Go Big to Win Back Customers

It’s always cheaper to retain customers than chase new ones. Winning back existing customers is more effective than acquiring new customers, especially if they’ve fallen off their subscription plan.   Sage gained over $1MM in unexpected revenue in Q4 through a win back “amnesty” program that eliminated the typical “off-plan” customer fees and penalties. The amnesty offer was just the incentive customers needed to get back on track, and it delivered big revenue during the critical year-end timeframe.

The president of Sage North America was so pleased by the “Officer Finkel” program that he had a full-size cutout of the character made for his year-end presentation. He credited the salty officer with providing the last-minute spark the company needed to hit its numbers.

Win back programs became a standard part of the marketing mix for Sage, allowing the software giant to reduce churn by wooing customers back to subscription.