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Reconnecting With Old Clients: Email Templates for Service Businesses

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Brittany Foster
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Originally published in March 2022. Last updated on December 11, 2024.

Many service businesses focus their marketing budgets on getting new clients. But it’s not the most cost-effective or efficient method for generating revenue. 

Instead, reconnecting with past customers can save you money, time, and effort by getting clients you’ve already worked with to book additional services. You just need to figure out the best way to get in touch with them, which is where emails come in. 

Use these free, customizable email templates for reconnecting with old clients to turn past customers into future jobs.

Reconnecting with old client email templates

Why you reach out to a past customer depends on what you have to say. The most common times to send an email to a client you’ve worked with before are when: 

  • You have new services or packages to offer
  • You’re offering discounts, promotions, or launching a referral program
  • You expand your service area
  • You start offering seasonal work, like holiday light installations or pool cleaning
  • You want to send a reminder about your services

Use these free, customizable email samples to get in touch with old customers and grow revenue.

1. New services email template

Adding new services or price bundles is the perfect opportunity to reach out to past clients. For example, when you add a new service like carpet cleaning or make good, better, best packages.

This keeps clients informed and up-to-date about your services, so they know they can book a future service with you instead of shopping around for a different service provider. 

If you expand your service list or develop pricing packages, use this email template to let previous customers know.

2. Discounts and promotions email template

Emailing past clients about discounts or promotions is one of the best ways to boost bookings. After all, who doesn’t like to save money? 

For example, email clients when: 

  • You have an early bird discount for recurring services, like 10% off biweekly lawn care if they book by a certain date
  • You’re offering a special promotion, like $50 off a deep cleaning for a limited time

This incentivizes previous clients to book with you again, helping you to fill out your schedule and stay busy. 

Use this email template to tell them about a new discount or promotion:

3. Referral program email template

Starting a new customer referral program also gives you a reason to reach out to past clients. 

It’s an opportunity to not only win back past customers but also generate new potential clients with little effort on your part. 

Use this email template to tell them:

  • How your referral program works
  • What they get from joining
  • How to start using it

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4. New service area email template

If you haven’t heard from a client in a while, it may not be because they don’t need your services. It could be because they moved out of your service area. 

Letting them know when your service area expands or changes means they may be able to book with you again or refer you to friends or family members who live there. 

Send this reconnection email to old clients for new business when you start servicing a new city or town.

5. Recurring or seasonal work email template

It’s easy for customers to forget that when the seasons change, so do your services. Sending a friendly reminder to let them know saves them from having to search for a new service provider and ensures they work with someone they already know and trust. 

For example, if you switch from lawn mowing or pressure washing in the summer to snow removal or gutter clearing in the fall. 

Even if your work isn’t seasonal, letting clients know about recurring services like weekly house cleaning or daily dog walking lets them know you don’t just offer one-off jobs. 

Use this email to reconnect with old clients to tell them about seasonal work or when you offer ongoing services:

6. It’s been a while email template

You don’t always need a reason to reach out to past customers. Sometimes, sending an email to stay in touch is enough. That way, you stay top of mind and may nudge the customer to book a service they’ve been putting off. 

This kind of email can be as generic or as specific as you want. For example, if a customer had a new HVAC system installed, you could reach out six months later to ask if everything was working as it should. Or you could send a simple check-in message to remind customers about your business and what you offer. 

Customize this reconnection email template for old customers you haven’t heard from in a while.

How to reconnect with old clients by email

When it comes to reaching out to old clients via email you have two choices. You can do it manually or you can use email marketing software like Jobber. 

If you do it manually, you’ll need to keep a record of your past clients and separate them into categories so you can personalize each email—like which service they booked or when you last worked with them. 

From there, you would email each client individually, taking care not to use the wrong email address or name. 

While this method can work if you only have a handful of clients, the more your business grows, the more time-consuming and prone to human error it will be. 

To reduce the time you spend writing and sending emails, use Jobber to automate the emails you send to past clients. With Jobber Campaigns, you can customize a professional email template in minutes and send it to specific categories of clients—like those who booked specific services in the past. 

And because the customer data is pulled straight from your CRM, you don’t need to worry about accidentally addressing the email to the wrong person.

A customer re-engagement email from a landscaping company built with Jobber Campaigns. Surrounding it are email elements that can be customized and a rich text editor.

Which clients should I reconnect with?

Not all past clients are worth reaching out to. To boost your chances of getting a positive response, only reach out to:

1. Inactive customers with paid invoices

If a client hasn’t paid an invoice, there’s not much point in trying to get them to book more work. And while you should still reach out to them, using an overdue payment reminder email template is a better option than offering them a discount or sending a friendly check-in message.

2. Satisfied customers

Happy customers are more likely to book work with you than the ones who left a negative review or complaint. Focus on reaching out to customers who gave you positive feedback and who you know were satisfied with the work you did as they’re more likely to become repeat customers.

3. Clients who booked recurring work 

If you offer seasonal work, like landscaping or yard maintenance, reaching out to clients who booked recurring work in the past is a great way to bring in more work. 

For example, if they used your snow removal services throughout the winter, letting them know you offer lawn mowing and weeding in the summer is a no-brainer.

4. Customers who could benefit from new changes in your business

Sharing good news is always worth sending an email about. Especially if it saves clients money or makes their lives easier. 

Send emails to past clients who could benefit from changes in your business, like pricing packages, referral programs, or expanded service areas to keep them in the loop about ways to save money or time. They’ll appreciate the heads up and you’ll have a great reason to get in touch.

Tips for reconnecting with old clients

Sending an email to past customers isn’t enough on its own. Use these best practices to make reconnecting with old clients as effective and efficient as possible:

1. Build customer loyalty

Keep in touch through more than just reconnection emails by sending thank you notes and customer feedback request surveys. These show you appreciate your customers and care about their feedback, developing trust and loyalty. 

READ MORE: How to write a follow-up email: 7 templates for better customer service

2. Communicate well and often

Communicate with clients throughout your relationship with them, from an initial booking confirmation and appointment reminder all the way to an invoice and payment receipt

This will improve the customer’s experience and demonstrate your professionalism, positioning you as a service provider they’ll want to work with again in the future.

3. Offer value

Carefully consider which clients you reach out to and why. By sending relevant emails to specific customers, you have a better chance of booking more jobs. 

For example, while a client who booked your lawn care services last spring may be interested to hear that you offer winter snow removal, a client who ordered a single load of sod from you three years ago may not. 

Instead of mass-emailing every single past customer you have, divide them into categories and share the news that offers the most value to each one.

4. Keep client information organized

Before you can send an email to a previous client, you need to know who they are, what service they booked, and how long it’s been since you worked together. Keeping track of this information yourself is time-consuming and complicated. 

Use field service management software like Jobber to keep clients organized so you can send personalized emails to each client.

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