Decide what triggers a contact
A programme runs on rules rather than on someone remembering. Define the triggers for your business:
- A fixed interval since the last job — twelve months is common
- A service interval specific to the equipment or work
- A seasonal date, where the work is seasonal
- A recommendation logged and not actioned after ninety days
- A quote issued and never decided, at thirty and ninety days
Each trigger produces a task on a specific date. Nobody has to decide anything, which is why it survives busy periods.
Record the information at the time of the job
The programme is only as good as what was captured on site. Add three fields to your job record:
- Next likely need — what will this customer need and roughly when
- Noted but not done — anything you saw and recommended
- Preferred contact — phone, text or email, and any consent given
A technician takes twenty seconds to fill these in and they are the entire basis of the programme. Without them you are sending generic messages, which is why most reactivation stops working after the first round.
Set the cadence per customer, not per campaign
The difference between a programme and a campaign is that contact is timed to the customer's cycle rather than to your calendar. A customer serviced in March hears from you the following February, not in whatever month you decide to run a push.
This spreads the work evenly through the year and avoids the pattern where everyone gets contacted at once and the phone cannot cope with the response.
Match the message to the trigger
Each trigger has its own short message, written once and reused with the specifics swapped in:
- Annual service due, naming what was done last time
- The deferred recommendation, naming the item and what happens if it is left
- Seasonal prompt ahead of the load
- Quote follow-up, restating the price and offering to answer questions
Write them properly once. They will be sent hundreds of times.
Who does it, and when
Assign it to one person at a fixed time — thirty minutes each morning, working the day's list. It fails when it belongs to everyone or happens whenever there is spare time, because there is never spare time.
For a business in The Woodlands and the surrounding communities, this also pairs naturally with routing: when several reactivation contacts sit in one village, that is a day's work in one area.
Track it as a channel
Measure reactivation the way you measure advertising:
- Contacts made
- Responses
- Jobs booked
- Revenue
- Cost — which is mostly time
When you can compare cost per customer from reactivation against cost per customer from advertising, the case for the programme makes itself. In most local service businesses it is dramatically cheaper.
Handle consent and preferences properly
Record how each customer agreed to be contacted, honour opt-outs immediately, and keep the record. What the rules require of your business is worth confirming with your own adviser — but respecting a stated preference is straightforward and protects the relationship regardless.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a programme different from a campaign?
It runs on triggers rather than on someone remembering, and contact is timed to each customer's cycle rather than to your calendar — which also spreads the workload evenly through the year.
What should be captured at the job?
Three fields: the next likely need and roughly when, anything noted but not done, and the customer's preferred contact method with any consent given. Twenty seconds of a technician's time is the entire basis of the programme.
What triggers should I use?
A fixed interval since the last job, service intervals specific to the equipment, seasonal dates, a logged recommendation not actioned after ninety days, and quotes undecided at thirty and ninety days.
Who should run it?
One person at a fixed time — thirty minutes each morning working the day's list. It fails when it belongs to everyone or happens whenever there is spare time, because there is never spare time.
How do I justify the effort?
Track it like an advertising channel — contacts, responses, jobs booked, revenue and time cost. Comparing cost per customer against advertising usually makes the case on its own.