Customer renewal letters: Bringing back former customers
Customer renewal is a standard procedure for a lot of businesses. The success rate varies, but the usual result is to bring back at least some customers.
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In theory, a letter of this kind is a 'fire and forget' exercise, in the hope of attracting the customer's attention. However, that's not quite the case. A former customer is by definition an interested person. They've bought before, there's a reasonable possibility of success.
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The classic mistake in customer renewal letters is to simply fire off a letter with nothing much of interest in it, or worse, nothing new.
Duplicating existing advertising material isn't necessarily effective.
If you're prepared to send your former customers a letter, make it worth reading, something they won't have seen before.
Be selective, and send letters to high value customers. If that works, you can try the rest of your mailing list.
It's far better to go to work on actually attracting business, using special offers, or even one off discounts or deals for people on your former customer mailing list.
This example was sent to a mailing list based on computer software customers who were averaging purchases of over $1000 a year, but who've since vanished. The store has 400 of these customers, so as you can see, it's worth an email or a standardized letter to keep in touch with them.
Example:
Business letterhead
Addressee
Our reference
Contacts
Dear…
Special offers for special customers.
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Not everybody is getting this letter. We've picked only 400 of our best customers to get this offer. This is a one off, one purchase offer, one per customer.
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Make a note of our reference number, or bring your letter in to the store, so you can claim your special discounts.
Playbox 3000 20% off purchases up to $500
Winstation: 20% off purchases up to $500, and get two free games from the famous Nogozone range!
Microapple's War of Wordcraft game $10
Sontendo Trial By Gummi Bears game $10
All Wyy Games: 30% off, and only for our best customers.
And that's just a few of our offers.
You also get:
10% off any purchase you make up to $500
and
20% off up to $1000.
That includes any existing discounts on any items. If a $100 item is marked down to $80, you get an additional $8 off!
Sound like it's worth checking out?
A bit more good news. This offer is valid for the next six months. We're sending this in February, so you have until August to take us up on the offer.
Happy shopping,
Yours sincerely
Sign
Title
Date
Disclaimer
Please note:
- This text is intended for advisory and guideline purposes only.
- Any business letter can become a legal document, so check your content properly before issuing.
- Any executable or statutorily defined document should be checked for compliance with legal requirements, and you should seek legal advice regarding its contents.
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Business Letters 
