You don’t need more leads - Re-engagement is the real growth hack

Growth doesn’t always come from chasing new leads. Sometimes, it’s already sitting in your CRM, waiting for you to tap back in.

For CMOs, founders, and teams under pressure to deliver more with less, it’s time to rethink your strategy. Customer retention isn’t the follow-up to growth. It is growth! 

Your existing clients already trust you, have seen your value, and are statistically more likely to buy again. The challenge is that some teams stop marketing once the contract’s signed.

In this blog we look at how to fix that, and how to start turning dormant relationships into active revenue.

Why retention can out-perform acquisition

On average it costs about 5x more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. Yet, acquisition often gets the bulk of the marketing budget.

Retention drives efficiency, predictability, and profitability. It reduces churn, increases customer lifetime value (CLV), and strengthens your brand advocacy, all while lowering your cost per sale.

The smart move is building systems that help you re-engage, nurture, and expand existing accounts instead of constantly starting from scratch.

The ‘Triple Growth Engine’: CRM + customer success + lifecycle marketing

The ‘triple growth engine’ sounds a bit jargony but this is really just about getting three areas of your business to work together more effectively. 

And that’s because the most effective retention strategies don’t sit in silos. Growth happens when CRM, customer success (or customer service or account management - whatever you want to call it), and lifecycle marketing work together.

Here’s how that should look:

1. CRM: Turn data into action

Your CRM should do more than store contact info. It should help you predict behaviour and trigger timely, relevant actions.

For example, some quick wins for CMOs might be:

• Segment customers by behaviour and engagement, not just company size or industry.
• Identify dormant but high-value clients and create reactivation campaigns.
• Use automated workflows to follow up after periods of inactivity.
• Track customer health scores to spot churn risk before it happens.

2. Customer success: Create long-term growth partners

Customer success isn’t just post-sale support, it’s a front-line growth driver. When CS teams focus on outcomes, they open new doors for expansion.

Here’s and example customer success checklist you could use to start thinking about where opportunities might come:

• Schedule quarterly business reviews with key accounts.
• Track feature adoption and usage trends.
• Identify upsell and cross-sell opportunities early.
• Share success stories that show measurable impact.
• Collaborate with marketing to align messaging and timing.

3. Lifecycle marketing: The always-on growth loop

Lifecycle marketing connects CRM insights and CS intelligence through automated, data-driven campaigns. The goal: send the right message, to the right client, at the right time.

Here are a few example just to get started: 

• Onboarding: Welcome sequences that educate and set expectations.
• Adoption: “Did you know?” campaigns highlighting underused features or offering practical advice.
• Re-engagement: Win-back offers for clients who have been inactive over 90 days.
• Upsell/Cross-sell: Data-driven recommendations based on past behaviour.
• Advocacy: Referral incentives and review requests for promoters.
  
  

The retention growth playbook

For founders and CMOs ready to make retention a revenue channel, here’s a simple, practical roadmap you can start to adapt to your business:

Step 1: Audit Your CRM

• Identify dormant or under-contacted accounts.
• Tag clients by health score or churn risk.
• Build a list of upsell-ready customers.
  
  

Step 2: Map the Journey

Visualise the full client lifecycle, from acquisition to renewal. Identify drop-off points, under-leveraged moments, and opportunities for education or reward. You can find out more about this by downloading our free ‘Customer Journey Map Starter Kit’.

Step 3: Align your teams

Marketing, sales, and customer success teams should share retention goals. Create joint KPIs like renewal rate, upsell revenue, or customer lifetime value.

Step 4: Build automated touchpoints

• Use CRM automation to nudge clients with personalised, timely content.
• Re-engage at-risk customers before they churn.
• Celebrate milestones (renewals, anniversaries, or usage goals).
  
  

Step 5: Measure what matters

Here’s our list of metrics that matter:

• Retention rate
• Repeat purchase rate
• Churn rate
• Average customer lifetime value
• Engagement with lifecycle campaigns
  
  

Review these monthly and adjust messaging or campaigns based on data.

Common pitfalls to avoid

Even the best-intentioned retention strategies can stall. Watch out for:

• Over-automation: Personalisation still matters. Don’t rely on templates. Make sure your messaging is in your brand tone and voice and remains human. Read our piece on ethical algorithms which discusses in more detail the perils of over-automation! 
• Siloed data: Marketing, sales, and customer success need shared dashboards.
• Lack of follow-through: It’s not one campaign, it’s a consistent system.
• Vanity metrics: Measure impact, not just opens and clicks.
  
  

The bottom line

The growth you’re chasing might already be in your database. By aligning your teams and using lifecycle marketing, you turn retention into a predictable, scalable growth engine. Retention isn’t about keeping customers happy, it’s about keeping them growing with you.