How To Gain Back B2B Leads When They Leave

It sure is a pain to lose sales leads, but just imagine how painful it will be if you lose your current B2B leads to your competitors. That will certainly be stinging to your corporate psyche. When that happens, regret will certainly be at the top of your list. You have spent so much time and money to win the client. And you have definitely spent a lot of money to keep that client with you. Despite  the setback, you can still salvage whatever is left from your customers. As long as you know what ticked them off and compelled them to jump ship, you are in the right track to win them back. So here is what you should do:

1. Know the back story first - behind every move that your customer makes is a reason that makes them do it. Your job, at this point, is to find out what that is. This is a very important step. Not knowing what happened can hamper your ability to fix whatever problem that might have caused the initial split. Find out from your people what happened.

2. Contact the customer - this is also another important step. At this point, you have a fairly good idea on what caused (from your part) the customer to leave you. Even if you have uncovered some really terrible details, do not apologize to your customers yet. Instead, find out why they are leaving, as well as what you can do to keep their business.

3. Listen carefully  the worst you will hear at this point is probably an angry tirade about your business and why they will not do business with you anymore. Despite that, remain calm as you continue listening to what they say. You need to know what happened on their end. After that, thank them for their time and that you will get to the bottom of this. Apologize when appropriate.

4. Identify if the problem if specific or general - if the problem is specific, like an appointment setting representative who is less than effective, then you can change the representative. If it is in general terms, like price or the level of customer service that you can afford to provide, you will have to know if the cost involved in changing is worth it.

5. Know if the customer is worth getting back - at this point, you already know everything you need to know, from inside your business to the minds of your customers. What remains is your decision to whether you still want them to back or not. It may involve tough decisions, but at least you can make an informed choice.

6. Tell your departing customer about the changes - once you have made the changes, inform your departing customers about it. You might want to give them a telemarketing call, without making any attempt to sell. Just tell them that you have considered their words and have made the changes they needed.

While these might not get your customers back, at least you have invested something for your future lead generation campaign .