# Dormant Customer Follow-Up Playbook | 121 CRM > Review quiet customer relationships and choose whether to help, reconnect or leave them alone. A fictional maintenance firm reviews customers whose annual check may be overdue, rather than messaging everyone labelled inactive. This playbook turns that kind of situation into an owned sequence with explicit stop points, exceptions and measures. Use only channels, data and capabilities approved for your setup. ## Dormant-customer follow-up: the working sequence Illustrative playbook — names, organisations and activity are fictional. ## Capabilities explained ### Smart lists Builds reusable contact views from saved filters and relevant record conditions. **How it works:** Stores or organises supported business data under configured fields, permissions and record rules. **Why a business would use it:** Lets teams focus on a working group without maintaining separate copies of the same contacts. **Limitations:** The platform does not make imported, duplicated or incomplete data accurate without review. **Human responsibility:** A data owner must define the record model and resolve quality, ownership and access exceptions. ### Contacts Stores a person or lead with contact details, activity, ownership and related records. **How it works:** Stores or organises supported business data under configured fields, permissions and record rules. **Why a business would use it:** Gives a team one place to understand who a customer is and what has happened. **Limitations:** The platform does not make imported, duplicated or incomplete data accurate without review. **Human responsibility:** A data owner must define the record model and resolve quality, ownership and access exceptions. ### Tasks Creates assigned, dated and optionally recurring actions against contacts or opportunities. **How it works:** Tracks a potential deal, stage, owner or task using configured pipeline and record rules. **Why a business would use it:** Turns the next step into owned work instead of leaving it inside notes or inboxes. **Limitations:** Pipeline position is only reliable when users and workflows update it consistently. **Human responsibility:** A responsible owner must qualify the deal, choose next actions and resolve stale or disputed status. ### Goals and exits Moves or removes records when the configured outcome or stop condition has been met. **How it works:** Runs an ordered sequence only after its configured trigger and conditions are met. **Why a business would use it:** Helps avoid continuing follow-up after the customer has already acted. **Limitations:** Automation follows its configuration; it cannot repair poor data, unclear rules or an unavailable external service. **Human responsibility:** A process owner must approve, test, monitor and pause or correct faulty automation. ## Begin with a valid trigger, enough context and one owner A defined period of inactivity is reached for a customer category where review is useful. Before any automated action, confirm that the event, customer record and communication basis are suitable for this playbook. ### Trigger A defined period of inactivity is reached for a customer category where review is useful. ### Practical scenario A fictional maintenance firm reviews customers whose annual check may be overdue, rather than messaging everyone labelled inactive. ### Accountable owner Name the person or queue that accepts the work, monitors exceptions and can stop the sequence. ## Run the dormant-customer follow-up playbook step by step Each step should leave evidence a colleague can understand. Timing and channels should follow the customer context rather than a generic high-pressure cadence. ### 1. Define dormancy meaningfully Use a service-specific interval and distinguish completed, lost and deliberately paused relationships. ### 2. Review the record Check latest conversation, preferences, complaints and whether the service is still relevant. ### 3. Choose the treatment Offer useful information, create a personal task or take no action. ### 4. Contact proportionately Explain the reason and make declining further contact easy. ### 5. Record the result Update status, next review or closure so the customer is not repeatedly recycled. ## Stop the normal route when the facts change Exceptions are part of the process, not failures to be hidden. Route them to a person with the authority and context to decide what happens next. ### Data too old Validate or exclude the record rather than treating history as current. ### Customer was dissatisfied Route to service review, not a promotional sequence. ### No relevant reason to contact Close the review without sending anything. ## Measure whether the work became safer and clearer Use measures that reveal ownership, service quality and control. Counts of messages, tasks or workflow runs are supporting signals, not proof of customer value. ### Dormant records reviewed with a decision Do not measure success by messages alone. ### Records corrected or closed Count data-quality improvement. ### Relevant conversations reopened Review customer benefit and operational fit. ## Frequently asked questions ### When should the dormant-customer follow-up playbook start? A defined period of inactivity is reached for a customer category where review is useful. Confirm the record is eligible and that a named owner or monitored queue is available before allowing customer-facing action. ### Which channels should the dormant-customer follow-up playbook use? Use only configured channels that suit the purpose, customer preference and consent position. Give each channel a distinct role and check provider availability and usage charges before launch. ### When should dormant-customer follow-up automation stop? Stop when the purpose is complete, the customer responds or opts out, the data conflicts, or an exception needs judgement. In this playbook, pay particular attention to data too old, customer was dissatisfied, no relevant reason to contact. ### How should we judge whether dormant-customer follow-up works? Review dormant records reviewed with a decision, records corrected or closed, relevant conversations reopened. Combine the numbers with sampled records and customer context; do not treat activity volume as a business outcome. ## Related CRM pages - [/crm/guides](https://121.direct/crm/guides) - [/crm/guides/customer-follow-up-automation](https://121.direct/crm/guides/customer-follow-up-automation) - [/crm/features/contact-segmentation](https://121.direct/crm/features/contact-segmentation) - [/crm/features/customer-reactivation](https://121.direct/crm/features/customer-reactivation) - [/crm/playbooks/data-quality-review](https://121.direct/crm/playbooks/data-quality-review) - [/crm/playbooks/complaint-escalation](https://121.direct/crm/playbooks/complaint-escalation) This Markdown alternative contains public product information only. It provides no access to CRM accounts, records, credentials or payment execution.