thinkhard.SI

Prompt repository Marketing

Win back customers who stopped buying

Some past customers have not bought in months and you want a short email series that brings some back without discounting by reflex.

Registry no.
MKT-034
Collection
Marketing
Laid out for
Any chat model
Score
10 out of 10
Blanks to fill
6
Added

MarketingAny chat

The prompt

Score 10 of 10, Excellent

Use it when Some past customers have not bought in months and you want a short email series that brings some back without discounting by reflex.

  • {{business}}
  • {{lapsed_period}}
  • {{whats_new}}
  • {{known_reasons}}
  • {{offer}}
  • {{voice_sample}}
Full prompt and why it works
Prompt
Write a win-back email series for customers of {{business}} who have not bought in {{lapsed_period}}. The goal is to bring back the ones who still have a reason to buy, and to learn why the others left, without teaching everyone to wait for a discount.

What has changed since they last bought (new products, fixes, improvements):
"""
{{whats_new}}
"""

What we know about why customers drift away (survey answers, complaints, guesses marked as guesses): {{known_reasons}}
An offer we can make, if any, with its terms and end date: {{offer}}

One past email of ours, for voice:
"""
{{voice_sample}}
"""

Write three emails, sent about a week apart:
1. "We noticed": a friendly note that reminds them what they liked (with "[last product ordered]" where your email tool can fill it in) and shares one or two real things that are new, with "[link]". No discount.
2. "What happened?": a short, honest question about why they stopped, with three or four one-click answers drawn from the known reasons, plus "Something else".
3. "One last thing": the offer, if there is one, with its real terms and end date, or else a last useful reason to come back, plus a clear way to unsubscribe or email less often.

Format: for each email, a heading with its name, then two subject lines under 50 characters, a preview text, a body of 60 to 140 words, and one call to action.

For example, an opening in the form wanted: "It has been a while since your last order, so here is what has changed."

The emails should sound like a person at the business who remembers them, not a retention program. Avoid guilt ("we miss you!" in every email), fake personal notes, invented urgency, and any claim about what is new that is not in the list above. If there is no offer, do not invent one. If what is new is thin, say so and suggest sending email 2 first instead.

Variables

{{business}}
Your business name.
{{lapsed_period}}
How long since they last bought, for example "six months".
{{whats_new}}
Real changes since they last bought: new products, improvements, fixed problems.
{{known_reasons}}
Why customers stop buying, as far as you know, with guesses marked as guesses.
{{offer}}
A win-back offer with its terms and end date, or "none".
{{voice_sample}}
One past email that sounds like you.

Why it works

  • Format. Three emails with three different jobs (remind, ask, offer) keep the discount for last, so customers who would return anyway come back at full price.
  • Who it's for. The middle email asks why they left with one-click answers, which turns the series into feedback even from the customers who stay away.
  • What to avoid. No invented offers or news, and no guilt in every email, the habits that make lapsed customers unsubscribe.

How to use it

  1. Press Fill in variables and type your details into each blank. What you type stays in this browser.
  2. Copy the filled prompt into the AI tool you already use, such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, or open it in the Grader or the Prompt Tester here.
  3. Before you rely on it, try it on three or four real examples. The Prompt Tester runs them all at once and shows which ones go wrong.
Use it from code

Get this prompt as JSON from the free REST API, with your own text in the blanks, or let an AI assistant fetch it through the MCP server. No key.

curl -s https://thinkhard.si/api/v1/prompts/win-back-lapsed-customers

With the MCP server added to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or VS Code, call get_prompt with {"prompt": "win-back-lapsed-customers"}, or just ask for it by name.