Why Most Brisbane Businesses Are Leaving Money on the Table
I see it all the time with businesses across Brisbane—from landscapers in Samford to boutique shops in Paddington. You work your tail off to get a new customer. You spend money on ads, you provide a great service, and they pay you. Then... nothing. They disappear.
Most business owners think those customers are gone for good. They go back to the expensive grind of hunting for brand-new customers. That is a massive mistake. It is five to ten times more expensive to find a new customer than it is to get an old one to come back and spend money with you again.
Re-engaging these "lost" people is what the marketing types call a "win-back campaign." I just call it common sense. If someone has already opened their wallet for you once, they are your best prospect for a sale today.
But there’s a right way and a wrong way to do this. If you do it wrong, you’re just annoying people and flushing money down the toilet. Here is what I’ve learned from helping local businesses actually make money from their old customer lists.
Mistake 1: Sending the Same Email to Everyone
If a customer hasn’t been to your shop or booked your services in six months, they shouldn't get the same generic newsletter as the person who bought from you yesterday.
I’ve seen a mechanic in Coorparoo send a "10% off your next service" email to every single person on his list. The people who just paid full price yesterday felt ripped off, and the people who hadn't been seen in two years ignored it because it wasn't relevant to them.
You need to separate your list. Look for the people who haven't spent money with you in a specific timeframe—say, 90 days for a hair salon or 12 months for a pest controller. When you target just these people, your message carries more weight. You aren't just "sending an email"; you are checking in on a relationship. Understanding your email platform costs is vital here, because if you're paying per person on your list, you want to make sure you're only paying for the people who actually have a chance of coming back.
Mistake 2: Being Too Needy (Or Too Boring)
Don't send an email that says "We miss you!" It’s desperate and, frankly, a bit weird. Your customers don't care if you miss them; they care about what you can do for them today.
The biggest mistake is sending a boring update about your business that offers zero value. Nobody cares that you’ve upgraded your office printer or hired a new receptionist. They care about their own problems.
If you want them back, give them a reason. The Tradie Approach: "It’s been a year since we serviced your AC. With summer hitting Brisbane next month, do you want us to drop by and make sure it won't die on a 35-degree day?" The Retail Approach: "We haven't seen you in a while. Here is a $20 voucher for your next visit—valid for the next 7 days only."
If you want to send emails that actually make money, you have to lead with a benefit. Tell them exactly what they get and why they should act now.
Mistake 3: Giving Up After One Try
People are busy. Your email might land in their inbox while they’re stuck in traffic on the Gateway Motorway or trying to get the kids to school. They see it, they mean to click, and then life happens.
If you only send one "win-back" email and stop, you’re leaving about 70% of your potential profit on the table. A real strategy requires a sequence.
1. The Gentle Reminder: "Hey, noticed it's been a while. Here's something new we think you'll like." 2. The Incentive: "Still haven't seen you! Here's a little something to make your next visit easier on the wallet." 3. The Final Check: "We don't want to clutter your inbox. If you're not interested anymore, no worries, but this is the last time we'll send this offer."
This isn't about being a pest; it's about being persistent enough to get noticed.
Mistake 4: Ignoring the "Junk" Problem
You can write the best email in the world, but if it lands in the spam folder, it’s worth zero. I’ve seen businesses spend thousands on professional photography for their emails, only for the whole lot to go straight to junk because they didn't set their account up properly.
Google and Outlook are getting stricter every day. If you haven't cleaned your list in years, sending a massive blast to thousands of old addresses will get you flagged as a spammer. Once that happens, even your regular customers won't see your messages. You need to proactively stop your business emails going straight to junk by removing people who haven't opened anything in over a year before you even start a win-back campaign.
Mistake 5: Making it Hard to Come Back
If I click your email because I want to book a plumber or buy a pair of shoes, don't make me hunt for your phone number or fill out a 10-field form.
If the goal is a phone call, have a big button that says "Call Now." If the goal is an online sale, the link should take them directly to the product, not your homepage. Every extra click you make a customer perform is a chance for them to change their mind and close the tab.
What Should You Do First?
Don't try to get fancy with this. Here is the 3-step plan I’d give a mate who runs a business:
1. Find the "Lapsed" List: Go into your customer database and pull a list of everyone who hasn't bought anything in the last 6 to 12 months. 2. Create a Simple Offer: Make it punchy. A discount, a free add-on, or a "priority booking" slot. Something that feels like a win for them. 3. Send Three Emails: Space them out over 10 days. If they don't respond after three tries, stop. They’ve moved on, and you should too.
How Much Will This Cost?
If you already have an email tool (like Mailchimp or Klaviyo), the cost is basically just your time. If you hire an agency like us to do it, you’re looking at a few hundred to a couple of thousand dollars depending on the size of your list and the complexity of the sequence.
In terms of results, you should see phone calls or orders within 48 hours of the first email hitting inboxes. It is one of the fastest ways to inject cash into a business because you aren't waiting for Google to find you or an ad to "warm up."
The Blunt Truth
Most of the advice you see online about "nurturing leads" is rubbish. Your customers don't want to be nurtured; they want their problems solved or their desires met. Stop trying to be their best friend and start being the business that offers them the most value.
If you have a list of 500+ past customers sitting in a spreadsheet or an old booking system, you are sitting on a goldmine. Every day you don't reach out to them is a day they might be booking with your competitor down the road in Chermside or Mt Gravatt.
Ready to stop guessing and start growing?
At Local Marketing Group, we help Brisbane businesses turn their messy customer lists into actual bank deposits. We don't do fluff, and we don't do jargon. We just get your phones ringing.
Contact us today and let's see how much money is hiding in your old customer list.