. Such a letter certainly would be read and go a long way toward re-establishing a favorable image.
Some sales letters simply express appreciation of past business and say the customer has been missed. Some casually ask what's wrong. Some assume a grievance and lavishly promise to make things right.
HOW TO RECOVER YOUR "LOST SHEEP"
1. Tell your customer past business was appreciated. If the fact was not mentioned when she was buying, perhaps there should be some form of mild apology for the oversight.
2. Tell her how much she has been missed. Don't say you noticed her absence while "going over the records." No one is really missed, if the fact is called to attention by a record. She wants to be missed as an individual-not as a name on the books.
3. Tell her you want to serve her again. That's better than asking her to buy again.
4. Tell her you are keenly interested in knowing why she stopped buying. Merely asking that question is not an assumption of dissatisfaction; it might be for some other purely normal reason.
5. Tell her about anything new and beneficial in services and/or products-things that have
happened since she stopped buying/shopping. Or mention some other inducement that might be interesting. Perhaps a free coupon for some service or discount on her next order-a gift you want her to e-mail, call, or write for.
6. Ask if something happened to displease her and express how eager you are to make things right.
# # #
[Sidebar follows]
There are exceptions to all rules. A sales letter that handles the possibility of complaint in a casual and adroit way is one I wrote for a company in Ohio. It demonstrates what has been mentioned so often in my articles-it isn't so much what you say, as how you say it.
Dear Mrs. Betty Ladmer:
Have you heard the saying, "Old friends are like the ticking of a clock?" You get so used to hearing the tick that you rarely notice it until it stops.
We get used to doing business with old customers, too-so much so, that now and then we assume that everything is running along smoothly and we sometimes fail to express our appreciation as often as we should. And then-suddenly-the clock stops and we find that
an old customer has stopped buying.
That's the position in which we find ourselves with you-your company stopped buying from us.
We are wondering if you would tell us frankly just what the trouble has been-whether there is something we didn't do that we should have done, and whether there is anything we can do NOW to get you back on our list of regular customers. If there is, we surely want to do it.
If there is anything wrong with the works of our clock, let us see what is out of kilter. Mistakes do happen at times and, if one has occurred in your case, we hope you will tell us about it. We believe we can fix it the very day we receive your reply.
Like any successful company, our progress is largely dependent on satisfied clients. That's why we want you satisfied and why we earnestly request you to fill in the attached postage-free business reply card.
Let's see if we can get the old clock to tick again.
Sincerely,
About the author:Dr. Andrew S. Linick -The Copyologist®
Billed in 1977 as the world's sixth highest paid dr advertising copywriter, Dr. Andrew S. Linick -The Copyologist®, has handled projects from A-Z. He is available on a limited basis for consultation in beating and establishing controls, applying visionary strategic concepts. Since 1968 copywriting legend and direct marketing expert Andrew Linick has been writing breakthrough sales letters, dm packages, direct response print ads, dr radio commercials, etc. and in 1995 internet direct mail, web pages for ad agencies, public relation firms, small to medium sized businesses, corporations and entrepreneurs, covering all media. Linick is founder of the Copywriter's Council of America that represents 25,000 dr advertising copywriters, writers, editors, PR, publishing, circulation promotion consultants and other freelancers worldwide. He offers a second opinion critique service and 100% moneyback guarantee on his advice. As author-publisher, he's written over 550 magazine articles and 12 books. His articles and columns have appeared in national publications including: Direct Marketing Magazine, Long Island Business News, DM News, Direct Marketing on Long Island, Nation's Business, Orlando Sentinel, Newsletter Association of America, and DMA's Direct Response Space Monograph Series. He can be reached at: The Linick Group, Inc., Linick Building, PO Box 102, Middle Island, NY 11953-0102. Voice: 631.924.3888/8555 email: cca4dmcopy@att.net or visit www.lgroup.addr.com/CCA.htm
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