Most marketers know that retaining customers is the most important part of growing a business.

 
Therefore you need to keep your customer relationships strong and healthy for as long as possible. But how do you do this? There are many similarities between customer relationships and personal dating that can help…

1. Are they about to leave me?

 
The first step is to identify lapsing customers. We know customers don’t just go from 100% loyal to churned overnight.
 
How do you know your customers are about to leave you? You know the signs in a relationship when something isn’t right, it should be the same with your customers.
 
By using your data effectively, you can begin to spot the signs of a lapsing customer, such as if they haven’t purchased in a while of if they’ve stopped opening your emails.

2. Don’t go I can change…

 
Your next focus should be to Retain. Once we have won a new customer, we don’t want to put them off.
 
The most common mistake is to send too many messages, but like anyone who has dated knows, sending more messages isn’t necessarily the best move, maybe you’ll come across a bit too keen.
 
They’re busy people, they might not like being messaged every day, no one chooses the one who’s too keen do they?
 
RedEye’s Predictive Frequency Manager can predict how often you should message individual customers based on their engagement.
 
Sometimes, less is more… but sometimes more is more, a predictive model like this can help you figure out which customers want to hear from you every day and which ones want to keep it a bit more casual.

3. Woo, you’ve won them back

 
The final point is to learn from your mistakes. They’ve made another purchase, now what? Just like dating, knowing your partners likes and dislikes is important when keeping them happy.
 
Therefore, we’d suggest having a look at the reason why they almost lapsed. Look into your data to see what campaigns they have responded to and which haven’t they.
 
You can continue to test different creative or messaging through AB and control testing to learn quickly what works best with which customers.
 
Use these insights to segment your database and deliver the most relevant and engaging message, which you know your customer likes.

But what if they don’t come back…?

 
Okay you’ve been ghosted, it’s time to move on. You wouldn’t message your ex twice a week asking for them back would you?
 
But what if you really want them back, eventually? Maybe the timing wasn’t quite right.
 
You could put them into a keep warm campaign, keep dripping new bits of information and discounts through the channel they prefer. Hopefully they’ll give you a second chance when they realise you are the one that they want after all.
 
However, sometimes you need to know when you shouldn’t waste your energy. Reflect on what went wrong and ‘glow up’, ready for your new customers.
 
We’ve all had customers that respond to that one off loss leading deal, to never be seen again, do we really want those customers in our life anyway?
 

We can help

 
If you would like help to identify lapsing customers and ways to win them back, or if you’re interested in our predictive models, testing or our Marketing Automation platform, simply get in touch.