Want to increase your sales immediately? Virtually everyone wants a quick, easy way to increase sales. Fortunately, in all but a few situations, quick and easy is actually possible. The key is to sell to the right people. I don’t mean trying to connect with the key decision– maker in a particular organization or creating a list of ideal companies to contact. I’m talking about tapping into your existing customer base.
Most people in business today have probably heard about the importance of marketing and selling to existing customers. However, I’m not sure everyone fully appreciates the significance of this strategy. In fact, even though I have heard (and sometimes preached) this concept, it wasn’t until recently that I figured out the impact it can actually have on a business.
This past fall I ran a campaign promoting my new book, The Secrets of Power Selling, to my newsletter subscribers, and the response astounded me—I ended up selling a few hundred books during the 14 day campaign. As the electronic orders came in, I recognized the names of many people who had ordered a book (or books). After speaking to dozens of other people who called to place their order, I discovered that most of them had purchased a copy of my first book or another one of my products in the past. A few weeks later, many of these individuals also signed up for a tele– seminar I promoted. What an incentive to focus on existing customers!
Start by creating a database. Depending on your business, this can be relatively simple to set up, and in many cases, your company may already have a database in place. The purpose of your database is to record what each of your customers order. Tracking this information enables you to see who your best customers are and to see exactly which are your most popular products or services. This can be invaluable information when it comes time to replenish inventory or determine which services you should or should not continue providing.
You can also use this database to suggest additional products that may complement your customers’ current purchases or existing situation. Amazon does a remarkable job of tracking what their customers buy and every time someone logs onto their website, the system makes recommendations to that particular customer. Not to mention their feature of automatically suggesting other titles whenever you buy a book. It would be interesting to know how much additional revenue this practice generates for them.
Use the information you have captured every time you market new products, services, and offerings. Your goal is to market directly to people that have purchased from you in the past, because if your goods or services have met their expectations, they will likely buy from you again, and again, and again. Unfortunately, most businesses miss this opportunity. Here is an example.
I have purchased a variety of products several times from a particular retailer They have great products, but they don’t market to their existing customers except to send them a discount card from time– to– time. This company sells a consumable product and I’m sure that they could set up an internal reminder to contact their customer when that person’s supply of an item would start to run low. Dentists use this approach all the time. When a dental patient is due for an appointment, their system triggers a reminder and the office calls to set up a day and time for the next appointment.
Imagine the impact on the customer if a store or business called their customer and said something like, “We notice that it’s been a while since you’ve ordered this particular product. That means your supply of product XYZ may be running low. We have some in stock, would you like to place an order?”
Lastly, it is important to create a relationship with your existing customers. This means providing them something of value or finding unique ways of demonstrating your appreciation of their business. This helps reinforce to them the importance of continuing to do business with you.
If you’re not maintaining your client relationships, it becomes easier for a competitor to steal them away.
As a final note, I should state that this concept may not apply to you, particularly if you sell a complex and extremely expensive product/service. However, in all but a few cases, the above ideas are worth considering, because your current customers are your most certain form of revenue. And they are usually the easiest sales to make!
© 2007 Kelley Robertson, All rights reserved. Kelley Robertson is a professional speaker and trainer on sales, negotiating, customer service, and employee motivation. Visit www.kelleyrobertson.com. For information on his programs contact him at 905.633.7750 or Kelley@RobertsonTrainingGroup.com.
