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Put your cancelled accounts in call-first order

To work a cancelled-account list, put the accounts you lost 3 to 24 months ago at the top, then sort inside that group by why they left — price first, then a service problem, then a competitor, then the ones who moved. Read the opener that matches the reason, make one offer you decide in advance, and count what comes back over 36 months at the rate they used to pay.

Your customer list never leaves this computer. The file is read in your browser, sorted in your browser, and downloaded from your browser. No name, no phone number and no cancel date is sent to us or to anyone else.

Your customer list stays on this computer

Your customer list never leaves this computer. The file is read in your browser, sorted in your browser, and downloaded from your browser. No name, no phone number and no cancel date is sent to us or to anyone else.

If you use the optional email form at the bottom, it sends counts and totals only — how many accounts, how many in each pile, your average old rate, and the estimate you typed. Never a row.

Your cancelled accounts

Paste it straight out of your spreadsheet, or pick the file. Name and phone are the only two columns it really needs. Cancel date, reason and old monthly rate each make the order better. Column order does not matter and your headings do not have to match ours.

CSV, TSV or plain text.

Eight made-up customers with 555 phone numbers. Load it, watch what the sort does, then clear it and paste your own.

Decide the offer before you dial

Type the offer in your own words. We do not suggest a number, a discount or a term — you know your margins and we do not. Whatever you type drops into every script above where it says the offer, so every call gets the same one.

Shapes other owners use:

What to say, by reason

Five openers. Square brackets are what to do, not what to read out. Fill in the boxes above and they fill in here.

They left over price

Do not defend the old number. Ask what it would have to be, then decide.

  1. 1Hi, is this [their name]? This is [your name] over at [your company]. I own the place.
  2. 2You were with us until [month and year], and I have your file open in front of me. It says you left over the price, and I am not going to argue with you about that.
  3. 3I am calling the customers we lost myself, because I would rather hear it straight than guess.
  4. 4What were you paying when you left, and what would it have to be for you to come back?
  5. 5[Stop talking. Let it be quiet. The first number out of their mouth is the one you need.]
  6. 6If [your offer] does it, I can have a tech out this week and get you back on.

They left over a service problem

They are waiting to be argued with. Do the opposite and the call turns.

  1. 1Hi [their name], this is [your name] at [your company]. I am the owner, not a call center.
  2. 2You cancelled in [month and year] and the note in your file says it was a service problem. I am calling to find out what actually happened.
  3. 3[Let them tell the whole thing. Do not defend anybody, do not explain. Write it down.]
  4. 4That should not have happened, and I am sorry it did.
  5. 5Here is what is different now: [what changed since they left].
  6. 6I would like the chance to fix it. Can I put you back on at [your offer] and have somebody out this week?

They went to another company

You are not there to win an argument. You are there to find out what beat you, and to be the first call when it goes wrong.

  1. 1Hi [their name], [your name] from [your company]. You were with us until [month and year] and then went with somebody else.
  2. 2I am not calling to talk you out of them. I am calling to find out what they had that we did not.
  3. 3[Let them answer. This is the most useful sentence you will hear all week. Write it down word for word.]
  4. 4Fair enough. How has it been going with them?
  5. 5If it is ever not going well, you have my direct number and you will get me, not a menu.
  6. 6And if you want a second look today, here is what I can do: [your offer].

They moved

The account is gone. The customer is not, and neither is the system still on the old wall.

  1. 1Hi [their name], this is [your name] at [your company]. You had a system with us at the old place until [month and year].
  2. 2I am not calling about that address. I am calling about wherever you are now.
  3. 3Did the new place come with a system already on the wall, or is there nothing on it?
  4. 4[If there is a panel: ask whose it is, how old it is, and whether they are tied into a contract.]
  5. 5Most panels we can take over without ripping anything out. Want me to send a tech to look at it?
  6. 6And if you know who bought the old house, I would love an introduction. That system is still on the wall over there.

No reason written down

The question is the point. Even a no gives you the reason for the next twenty calls.

  1. 1Hi, is this [their name]? This is [your name], I own [your company].
  2. 2You were a customer of ours until [month and year]. My file does not say why you left, and that is on me.
  3. 3I am calling everybody we lost to ask the same question. What happened?
  4. 4[Whatever they say, do not argue with it. Say thank you and write it down.]
  5. 5I appreciate you telling me. Can I earn it back? Here is what I can do: [your offer].
  6. 6[If it is a no: "Fair enough. If anything ever changes, you have got my number." Then hang up. Do not push.]

What the list is worth

Four numbers, all yours: how many accounts are on the list, what share you think you can get back, what they used to pay, and 36 months.

Accounts on the list

0

Accounts back0 on the list at 0%, rounded down0
Back on the books, a month$0
First year$0
Over 36 months$0

36 months is how long the number below counts a recovered account for — three years of the rate they used to pay, and nothing else. It is a span, not a forecast: some come back and stay ten years, some cancel again in four months. Change the rate box to whatever your list actually paid.

Somebody has to make the calls, and the callback has to be fast. Our AI 24/7 Support Line picks up day or night, so a customer who calls you back at seven at night gets a person, not a voicemail.

Call and try it: (737) 339-5541. Tell her your keypad is beeping.

Email me the summary and the scripts

Optional. It sends the counts, your own estimate and all five openers, so you can print them. It does not send your list — no name, no phone number, no cancel date. Sort a list first and the counts fill in.

One email. No list, no drip, unsubscribe any time.

The sort rule, so you can check it

No scoring, no weighting, nothing hidden. Four steps. Sort the same file by hand and you will get the same list.

Step 1 — how long ago they cancelled

Cancelled 3 to 24 months ago goes to the top. That is long enough that the argument has cooled off and short enough that they still remember your techs by name. Then 25 to 36 months. Then anyone who cancelled in the last 3 months, because the reason they left is probably still true today. Last comes anything over 36 months or with a date we could not read.

Step 2 — why they left

Inside each of those piles: price first, because an offer can answer that on the phone today. Then a service problem, because they already know your people. Then a competitor. Then the ones with no reason written down. Last, the ones who moved — they may not even be in your area now.

Step 3 — what they used to pay

Same pile, same reason? The higher old monthly rate goes first. After that the order is exactly the order of your file, so nothing shuffles around on you.

How the reason gets read

Your reason column is read as words. A note that mentions another company is filed as a competitor, even if it also mentions price. A note about moving, selling the house or an estate is filed as a move. Words like broke, false alarm, no show or rude are filed as a service problem. Words like too expensive, rate increase or billing are filed as price. A blank is filed as unknown and gets the general opener.

How to work a cancelled-account list

  1. 1

    Pull the cancelled accounts out of your software

    Export the accounts you have lost, with the name, the phone number, the date they cancelled, whatever your office wrote in the reason field, and what they were paying a month. Name and phone alone will work, but the other three make the order much better.

  2. 2

    Paste it in

    Paste it into the box or pick the file. It is read by your own browser. Nothing is uploaded, and the column headings do not have to match ours.

  3. 3

    Take the call-first pile

    Accounts cancelled 3 to 24 months ago go on top, sorted by why they left and what they used to pay. That is your week.

  4. 4

    Decide one offer and write it down

    Before the first call. The same offer for everybody on the list, because these people live near each other and they talk.

  5. 5

    Read the opener that matches the reason

    A price cancel and a service cancel are two different calls. Read the one that matches, ask the question, and then stop talking.

  6. 6

    Count it over 36 months

    Your list size, times your own estimate of how many come back, times the rate they used to pay, times 36 months. Your estimate starts at zero on purpose.

Before you dial, check your own do-not-call list and honor anyone who asked you not to be contacted. State calling rules are not the same everywhere, so check yours. This tool does not dial anything.

Questions dealers ask

Does my customer list get uploaded anywhere?
No. The file is read by the code running in your browser tab. There is no upload, no server call and no copy kept. Close the tab and it is gone. If you want to check, open your browser's network tab while you paste the file — nothing goes out.
What columns does my file need?
Name and phone at a minimum. Cancel date, reason and old monthly rate each make the sort better. Column order does not matter and the headings do not have to match ours — Cust Name, PHONE #, Date Cancelled, Reason For Cancellation and Old RMR all get read correctly.
Why is 3 to 24 months the call-first group?
Under 3 months and the thing that made them leave is usually still true, so you are calling into the same argument. Past about two years they have stopped thinking about you, the phone number on file has often changed, and the hit rate drops. The middle is where the call is easiest. Change the pile order by hand if your own experience says different.
Am I allowed to call people who cancelled?
Existing business relationship rules and state calling rules apply, and they are not the same in every state. Check your own do-not-call list first, honor anyone who asked you not to contact them, and talk to your attorney if you are unsure. This tool does not dial anything — it sorts a list and prints scripts.
What do I say when they say no?
Say thank you and hang up. The reason they give you is worth more than the account. Twenty of those reasons in a row is the most honest report on your company you will ever read.

The list is free. The calling is the work.

Most owners print a list like this, make eleven calls, get busy, and never open it again. Win-Back is us doing it instead: your lost accounts and dead quotes segmented, short specific messages written, sent in small batches you approve first, and a call back within seconds when somebody answers. It starts at $197 a month under 1,000 accounts.

Call and try it: (737) 339-5541. Tell her your keypad is beeping.

See how Win-Back works→More free tools

While you are here: build the review request you send after every job. The customers you keep are cheaper than the ones you win back.