Consider this – many businesses focus solely on attracting new customers, but that’s not always the smart thing to do. To build a solid customer base, you NEED to spend a good amount of your time retaining current and former customers. You already know these people to be good sales potential, because they have already purchased from you!
Take the time to market and sell new products to your previous and existing customers and less time trying to sell old products to new customers. When you do, you will see a substantial increase in your sales, customer quality, branding position, and customer retention.
Retain Your Customers
Consider these four key elements to retain your previous and current customers:
1. Stay in contact: This means by phone, email, e-newsletter, social-media, in person and any creative way you can.
2. Provide Post-Purchase Insurance: You need to follow-up with your customers. They need to feel like you are supporting them for their decision to purchase your product or service. How many times have you purchased a product or service and then never heard from the merchant again? Something as simple as a hand-written and hand addressed Thank You note, including your contact or customer service information, can go a long way in retaining a great customer. Why? Because nobody else does this.
3. Offer Deals and Guarantees: Always offer your current customers the best deals and guarantees you have. Show them you appreciate their business or even come up with a membership club specifically to reward loyal customers. You can also do this with a preferred pricing option.
4. Maintain Integrity: Executing good business practices and simply upholding integrity, dignity, and honesty go a long way with customers. Let’s face it; there are a lot of deceptive businesses out there. If your customer even suspects they’re not getting the straight story from you…they are gone. So, the safer and more confident you make your customers feel, the more they will trust you. That produces an amazingly supportive and loyal customer.
Educate Your Customers
Here are three cornerstones to building a successful business that educates (and retains) your hard-earned customers:
- Providing quality products and services
- Offering products and services that solve a problem or enhance their lives
- Sharing information your customers find useful and interesting
Use this approach of educating your customers and offering them real information and insight, and they will reward you with loyalty and success.
Marketing to new customers must be part of your plan, but not to the detriment of your past and current customers. Don’t allow them to be scooped up by the competition!
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.
To get more information and receive other no-cost special audio downloads, reports, articles, blog posts, and more, visit Ron Hequet where I cover valuable topics that every person wanting to grow their business or career needs to know. And, if you’re ready to take your business to the next level, get a free assessment from me personally at Free Business Assessment or for those wanting to build your career go to Complimentary Coaching Assessment.