How do I win back lost customers?
Short answer: Identify them via cadence drift, reach out with no marketing language, single CTA, one follow-up. Reactivates 15-25%.
Full answer
The mechanics are the same as recovering lapsed customers — but with one important refinement for "lost" customers (defined as 2x+ past their personal cadence).
The cadence: - Day 0: SMS or short email. "We noticed you haven't been in for a while. We'd love to see you again." Single CTA. - Day 7: One follow-up. "Closing this out unless you want to come back." No discount.
Why no discount: - Discount-led winback trains future churn. - Personal-cadence-led winback restores the routine without compromising margin.
Reactivation: 15-25% in local-business, 20-30% in DTC, 10-20% in B2B service. Compounds over time — month 12 reactivations are usually higher than month 1 because the system is catching customers earlier in their drift.