Lost Customer Survey Invitation Template

August 28, 2012

customer survey invitationLast week, I shared 10 automated lost customer survey design tips. This week, I will share an example of an automated lost customer survey invitation and an in-depth lost customer interview invitation.

These templates are set up for easy conversion into a mail merge template in case your company does not have a CRM set up to automate survey and interview invitations to lost customers. If you would like to learn more about how to set up a mail merge, please refer to my blog post on how to set-up a customized survey invitation. Similarly, if you are interested in setting up an automated survey system in Salesforce or another CRM, I recommend reading my post on the factors to consider when setting-up automated survey invitations in Salesforce.

Below is an example of an automated lost customer survey invitation:

[Target Respondent],

We are sorry to learn that your company has decided to cancel its contract with [Your Company Name]. We have enjoyed serving you over the last [length of time as customer].

Please take [Expected Time to Complete Survey] minutes to complete our contract cancellation survey to let us know why you have made this decision, so that we can learn how to improve our services for future customers.

Hopefully you have enjoyed your experience!

                Thanks,

                [Your Name]

Below is an example of a lost customer interview invitation:

[Target Respondent],

My name is [Your Name] and I am a [Title] at [Your Company Name].

[Your company Name] is conducting a research project to learn more about the customers that have canceled their service contracts within the last [Time Period]. We are hoping to identify the root cause of these decisions to see if we can identify any trends in the reasons for these contract cancellations. By doing this research, we are hoping to improve our overall understanding of [what you hope to learn from research].

As part of this research, we are hoping to set-up a [Interview Length] interview with you, as the point-person on the [Target Respondent Company Name] customer account, sometime this week or next week to discuss this decision. As a token of our gratitude for your participation in our research, we’re offering a [Incentive Amount] [Incentive Type] to those who participate.

If you would consent to an interview with me, please let me know when you would be available to talk later this week or next week. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

[Your Name]

Now you have a starting point for preparing your lost customer survey invitation.

Next week, I will share some tips on determining sample size for your in-depth lost customer research project.

Marketing Manager, Pricing Strategy

<strong>Brandon Hickie</strong> is Marketing Manager, Pricing Strategy at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/">LinkedIn</a>. He previously worked at OpenView as Marketing Insights Manager. Prior to OpenView Brandon was an Associate in the competition practice at Charles River Associates where he focused on merger strategy, merger regulatory review, and antitrust litigation.