All businesses have churn, it would be great if all the customers we work so hard to get would continue buying. If you’re going through a growth phase it might not be your first priority to improve your churn rate, as there are always new customers to take their place. But it’s always good to think about how to win back churned customers.
There are obvious reasons why customers may have stopped buying from you:
- your print quality isn’t good enough.
- you are not competitively priced.
If these don’t sound like problems you’re facing in your printing business, then check out some other possible reasons and strategies for winning back customers:
First, find out why
In order to fix something, you must first understand why it’s happening. There are multiple reasons why customers might stop buying and the strategies for winning them back will depend on what the reason is.
Of course, few customers will actively tell you why they have stopped ordering from you. You can start by looking at ordering patterns, then move on to listening to customer service calls or look at conducting a survey.
However, for any customer win-back strategy to be effective, it’s important to find out directly from them why they have stopped ordering. If you have their email addresses you could send a targeted email asking for their feedback.
You shouldn’t use an email marketing platform for this first message, it should be a personal email. After all, you’re asking for their feedback so it shouldn’t look like one of the many newsletters they already get.
Deal seekers
These customers ordered print products from you only once, using a new customer incentive that you may have had at some point in time in your business. There are many reasons why these customers might not have placed a repeat order but you should look at two in particular.
First, if you have a lot of customers who only ordered with the new customer discount, you might not be targeting the right customers, and by that, we mean that your customers are looking for cheaper printing than what you are willing to provide without a discount.
If you want to win back these churned customers, you have to consider:
- running constant, targeted discount campaigns
- reducing your pricing overall to serve these customers.
Secondly, you might get customers who were trying your service but didn’t like the overall experience of ordering from you.
In this case, you need to re-examine the entire brand experience you have created for your customers. This means that what are the various feelings that the person encounters right from discovering your brand to placing an order to receiving the order.
One-stop shoppers
Your customers might have stopped getting their printing from you because their customers’ needs required other products that you don’t provide. For example, they might also need roll-up banners or stickers or something else you don’t currently sell.
A lot of businesses prefer to only deal with one print service provider. Armed with this knowledge, if your customers mention that they have stopped purchasing from you because you don’t have a certain product, then it’s time to consider how expensive it would be to invest in the equipment needed or find a wholesale trade print partner that can help fulfill your customers’ requests.
If you are a print reseller with 4over, this will be a lesser problem for you as you can offer a wide range of print products. Check out 4over’s range of offerings here.
Seasonal customers
Some customers only print around certain dates. For example, your customers may have seasonal sales, conferences, registrations, or special events that require a lot of promotional printing at specific times of the year.
A good way to win back customers who buy seasonally is to make a note of this in your CRM and add reminders to send discounts to them before their busy season starts. Sending them a modest discount around the time when they are likely to start placing orders again will both delight your customers and make them less likely to shop around.
And don’t forget that you’ll benefit from all the other orders they place at full price until their busy season stops again.
Special service
Your customers might stop ordering not because your products or variety aren’t good enough, but because you may not provide a key service another printer provides.
When talking to any customer, keep a list of extra services they mention. These services should be your go-to list for how to win back churned customers if you operate in an oversaturated market. These services aren’t necessarily other products or print applications but simply added “nice-to-haves” like next-day delivery, free delivery, or high-volume quantities.
Barring situations like a cheaper competitor entering your market, or your quality going down. The reasons customers have stopped buying have to do with one or two things you are not doing that those customers appreciate. It’s important to find out which needs appear most often and how expensive it would be for you to meet them.
4over is always here to help you grow your business and deliver for your clients. And as a trade-only printer and promo provider, 4over will never compete with you—the best measure of our success is yours!
4over LLC is one of the largest wholesale trade printers in the US, with multiple production facilities across North America. A trusted source of print fulfillment since 2001, the company helps large franchise printers, single print shops, print brokers, graphic designers, photographers, and every type of print reseller in between grow profitable businesses by offering a vast selection of quality products at guaranteed trade-only prices. With capabilities such as gang-run offset, digital, grand format, and promotional printing, plus state-of-the-art equipment, 4over offers every customer savings, selection, and scale. Not yet a 4over reseller? Register Today!
