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Selling to current customers

Selling to current customers

(OnTarget. Vol 4, issue 7 2005)

Sometimes we all get so caught up in marketing our services to new customers that we forget about the easiest sell.

I find myself often dwelling on how to reach new customers to broaden my customer base, when really that isn't always the best path. When you stop to think about the real goals of your company, increasing income is likely the highest. In most cases broadening your customer base is a way to get to that goal and should not be the goal itself. In this article I will show you the importance of marketing to your current and past customers.

The most important reason for marketing to current and past customers is that you have already sold your products or services to them once. Selling them something similar is always much easier. One good way to market to current customers is to make special offers. You should always have a good database of current and past customers and the ability to target these customers with a product that is similar or complementary. If you have sold a thousand customers red widgets, try selling blue widgets or a red widget holder to those same customers.

Service providers will get the added benefit of reduced support costs on top of any easier sell. Current customers will already understand your process and will need less handholding then a new customer.

However, you may have to deal with prior customers with a certain measure of finesse. For one reason or another your services are no longer being used. There may be many reasons for a specific customer to have stopped using your services. Reasons can range from the cost of the service to the level of service given.

Your offer should take these things into account. Try offering an "improved" service at a lower cost. There still may be the fact that the client no longer has a need for your service. However, down the road they may and reminding them of what you have to offer will have benefits on it's own.

If your business only offers one type of product, this may be a very good reason to branch out into other areas. Think of products that are not only similar but even complementary to what you already offer. These are people that, if happy with what you have already given them, will trust you with their other needs.

Letting your customers do some marketing can also give you great results. One way to do this is to give them an incentive to refer others to your product, or to provide you with a testimonial. At the very least, if you are treating your customers right, word of mouth will do wonders for you. I want to stress that if you want to be successful at marketing to your customers it is paramount that you have been offering a level of service that allows for it. No matter how good your offer is, if they don't trust you they are not going to buy.

Remember that increasing long-term income is the goal and sometimes you need to step back to re-evaluate the best way to get there. In all cases, a major factor is going to be how well you treat your current customers. Treat them well and they will buy from you again and again!

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