How to run a successful customer win-back strategy

In straightened times, businesses are looking for a variety of strategies to keep their customer numbers up. Beyond acquisition and retention lies the territory of customer win-back, where more tractable subscription models can reap rewards.

Steve Hanney, DM consultant and interim CRM at Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), believes prevention is better than cure. In addition to close monitoring of customer satisfaction at all touchpoints, he encourages businesses to adopt a 'Return whenever you want' rather than a 'Where did it all go wrong?' attitude in their communications to lapsed customers.

Richard Higginbotham, head of marketing at Transactis, urges companies to develop a single customer view (SCV) database as well, that brings together transactional and customer data from all departments – such as orders, deliveries, marketing and customer services – and holds it one place. Doing this enables marketers to understand which customers are worth winning back, and the different channels – phone, mail or online – that they respond to best.