Turn Lapsed Café Customers Into Repeat Visitors with Ferbz’s AI‑Drafted Win‑Back Automation

Below is a step‑by‑step walkthrough of setting up a win‑back automation for a typical Australian café. Imagine Sunny Bean Café, located in Melbourne’s inner‑north, serving coffee, toasties, and a loyalty card that gives a free flat white after ten purchases.

1. Import or Verify Your Customer List

   • From the main navigation, click Customers → Import.
   • Upload a CSV containing existing patrons (name, mobile, email, last order date).
   • Ferbz matches each row to a profile or creates a new one, displaying the “Last Order” field on the profile card.

2. Create the WhatsApp Templates

   • Go to Automation → Templates.
   • Click New Template and choose WhatsApp.
   • Draft two messages:
     • Message 1 – “Hey {{first_name}}, we’ve missed you at Sunny Bean! Come back this week and enjoy a free blueberry muffin on us.”
     • Message 2 – “Just checking in – your free muffin is still waiting. Reply ‘YES’ to claim it or tap the link to view our new seasonal menu.”
   • Save each template; they will appear in the visual canvas later.

3. Define the Win‑Back Goal in Plain English

   • In Automation, click Create New Journey.
   • In the “Goal” field type: “win back anyone who hasn’t ordered in 30 days”.
   • Ferbz’s AI instantly proposes a flow:
     • Trigger → Wait 1 day → Message 1 → Branch (if reply) → Message 2 → End.

4. Edit the AI‑Drafted Flow

   • The canvas shows a Trigger node labelled “Days since last order ≥ 30”.
   • Drag the two template cards onto the canvas, linking them in order.
   • Between the trigger and Message 1, set a Wait of 0 days (send immediately once the 30‑day gap is detected).
   • After Message 1, add a Wait of 2 days, then connect Message 2.
   • For the branch, click the Reply? condition and set “If customer replies ‘YES’ → End (no further messages)”.

5. Activate the Journey

   • Click Publish. Ferbz validates that every node has a template and a wait period, then activates the journey.

6. Watch the Reminders Board

   • Navigate to Reminders → Board.
   • You will see three columns: Scheduled, Sent, Failed.
   • When a customer’s last order date reaches 30 days ago, a new entry appears in Scheduled with the customer’s name, phone, and the first reminder’s due time.

7. Example of a Live Customer

   • Emma Clarke placed her last order on 12 March 2024 (a flat white and avocado toast).
   • On 11 April 2024, Ferbz automatically enrolls Emma in the win‑back flow.
   • At 09:00 AEST, the Reminders board moves Emma’s entry to Sent and shows “Message 1 delivered”.
   • Two days later, Emma replies “YES”. The branch condition captures the reply, moves the entry to Completed, and stops further messages.

8. Confirm the Order and Credit Use

   • Each WhatsApp send consumes one credit from the prepaid wallet.
   • In Reports, select Automation – Win‑Back and a date range of 01 Apr – 30 Apr 2024.
   • The report shows:
     • 124 customers enrolled (30‑day gap).
     • 78 messages delivered, 56 read.
     • 32 customers replied “YES”.
     • 12 resulting orders (average ticket $18.73).
     • Total credit spend: 78 credits.

9. Optional Broadcast Follow‑Up

   • If you want to push a limited‑time promotion to all win‑back participants, go to Broadcasts → New Broadcast.
   • Filter by “Journey = Win‑Back” and schedule a one‑off message “This Friday we’re serving pumpkin spice lattes – 20 % off for the next 48 hours”.
   • The broadcast uses the same credit wallet, and delivery stats appear alongside the automation reminders.

By following these steps, Sunny Bean Café moves from manually spotting a lapsed regular (often weeks of guesswork) to an automated, measurable process that contacts the right person at the right time, using the exact language the owner approves.

Cafés typically lose 12–18 % of regulars each quarter because there is no systematic way to notice a gap in visits. Before Ferbz, owners would rely on paper notebooks or ad‑hoc WhatsApp chats, which cost an average of 4 minutes per customer per week to monitor and 12 minutes to draft a follow‑up.

With win‑back automation, Sunny Bean saved:

• Time – The Reminders board automatically surfaces every 30‑day lapse, eliminating the need for daily spreadsheet checks. In April, the owner spent 15 minutes reviewing the board versus an estimated 4 hours of manual tracking.
• Revenue – The 12 recovered orders generated $224.76 in net sales (average ticket $18.73). Even after spending 78 credits, the cost per recovered order is 6.5 credits, which translates to a fraction of a dollar when credits are purchased in bulk.
• Consistency – Every eligible customer receives the same professionally‑worded WhatsApp, removing the risk of missed or poorly phrased messages. The AI‑drafted flow ensures the wait times and branching logic stay identical for all 124 customers.

The measurable impact appears in the Reports module: owners can see the exact lift in repeat visits, the credit cost, and the read‑rate (71 % in the example). This data lets them decide whether to tighten the 30‑day trigger to 25 days or add a third reminder.

Overall, the automation replaces a manual, error‑prone process with a repeatable, credit‑based workflow that directly addresses the pain point of “regulars quietly stopping visits with no way to notice or win them back”.

Turning lapsed patrons into repeat visitors is no longer a guess‑work exercise. With Ferbz’s AI‑drafted win‑back automation, you set the trigger once, watch the Reminders board do the heavy lifting, and measure the uplift in real time—all from a single dashboard built for Australian cafés and quick‑service shops.

Ready to see the difference for yourself? Sign up for a free trial at https://dashboard.ferbz.com/ and start building your first win‑back journey today. If you have questions or need help fine‑tuning your flow, our support team is available at support@ferbz.com.