Boost Sales by Using Love and Time to “Educate the Old About the New”
You may be thinking, “Educate who about what?” The answer: Invest more time in educating your OLD customers about your new products and services, than spending way more time trying to gain new customers. Then…go a little beyond this, and give them extra care, and watch the “green” in your wallet grow.
Let’s look at this. Many businesses focus solely on attracting new customers, but you NEED to spend a good chunk of your time retaining current and former customers. These are people you already know to be a good sales potential…they’ve already bought from you! Taking time to market and sell new products to your old customers and less time trying to sell old products to new customers can drastically change improve your sales, customer quality and branding position.
Here are a couple of key elements to use to retain your current customers:
- Stay in contact: This means by phone, email, e-newsletter, in person (or by pigeon if you have too!)
- Do “Post-Purchase Assurance”: This means you need to follow up with customers. Your customers need to feel like they are being supported for their purchase AND for their loyalty. How many times have you purchased a product, then felt completely abandoned? Something as simple as a “Thank You” note can go a long way in retaining a client. Thank about it–don’t you like to feel appreciated?
- Give them Deals & Guarantees: Always offer your current customers the best deals and guarantees you have. Show them you appreciate their business. You may want to consider creating a “Loyalty Club” specifically to reward loyal customers. This could include a preferred pricing option.
- Use Integrity (and Build Trust): Using good business practices and simply upholding integrity, dignity and honesty goes a long way with customers. The safer and more confident you make your customers feel, the more they will trust you–and that makes for a supportive and loyal customer.
There are three cornerstone ideas to a thriving business:
- Quality product/service
- Offering useful products/services that solve a problem for or enhance the life of a customer
- Go beyond just your product, to educating customers on subjects they find interesting or useful.
Use this approach of educating your customers and offering them real information and insight and you will be rewarded with loyalty and success.
In simple summary: Stop wasting all your time on new prospects, and show extra love and support to the old or existing ones!
As Jay Abraham says, “Your best prospects are your existing customers. If you’ve been putting all your marketing efforts into acquiring new customers, stop and divert some of your resources into reselling, upselling, cross-selling to those same customers. In every way possible – through package inserts, regular mailings, special offers – stay in touch with those customers and get them used to buying from you.”
So, there it is! (And remember, our FREE test drive can help you put together the resources and tools to do exactly that. We can help you educate your customers and you can watch the benefits pay off)
Catch a test drive to get, upsell and retain customers here
Schedule a private coaching test drive with Lynnea here