When email subscribers stop opening messages or making purchases, businesses often write them off as lost customers. Marketers may clean their lists, abandon those contacts, and redirect their budgets toward acquiring new customers.
Executive Coach, Founder and CEO of The Abraham Group, Jay Abraham argues that approach can leave significant revenue on the table.
During the latest episode of The Strategic Edge, Abraham explained why customers go silent, how businesses can reactivate dormant audiences, and why an inactive email list may still be one of a company’s most valuable assets.
Why subscribers go silent
When subscribers stop opening emails, their silence can serve as valuable feedback.
“Everything really comes down to value creation or lack. If you have something valuable to them, they're going to pay attention. If they stop paying attention, it is about the most blatant expression that what you're saying either has or no longer has value to me.”
Abraham argues that customers rarely go quiet without a reason. Their disengagement can point to several underlying issues:
- Message fatigue: The company repeatedly sends the same message, positioning, or offer.
- Service or product disconnect: A customer had a poor experience and assumes nothing has changed.
- Changing needs: The customer outgrew the product or found an alternative elsewhere.
Before trying to reactivate an email list, Abraham recommends determining what the lack of engagement is communicating.
3 strategies to win back customers
Generic “We miss you!” emails and discounts may not be enough to recapture the attention of dormant customers. Abraham outlined three approaches businesses can use to reengage them.
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Lead with sincerity and upfront value
Instead of immediately asking dormant customers to make another purchase, Abraham recommends investing in them first.
The approach starts with acknowledging that previous communications may not have delivered enough value and asking for another opportunity to earn their business.
Businesses could offer something with significant upfront value, such as a free trial, exclusive experience, or substantial gift, without immediately attaching strings to the offer. The goal is to demonstrate value before asking the customer to spend money.
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Own past mistakes
If customers left because of operational problems or poor service, Abraham recommends addressing those issues directly.
He cited an example involving a high-end marketing agency that experienced delivery problems during its early years. Several clients left as a result. Rather than avoid the issue, the agency sent a candid message acknowledging its shortcomings:
“You left, and frankly, I would have too had I experienced some of the disservices rendered during that period of our growth. Today, we are a completely different company.”
The agency then offered to pre-fund the first two months of service and waive payment unless the company met pre-agreed performance targets. According to Abraham, about 40% of the former clients reengaged as paying customers.
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Introduce a fresh angle
When an audience stops responding, businesses should consider whether they have simply exhausted their original message. Abraham recommends changing the positioning by highlighting a new benefit, different application, or previously overlooked feature.
A new angle can give dormant subscribers a reason to reconsider an offer they previously ignored.
Why reactivation can beat paid acquisition
Abraham argues that businesses should consider reactivating existing audiences before increasing spending on social media or search advertising.
The reasoning comes down to trust, familiarity, and acquisition costs.
New customers require businesses to spend time and money building awareness and establishing credibility. Dormant contacts already know the brand. Even if they are not interested in the company’s primary offer, that familiarity can provide a valuable foundation for future purchases.
| Cold ad acquisition | List reactivation |
| Higher acquisition costs | Lower incremental acquisition costs |
| Trust must be established | Existing brand familiarity |
| Longer path to conversion | Potential for faster engagement |
| Requires new audience acquisition | Can unlock value from an existing audience |
Beyond email
Email marketing also faces growing challenges, including crowded inboxes, spam filters, and declining attention spans. Abraham believes businesses should adapt how and where they communicate value.
Although many marketers use SMS primarily for brief, transactional notifications, Abraham said he also uses long-form text messaging for narrative-driven content.
Mobile devices provide a highly personal communication channel, making thoughtful, value-driven messages another potential way to reach customers who have stopped engaging with email.
Regardless of the channel, Abraham recommends focusing on the customer benefit rather than relying on technical jargon.
For example:
- Technical feature: “Our display features 50 million pixels per square centimeter.”
- Real-world benefit: “It looks like the horses are running right off the screen into your living room.”
The distinction is simple: Customers are more interested in what a product or service can do for them than in the technical specifications behind it.
Ultimately, Abraham argues that an inactive email list should not automatically be treated as a dead asset. By changing the message, acknowledging past shortcomings, introducing new value, or exploring strategic partnerships, businesses may generate revenue from their existing audience without significantly increasing customer acquisition spending.
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