Here’s why Summer Is the Perfect Time to Plan a Past Customer Campaign – So You Can End the Year Strong and Profitable.
The end of the year will be here before you know it – and for many businesses, November and December are “slow months.”
But I don’t think it’s written in stone that it has to be that way.
Many years ago, I was the marketing director for a regional home improvement company. Sales during November and December were typically sluggish. Spring was busy, summer would taper off, and fall would pick up again – but the holiday season was always a struggle. After all, people are busy with family, travel, and holiday plans.
But we decided not to accept that as fate – and set out to change it.
We launched a year-end past customer sale – and it made a big difference.
👉 We reconnected with previous clients who had already done business with us before and trusted our work.
Here’s what we did:
- We mailed a letter to our database of past customers explaining the special year-end offer.
- We sent a series of postcards each week, each highlighting a specific product or service.
- We followed up with an email campaign to add extra touch-points and keep the offer top of mind.
- We built a special landing page just for past customers, reinforcing the promotion and making it easy to take action.
- Finally, our office team made follow-up phone calls to invite customers to buy from us again – the calls weren’t pushy, and because they came after the mail and emails, customers were warm and receptive.
By giving customers a clear reason to buy during the slower season, we saw a strong boost in sales. Customers loved the discount and the chance to avoid the busy spring rush. We gained revenue we otherwise might have missed. Win-win.
You can do the same.
These aren’t cold leads – you already paid to acquire them.
Why not give them a reason to come back?
Why Summer Is the Best Time to Plan
Getting this kind of campaign off the ground takes a bit of prep:
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Gather your list of past customers
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Craft your message and offer
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Design your collateral (emails, postcards, landing pages)
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Coordinate with your team
Summer is the best time to do this – you have breathing room to plan it well. If you wait until fall, you risk scrambling at the last minute and leaving money on the table.
What Makes Past Customer Marketing So Valuable
Past customers are:
– Already familiar with your work
– Already said “yes” once
– Much more likely to say “yes” again – or refer someone else
And you don’t have to pay to get their attention – you already earned it.
Simple Ways to Re-Engage Past Customers
Here are a few low-effort ways to reconnect:
– Send a limited-time offer just for past customers
– Send a holiday thank-you message (handwritten if possible)
– Highlight a seasonal service (winter prep, furnace tune-ups, etc.)
– Cross-promote complementary services:
* Offer furnace tune-ups to A/C customers
* Promote siding or doors to window customers
* Suggest maintenance plans to installation clients
– Ask for referrals (e.g., “If you know someone who needs [your service], we’d be honored by a referral.”)
Why This Works
Every past customer is like a planted seed.
If you water it, it grows – into repeat business, referrals, and 5-star reviews.
If you walk away, it dries up.
Summer is your moment to plan.
Year-end is your moment to reap the rewards.