Customer Retention Strategies

~30% of my pipeline comes from Closed Lost opportunities. So when an opportunity is Closed Lost, don’t let it go cold. If you have a sales engagement tool, set up an automation rule to auto add the primary contact into a Closed Lost Cadence, if not, just do this manually. Here’s an example cadence: 🔹 Step 1 (30 days post-CL) → Manual email (personalised) Summarise their focus, why the deal was lost, and let them know you’ll stay in touch. 📩 Example: "Hey Billybob, really enjoyed working with you and learning more about [initiative], like increasing conversion rates from 12% → 15% and driving $100K pipeline per AE. Appreciate other priorities took precedent, but I’ll stay in touch until timing makes sense". 🔹 Step 2 (55 days post-CL) → Automated email (deposit) Share a relevant resource. 📩 Example: "Pipeline is a challenge for most teams - thought this 30MPC webinar on account segmentation might be useful". 🔹 Step 3 (80 days post-CL) → Evaluate next steps Any team growth? Leadership changes? Priority shifts? No change → Stay in Closed Lost cadence. Key changes → Move to a prospecting cadence & re-engage. 🔹 Step 4 (105 days post-CL) → Phone call + LinkedIn touch (check-in). 🔹 Step 5 (130 days post-CL) → Automated email (new product update). 📩 Example: "See how Salesloft Rhythm incorporates AI into workflows to prioritise prospects most likely to convert into meetings [link]". 🔹 Step 6 (155 days post-CL) → Call (check-in). 🔹 Step 7 (180+ days post-CL) → Final review & decision No movement/changes? Pause outreach or move to a light nurture cadence. New priorities? Add to outbound cadence with a tailored approach. The goal? Stay relevant without being intrusive - so when timing aligns, you’re already on their radar. Are you keeping tabs on your Closed Lost Opps, or letting them slip? #sales #cadences #closedlost

Email and SMS have become almost synonymous with retention – but are they really doing the heavy lifting? The truth is, they typically only drive around 25% of returning customer revenue. So what about the other 75%? Retention isn’t about how many emails you send. It’s about how you grow returning customer spend – and that’s a much more strategic challenge than simply hammering your list with campaigns. Another key issue? Your product category often determines the likelihood – and timing – of a repeat purchase. If you sell sofas, for example, customers aren’t coming back every quarter. In contrast, a supplement brand knows roughly when a product will run out. A fashion brand can plan around seasons, events, or trends. So no, you can’t suddenly turn your sofa business into a quarterly shopping event – but you can extend your range in meaningful ways to give existing customers a reason to return. Think: complementary products, accessories, or even home styling solutions. You're not changing your core offering, but you’re creating new ways to serve the same customer – and increasing their lifetime value in the process. This is exactly why measuring returning customer spend is a far more useful and actionable retention metric than simply tracking returning customer numbers. It shifts the focus from “how many came back?” to “how much more value are we creating per customer over time?” Would love to hear how others are thinking about retention beyond email flows and reactivation discounts.

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴. In Customer Success, most teams rely on lagging indicators:  • Logins dropped  • Customer ghosted for 30+ days  • Customer says, “𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘴…” These are all accurate signs of churn. But by the time they show up? 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱. 𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲 — Low odds. High effort. And emotionally draining for your team. Here’s the fix: 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀. Few companies ever create them because the truth is: Leading indicators don’t naturally exist in your business. You have to 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. So what 𝘪𝘴 a leading indicator? It’s a signal that appears before the customer knows they’re in trouble (that you know is associated with churn risk) And while you still have the time (and relationship strength) to do something about it. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺: 𝟭. 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀: Pick 2–3 accounts with clear, measurable success.    𝟮. 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆: What were the key processes, decisions, or actions that led to their results?    𝟯. 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴: When should every new customer do the same things? (7 days in? 30 days in?)    𝟰. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀: Use your product, CRM, and QBRs to confirm: Did it happen? Or is a risk forming? 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 (𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗮𝗮𝗦): Leading indicators of future churn:  • No single owner of email strategy assigned - by Day 7  • No sales email sent - by Day 7  • Marketing calendar isn’t filled out 6 weeks ahead by Day 90 If any of these are missing — no, the customer won’t churn tomorrow. But they 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 eventually. And if you wait, you’ll be stuck in a low success rate “save mode”. When you act on leading indicators:  • You prevent problems while they’re still small  • You keep your team proactive, not panicked  • You shift retention from firefighting to forecasting 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸? #customersuccess

"We noticed you haven't logged in for 60 days..." This is NOT how you build loyal customers. If you're only reaching out after two months of silence, you've already lost them. After analyzing thousands of customer journeys, I've found a clear pattern: By day 14 of inactivity, the probability of churn increases by 67%. By day 30, it jumps to 85%. By day 60, you're just sending emails to ghosts. Here's why reactive customer management destroys loyalty: 1. You're ignoring early warning signs - Engagement decline is gradual, not sudden - Behavioral shifts appear weeks before complete disengagement - Your CRM has the data, but you're not using it proactively 2. You're demonstrating that you don't pay attention - Customers notice when you only care after they've left - The 60-day mark proves you're tracking metrics, not relationships - Your message screams "we only noticed when our numbers changed" 3. You've missed the intervention window - Emotional connection breaks down completely after 30 days - Habit loops get replaced with competitor experiences - The cost of reacquisition is now 5-7X higher than early intervention 4. You're confirming their decision to leave - Late outreach validates their choice to disengage - The generic "we miss you" message feels disingenuous - You've proven they made the right choice by leaving 5. You're treating symptoms, not causes - Reactive messages don't address why they left - Generic reactivation campaigns ignore individual context - The problems that drove them away still exist So what does proactive customer management look like? ✔️ Monitor engagement velocity, not just binary active/inactive states ✔️ Create interventions at the first sign of behavior change (often day 5-7) ✔️ Develop usage milestone celebrations that prevent disengagement ✔️ Build relationship-deepening touchpoints during high engagement periods ✔️ Design preemptive educational content for common drop-off points The best brands don't wait for customers to leave. They make it impossible to imagine wanting to go. Want to learn how to build a proactive customer retention system that prevents churn before it starts? Comment "PROACTIVE" below for our complete strategy guide ✅

If your “retention team” only touches Klaviyo flows and campaigns… You don’t have a retention team, you have an ESP operator. Retention is much bigger than email & SMS. It touches: • Physical mailers • Mobile applications • Loyalty programs • CS feedback • Deep cohort analysis Retention is the entirety of the system that keeps customers coming back.

Your prospects don’t care about you. Most sales emails fail because they’re too focused on the sender’s product, company, or pitch. You have to #EarnTheRight to ask your prospects to care about you, your product, and your company. You can’t start from email one expecting them to give a heck. ***I've gotten feedback (from SDRs) that I'm being too hard on them when I say that their prospects don't care about them. If I have to be the "bad guy" to get sellers to realize selling is not about them, I will be. The emails we write need to center on our buyers, not us.*** During my How to Write Emails That Get Replies workshop, one seller had this exact realization: “I never thought about whether I’d earned the right to ask for my prospect’s time.” 📌 We reframed their approach using the Features-Advantages-Benefits (FABs) framework: FEATURE: What is it? ADVANTAGE: How does it work? Benefit: Why does it matter to the prospect? 🫨 80% of emails don't make it past feature dropping. Top sellers often talk about advantages in their emails, but they generally stop at how those features save time & money. Only the BEST sales email copywriters take the time to explain why those advantages matter to the prospect. This is top 1% shizz. If your team takes these steps, they'll be writing top 1% emails in 2025. 👉 Here’s why this shift matters: - FABs keep the focus on the recipient. Prospects need to see what’s in it for them—not what you’re trying to sell. - Benefits build trust. By solving a real problem or addressing a clear need, you create a natural path for engagement. - It’s actionable. Writing emails this way forces reps to think about the recipient’s perspective, not just their product features. How to Write Emails that Get Replies is one of my favorite Keynote decks. I am passionate about B2B outbound sales email copy. If you'd like me to share that passion and present this topic at your SKO, email me at leslie@salesledgtm.com so we can schedule a call.

☄️ecommert: CPG Digital Growth newsletter's latest issue is here. Replenishment isn’t a side feature, it’s a force multiplier. This is a big mistake. Most FMCG brands are obsessed with acquisition. But they’re leaking revenue by ignoring the biggest untapped growth lever: replenishment. Replenishment flows consistently outperform promos and win-back emails. Why? Because they hit at the perfect moment—when your customer is already thinking, “I’m almost out.” We’ve seen replenishment flows outperform promos and win-back emails combined. They convert better every time with the right timing and zero customer effort. Brands overspend on ads to win new customers, then forget to win them again. They need to predict exactly when a customer needs to repurchase and trigger the message at the perfect moment. Not too soon, not too late. Just right. ++ 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 – 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗶𝘅 𝗜𝘁 ++ 1️⃣ 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 2️⃣ 𝗣𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 3️⃣ 𝗡𝗼 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 In our latest ecommert: CPG Digital Growth newsletter, we break down: ✅ Why replenishment beats traditional retention plays ✅ Which categories (Food, Personal Care, CHC) offer the biggest upside ✅ How to automate timely SMS, email, and push reminders ✅ The real ROI: +28% AOV, 53% more reorder revenue ✅ 3 C-level actions to plug your leaky retention funnel This is the boardroom playbook for turning one-time buyers into high-value repeat customers. Mert Damlapinar 📩 You can read the full article here. 𝗧𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 ecommert® 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟰,𝟯𝟬𝟬+ 𝗖𝗣𝗚, 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘁 : 𝗖𝗣𝗚 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿👇 About ecommert We partner with CPG businesses and leading technology companies of all sizes to accelerate growth through AI-driven digital commerce solutions. Our expertise spans e-channel strategy, retail media optimization, and digital shelf analytics. Reckitt Procter & Gamble The Coca-Cola Company L'Oréal The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. Coty Kenvue Haleon Bayer Henkel Beiersdorf The Hershey Company Lindt & Sprüngli Danone Kellogg Company Nestlé Waters Nestlé Purina North America Church & Dwight Co., Inc. The Clorox Company Kraft Heinz General Mills Ferrero Mars Nike adidas New Balance PUMA Group Nestlé Nespresso SA Nespresso UK JDE Peet's Kellanova Nestlé Mondelēz International PepsiCo Unilever

Why B2B companies lose big clients (and how to fix it) 3 Questions with Shawn Chan 1️⃣ What’s a surprisingly effective strategy you’ve used recently? Account-Based Marketing (ABM). Here’s the playbook: ✅ Deep research – Go beyond the usual LinkedIn stalking. Dive into annual reports, press releases, and earnings calls. Find out what keeps stakeholders up at night. ✅ Multi-stakeholder engagement – Don’t just talk to the decision-maker. The CFO, CIO, CMO, and Head of E-Commerce all have different priorities. You need to understand them all. ✅ Personalized interactions – Use a centralized database (CDP/CRM) to track insights and tailor outreach. No more generic messaging. The results? ✅ Higher engagement rates. ✅ Shorter sales cycles. ✅ Bigger deals closed. ABM works when you stop selling and start solving. 2️⃣ What’s a project that didn’t go as planned, and what did you learn? Losing a key enterprise client in the Philippines. The mistake? ❌ We focused too much on features. The client cared about AI-driven automation, not just a better dashboard. ❌ We ignored the CFO’s influence. Our competitor positioned a lower-cost solution, and we weren’t in the conversation early enough. The fix? ✅ Expand stakeholder engagement – Don’t rely on a single champion. ✅ Build relationships across finance, IT, and operations. ✅ Shift to value-based selling – Highlight business impact, not just features. ✅ Start renewal discussions early – Don’t wait until contracts are up. Stay ahead of procurement. Losing the deal hurt. But it forced us to refine our retention strategy. And that made all the difference. 3️⃣ What key lesson have you learned from a peer or influencer? From Piyush Goel, I learned the power of leading with intent. His approach to leadership? ✅ Understand individual aspirations – Every team member has different motivations. He took the time to figure them out. ✅ Prioritize mentorship and coaching – Regular 1:1s weren’t just status updates. They were opportunities to help people grow. ✅ Follow up relentlessly – He didn’t just offer advice and move on. He made sure you executed. Beyond work, he emphasized personal development. He recommended books like Atomic Habits and advocated continuous improvement. Lesson learned: Great leaders don’t just manage. They invest in people. And that investment always pays off.

Retention Isn’t Sexy - Until You’re Broke Brands chase growth. But when the faucet turns off and the market tightens, email becomes your backbone. So why do we treat it as a short-term fix rather than a long-term asset? I hear this conversation replayed to me all the time from CRM and Brand Managers: Their Manager: Targets are down. Budget’s gone. Just send more emails. CRM: We already sent one this week with a promo. Manager: Send another. Bigger discount. CRM: Unsubscribes were high last time… Manager: Send to everyone — even non-engagers. Add urgency. And so it begins. 📉 Deliverability drops. 📉 Clicks tank. 📉 Unsubscribes rise. 📉 The database - your only owned audience - starts eroding. But the revenue target stays the same. This is what happens when you treat email like a faucet you can turn on and off — instead of a system you build and respect. 💡 Want to break the cycle? Here’s how smart brands avoid the spiral: 1. Build an acquisition engine, even when times are good. Don’t just chase sales. Chase subscribers, on all channels, not just site pop-ups. If 2% of traffic buys, aim for 20% to subscribe. That’s your future revenue. 2. Agree on discounting guardrails. Not every campaign needs a percentage off, even if times are tough. Consider other conversion tools like: - loyalty perks - free gifts - tiered basket incentives - competitions - outlet-style categories 3. Treat non-converters as humans, not dead weight. Reduce frequency, but stay visible. Try to understand why they’re lapsing e.g gift buyers? Promo-only? Seasonal? 4. Use peak trading to re-acquire, not just sell. Black Friday can re-engage lapsed customers. But the follow-up can’t be more noise. Build a new journey. Reset the relationship. 5. Track long-term metrics. Not just revenue-per-send. Show your management week on week how these are growing: -LTV - Repeat purchase rate - AOV - Site visit frequency from consumers on your database 6. Invest in content, not just campaigns. Nurture a community. Give them reasons to stay subscribed. Boost engagement before you ask for a sale. Remember nobkdy going to buy daily and weekly, you need more to keep them engage. Think weekly style tips, news Roundup, podcast drops, games, polls etc Email can be your safety net — but only if you protect the list, grow it intentionally, and stop burning it out with knee-jerk sends. Want to find out our playbook for growing your subscriber base rapidly. (like how we grew out base to 17m). DM me. Build it right. Because when things get tough, it’s your email list that keeps the lights on.

What if retention was the metric that defined success? Let’s take that thought a step further. How do you actually turn retention into a growth engine? It's not just about keeping customers around—it’s about making them feel valued, engaged, and excited to return. Here’s how you can make retention your superpower: 1) Know your customers deeply. → What do they love? What frustrates them? Your data holds the answers. 2) Make it personal. → From tailored recommendations to emails that feel human—not robotic—personalization builds loyalty. 3) Reward loyalty. → A well-structured loyalty program can turn occasional shoppers into lifelong fans. 4) Deliver exceptional support. → Quick responses. Real solutions. The kind of service that makes customers want to stick around. 5) Listen and act. → Ask for feedback, show you care, and close the loop by actually making improvements. At the end of the day, retention is not a tactic—it’s a mindset. Remember, a happy customer is your best marketer. They'll speak highly of your brand and bring others to you. Retention is not just a strategy; it’s a mindset. It’s about creating lasting relationships. So, before you pour your budget into the acquisition funnel, think retention. What are your go-to life hacks for building customer loyalty? #shopify #ecommerce