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SaaS lead generation is a tedious and often lengthy process that requires a lot of time and resources. Spending a considerable amount of effort on securing leads and converting them into paying customers only to have them become lost leads is indeed unfavorable.
Imagine this, a few months ago everything was right on track, customers were responding and engaging well with your product or services; then they unexpectedly disappeared with an undetermined reason.
A customer turning into a âlost leadâ could happen for a variety of reasons. They may have found a better deal, their needs may have changed at the last minute, or they realized it’s too much of a commitment in that timeframe.
Identifying the reason you have lost them can be extremely difficult. The fact remains that they have become lost leads, and you need to do something about it.
Customer retention is an important metric that directly correlates to the success of your SaaS organization. Acquiring a new customer is known to cost five times more than retaining an existing one.
An acceptable churn rate (churn rate is the rate at which customers stop doing business with a particular organization) for the SaaS industry ranges from 5% to 7%.
What is a lost lead?
From a SaaS perspective, a lost lead is generally a user that test your product or service out through the free trial offered by you; and then proceed to not go through with furthering their subscription after the free trial period is over i.e. they donât move up in the sales pipeline.
Despite this, all hope is not lost. There are plenty of good opportunities to re-engage old SaaS leads and bring back them into your sales funnel. One needs to think outside the box and get creative with the way they aim to bring these old leads back.
Spamming old leads with innumerable âcome backâ emails will only warrant one thing: an unsubscription. This is why your marketing/sales team needs to put together a well-thought-out strategy that is authentic, real, and results-driven.
This blog delves into the ways a SaaS organization can use this gold mine to reach out to old leads and bring them back into the sales pipeline. The tips mentioned largely encompass emailing these old leads.
7 Tips To Re-Engage Lost Leads in SaaS
1. Offer incentives
2. Ask for their feedback
3. Build a sense of âFOMOâ
4. Update them on new features
5. Offer a personalized demo with your team
6. Present them with case studies
7. Share interesting and insightful content
As a SaaS professional, you probably have hundreds of prospects who have not responded to your calls or emails, opened the lines of communication only to disappear, or straight up declined your offer. These prospects ultimately didnât convert and are the ones that need to be re-engaged with.
Generally, sales professionals donât think to go after these old leads, itâs cumbersome, and well, when they werenât convinced the first time around what guarantee is there that they will this time around? In fact, a study found that 44% of salespeople gave up after hearing one sole rejection from a prospect.
In order to start a successful business relationship with a prospect, you need at least 5 follow-up touchpoints.
Reaching that âplateauâ stage with the leads in your database is a sign that they qualify for the re-engaging phase. Re-engaging requires proper nurturing and tactical messaging so this time, they stay on or come back as paying customers.
So here is how you can re-engage with these old leads through action-worthy tips that will bring forth the results you desire. Besides, increasing your customer retention rates by a mere 5% can result in your profits increasing by 25% to 95%.
1. Offer incentives
If there is one thing people love more than anything, it’s freebies! Use this to your advantage.
Here are a few examples of incentives you can offer your old leads
- Free webinar
- Ebooks, guides, and manuals
- Online contests
- Sign up discount
- Bonus credits upon signing up
- Extended free trial
The main idea behind offering an incentive to an old lead is to reignite their interest in your product. Incentivizing old leads paves the way to bring them back.
You can ask old leads to give feedback about your product or service in exchange for a reward. The information provided will give you a powerful insight into what further action you can take to win them back.
For example, a user mentions that he/she canceled their subscription because of the absence of a particular product feature, which you have since added. Maximize this opportunity, and offer them a free timed subscription to try out this new feature, and you are well on your way to winning them back.
Personalizing incentives will make your strategy more effective. Use historical customer data to tailor your messaging and increase your chances of success. Gain an insight into their past purchasing habits, old customer support cases, and personal data.
For example, sending an incentive on their birthday will personalize the content of your message.
2. Ask for their feedback
Building upon the point mentioned above, feedback from old leads is an important insight into what exactly went wrong. This strategy will especially work with those leads that made it far into the sales process.
This type of communication style is honest and straightforward, and it will be appreciated by your leads. Consider collecting feedback through communication channels that align with your leadsâ preferences, including surveys and online polls via email, or even phone calls via contact center software.
You can also send out a short message asking them for their feedback on your product or service and if they wish for any change to make the tool more suitable for them. This starts up the conversation again and shines a light on the areas of improvement.
Even if the feedback received reveals your tool isnât a fit for them, the active communication establishes a positive business relationship and the customer could be more inclined towards offering a referral through a client referral program.
Whether good or bad, the feedback received should be used to detect inefficiencies within your product infrastructure.
Showing your prospects that you care about their opinions gives you a competitive edge. Several SaaS organizations pool their efforts towards acquisition rather than retention.
Taking into account feedback proactively and actually implementing the suggestions make your organization stand out from the rest.
Beyond that, the feedback will also help you identify areas in which you are doing well. When you know what users liked about your product or service, you can perhaps use that information to win back other old leads.
3. Build a sense of âFOMOâ (Fear of Missing Out)
Fear of Missing Out (abbreviated to FOMO) is a real phenomenon that we as humans experience. In a nutshell, FOMO is a fear of regret about making a particular decision.
This phenomenon is a great technique for persuading old leads to reconsider their decision about your product before the opportunity disappears forever. Or worse, they might miss out while everyone else makes the right decision (the ultimate nightmare of FOMO).
Crank up by the FOMO through a deadline. When offering your old lead an offer of some sort, make it a timed one âoffer valid only till 22nd January 2023â.
You can add a countdown timer as well to really go all in. This will build excitement towards your offer.
Another way you can create a sense of urgency is by building âscarcityâ. This prods and propels leads into making an urgent decision within a stipulated time frame. Phrases such as âlimited time availabilityâ âlimited stockâ âlimited spots availableâ are all indications of scarcity.
This in turn also showcases the uniqueness of your product or service since it is only available for a short time.
Lastly, you can go for the âexclusive, just for youâ technique. We all love feeling special. Structure your email content in a way that shows leads that the offers are for âmembers-onlyâ or a âselected few customersâ.
4. Update them on new features
One of the reasons prospects didnât convert could be because the features of your product or service werenât enough or not in line with their needs. A feature update email is a perfect excuse to get in touch with them.
It doesnât come off as pushy or desperate. Your product or service may not have had the features they sought after before, but now it probably does!
Let your old leads see that you are implementing the changes they may want so they can come back. Introducing new features is a great way to reignite old interests.
Keep the email brief, with a short description of the new features, add in media to support your message, and towards the end add a clear actionable CTA.
84% of customers today feel sales professionals are too pushy, so refrain from sounding overtly sales-y, this is a surefire way of losing them again. Keep the email content short, informative, and actionable.
A feature update is meant to fill a need and bridge gaps. Ensure prospects understand how exactly these new features will add value to their lives (even in a minor way).
Communicating the problem you wish to resolve through the new feature is what will woo old leads back into your sales funnel.
If you are able to create content specific to their pain points, then you automatically increase your chances of conversion. Write the content from their POV, put yourself in their shoes rather than the organizations.
Read more : How to get more customers for your SaaS through Cold Emails?
5. Offer a personalized demo with your team
As a SaaS organization, you understand the importance of demos, they are a huge deal. A good SaaS product demo can do wonders for the ultimate purchasing decision. For the SaaS industry, product demos are crucial in decision-making.
There might be a chance your lost lead didnât use your product properly on account of insufficient product knowledge. Seeing the product or service in action will help them understand the functionality better.
Since you will be reaching out to the prospect via email, you need to personalize the email as well the demo; the two go hand in hand. Personalized emails are known to generate a 6x higher transactional rather than regular emails.
Offering your lost lead a personalized one-on-one demonstration is a great way of keeping them engaged. A recent study revealed that 71% of customers end up making a purchase because they like, trust and respect the salesperson they have communicated with.
Increased interaction with the prospect will further help you understand why exactly they didnât convert too. So donât miss out on an opportunity to have a proper conversation with them, segment the demo in a way that allows them to put forth their concerns too (for example: a Q&A towards the end).
Building a rapport and relationship with leads can result in increased trust and eventually conversion rates. An ideal product demo should focus on the prospects’ pain points and offer them direct solutions.
Ensure you add a calendar link so they can book the demo at their convenience.
6. Present them with case studies that showcase your value
Case studies are a form of social proof that is simple and effective. By enticing leads back through case studies you are able to show them the success theyâre missing out on.
Prospects look for validation to ensure they are making the right purchasing decision; and case studies provide exactly that. 92% of B2B customers are more likely to make a purchase after reading a valid and trusted review.
They want to know if your product or service was beneficial to others.
Case studies are a top-tier form of marketing for SaaS organizations. It shows prospects what makes your product stand out from the competition. They also build on brand authority (the trust an organization has earned from customers).
Include this in your case study:
- Real quotes from clients
- Noteworthy statistics (compare numbers if possible, for example: After 6 months of using our software, Company X saw an increase in their sign ups from 10% to 35%)
- Use case studies that are relevant to the prospect. Keeping it industry specific is a good idea
- Have a dedicated page for case studies only and segment it by industries (link this page in your email content)
- Use real logo and photographs, if possible (ask for permission beforehand)
- Include screenshots of your product or service in action wherever possible
Case studies help prospects understand how your software will meet their needs and resolve their pain points. Case studies provide you with an opportunity to explain this with real-world examples and numbers.
7. Share interesting and insightful content
When you are reaching out to your old SaaS leads, you need to come back with valuable content and offers. The value provided needs to be enticing and helpful to them.
Sharing blogs with insightful content that directly relates to your niche will help them understand the benefits of your product.
For example, if you have a fitness tracking software then sharing content such as â5 Reasons Fitness App Help You Stay On Trackâ or â10 Benefits Of Fitness Tracking Appsâ will aid in users actualizing and reconsidering the need for it.
Ask your team to come up with valuable pieces of content that they can use to educate, entice and appeal to prospective customers. You can also narrow it down to creating content specifically for lost leads.
Perhaps a video testimonial from a customer that was an old lead before and their reconsideration resolved their pain points. Make sure your video testimonial has video captions as well, so it becomes easier for the user to understand the testimonial.
Adding a âfaceâ to your brand builds personal relationships.
The content shared can range from blog posts, podcasts, YouTube or other engaging videos, social media posts, surveys, infographics, video testimonials, etc.
Email Templates for Lost Leads
Lost lead email template #1
Subject line -
{{First name}}, I have something that can help you!
Email body -
Greetings {{First Name}},
I am {{Your Name}} from {{Your Company Name}}, and I am a {{Your Position}}.
I noticed you were using our free trial a couple of months ago. Were you able to resolve {{problem/pain point}} through {{name of your software}}?
If so, I would love to hear which solution worked for you!
Over the last few months, my team has been working tirelessly to ensure our customers get the full value of {{name of your software}}.
We recently added in a new feature that will help with {{add their pain points}}.
{{Explain the feature and how it will help them}}.
If you are interested in this, I can schedule a 1-on-1 demo for you with my team. We are a team of dedicated individuals that are always willing to help.
{{Calendar link}}
In case you want to try out this new feature yourself, I am offering you a 14-day free trial.
{{add link}}
Let me know how this sounds!
Best,
{{Your Name}}
Lost lead email template #2
Subject line -
{{First name}}, can I get a quick heads-up?
Email body -
Hey there {{First Name}},
A few months back you signed up for {{name of your software}}, but decided not to renew your trial.
I was curious about this, and assumed itâs either of these 3 reasons:
You are still interested but havenât found the time to come back to renew your subscription.
a) You had budgeting issues
b) You have found a better and more economical alternative (I would love to know which one)
c) Youâre genuinely no longer interested because your {{pain point}} has been resolved
Please let me know which of these reasons are applicable to you. We prioritize our customers first and foremost and are always willing to improve for them.
Hoping to hear from you!
Best Regards,
{{Your Name}}Lost lead email template #3
Subject line -
Some updates from our side for you, {{First name}}.
Email body -
Hey {{First Name}},
I was wondering if you got to see my previous email.
I know you were not interested in connecting, but I thought of catching up and saying a quick Hello.
I know a lot must have changed since we last connected. A lot has changed for us too!
I was thinking, can we get on a call and discuss some changes from our side which I am sure you will love.
Let me know your thoughts
Best Regards,
{{Your Name}}
Conclusion
A study by MarketingDonut found that 44% of sales professionals give up after one mere rejection. An old lead is still very much a viable and valid lead that needs further nurturing. SaaS leads require about five follow-ups to convert to paying customers.
Of course, all of your old leads will not convert but you will definitely recover some of them; maybe even enough to increase your profits.
Donât let old leads slip through the cracks â use this opportunity to rekindle them. Finding new leads is already a lengthy and tedious process, so re-engaging old leads helps in saving a lot of time and resources. One or two emails could very well result in a lifetime customer.
So donât miss out on this opportunity!
Start re-engaging with your old SaaS leads today!
