The other day I received an email from some blogging service of some sort with this in the subject line:
You Haven’t Logged in to [insert name of service] for 12 Months (Account Deactivation Warning)
The content of the email was short and sweet, and somewhat redundant:
You haven’t logged in to [insert name of service] for about 12 months now. We have to warn you that your account will be deactivated within 7 days from now. Please let us know if you need any help.
Now I have to say, I only have vague memories of creating an account, and I don’t even remember what the exact purpose or function of the site is. I’m guessing I signed up to check it out, as I do with a lot of services, because that’s part of my job. I need to stay up on the these things. I’m also guessing that I was underwhelmed by the service because I probably left it immediately and stayed away, hence the above email.
Now I understand that I’m probably one of thousands, if not more, of account holders who are receiving the same email. I understand that they can’t really provide individual customer service to all those people, but couldn’t they at least tried to have won me back?
I’m assuming they want people to use their service. And I’m sure they also don’t want dead weight (which is what I was), but how about some flowers? Or chocolate? OK, not really, but a nice “We’ve missed you” would be cool. And how about trying to do a better job of explaining to me who you are and why I might want to return. If I haven’t been there in a year, I probably don’t remember.
Oh, and why not tell me about all the great new features you’ve added in the past year that might draw me back in. I mean, you have added new features, right?
And that “Please let us know if you need any help” rings kinda empty. No, thanks. I’m good. I think I can delete your email without any help.
Heck, I get more love from MySpace in an email that I delete every few months. At least they act like they miss me and really want me back. But this email was more like a stern,
“Hey! Are you in or out? Make up your mind, and either way close the door, there’s a draft in here!”
It’s 2012 and we’re rapidly pushing past web 2.0 to whatever you want to call the next iteration of the social web. It’s time to use people’s names, be friendly, tell me who you are, explain why I should come back, and what I’m missing out on.
It’s like getting an email or phone call from someone saying, “Hey, I’m that girl you met at that party a few years ago. Wanna get together?”.
Um, Could you be more specific? (oh, and just for clarification, I didn’t meet any girl at any party!)
When your customers walk away, they walk away for any number of reasons. Maybe they just don’t need your services anymore. Or they were unhappy with any combination of things from product quality, pricing, or customer service. Perhaps they even moved to a different area. But if you are going to take the time to contact them, even if it’s a pre-programmed “contact them once a year” situation, take advantage of that contact. Don’t waste that moment, because it’s probably your last chance to even get them to consider coming back to you.
Don’t warn me. Woo me.
But even better, perhaps we should just up our game and conduct business in a way that keeps people coming back for more without us having to beg, cajole, or threaten. If they don’t leave in the first place, we won’t have to worry about how we’re going to entice them to come back.
How are you keeping your customers? Have you found effective means of bringing them back into the fold once they’ve gone?